An efficient ant colony system based on receding horizon control for the aircraft arrival sequencing and scheduling problem

The aircraft arrival sequencing and scheduling (ASS) problem is a salient problem in air traffic control (ATC), which proves to be nondeterministic polynomial (NP) hard. This paper formulates the ASS problem in the form of a permutation problem and proposes a new solution framework that makes the first attempt at using an ant colony system (ACS) algorithm based on the receding horizon control (RHC) to solve it. The resultant RHC-improved ACS algorithm for the ASS problem (termed the RHC-ACS-ASS algorithm) is robust, effective, and efficient, not only due to that the ACS algorithm has a strong global search ability and has been proven to be suitable for these kinds of NP-hard problems but also due to that the RHC technique can divide the problem with receding time windows to reduce the computational burden and enhance the solution's quality. The RHC-ACS-ASS algorithm is extensively tested on the cases from the literatures and the cases randomly generated. Comprehensive investigations are also made for the evaluation of the influences of ACS and RHC parameters on the performance of the algorithm. Moreover, the proposed algorithm is further enhanced by using a two-opt exchange heuristic local search. Experimental results verify that the proposed RHC-ACS-ASS algorithm generally outperforms ordinary ACS without using the RHC technique and genetic algorithms (GAs) in solving the ASS problems and offers high robustness, effectiveness, and efficienc

Following a "Collapsing" Wavefunction

I study the quantum mechanics of a spin interacting with an ``apparatus''. Although the evolution of the whole system is unitary, the spin evolution is not. The system is chosen so that the spin exhibits loss of quantum coherence, or ``wavefunction collapse'', of the sort usually associated with a quantum measurement. The system is analyzed from the point of view of the spin density matrix (or ``Schmidt paths''), and also using the consistent histories approach. These two points of view are contrasted with each other. Connections between the results and the form of the Hamiltonian are discussed in detail.Comment: 30 pages, plain LaTex, 3 figures in a separate uuencoded fil

Solutions of the dispersion equation in the region of overlapping of zero-sound and particle-hole modes

In this paper the solutions of the zero-sound dispersion equation in the random phase approximation (RPA) are considered. The calculation of the damped zero-sound modes \omega_s(k) (complex frequency of excitation) in the nuclear matter is presented. The method is based on the analytical structure of the polarization operators \Pi(\omega,k). The solutions of two dispersion equations with \Pi(\omega,k) and with Re(\Pi(\omega,k)) are compared. It is shown that in the first case we obtain one-valued smooth solutions without "thumb-like" forms. Considering the giant resonances in the nuclei as zero-sound excitations we compare the experimental energy and escape width of the giant dipole resonance (GDR) in the nucleus A with \omega_s(k) taken at a definite wave vector k=k_A.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures; revised versio

Transport behaviour of a Bose Einstein condensate in a bichromatic optical lattice

The Bloch and dipole oscillations of a Bose Einstein condensate (BEC) in an optical superlattice is investigated. We show that the effective mass increases in an optical superlattice, which leads to localization of the BEC, in accordance with recent experimental observations [16]. In addition, we find that the secondary optical lattice is a useful additional tool to manipulate the dynamics of the atoms.Comment: Modified manuscrip

Momentum Distribution in Nuclear matter within a Perturbation Approximation

It is shown that the norm corrections, introduced to avoid the violation of the constraints on the depletion of the hole states in the standard perturbative 2p2h approach, leads in nuclear matter to a dependence of the momentum distribution with the total nucleon number. This unphysical behavior, which in turn makes the depletion to be non-extensive, arises from contributions of disconnected diagrams contained in the norm. It is found that the extensivity is again recovered when the 4p4h excitations in the ground state are included, and a reasonable value for the total number of nucleons promoted above the Fermi level is obtained.Comment: 11 pages, LaTeX, 5 figures, figures 1 to 3 included in the latex file, postscript files of figures 4 and 5 available from the Authors. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Decoherence: Concepts and Examples

We give a pedagogical introduction to the process of decoherence - the irreversible emergence of classical properties through interaction with the environment. After discussing the general concepts, we present the following examples: Localisation of objects, quantum Zeno effect, classicality of fields and charges in QED, and decoherence in gravity theory. We finally emphasise the important interpretational features of decoherence.Comment: 24 pages, LATEX, 9 figures, needs macro lamuphys.sty, to appear in the Proceedings of the 10th Born Symposiu

Lepton asymmetry and the cosmic QCD transition

We study the influence of lepton asymmetry on the evolution of the early Universe. The lepton asymmetry $l$ is poorly constrained by observations and might be orders of magnitude larger than the baryon asymmetry $b$, $|l|/b \leq 2\times 10^8$. We find that lepton asymmetries that are large compared to the tiny baryon asymmetry, can influence the dynamics of the QCD phase transition significantly. The cosmic trajectory in the $\mu_B-T$ phase diagram of strongly interacting matter becomes a function of lepton (flavour) asymmetry. Large lepton asymmetry could lead to a cosmic QCD phase transition of first order.Comment: 23 pages, 14 figures; matches published version, including Erratum. Conclusions, pictures, numerics remained unchange

Deconstructing Decoherence

The study of environmentally induced superselection and of the process of decoherence was originally motivated by the search for the emergence of classical behavior out of the quantum substrate, in the macroscopic limit. This limit, and other simplifying assumptions, have allowed the derivation of several simple results characterizing the onset of environmentally induced superselection; but these results are increasingly often regarded as a complete phenomenological characterization of decoherence in any regime. This is not necessarily the case: The examples presented in this paper counteract this impression by violating several of the simple ``rules of thumb''. This is relevant because decoherence is now beginning to be tested experimentally, and one may anticipate that, in at least some of the proposed applications (e.g., quantum computers), only the basic principle of ``monitoring by the environment'' will survive. The phenomenology of decoherence may turn out to be significantly different.Comment: 13 two-column pages, 3 embedded figure

The role of symmetry on interface states in magnetic tunnel junctions

When an electron tunnels from a metal into the barrier in a magnetic tunnel junction it has to cross the interface. Deep in the metal the eigenstates for the electron can be labelled by the point symmetry group of the bulk but around the interface this symmetry is reduced and one has to use linear combinations of the bulk states to form the eigenstates labelled by the irreducible representations of the point symmetry group of the interface. In this way there can be states localized at the interface which control tunneling. The conclusions as to which are the dominant tunneling states are different from that conventionally found.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, accepted in PRB, v2: reference 3 complete

Out of equilibrium correlations in the XY chain

We study the transversal XY spin-spin correlations in the non-equilibrium steady state constructed in \cite{AP03} and prove their spatial exponential decay close to equilibrium