4,878 research outputs found
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 is poorly constrained by observations and
might be orders of magnitude larger than the baryon asymmetry , . 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 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
Subjective and objective assessment of executive functions in Parkinson's disease
AbstractImpairments in executive functions (EF) in Parkinson's disease (PD) will have a negative influence on daily life. For the assessment objective and subjective measurement approaches are used. It is however unknown whether these approaches contribute in a different way to the assessment of EF in PD. Thirty-nine PD patients and 24 healthy participants completed the Dysexecutive questionnaire (DEX; subjective measure) and the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB; objective measure). PD patients showed impaired EF (FAB) and reported more problems with EF in daily life (DEX) than healthy participants. The performance on the FAB could however not be explained by the problems with EF that were reported by PD patients (DEX) and vice versa. In conclusion, not all PD patients who show impairments in EF report them and not all PD patients who report problems with EF in daily life show impairments according to objective measurement. Both measures thus contribute in a different way to the assessment of EF in PD patients. However, it has to be considered that the FAB is not a critical test to assess cognition in PD, since these patients also suffer from posterior abnormalities including memory and visuo-spatial deficits which are strong predictors for PD dementia
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