6,481 research outputs found
Rotating gravity currents: small-scale and large-scale laboratory experiments and a geostrophic model
Laboratory experiments simulating gravity-driven coastal surface currents produced by estuarine fresh-water discharges into the ocean are discussed. The currents are generated inside a rotating tank filled with salt water by the continuous release of buoyant fresh water from a small source at the fluid surface. The height, the width and the length of the currents are studied as a function of the background rotation rate, the volumetric discharge rate and the density difference at the source. Two complementary experimental data sets are discussed and compared with each other. One set of experiments was carried out in a tank of diameter 1 m on a small-scale rotating turntable. The second set of experiments was conducted at the large-scale Coriolis Facility (LEGI, Grenoble) which has a tank of diameter 13 m. A simple geostrophic model predicting the current height, width and propagation velocity is developed. The experiments and the model are compared with each other in terms of a set of non-dimensional parameters identified in the theoretical analysis of the problem. These parameters enable the corresponding data of the large-scale and the small-scale experiments to be collapsed onto a single line. Good agreement between the model and the experiments is found
Localization and its consequences for quantum walk algorithms and quantum communication
The exponential speed-up of quantum walks on certain graphs, relative to
classical particles diffusing on the same graph, is a striking observation. It
has suggested the possibility of new fast quantum algorithms. We point out here
that quantum mechanics can also lead, through the phenomenon of localization,
to exponential suppression of motion on these graphs (even in the absence of
decoherence). In fact, for physical embodiments of graphs, this will be the
generic behaviour. It also has implications for proposals for using spin
networks, including spin chains, as quantum communication channels.Comment: 4 pages, 1 eps figure. Updated references and cosmetic changes for v
Stability of a buoyancy-driven coastal current at the shelf break
Author Posting. © Cambridge University Press, 2002. This article is posted here by permission of Cambridge University Press for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Fluid Mechanics 452 (2002): 97-121, doi:10.1017/S0022112001006668.Buoyancy-driven surface currents were generated in the laboratory by releasing buoyant fluid from a source adjacent to a vertical boundary in a rotating container. Different bottom topographies that simulate both a continental slope and a continental ridge were introduced in the container. The topography modified the flow in comparison with the at bottom case where the current grew in width and depth until it became unstable once to non-axisymmetric disturbances. However, when topography was introduced a second instability of the buoyancy-driven current was observed. The most important parameter describing the flow is the ratio of continental shelf width W to the width L* of the current at the onset of the instability. The values of L* for the first instability, and L*[minus sign]W for the second instability were not influenced by the topography and were 2â6 times the Rossby radius. Thus, the parameter describing the flow can be expressed as the ratio of the width of the continental shelf to the Rossby radius. When this ratio is larger than 2â6 the second instability was observed on the current front. A continental ridge allowed the disturbance to grow to larger amplitude with formation of eddies and fronts, while a gentle continental slope reduced the growth rate and amplitude of the most unstable mode, when compared to the continental ridge topography. When present, eddies did not separate from the main current, and remained near the shelf break. On the other hand, for the largest values of the Rossby radius the first instability was suppressed and the flow was observed to remain stable. A small but significant variation was found in the wavelength of the first instability, which was smaller for a current over topography than over a flat bottom.Partial support for C.C. was provided by a TMR fellowship, MAS3-CT96-5017
Unbounded Human Learning: Optimal Scheduling for Spaced Repetition
In the study of human learning, there is broad evidence that our ability to
retain information improves with repeated exposure and decays with delay since
last exposure. This plays a crucial role in the design of educational software,
leading to a trade-off between teaching new material and reviewing what has
already been taught. A common way to balance this trade-off is spaced
repetition, which uses periodic review of content to improve long-term
retention. Though spaced repetition is widely used in practice, e.g., in
electronic flashcard software, there is little formal understanding of the
design of these systems. Our paper addresses this gap in three ways. First, we
mine log data from spaced repetition software to establish the functional
dependence of retention on reinforcement and delay. Second, we use this memory
model to develop a stochastic model for spaced repetition systems. We propose a
queueing network model of the Leitner system for reviewing flashcards, along
with a heuristic approximation that admits a tractable optimization problem for
review scheduling. Finally, we empirically evaluate our queueing model through
a Mechanical Turk experiment, verifying a key qualitative prediction of our
model: the existence of a sharp phase transition in learning outcomes upon
increasing the rate of new item introductions.Comment: Accepted to the ACM SIGKDD Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data
Mining 201
Are all noisy quantum states obtained from pure ones?
We ask what type of mixed quantum states can arise when a number of separated
parties start by sharing a pure quantum state and then this pure state becomes
contaminated by noise. We show that not all mixed states arise in this way.
This is even the case if the separated parties actively try to degrade their
initial pure state by arbitrary local actions and classical communication.Comment: 3 pages, no figure
Alternative model of the Antonov problem
Astrophysical systems will never be in a real Thermodynamic equilibrium: they
undergo an evaporation process due to the fact that the gravity is not able to
confine the particles. Ordinarily, this difficulty is overcome by enclosing the
system in a rigid container which avoids the evaporation. We proposed an
energetic prescription which is able to confine the particles, leading in this
way to an alternative version of the Antonov isothermal model which unifies the
well-known isothermal and polytropic profiles. Besides of the main features of
the isothermal sphere model: the existence of the gravitational collapse and
the energetic region with a negative specific heat, this alternative model has
the advantage that the system size naturally appears as a consequence of the
particles evaporation.Comment: RevTex4, 9 pages, 10 figures, Version Submitted to PR
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