Distributed Algorithms for Stochastic Source Seeking With Mobile Robot Networks

Autonomous robot networks are an effective tool for monitoring large-scale environmental fields. This paper proposes distributed control strategies for localizing the source of a noisy signal, which could represent a physical quantity of interest such as magnetic force, heat, radio signal, or chemical concentration. We develop algorithms specific to two scenarios: one in which the sensors have a precise model of the signal formation process and one in which a signal model is not available. In the model-free scenario, a team of sensors is used to follow a stochastic gradient of the signal field. Our approach is distributed, robust to deformations in the group geometry, does not necessitate global localization, and is guaranteed to lead the sensors to a neighborhood of a local maximum of the field. In the model-based scenario, the sensors follow a stochastic gradient of the mutual information (MI) between their expected measurements and the expected source location in a distributed manner. The performance is demonstrated in simulation using a robot sensor network to localize the source of a wireless radio signal

Revising the multipole moments of numerical spacetimes, and its consequences

Identifying the relativistic multipole moments of a spacetime of an astrophysical object that has been constructed numerically is of major interest, both because the multipole moments are intimately related to the internal structure of the object, and because the construction of a suitable analytic metric that mimics a numerical metric should be based on the multipole moments of the latter one, in order to yield a reliable representation. In this note we show that there has been a widespread delusion in the way the multipole moments of a numerical metric are read from the asymptotic expansion of the metric functions. We show how one should read correctly the first few multipole moments (starting from the quadrupole mass-moment), and how these corrected moments improve the efficiency of describing the metric functions with analytic metrics that have already been used in the literature, as well as other consequences of using the correct moments.Comment: article + supplemental materia

Observation of B_s Production at the Y(5S) Resonance

Using the CLEO detector at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring, we have observed the B_s meson in e^+e^- annihilation at the Υ(5S) resonance. We find 14 candidates consistent with B_s decays into final states with a J/ψ or a D_s^((*)-). The probability that we have observed a background fluctuation is less than 8×10^(-10). We have established that at the energy of the Υ(5S) resonance B_s production proceeds predominantly through the creation of B_s^*B̅ _s^* pairs. We find σ(e^+e^-→B^s^*B̅ ^*)=[0.11_(-0.03)^(+0.04)(stat)±0.02(syst)]  nb, and set the following limits: σ(e^+e^-→B_sB̅ _s)/σ(e^+e^-→B_s^*B̅ _s^*)<0.16 and [σ(e^+e^-→B_sB̅ _s^*)+σ(e^+e^-→B_s*B̅ _s)]/σ(e^+e^-→B_s*B̅ _s^*)<0.16 (90% C.L.). The mass of the B_s^* meson is measured to be M_(B_s^*=[5.414±0.001(stat)±0.003(syst)]  GeV/c^2

Two-photon width of the charmonium state X_(c2)

The two-photon width of X_(c2)^3P_2 state of charmonium has been measured using 14.4 fb^(-1) of e^+e^-data taken at √s =9.46–11.30 GeV with the CLEO III detector. The yy-fusion reaction studied is e^+e^- → e^+e^-yy, → yy X_(c2) → yJ/Ψ → ye^+e^-(µ^+µ^-). We measure Г_(yy) (X_(c2))B(X_(c2)) → y J/Ψ)B(J/Ψ → e^+e^- + µ^+µ^-)= 13.2 ± 1.4(stat)± 1.1(syst) eV, and obtain Г yy(Xc2)= 559 ± 57(stat) ± 48(syst) ± 36(br) eV. This result is in excellent agreement with the result of -fusion measurement by Belle and is consistent with that of the pp → X_(c2) → yy measurement, when they are both reevaluated using the recent CLEO result for the radiative decay X_(c2) → J/Ψ

Static Output Feedback: On Essential Feasible Information Patterns

In this paper, for linear time-invariant plants, where a collection of possible inputs and outputs are known a priori, we address the problem of determining the communication between outputs and inputs, i.e., information patterns, such that desired control objectives of the closed-loop system (for instance, stabilizability) through static output feedback may be ensured. We address this problem in the structural system theoretic context. To this end, given a specified structural pattern (locations of zeros/non-zeros) of the plant matrices, we introduce the concept of essential information patterns, i.e., communication patterns between outputs and inputs that satisfy the following conditions: (i) ensure arbitrary spectrum assignment of the closed-loop system, using static output feedback constrained to the information pattern, for almost all possible plant instances with the specified structural pattern; and (ii) any communication failure precludes the resulting information pattern from attaining the pole placement objective in (i). Subsequently, we study the problem of determining essential information patterns. First, we provide several necessary and sufficient conditions to verify whether a specified information pattern is essential or not. Further, we show that such conditions can be verified by resorting to algorithms with polynomial complexity (in the dimensions of the state, input and output). Although such verification can be performed efficiently, it is shown that the problem of determining essential information patterns is in general NP-hard. The main results of the paper are illustrated through examples

Thin film dielectric microstrip kinetic inductance detectors

Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors, or MKIDs, are a type of low temperature detector that exhibit intrinsic frequency domain multiplexing at microwave frequencies. We present the first theory and measurements on a MKID based on a microstrip transmission line resonator. A complete characterization of the dielectric loss and noise properties of these resonators is performed, and agrees well with the derived theory. A competitive noise equivalent power of 5$\times10^{-17}$ W Hz$^{-1/2}$ at 1 Hz has been demonstrated. The resonators exhibit the highest quality factors known in a microstrip resonator with a deposited thin film dielectric.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, APL accepte

Cloud-based Quadratic Optimization with Partially Homomorphic Encryption

The development of large-scale distributed control systems has led to the outsourcing of costly computations to cloud-computing platforms, as well as to concerns about privacy of the collected sensitive data. This paper develops a cloud-based protocol for a quadratic optimization problem involving multiple parties, each holding information it seeks to maintain private. The protocol is based on the projected gradient ascent on the Lagrange dual problem and exploits partially homomorphic encryption and secure multi-party computation techniques. Using formal cryptographic definitions of indistinguishability, the protocol is shown to achieve computational privacy, i.e., there is no computationally efficient algorithm that any involved party can employ to obtain private information beyond what can be inferred from the party's inputs and outputs only. In order to reduce the communication complexity of the proposed protocol, we introduced a variant that achieves this objective at the expense of weaker privacy guarantees. We discuss in detail the computational and communication complexity properties of both algorithms theoretically and also through implementations. We conclude the paper with a discussion on computational privacy and other notions of privacy such as the non-unique retrieval of the private information from the protocol outputs