874 research outputs found
Vestibular heading discrimination and sensitivity to linear acceleration in head and world coordinates
Effective navigation and locomotion depend critically on an observer\u27s ability to judge direction of linear self-motion, i.e., heading. The vestibular cue to heading is the direction of inertial acceleration that accompanies transient linear movements. This cue is transduced by the otolith organs. The otoliths also respond to gravitational acceleration, so vestibular heading discrimination could depend on (1) the direction of movement in head coordinates (i.e., relative to the otoliths), (2) the direction of movement in world coordinates (i.e., relative to gravity), or (3) body orientation (i.e., the direction of gravity relative to the otoliths). To quantify these effects, we measured vestibular and visual discrimination of heading along azimuth and elevation dimensions with observers oriented both upright and side-down relative to gravity. We compared vestibular heading thresholds with corresponding measurements of sensitivity to linear motion along lateral and vertical axes of the head (coarse direction discrimination and amplitude discrimination). Neither heading nor coarse direction thresholds depended on movement direction in world coordinates, demonstrating that the nervous system compensates for gravity. Instead, they depended similarly on movement direction in head coordinates (better performance in the horizontal plane) and on body orientation (better performance in the upright orientation). Heading thresholds were correlated with, but significantly larger than, predictions based on sensitivity in the coarse discrimination task. Simulations of a neuron/anti-neuron pair with idealized cosine-tuning properties show that heading thresholds larger than those predicted from coarse direction discrimination could be accounted for by an amplitude-response nonlinearity in the neural representation of inertial motion
Self-dual Vortices in the Generalized Abelian Higgs Model with Independent Chern-Simons Interaction
Self-dual vortex solutions are studied in detail in the generalized abelian
Higgs model with independent Chern-Simons interaction. For special choices of
couplings, it reduces to a Maxwell-Higgs model with two scalar fields, a
Chern-Simons-Higgs model with two scalar fields, or other new models. We
investigate the properties of the static solutions and perform detailed
numerical analyses. For the Chern-Simons-Higgs model with two scalar fields in
an asymmetric phase, we prove the existence of multisoliton solutions which can
be viewed as hybrids of Chern-Simons vortices and lumps. We also discuss
solutions in a symmetric phase with the help of the corresponding exact
solutions in its nonrelativistic limit. The model interpolating all three
models---Maxwell-Higgs, Chern-Simons-Higgs, and models--- is discussed
briefly. Finally we study the possibility of vortex solutions with half-integer
vorticity in the special case of the model. Numerical results are negative.Comment: 32 pages, LATEX, SNUTP 92-7
Identification of Birds through DNA Barcodes
Short DNA sequences from a standardized region of the genome provide a DNA barcode for identifying species. Compiling a public library of DNA barcodes linked to named specimens could provide a new master key for identifying species, one whose power will rise with increased taxon coverage and with faster, cheaper sequencing. Recent work suggests that sequence diversity in a 648-bp region of the mitochondrial gene, cytochrome c oxidase I (COI), might serve as a DNA barcode for the identification of animal species. This study tested the effectiveness of a COI barcode in discriminating bird species, one of the largest and best-studied vertebrate groups. We determined COI barcodes for 260 species of North American birds and found that distinguishing species was generally straightforward. All species had a different COI barcode(s), and the differences between closely related species were, on average, 18 times higher than the differences within species. Our results identified four probable new species of North American birds, suggesting that a global survey will lead to the recognition of many additional bird species. The finding of large COI sequence differences between, as compared to small differences within, species confirms the effectiveness of COI barcodes for the identification of bird species. This result plus those from other groups of animals imply that a standard screening threshold of sequence difference (10× average intraspecific difference) could speed the discovery of new animal species. The growing evidence for the effectiveness of DNA barcodes as a basis for species identification supports an international exercise that has recently begun to assemble a comprehensive library of COI sequences linked to named specimens
Background Oriented Schlieren (BOS) of a Supersonic Aircraft In Flight
This article describes the development and use of Background Oriented Schlieren on a full-scale supersonic jet in flight. A series of flight tests was performed in October, 2014 and February 2015 using the flora of the desert floor in the Supersonic Flight Corridor on the Edwards Air Force Base as a background. Flight planning was designed based on the camera resolution, the mean size and color of the predominant plants, and the navigation and coordination of two aircraft. Software used to process the image data was improved with additional utilities. The planning proved to be effective and the vast majority of the passes of the target aircraft were successfully recorded. Results were obtained that are the most detailed schlieren imagery of an aircraft in flight to date
Successful Approaches for the Use of Unmanned Aerial Systems by Surface Transportation Agencies
The past decade has seen ever-increasing attention and resources dedicated to the application and operation of unmanned aircraft systems (UASs). Beginning with issuance of special airworthiness certificates in the experimental category for unmanned aircraft in 2007, up to the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 and creation of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) §107 and §101, the complexity and breadth of applications for UAS technology have flourished.
Recognizing the interest and potential benefits to the surface transportation community the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) commissioned Scan 17-01 to accelerate beneficial innovation by facilitating information sharing and technology exchange among the states and other transportation agencies. Results from a desk scan, amplifying questions, and a peer exchange workshop produced conclusions and recommendations in seven topic areas for transportation agencies to consider when getting started using a UAS
Compactifications of Heterotic Theory on Non-Kahler Complex Manifolds: I
We study new compactifications of the SO(32) heterotic string theory on
compact complex non-Kahler manifolds. These manifolds have many interesting
features like fewer moduli, torsional constraints, vanishing Euler character
and vanishing first Chern class, which make the four-dimensional theory
phenomenologically attractive. We take a particular compact example studied
earlier and determine various geometrical properties of it. In particular we
calculate the warp factor and study the sigma model description of strings
propagating on these backgrounds. The anomaly cancellation condition and
enhanced gauge symmetry are shown to arise naturally in this framework, if one
considers the effect of singularities carefully.
We then give a detailed mathematical analysis of these manifolds and
construct a large class of them. The existence of a holomorphic (3,0) form is
important for the construction. We clarify some of the topological properties
of these manifolds and evaluate the Betti numbers. We also determine the
superpotential and argue that the radial modulus of these manifolds can
actually be stabilized.Comment: 75 pages, Harvmac, no figures; v2: Some new results added, typos
corrected and references updated. Final version to appear in JHE
On the Ubiquity of K3 Fibrations in String Duality
We consider the general case of N=2 dual pairs of type IIA/heterotic string
theories in four dimensions. We show that if the type IIA string in this pair
can be viewed as having been compactified on a Calabi-Yau manifold in the usual
way then this manifold must be of the form of a K3 fibration. We also see how
the bound on the rank of the gauge group of the perturbative heterotic string
has a natural interpretation on the type IIA side.Comment: LateX, 16 pages, 1 figure, minor corrections, reference adde
Dicyclic Horizontal Symmetry and Supersymmetric Grand Unification
It is shown how to use as horizontal symmetry the dicyclic group in a supersymmetric unification where
one acts on the first and second families, in a horizontal doublet, and
the other acts on the third. This can lead to acceptable quark masses and
mixings, with an economic choice of matter supermultiplets, and charged lepton
masses can be accommodated.Comment: 10 pages, LaTe
Inflationary solutions in the brane-world and their geometrical interpretation
We consider the cosmology of a pair of domain walls bounding a
five-dimensional bulk space-time with negative cosmological constant, in which
the distance between the branes is not fixed in time. Although there are strong
arguments to suggest that this distance should be stabilized in the present
epoch, no such constraints exist for the early universe and thus non-static
solutions might provide relevant inflationary scenarios. We find the general
solution for the standard ansatz where the bulk is foliated by planar-symmetric
hypersurfaces. We show that in all cases the bulk geometry is that of anti-de
Sitter (AdS_5). We then present a geometrical interpretation for the solutions
as embeddings of two de Sitter (dS_4) surfaces in AdS_5, which provide a simple
interpretation of the physical properties of the solutions. A notable feature
explained in the analysis is that two-way communication between branes
expanding away from one another is possible for a finite amount of time, after
which communication can proceed in one direction only. The geometrical picture
also shows that our class of solutions (and related solutions in the
literature) are not completely general, contrary to some claims. We then derive
the most general solution for two walls in AdS_5. This includes novel
cosmologies where the brane tensions are not constrained to have opposite
signs. The construction naturally generalizes to arbitrary FRW cosmologies on
the branes.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figure
Horizontal Symmetry for Quark and Squark Masses in Supersymmetric SU(5)
Recent interest in horizontal symmetry model building has been driven mainly
by the large top mass and hence strong hierarchy in quark masses, and the
possibility of appropriately constrained soft squark mass matrices, in place of
an assumed universality condition, for satisfying the relevant FCNC
constraints. Here we present the first successful SUSY- model that has
such a feature. The horizontal symmetry is a gauged
(). All nonrenormalizable terms compatible with
the symmetry are allowed in the mass matrix constructions. Charged lepton
masses can also be accommodated.Comment: 15 pages, latex, 1 latex figure included version to be published in
Phys. Rev. Lett. ; some small changes in notations and presentation, a small
paragragh and 3 references adde
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