461 research outputs found
Optical response of a misaligned and suspended Fabry-Perot cavity
The response to a probe laser beam of a suspended, misaligned and detuned
optical cavity is examined. A five degree of freedom model of the fluctuations
of the longitudinal and transverse mirror coordinates is presented. Classical
and quantum mechanical effects of radiation pressure are studied with the help
of the optical stiffness coefficients and the signals provided by an FM
sideband technique and a quadrant detector, for generic values of the product
of the fluctuation frequency times the cavity round trip. A
simplified version is presented for the case of small misalignments. Mechanical
stability, mirror position entanglement and ponderomotive squeezing are
accommodated in this model. Numerical plots refer to cavities under test at the
so-called Pisa LF facility.Comment: 14 pages (4 figures) submitted to Phys. Rev.
A Map-Reduce Parallel Approach to Automatic Synthesis of Control Software
Many Control Systems are indeed Software Based Control Systems, i.e. control
systems whose controller consists of control software running on a
microcontroller device. This motivates investigation on Formal Model Based
Design approaches for automatic synthesis of control software.
Available algorithms and tools (e.g., QKS) may require weeks or even months
of computation to synthesize control software for large-size systems. This
motivates search for parallel algorithms for control software synthesis.
In this paper, we present a Map-Reduce style parallel algorithm for control
software synthesis when the controlled system (plant) is modeled as discrete
time linear hybrid system. Furthermore we present an MPI-based implementation
PQKS of our algorithm. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first parallel
approach for control software synthesis.
We experimentally show effectiveness of PQKS on two classical control
synthesis problems: the inverted pendulum and the multi-input buck DC/DC
converter. Experiments show that PQKS efficiency is above 65%. As an example,
PQKS requires about 16 hours to complete the synthesis of control software for
the pendulum on a cluster with 60 processors, instead of the 25 days needed by
the sequential algorithm in QKS.Comment: To be submitted to TACAS 2013. arXiv admin note: substantial text
overlap with arXiv:1207.4474, arXiv:1207.409
Sliding blocks with random friction and absorbing random walks
With the purpose of explaining recent experimental findings, we study the
distribution of distances traversed by a block that
slides on an inclined plane and stops due to friction. A simple model in which
the friction coefficient is a random function of position is considered.
The problem of finding is equivalent to a First-Passage-Time
problem for a one-dimensional random walk with nonzero drift, whose exact
solution is well-known. From the exact solution of this problem we conclude
that: a) for inclination angles less than \theta_c=\tan(\av{\mu})
the average traversed distance \av{\lambda} is finite, and diverges when
as \av{\lambda} \sim (\theta_c-\theta)^{-1}; b) at
the critical angle a power-law distribution of slidings is obtained:
. Our analytical results are confirmed by
numerical simulation, and are in partial agreement with the reported
experimental results. We discuss the possible reasons for the remaining
discrepancies.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Next to leading order spin-orbit effects in the motion of inspiralling compact binaries
Using effective field theory (EFT) techniques we calculate the
next-to-leading order (NLO) spin-orbit contributions to the gravitational
potential of inspiralling compact binaries. We use the covariant spin
supplementarity condition (SSC), and explicitly prove the equivalence with
previous results by Faye et al. in arXiv:gr-qc/0605139. We also show that the
direct application of the Newton-Wigner SSC at the level of the action leads to
the correct dynamics using a canonical (Dirac) algebra. This paper then
completes the calculation of the necessary spin dynamics within the EFT
formalism that will be used in a separate paper to compute the spin
contributions to the energy flux and phase evolution to NLO.Comment: 25 pages, 4 figures, revtex4. v2: minor changes, refs. added. To
appear in Class. Quant. Gra
Thermodynamic Description of the Relaxation of Two-Dimensional Euler Turbulence Using Tsallis Statistics
Euler turbulence has been experimentally observed to relax to a
metaequilibrium state that does not maximize the Boltzmann entropy, but rather
seems to minimize enstrophy. We show that a recent generalization of
thermodynamics and statistics due to Tsallis is capable of explaining this
phenomenon in a natural way. The maximization of the generalized entropy
for this system leads to precisely the same profiles predicted by the
Restricted Minimum Enstrophy theory of Huang and Driscoll. This makes possible
the construction of a comprehensive thermodynamic description of Euler
turbulence.Comment: 15 pages, RevTe
Comparison of the Electronic Structures and Energetics of Ferroelectric LiNbO3 and LiTaO3
This paper explains the origin of the ferroelectric instability in LiNbO3 and
LiTaO3 and compares the electronic structures and energetics of the two
materials.Comment: 31 pages, 11 Postscript figure
Block length-dependent protein fouling on Poly(2-oxazoline)-based polymersomes: influence on macrophage association and circulation behavior
Polymersomes are vesicular structures self-assembled from amphiphilic block copolymers and are considered an alternative to liposomes for applications in drug delivery, immunotherapy, biosensing, and as nanoreactors and artificial organelles. However, the limited availability of systematic stability, protein fouling (protein corona formation), and blood circulation studies hampers their clinical translation. Poly(2-oxazoline)s (POx) are valuable antifouling hydrophilic polymers that can replace the current gold-standard, poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), yet investigations of POx functionality on nanoparticles are relatively sparse. Herein, a systematic study is reported of the structural, dynamic and antifouling properties of polymersomes made of poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline)-block-poly(dimethylsiloxane)-block-poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline) (PMOXA-b-PDMS-b-PMOXA). The study relates in vitro antifouling performance of the polymersomes to atomistic molecular dynamics simulations of polymersome membrane hydration behavior. These observations support the experimentally demonstrated benefit of maximizing the length of PMOXA (degree of polymerization (DP) > 6) while keeping PDMS at a minimal length that still provides sufficient membrane stability (DP > 19). In vitro macrophage association and in vivo blood circulation evaluation of polymersomes in zebrafish embryos corroborate these findings. They further suggest that single copolymer presentation on polymersomes is outperformed by blends of varied copolymer lengths. This study helps to rationalize design rules for stable and low-fouling polymersomes for future medical applications
Vector coherent state representations, induced representations, and geometric quantization: I. Scalar coherent state representations
Coherent state theory is shown to reproduce three categories of
representations of the spectrum generating algebra for an algebraic model: (i)
classical realizations which are the starting point for geometric quantization;
(ii) induced unitary representations corresponding to prequantization; and
(iii) irreducible unitary representations obtained in geometric quantization by
choice of a polarization. These representations establish an intimate relation
between coherent state theory and geometric quantization in the context of
induced representations.Comment: 29 pages, part 1 of two papers, published versio
Measurement and application of electron stripping of ultrarelativistic
New measurements of the stripping cross-section for ultrarelativistic
hydrogen-like lead ions passing through aluminium and silicon have been
performed at the Advanced Wakefield experiment at CERN. Agreement with existing
measurements and theory has been obtained. Improvements in terms of electron
beam quality and ion beam diagnostic capability, as well as further
applications of such an electron beam, are discussed
Coal Home Heating and Environmental Tobacco Smoke in Relation to Lower Respiratory Illness in Czech Children, from Birth to 3 Years of Age
OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate how indoor pollution from tobacco and home heating may adversely affect respiratory health in young children. DESIGN: A birth cohort was followed longitudinally for 3 years to determine incidence of lower respiratory illness (LRI). PARTICIPANTS: A total of 452 children born 1994â1996 in two districts in the Czech Republic participated. EVALUATIONS: Indoor combustion exposures were home heating and cooking fuel, motherâs smoking during pregnancy, and other adult smokers in the household. Diagnoses of LRI (primarily acute bronchitis) from birth to 3 years of age were abstracted from pediatric records. Questionnaires completed at delivery and at 3-year follow-up provided covariate information. LRI incidence rates were modeled with generalized linear models adjusting for repeated measures and for numerous potential confounders. RESULTS: LRI diagnoses occurred more frequently in children from homes heated by coal [vs. other energy sources or distant furnaces; rate ratio (RR) = 1.45; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.07â1.97]. Maternal prenatal smoking and other adult smokers also increased LRI rates (respectively: RR = 1.48; 95% CI, 1.10â2.01; and RR = 1.29; 95% CI, 1.01â1.65). Cooking fuels (primarily electricity, natural gas, or propane) were not associated with LRI incidence. For children never breast-fed, coal home heating and motherâs smoking conferred substantially greater risks: RR = 2.77 (95% CI, 1.45â5.27) and RR = 2.52 (95% CI, 1.31â4.85), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal smoking and coal home heating increased risk for LRI in the first 3 years of life, particularly in children not breast-fed. RELEVANCE: Few studies have described effects of coal heating fuel on childrenâs health in a Western country. Breast-feeding may attenuate adverse effects of prenatal and childhood exposures to combustion products
- âŠ