294 research outputs found
Algebraic damping in the one-dimensional Vlasov equation
We investigate the asymptotic behavior of a perturbation around a spatially
non homogeneous stable stationary state of a one-dimensional Vlasov equation.
Under general hypotheses, after transient exponential Landau damping, a
perturbation evolving according to the linearized Vlasov equation decays
algebraically with the exponent -2 and a well defined frequency. The
theoretical results are successfully tested against numerical -body
simulations, corresponding to the full Vlasov dynamics in the large limit,
in the case of the Hamiltonian mean-field model. For this purpose, we use a
weighted particles code, which allows us to reduce finite size fluctuations and
to observe the asymptotic decay in the -body simulations.Comment: 26 pages, 8 figures; text slightly modified, references added, typos
correcte
Psi-Series Solution of Fractional Ginzburg-Landau Equation
One-dimensional Ginzburg-Landau equations with derivatives of noninteger
order are considered. Using psi-series with fractional powers, the solution of
the fractional Ginzburg-Landau (FGL) equation is derived. The leading-order
behaviours of solutions about an arbitrary singularity, as well as their
resonance structures, have been obtained. It was proved that fractional
equations of order with polynomial nonlinearity of order have the
noninteger power-like behavior of order near the singularity.Comment: LaTeX, 19 pages, 2 figure
Patient-reported outcome measures for cancer caregivers: a systematic review
Purpose
Informal caregivers provide invaluable help and support to people with cancer. As treatments extend survival and the potential burdens on carers increase, there is a need to assess the impact of the role. This systematic review identified instruments that measure the impact of caregiving, evaluated their psychometric performance specifically in cancer and appraised the content.
Methods
A 2-stage search strategy was employed to: 1. identify instruments that measure the impact of caregiving, 2. run individual searches on each measure to identify publications evaluating psychometric performance in the target population. Searches were conducted in Medline, Embase, CINAHL and Psychinfo and restricted to English for instrument used and article language. Psychometric performance was evaluated for content and construct validity, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, precision, responsiveness and acceptability. Individual scale items were extracted and systematically categorised into conceptual domains.
Results
10 papers were included reporting on the psychometric properties of 8 measures. Although construct validity and internal consistency were most frequently evaluated, no study comprehensively evaluated all relevant properties. Few studies met our inclusion criteria so it was not possible to consider the psychometric performance of the measures across a group of studies. Content analysis resulted in 16 domains with 5 overarching themes: lifestyle disruption; wellbeing; health of the caregiver; managing the situation and relationships.
Conclusions
Few measures of caregiver impact have been subject to psychometric evaluation in cancer caregivers. Those that have do not capture well changes in roles and responsibilities within the family and career, indicating the need for a new instrument
Fractional Variations for Dynamical Systems: Hamilton and Lagrange Approaches
Fractional generalization of an exterior derivative for calculus of
variations is defined. The Hamilton and Lagrange approaches are considered.
Fractional Hamilton and Euler-Lagrange equations are derived. Fractional
equations of motion are obtained by fractional variation of Lagrangian and
Hamiltonian that have only integer derivatives.Comment: 21 pages, LaTe
Small BGK waves and nonlinear Landau damping
Consider 1D Vlasov-poisson system with a fixed ion background and periodic
condition on the space variable. First, we show that for general homogeneous
equilibria, within any small neighborhood in the Sobolev space W^{s,p}
(p>1,s<1+(1/p)) of the steady distribution function, there exist nontrivial
travelling wave solutions (BGK waves) with arbitrary minimal period and
traveling speed. This implies that nonlinear Landau damping is not true in
W^{s,p}(s<1+(1/p)) space for any homogeneous equilibria and any spatial period.
Indeed, in W^{s,p} (s<1+(1/p)) neighborhood of any homogeneous state, the long
time dynamics is very rich, including travelling BGK waves, unstable
homogeneous states and their possible invariant manifolds. Second, it is shown
that for homogeneous equilibria satisfying Penrose's linear stability
condition, there exist no nontrivial travelling BGK waves and unstable
homogeneous states in some W^{s,p} (p>1,s>1+(1/p)) neighborhood. Furthermore,
when p=2,we prove that there exist no nontrivial invariant structures in the
H^{s} (s>(3/2)) neighborhood of stable homogeneous states. These results
suggest the long time dynamics in the W^{s,p} (s>1+(1/p)) and particularly, in
the H^{s} (s>(3/2)) neighborhoods of a stable homogeneous state might be
relatively simple. We also demonstrate that linear damping holds for initial
perturbations in very rough spaces, for linearly stable homogeneous state. This
suggests that the contrasting dynamics in W^{s,p} spaces with the critical
power s=1+(1/p) is a trully nonlinear phenomena which can not be traced back to
the linear level
A Racial/Ethnic Performance Disparity on the Facial Recognition Test
The Facial Recognition Test is a widely used psychometric instrument for assessing visuoperceptual functioning. Only two prior studies have examined the effects of race/ethnicity on this test. Given that the United States has become more culturally diverse since the creation of the test, it is important to re-visit the effects of this demographic variable on performance. Participants were 75 males and 75 females between the ages of 18 and 43 years (M = 21.91, SD = 5.33). Racial/ethnic categories utilized by the U.S. Census Bureau were equally represented. No gender differences were observed. The race/ethnicity main effect was significant. The gender x race/ethnicity interaction was not significant. The data revealed a clear racial/ethnic performance disparity on the Facial Recognition Test
Mathematical practice, crowdsourcing, and social machines
The highest level of mathematics has traditionally been seen as a solitary
endeavour, to produce a proof for review and acceptance by research peers.
Mathematics is now at a remarkable inflexion point, with new technology
radically extending the power and limits of individuals. Crowdsourcing pulls
together diverse experts to solve problems; symbolic computation tackles huge
routine calculations; and computers check proofs too long and complicated for
humans to comprehend.
Mathematical practice is an emerging interdisciplinary field which draws on
philosophy and social science to understand how mathematics is produced. Online
mathematical activity provides a novel and rich source of data for empirical
investigation of mathematical practice - for example the community question
answering system {\it mathoverflow} contains around 40,000 mathematical
conversations, and {\it polymath} collaborations provide transcripts of the
process of discovering proofs. Our preliminary investigations have demonstrated
the importance of "soft" aspects such as analogy and creativity, alongside
deduction and proof, in the production of mathematics, and have given us new
ways to think about the roles of people and machines in creating new
mathematical knowledge. We discuss further investigation of these resources and
what it might reveal.
Crowdsourced mathematical activity is an example of a "social machine", a new
paradigm, identified by Berners-Lee, for viewing a combination of people and
computers as a single problem-solving entity, and the subject of major
international research endeavours. We outline a future research agenda for
mathematics social machines, a combination of people, computers, and
mathematical archives to create and apply mathematics, with the potential to
change the way people do mathematics, and to transform the reach, pace, and
impact of mathematics research.Comment: To appear, Springer LNCS, Proceedings of Conferences on Intelligent
Computer Mathematics, CICM 2013, July 2013 Bath, U
Toward a first-principles integrated simulation of tokamak edge plasmas
Performance of the ITER is anticipated to be highly sensitive to the edge plasma condition. The edge pedestal in ITER needs to be predicted from an integrated simulation of the necessary first-principles, multi-scale physics codes. The mission of the SciDAC Fusion Simulation Project (FSP) Prototype Center for Plasma Edge Simulation (CPES) is to deliver such a code integration framework by (1) building new kinetic codes XGC0 and XGC1, which can simulate the edge pedestal buildup; (2) using and improving the existing MHD codes ELITE, M3D-OMP, M3D-MPP and NIMROD, for study of large-scale edge instabilities called Edge Localized Modes (ELMs); and (3) integrating the codes into a framework using cutting-edge computer science technology. Collaborative effort among physics, computer science, and applied mathematics within CPES has created the first working version of the End-to-end Framework for Fusion Integrated Simulation (EFFIS), which can be used to study the pedestal-ELM cycles
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A survey of problems in divertor and edge plasma theory
Theoretical physics problems related to divertor design are presented, organized by the region in which they occur. Some of the open questions in edge physics are presented from a theoretician`s point of view. After a cursory sketch of the fluid models of the edge plasma and their numerical realization, the following topics are taken up: time-dependent problems, non-axisymmetric effects, anomalous transport in the scrape-off layer, edge kinetic theory, sheath effects and boundary conditions in divertors, electric field effects, atomic and molecular data issues, impurity transport in the divertor region, poloidally localized power dissipation (MARFEs and dense gas targets), helium ash removal, and neutral transport. The report ends with a summary of selected problems of particular significance and a brief bibliography of survey articles and related conference proceedings
Responsibility Analysis by Abstract Interpretation
Given a behavior of interest in the program, statically determining the
corresponding responsible entity is a task of critical importance, especially
in program security. Classical static analysis techniques (e.g. dependency
analysis, taint analysis, slicing, etc.) assist programmers in narrowing down
the scope of responsibility, but none of them can explicitly identify the
responsible entity. Meanwhile, the causality analysis is generally not
pertinent for analyzing programs, and the structural equations model (SEM) of
actual causality misses some information inherent in programs, making its
analysis on programs imprecise. In this paper, a novel definition of
responsibility based on the abstraction of event trace semantics is proposed,
which can be applied in program security and other scientific fields. Briefly
speaking, an entity ER is responsible for behavior B, if and only if ER is free
to choose its input value, and such a choice is the first one that ensures the
occurrence of B in the forthcoming execution. Compared to current analysis
methods, the responsibility analysis is more precise. In addition, our
definition of responsibility takes into account the cognizance of the observer,
which, to the best of our knowledge, is a new innovative idea in program
analysis.Comment: This is the extended version (33 pages) of a paper to be appeared in
the Static Analysis Symposium (SAS) 201
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