4,191 research outputs found
Design of helicopter rotors to noise constraints
Results of the initial phase of a research project to study the design constraints on helicopter noise are presented. These include the calculation of nonimpulsive rotor harmonic and broadband hover noise spectra, over a wide range of rotor design variables and the sensitivity of perceived noise level (PNL) to changes in rotor design parameters. The prediction methodology used correlated well with measured whirl tower data. Application of the predictions to variations in rotor design showed tip speed and thrust as having the most effect on changing PNL
Random trees between two walls: Exact partition function
We derive the exact partition function for a discrete model of random trees
embedded in a one-dimensional space. These trees have vertices labeled by
integers representing their position in the target space, with the SOS
constraint that adjacent vertices have labels differing by +1 or -1. A
non-trivial partition function is obtained whenever the target space is bounded
by walls. We concentrate on the two cases where the target space is (i) the
half-line bounded by a wall at the origin or (ii) a segment bounded by two
walls at a finite distance. The general solution has a soliton-like structure
involving elliptic functions. We derive the corresponding continuum scaling
limit which takes the remarkable form of the Weierstrass p-function with
constrained periods. These results are used to analyze the probability for an
evolving population spreading in one dimension to attain the boundary of a
given domain with the geometry of the target (i) or (ii). They also translate,
via suitable bijections, into generating functions for bounded planar graphs.Comment: 25 pages, 7 figures, tex, harvmac, epsf; accepted version; main
modifications in Sect. 5-6 and conclusio
Directed force chain networks and stress response in static granular materials
A theory of stress fields in two-dimensional granular materials based on
directed force chain networks is presented. A general equation for the
densities of force chains in different directions is proposed and a complete
solution is obtained for a special case in which chains lie along a discrete
set of directions. The analysis and results demonstrate the necessity of
including nonlinear terms in the equation. A line of nontrivial fixed point
solutions is shown to govern the properties of large systems. In the vicinity
of a generic fixed point, the response to a localized load shows a crossover
from a single, centered peak at intermediate depths to two propagating peaks at
large depths that broaden diffusively.Comment: 18 pages, 12 figures. Minor corrections to one figur
Integrability of graph combinatorics via random walks and heaps of dimers
We investigate the integrability of the discrete non-linear equation
governing the dependence on geodesic distance of planar graphs with inner
vertices of even valences. This equation follows from a bijection between
graphs and blossom trees and is expressed in terms of generating functions for
random walks. We construct explicitly an infinite set of conserved quantities
for this equation, also involving suitable combinations of random walk
generating functions. The proof of their conservation, i.e. their eventual
independence on the geodesic distance, relies on the connection between random
walks and heaps of dimers. The values of the conserved quantities are
identified with generating functions for graphs with fixed numbers of external
legs. Alternative equivalent choices for the set of conserved quantities are
also discussed and some applications are presented.Comment: 38 pages, 15 figures, uses epsf, lanlmac and hyperbasic
Human Like Adaptation of Force and Impedance in Stable and Unstable Tasks
Abstract—This paper presents a novel human-like learning con-troller to interact with unknown environments. Strictly derived from the minimization of instability, motion error, and effort, the controller compensates for the disturbance in the environment in interaction tasks by adapting feedforward force and impedance. In contrast with conventional learning controllers, the new controller can deal with unstable situations that are typical of tool use and gradually acquire a desired stability margin. Simulations show that this controller is a good model of human motor adaptation. Robotic implementations further demonstrate its capabilities to optimally adapt interaction with dynamic environments and humans in joint torque controlled robots and variable impedance actuators, with-out requiring interaction force sensing. Index Terms—Feedforward force, human motor control, impedance, robotic control. I
Confluence of geodesic paths and separating loops in large planar quadrangulations
We consider planar quadrangulations with three marked vertices and discuss
the geometry of triangles made of three geodesic paths joining them. We also
study the geometry of minimal separating loops, i.e. paths of minimal length
among all closed paths passing by one of the three vertices and separating the
two others in the quadrangulation. We concentrate on the universal scaling
limit of large quadrangulations, also known as the Brownian map, where pairs of
geodesic paths or minimal separating loops have common parts of non-zero
macroscopic length. This is the phenomenon of confluence, which distinguishes
the geometry of random quadrangulations from that of smooth surfaces. We
characterize the universal probability distribution for the lengths of these
common parts.Comment: 48 pages, 33 color figures. Final version, with one concluding
paragraph and one reference added, and several other small correction
Distance statistics in quadrangulations with a boundary, or with a self-avoiding loop
We consider quadrangulations with a boundary and derive explicit expressions
for the generating functions of these maps with either a marked vertex at a
prescribed distance from the boundary, or two boundary vertices at a prescribed
mutual distance in the map. For large maps, this yields explicit formulas for
the bulk-boundary and boundary-boundary correlators in the various encountered
scaling regimes: a small boundary, a dense boundary and a critical boundary
regime. The critical boundary regime is characterized by a one-parameter family
of scaling functions interpolating between the Brownian map and the Brownian
Continuum Random Tree. We discuss the cases of both generic and self-avoiding
boundaries, which are shown to share the same universal scaling limit. We
finally address the question of the bulk-loop distance statistics in the
context of planar quadrangulations equipped with a self-avoiding loop. Here
again, a new family of scaling functions describing critical loops is
discovered.Comment: 55 pages, 14 figures, final version with minor correction
Distance statistics in large toroidal maps
We compute a number of distance-dependent universal scaling functions
characterizing the distance statistics of large maps of genus one. In
particular, we obtain explicitly the probability distribution for the length of
the shortest non-contractible loop passing via a random point in the map, and
that for the distance between two random points. Our results are derived in the
context of bipartite toroidal quadrangulations, using their coding by
well-labeled 1-trees, which are maps of genus one with a single face and
appropriate integer vertex labels. Within this framework, the distributions
above are simply obtained as scaling limits of appropriate generating functions
for well-labeled 1-trees, all expressible in terms of a small number of basic
scaling functions for well-labeled plane trees.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figures, minor corrections, new added reference
Numerical Simulations of Dynamos Generated in Spherical Couette Flows
We numerically investigate the efficiency of a spherical Couette flow at
generating a self-sustained magnetic field. No dynamo action occurs for
axisymmetric flow while we always found a dynamo when non-axisymmetric
hydrodynamical instabilities are excited. Without rotation of the outer sphere,
typical critical magnetic Reynolds numbers are of the order of a few
thousands. They increase as the mechanical forcing imposed by the inner core on
the flow increases (Reynolds number ). Namely, no dynamo is found if the
magnetic Prandtl number is less than a critical value .
Oscillating quadrupolar dynamos are present in the vicinity of the dynamo
onset. Saturated magnetic fields obtained in supercritical regimes (either
or ) correspond to the equipartition between magnetic and
kinetic energies. A global rotation of the system (Ekman numbers ) yields to a slight decrease (factor 2) of the critical magnetic
Prandtl number, but we find a peculiar regime where dynamo action may be
obtained for relatively low magnetic Reynolds numbers (). In this
dynamical regime (Rossby number , spheres in opposite direction) at
a moderate Ekman number (), a enhanced shear layer around the inner
core might explain the decrease of the dynamo threshold. For lower
() this internal shear layer becomes unstable, leading to small
scales fluctuations, and the favorable dynamo regime is lost. We also model the
effect of ferromagnetic boundary conditions. Their presence have only a small
impact on the dynamo onset but clearly enhance the saturated magnetic field in
the ferromagnetic parts. Implications for experimental studies are discussed
Combinatorics of bicubic maps with hard particles
We present a purely combinatorial solution of the problem of enumerating
planar bicubic maps with hard particles. This is done by use of a bijection
with a particular class of blossom trees with particles, obtained by an
appropriate cutting of the maps. Although these trees have no simple local
characterization, we prove that their enumeration may be performed upon
introducing a larger class of "admissible" trees with possibly doubly-occupied
edges and summing them with appropriate signed weights. The proof relies on an
extension of the cutting procedure allowing for the presence on the maps of
special non-sectile edges. The admissible trees are characterized by simple
local rules, allowing eventually for an exact enumeration of planar bicubic
maps with hard particles. We also discuss generalizations for maps with
particles subject to more general exclusion rules and show how to re-derive the
enumeration of quartic maps with Ising spins in the present framework of
admissible trees. We finally comment on a possible interpretation in terms of
branching processes.Comment: 41 pages, 19 figures, tex, lanlmac, hyperbasics, epsf. Introduction
and discussion/conclusion extended, minor corrections, references adde
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