16,377 research outputs found
Designing a Self-reversing Track Layout with TrackMaster Tracks
This research project sought to find general track formations that allowed battery operated locomotives to traverse the entire train track in both directions infinitely. These formations allowed for any number of track pieces from TrackMaster Thomas and Friends sets by Fisher Price. The research looked at start position of the train and presetting of the switches as well as what is necessary to have a complete track with no dead ends. Surprisingly, there was found to be only one track formation that allowed for entire traversal of the track in both directions. This layout was termed a dog bone and consisted of two switch pieces connected at the ends with the tips of both switches connecting to themselves on the same switch. A proof that this layout is the only layout that satisfies the conditions is given
Prospects for computational steering of evolutionary computation
Currently, evolutionary computation (EC) typically takes place in batch mode: algorithms are run autonomously, with the user providing little or no intervention or guidance. Although it is rarely possible to specify in advance, on the basis of EC theory, the optimal evolutionary algorithm for a particular problem, it seems likely that experienced EC practitioners possess considerable tacit knowledge of how evolutionary algorithms work. In situations such as this, computational steering (ongoing, informed user intervention in the execution of an otherwise autonomous computational process) has been profitably exploited to improve performance and generate insights into computational processes. In this short paper, prospects for the computational steering of evolutionary computation are assessed, and a prototype example of computational steering applied to a coevolutionary algorithm is presented
Quantum data hiding in the presence of noise
When classical or quantum information is broadcast to separate receivers,
there exist codes that encrypt the encoded data such that the receivers cannot
recover it when performing local operations and classical communication, but
they can decode reliably if they bring their systems together and perform a
collective measurement. This phenomenon is known as quantum data hiding and
hitherto has been studied under the assumption that noise does not affect the
encoded systems. With the aim of applying the quantum data hiding effect in
practical scenarios, here we define the data-hiding capacity for hiding
classical information using a quantum channel. Using this notion, we establish
a regularized upper bound on the data hiding capacity of any quantum broadcast
channel, and we prove that coherent-state encodings have a strong limitation on
their data hiding rates. We then prove a lower bound on the data hiding
capacity of channels that map the maximally mixed state to the maximally mixed
state (we call these channels "mictodiactic"---they can be seen as a
generalization of unital channels when the input and output spaces are not
necessarily isomorphic) and argue how to extend this bound to generic channels
and to more than two receivers.Comment: 12 pages, accepted for publication in IEEE Transactions on
Information Theor
Almost Certain Escape from Black Holes
This paper examines how black holes might compute in light of recent models
of the black-hole final state. These models suggest that quantum information
can escape from the black hole by a process akin to teleportation. They require
a specific final state and restrictions on the interaction between the
collapsing matter and the incoming Hawking radiation for quantum information to
escape. This paper shows that for an arbitrary final state and for generic
interactions between matter and Hawking radiation, the quantum information
about how the hole was formed and the results of any computation performed by
the matter inside the hole escapes with fidelity exponentially close to 1.Comment: 9 Pages, Te
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