862 research outputs found
Hyperbolic slicings of spacetime: singularity avoidance and gauge shocks
I study the Bona-Masso family of hyperbolic slicing conditions, considering
in particular its properties when approaching two different types of
singularities: focusing singularities and gauge shocks. For focusing
singularities, I extend the original analysis of Bona et. al and show that both
marginal and strong singularity avoidance can be obtained for certain types of
behavior of the slicing condition as the lapse approaches zero. For the case of
gauge shocks, I re-derive a condition found previously that eliminates them.
Unfortunately, such a condition limits considerably the type of slicings
allowed. However, useful slicing conditions can still be found if one asks for
this condition to be satisfied only approximately. Such less restrictive
conditions include a particular member of the 1+log family, which in the past
has been found empirically to be extremely robust for both Brill wave and black
hole simulations.Comment: 11 pages, revtex4. Change in acknowledgment
Boredom and Distraction in Multiple Unmanned Vehicle Supervisory Control
Operators currently controlling Unmanned Aerial Vehicles report significant boredom, and such systems will likely become more automated in the future. Similar problems are found in process control, commercial aviation, and medical settings. To examine the effect of boredom in such settings, a long
duration low task load experiment was conducted. Three low task load levels requiring operator input every 10, 20, or 30 minutes were tested in a our-hour study using a multiple unmanned vehicle simulation environment that leverages decentralized algorithms for sometimes imperfect vehicle
scheduling. Reaction times to system-generated events generally decreased across the four hours, as did participants’ ability to maintain directed attention. Overall, participants spent almost half of the time in a
distracted state. The top performer spent the majority of time in directed and divided attention states. Unexpectedly, the second-best participant, only 1% worse than the top performer, was distracted almost one third of the experiment, but exhibited a periodic switching strategy, allowing him to pay just enough attention to assist the automation when needed. Indeed, four of the five top performers were distracted more than one-third of the time. These findings suggest that distraction due to boring, low task load
environments can be effectively managed through efficient attention switching. Future work is needed to determine optimal frequency and duration of attention state switches given various exogenous attributes,
as well as individual variability. These findings have implications for the design of and personnel selection for supervisory control systems where operators monitor highly automated systems for long durations with only occasional or rare input.This work was supported by Aurora Flight Sciences under the ONR Science of Autonomy program as well as the Office of Naval Research (ONR) under Code 34 and MURI [grant number N00014-08-C-070]
Gravitational waves from extreme mass-ratio inspirals in Dynamical Chern-Simons gravity
Dynamical Chern-Simons gravity is an interesting extension of General
Relativity, which finds its way in many different contexts, including string
theory, cosmological settings and loop quantum gravity. In this theory, the
gravitational field is coupled to a scalar field by a parity-violating term,
which gives rise to characteristic signatures. Here we investigate how
Chern-Simons gravity would affect the quasi-circular inspiralling of a small,
stellar-mass object into a large non-rotating supermassive black hole, and the
accompanying emission of gravitational and scalar waves. We find the relevant
equations describing the perturbation induced by the small object, and we solve
them through the use of Green's function techniques. Our results show that for
a wide range of coupling parameters, the Chern-Simons coupling gives rise to an
increase in total energy flux, which translates into a fewer number of
gravitational-wave cycles over a certain bandwidth. For space-based
gravitational-wave detectors such as LISA, this effect can be used to constrain
the coupling parameter effectively.Comment: RevTex4, 18 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl
Generic Tracking of Multiple Apparent Horizons with Level Flow
We report the development of the first apparent horizon locator capable of
finding multiple apparent horizons in a ``generic'' numerical black hole
spacetime. We use a level-flow method which, starting from a single arbitrary
initial trial surface, can undergo topology changes as it flows towards
disjoint apparent horizons if they are present. The level flow method has two
advantages: 1) The solution is independent of changes in the initial guess and
2) The solution can have multiple components. We illustrate our method of
locating apparent horizons by tracking horizon components in a short
Kerr-Schild binary black hole grazing collision.Comment: 13 pages including figures, submitted to Phys Rev
Towards a Singularity-Proof Scheme in Numerical Relativity
Progress in numerical relativity has been hindered for 30 years because of
the difficulties of avoiding spacetime singularities in numerical evolution. We
propose a scheme which excises a region inside an apparent horizon containing
the singularity. Two major ingredients of the scheme are the use of a
horizon-locking coordinate and a finite differencing which respects the causal
structure of the spacetime. Encouraging results of the scheme in the spherical
collapse case are given.Comment: 9 page
Generic effective source for scalar self-force calculations
A leading approach to the modelling of extreme mass ratio inspirals involves
the treatment of the smaller mass as a point particle and the computation of a
regularized self-force acting on that particle. In turn, this computation
requires knowledge of the regularized retarded field generated by the particle.
A direct calculation of this regularized field may be achieved by replacing the
point particle with an effective source and solving directly a wave equation
for the regularized field. This has the advantage that all quantities are
finite and require no further regularization. In this work, we present a method
for computing an effective source which is finite and continuous everywhere,
and which is valid for a scalar point particle in arbitrary geodesic motion in
an arbitrary background spacetime. We explain in detail various technical and
practical considerations that underlie its use in several numerical self-force
calculations. We consider as examples the cases of a particle in a circular
orbit about Schwarzschild and Kerr black holes, and also the case of a particle
following a generic time-like geodesic about a highly spinning Kerr black hole.
We provide numerical C code for computing an effective source for various
orbital configurations about Schwarzschild and Kerr black holes.Comment: 24 pages, 7 figures, final published versio
Black Hole--Scalar Field Interactions in Spherical Symmetry
We examine the interactions of a black hole with a massless scalar field
using a coordinate system which extends ingoing Eddington-Finkelstein
coordinates to dynamic spherically symmetric-spacetimes. We avoid problems with
the singularity by excising the region of the black hole interior to the
apparent horizon. We use a second-order finite difference scheme to solve the
equations. The resulting program is stable and convergent and will run forever
without problems. We are able to observe quasi-normal ringing and power-law
tails as well an interesting nonlinear feature.Comment: 16 pages, 26 figures, RevTex, to appear in Phys. Rev.
The Effects of HB1519 Funding on Early Childhood Programs
Includes bibliographical reference.In 1998, the Missouri Legislature created the Early Childhood Care and Education Fund (HB1519). The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Department of Social Services funded a three-year study that evaluated the development and care of children participating in programs across the state that were supported by HB1519 funds compared to children participating in programs that did not receive funding. Program quality was evaluated using the Infant-Toddler Environmental Rating Scale, the Family Daycare Environmental Rating Scale and the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale-Revised. Furthermore, the intellectual abilities of children who attended high quality programs were compared to the abilities of children who attended programs of lower quality using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test and the Woodcock-Johnson Test of Cognitive Abilities.Funded by the Missouri Department of Social Services and the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
From Fatalism to Mitigation: a Conceptual Framework for Mitigating Fetal Programming of Chronic Disease by Maternal Obesity
Prenatal development is recognized as a critical period in the etiology of obesity and cardiometabolic disease. Potential strategies to reduce maternal obesity-induced risk later in life have been largely overlooked. In this paper, we first propose a conceptual framework for the role of public health and preventive medicine in mitigating the effects of fetal programming. Second, we review a small but growing body of research (through August 2015) that examines interactive effects of maternal obesity and two public health foci – diet and physical activity – in the offspring. Results of the review support the hypothesis that diet and physical activity after early life can attenuate disease susceptibility induced by maternal obesity, but human evidence is scant. Based on the review, we identify major gaps relevant for prevention research, such as characterizing the type and dose response of dietary and physical activity exposures that modify the adverse effects of maternal obesity in the offspring. Third, we discuss potential implications of interactions between maternal obesity and postnatal dietary and physical activity exposures for interventions to mitigate maternal obesity-induced risk among children. Our conceptual framework, evidence review, and future research directions offer a platform to develop, test, and implement fetal programming mitigation strategies for the current and future generations of children
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