The superslow pulsation X-ray pulsars in high mass X-ray binaries

There exists a special class of X-ray pulsars that exhibit very slow pulsation of $P_{\rm spin}>1000$ s in the high mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs). We have studied the temporal and spectral properties of these superslow pulsation neutron star binaries in hard X-ray bands with INTEGRAL observations. Long-term monitoring observations find spin period evolution of two sources: spin-down trend for 4U 2206+54 ($P_{\rm spin}\sim 5560$ s with $\dot{P}_{\rm spin}\sim 4.9\times 10^{-7}$ s s$^{-1}$) and long-term spin-up trend for 2S 0114+65 ($P_{\rm spin}\sim 9600$ s with $\dot{P}_{\rm spin}\sim -1\times 10^{-6}$ s s$^{-1}$) in the last 20 years. A Be X-ray transient, SXP 1062 ($P_{\rm spin}\sim 1062$ s), also showed a fast spin-down rate of $\dot{P}_{\rm spin}\sim 3\times 10^{-6}$ s s$^{-1}$ during an outburst. These superslow pulsation neutron stars cannot be produced in the standard X-ray binary evolution model unless the neutron star has a much stronger surface magnetic field ($B>10^{14}$ G). The physical origin of the superslow spin period is still unclear. The possible origin and evolution channels of the superslow pulsation X-ray pulsars are discussed. Superslow pulsation X-ray pulsars could be younger X-ray binary systems, still in the fast evolution phase preceding the final equilibrium state. Alternatively, they could be a new class of neutron star system $-$ accreting magnetars.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Oral talk for the Proceedings of IAUS 291 "Neutron Stars and Pulsars: Challenges and Opportunities after 80 years", J. van Leeuwen (ed.

Reliable H∞ filtering for discrete time-delay systems with randomly occurred nonlinearities via delay-partitioning method

The official published version can be found at the link below.In this paper, the reliable H∞ filtering problem is investigated for a class of uncertain discrete time-delay systems with randomly occurred nonlinearities (RONs) and sensor failures. RONs are introduced to model a class of sector-like nonlinearities that occur in a probabilistic way according to a Bernoulli distributed white sequence with a known conditional probability. The failures of sensors are quantified by a variable varying in a given interval. The time-varying delay is unknown with given lower and upper bounds. The aim of the addressed reliable H∞ filtering problem is to design a filter such that, for all possible sensor failures, RONs, time-delays as well as admissible parameter uncertainties, the filtering error dynamics is asymptotically mean-square stable and also achieves a prescribed H∞ performance level. Sufficient conditions for the existence of such a filter are obtained by using a new Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional and delay-partitioning technique. The filter gains are characterized in terms of the solution to a set of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). A numerical example is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed design approach

Modeling two-state cooperativity in protein folding

A protein model with the pairwise interaction energies varying as local environment changes, i.e., including some kinds of collective effect between the contacts, is proposed. Lattice Monte Carlo simulations on the thermodynamical characteristics and free energy profile show a well-defined two-state behavior and cooperativity of folding for such a model. As a comparison, related simulations for the usual G\={o} model, where the interaction energies are independent of the local conformations, are also made. Our results indicate that the evolution of interactions during the folding process plays an important role in the two-state cooperativity in protein folding.Comment: 5 figure

Supercritical Nonlinear Schr\"odinger equations: Quasi-Periodic Solutions

We construct time quasi-periodic solutions to the energy supercritical nonlinear Schr\"odinger equations on the torus in arbitrary dimensions. This introduces a new approach, which could have general applicability.Comment: 62 pages; Duke Math. J. (to appear

Low temperature latching solenoid

A magnetically latching solenoid includes a pull-in coil and a delatching coil. Each of the coils is constructed with a combination of wire materials, including material of low temperature coefficient of resistivity to enable the solenoid to be operated at cryogenic temperatures while maintaining sufficient coil resistance. An armature is spring-based toward a first position, that may extend beyond the field of force of a permanent magnet. When voltage is temporarily applied across the pull-in magnet, the induced electromagnetic forces overcome the spring force and pulls the armature to a second position within the field of the permanent magnet, which latches the armature in the pulled-in position. Application of voltage across the delatching coil induces electromagnetic force which at least partially temporarily nullifies the field of the permanent magnet at the armature, thereby delatching the armature and allowing the spring to move the armature to the first position