174 research outputs found
Physical properties of CO-dark molecular gas traced by C
Neither HI nor CO emission can reveal a significant quantity of so-called
dark gas in the interstellar medium (ISM). It is considered that CO-dark
molecular gas (DMG), the molecular gas with no or weak CO emission, dominates
dark gas. We identified 36 DMG clouds with C emission (data from Galactic
Observations of Terahertz C+ (GOT C+) project) and HINSA features. Based on
uncertainty analysis, optical depth of HI of 1 is a reasonable
value for most clouds. With the assumption of , these clouds
were characterized by excitation temperatures in a range of 20 K to 92 K with a
median value of 55 K and volume densities in the range of
cm to cm with a median value of
cm. The fraction of DMG column density in the cloud ()
decreases with increasing excitation temperature following an empirical
relation +1.0. The relation
between and total hydrogen column density is given by
=. The values of in the
clouds of low extinction group ( mag) are consistent with the
results of the time-dependent, chemical evolutionary model at the age of ~ 10
Myr. Our empirical relation cannot be explained by the chemical evolutionary
model for clouds in the high extinction group ( mag). Compared to
clouds in the low extinction group ( mag), clouds in the high
extinction group ( mag) have comparable volume densities but
excitation temperatures that are 1.5 times lower. Moreover, CO abundances in
clouds of the high extinction group ( mag) are
times smaller than the canonical value in the Milky Way. #[Full version of
abstract is shown in the text.]#Comment: Accepted for publishing in Astronomy & Astrophysics. 13 pages, 8
figure
Micromechanical Prediction Model of Viscoelastic Properties for Asphalt Mastic Based on Morphologically Representative Pattern Approach
This paper is devoted to the introduction of physicochemical, filler size, and distribution effect in micromechanical predictions of the overall viscoelastic properties of asphalt mastic. In order to account for the three effects, the morphologically representative pattern (MRP) approach was employed. The MRP model was improved due to the arduous practical use of equivalent modulus formula solution. Then, a homogeneous morphologically representative model (H-MRP) with the explicit solution was established based on the homogenization theory. Asphalt mastic is regarded as a composite material consisting of filler particles coated structural asphalt and free asphalt considering the physicochemical effect. An additional interphase surrounding particles was introduced in the H-MRP model. Thus, a modified H-MRP model was established. Using the proposed model, a viscoelastic equation was derived to predict the complex modulus and subsequently the dynamic modulus of asphalt mastic based on the elastic-viscoelastic correspondence principle. The dynamic shear rheological tests were conducted to verify the prediction model. The results show that the predicted modulus presents an acceptable precision for asphalt mastic mixed with 10% and 20% fillers volume fraction, as compared to the measured ones. The predicted modulus agrees reasonably well with the measured ones at high frequencies for asphalt mastic mixed with 30% and 40% fillers volume fraction. However, it exhibits underestimated modulus at low frequencies. The reasons for the discrepancy between predicted and measured dynamic shear modulus and the factors affecting the dynamic shear modulus were also explored in the paper
A Regularized Opponent Model with Maximum Entropy Objective
In a single-agent setting, reinforcement learning (RL) tasks can be cast into
an inference problem by introducing a binary random variable o, which stands
for the "optimality". In this paper, we redefine the binary random variable o
in multi-agent setting and formalize multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL)
as probabilistic inference. We derive a variational lower bound of the
likelihood of achieving the optimality and name it as Regularized Opponent
Model with Maximum Entropy Objective (ROMMEO). From ROMMEO, we present a novel
perspective on opponent modeling and show how it can improve the performance of
training agents theoretically and empirically in cooperative games. To optimize
ROMMEO, we first introduce a tabular Q-iteration method ROMMEO-Q with proof of
convergence. We extend the exact algorithm to complex environments by proposing
an approximate version, ROMMEO-AC. We evaluate these two algorithms on the
challenging iterated matrix game and differential game respectively and show
that they can outperform strong MARL baselines.Comment: Accepted to International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence
(IJCA2019
Large-Scale Spectroscopic Mapping of the Ophiuchi Molecular Cloud Complex I. The CH to NH Ratio as a Signpost of Cloud Characteristics
We present 2.5-square-degree CH N=1-0 and NH J=1-0 maps of the
Ophiuchi molecular cloud complex. These are the first large-scale maps
of the Ophiuchi molecular cloud complex with these two tracers. The
CH emission is spatially more extended than the NH emission. One
faint NH clump Oph-M and one CH ring Oph-RingSW are identified
for the first time. The observed CH to NH abundance ratio
([CH]/[NH]) varies between 5 and 110. We modeled the CH
and NH abundances with 1-D chemical models which show a clear decline
of [CH]/[NH] with chemical age. Such an evolutionary trend is
little affected by temperatures when they are below 40 K. At high density
(n 10 cm), however, the time it takes for the abundance
ratio to drop at least one order of magnitude becomes less than the dynamical
time (e.g., turbulence crossing time 10 years). The observed
[CH]/[NH] difference between L1688 and L1689 can be explained by
L1688 having chemically younger gas in relatively less dense regions. The
observed [CH]/[NH] values are the results of time evolution,
accelerated at higher densities. For the relative low density regions in L1688
where only CH emission was detected, the gas should be chemically younger.Comment: Accepted by ApJ, 45 pages, 10 figure
Interpretable Motion Planner for Urban Driving via Hierarchical Imitation Learning
Learning-based approaches have achieved remarkable performance in the domain
of autonomous driving. Leveraging the impressive ability of neural networks and
large amounts of human driving data, complex patterns and rules of driving
behavior can be encoded as a model to benefit the autonomous driving system.
Besides, an increasing number of data-driven works have been studied in the
decision-making and motion planning module. However, the reliability and the
stability of the neural network is still full of uncertainty. In this paper, we
introduce a hierarchical planning architecture including a high-level
grid-based behavior planner and a low-level trajectory planner, which is highly
interpretable and controllable. As the high-level planner is responsible for
finding a consistent route, the low-level planner generates a feasible
trajectory. We evaluate our method both in closed-loop simulation and real
world driving, and demonstrate the neural network planner has outstanding
performance in complex urban autonomous driving scenarios.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures, accepted by IROS202
Evidence of Dark Contents in the Center of NGC 6517
Millisecond pulsars can serve as effective probes to investigate the presence
of Intermediate-mass Black Holes (IMBHs) within Galactic globular clusters
(GCs). Based on the standard structure models for GCs, we conduct simulations
to analyze the distributions of pulsar accelerations within the central region
of NGC 6517. By comparing the measured accelerations of pulsars obtained from
their period derivatives to the simulated distribution profiles, we
demonstrate that a central excess of dark mass is required to account for the
measured accelerations. Our analysis, which relies on existing pulsar timing
observations, is currently unable to differentiate between two possible
scenarios: an IMBH precisely situated at the core of the cluster with mass
, or a central concentration of stellar
mass dark remnants with a comparable total mass. However, with additional
acceleration measurements from a few more pulsars in the cluster, it will be
possible to differentiate the source of the nonluminous matter.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in MNRA
A novel actuator-internal micro/nano positioning stage with an arch-shape bridge type amplifier
This paper presents a novel actuator-internal two degree-of-freedom (2-DOF) micro/nano positioning stage actuated by piezoelectric (PZT) actuators, which can be used as a fine actuation part in dual-stage system. To compensate the positioning error of coarse stage and achieve a large motion stroke, a symmetrical structure with an arch-shape bridge type amplifier based on single notch circular flexure hinges is proposed and utilized in the positioning stage. Due to the compound bridge arm configuration and compact flexure hinge structure, the amplification mechanism can realize high lateral stiffness and compact structure simultaneously, which is of great importance to protect PZT actuators. The amplification mechanism is integrated into the decoupling mechanism to improve compactness, and to produce decoupled motion in X- and Y- axes. An analytical model is established to explore the static and dynamic characteristics, and the geometric parameters are optimized. The performance of the positioning stage is evaluated through finite element analysis (FEA) and experimental test. The results indicate that the stage can implement 2-DOF decoupled motion with a travel range of 55.4×53.2 μm2, and the motion resolution is 8 nm. The stage can be used in probe tip-based micro/nano scratching
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