27,748 research outputs found
High-temperature oxidation and erosion-resistant refractory coatings
Various refractory coating systems were evaluated for rocket nozzle applications by actual rocket test firings. A reference is noted which identifies failure mechanisms and gives results of the firing tests for 18 coating systems. Iridium, iridium-rhenium, and hafnium oxide-zirconium oxide coatings show most promising results
Coorbital Satellites of Saturn: Congenital Formation
Saturn is the only known planet to have coorbital satellite systems. In the
present work we studied the process of mass accretion as a possible mechanism
for coorbital satellites formation. The system considered is composed of
Saturn, a proto-satellite and a cloud of planetesimals distributed in the
coorbital region around a triangular Lagrangian point. The adopted relative
mass for the proto-satellite was 10^-6 of Saturn's mass and for each
planetesimal of the cloud three cases of relative mass were considered, 10^-14,
10^-13 and 10^-12 masses of Saturn. In the simulations each cloud of
planetesimal was composed of 10^3, 5 x 10^3 or 10^4 planetesimals. The results
of the simulations show the formation of coorbital satellites with relative
masses of the same order of those found in the saturnian system (10^-13 -
10^-9). Most of them present horseshoe type orbits, but a significant part is
in tadpole orbit around L_4 or L_5. Therefore, the results indicate that this
is a plausible mechanism for the formation of coorbital satellites.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, 4 table
Preliminary assessment of cognitive impairments in canine idiopathic epilepsy
In humans, epilepsy can induce or accelerate cognitive impairment (CI). There is emerging evidence of CI in dogs with idiopathic epilepsy (IE) from recent epidemiological studies. The aim of our study was to assess CI in dogs with IE using two tests of cognitive dysfunction designed for use in a clinical setting. Dogs with IE (n=17) were compared against controls (n=18) in their performance in two tasks; a spatial working memory task and a problem-solving task. In addition, owners completed the Canine Cognitive Dysfunction Rating (CCDR) scale for their dog. The groups did not differ statistically with respect to age and breed. Dogs with IE performed significantly worse than controls on the spatial working memory task (P=0.016), but not on the problem solving task (P=0.683). CCDR scores were significantly higher in the IE group (P=0.016); however, no dogs reach the recommended threshold score for CCD diagnosis. Our preliminary data suggest that dogs with IE exhibit impairments in a spatial working memory task. Further research is required to explore the effect of IE on other cognitive abilities in dogs with a larger sample, characterising the age of onset, nature and progression of any impairments and the impact of anti-epileptic drugs
Quantum state cloning using Deutschian closed timelike curves
We show that it is possible to clone quantum states to arbitrary accuracy in
the presence of a Deutschian closed timelike curve (D-CTC), with a fidelity
converging to one in the limit as the dimension of the CTC system becomes
large---thus resolving an open conjecture from [Brun et al., Physical Review
Letters 102, 210402 (2009)]. This result follows from a D-CTC-assisted scheme
for producing perfect clones of a quantum state prepared in a known eigenbasis,
and the fact that one can reconstruct an approximation of a quantum state from
empirical estimates of the probabilities of an informationally-complete
measurement. Our results imply more generally that every continuous, but
otherwise arbitrarily non-linear map from states to states can be implemented
to arbitrary accuracy with D-CTCs. Furthermore, our results show that Deutsch's
model for CTCs is in fact a classical model, in the sense that two arbitrary,
distinct density operators are perfectly distinguishable (in the limit of a
large CTC system); hence, in this model quantum mechanics becomes a classical
theory in which each density operator is a distinct point in a classical phase
space.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure; v2: modifications to the interpretation of our
results based on the insightful comments of the referees; v3: minor change,
accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter
Entanglement and coherence in quantum state merging
Understanding the resource consumption in distributed scenarios is one of the
main goals of quantum information theory. A prominent example for such a
scenario is the task of quantum state merging where two parties aim to merge
their parts of a tripartite quantum state. In standard quantum state merging,
entanglement is considered as an expensive resource, while local quantum
operations can be performed at no additional cost. However, recent developments
show that some local operations could be more expensive than others: it is
reasonable to distinguish between local incoherent operations and local
operations which can create coherence. This idea leads us to the task of
incoherent quantum state merging, where one of the parties has free access to
local incoherent operations only. In this case the resources of the process are
quantified by pairs of entanglement and coherence. Here, we develop tools for
studying this process, and apply them to several relevant scenarios. While
quantum state merging can lead to a gain of entanglement, our results imply
that no merging procedure can gain entanglement and coherence at the same time.
We also provide a general lower bound on the entanglement-coherence sum, and
show that the bound is tight for all pure states. Our results also lead to an
incoherent version of Schumacher compression: in this case the compression rate
is equal to the von Neumann entropy of the diagonal elements of the
corresponding quantum state.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure. Lemma 5 in Appendix D of the previous version was
not correct. This did not affect the results of the main tex
Terrestrial Planet Formation in a protoplanetary disk with a local mass depletion: A successful scenario for the formation of Mars
Models of terrestrial planet formation for our solar system have been
successful in producing planets with masses and orbits similar to those of
Venus and Earth. However, these models have generally failed to produce
Mars-sized objects around 1.5 AU. The body that is usually formed around Mars'
semimajor axis is, in general, much more massive than Mars. Only when Jupiter
and Saturn are assumed to have initially very eccentric orbits (e 0.1),
which seems fairly unlikely for the solar system, or alternately, if the
protoplanetary disk is truncated at 1.0 AU, simulations have been able to
produce Mars-like bodies in the correct location. In this paper, we examine an
alternative scenario for the formation of Mars in which a local depletion in
the density of the protosolar nebula results in a non-uniform formation of
planetary embryos and ultimately the formation of Mars-sized planets around 1.5
AU. We have carried out extensive numerical simulations of the formation of
terrestrial planets in such a disk for different scales of the local density
depletion, and for different orbital configurations of the giant planets. Our
simulations point to the possibility of the formation of Mars-sized bodies
around 1.5 AU, specifically when the scale of the disk local mass-depletion is
moderately high (50-75%) and Jupiter and Saturn are initially in their current
orbits. In these systems, Mars-analogs are formed from the protoplanetary
materials that originate in the regions of disk interior or exterior to the
local mass-depletion. Results also indicate that Earth-sized planets can form
around 1 AU with a substantial amount of water accreted via primitive
water-rich planetesimals and planetary embryos. We present the results of our
study and discuss their implications for the formation of terrestrial planets
in our solar system.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa
Stochastic Matrix Product States
The concept of stochastic matrix product states is introduced and a natural
form for the states is derived. This allows to define the analogue of Schmidt
coefficients for steady states of non-equilibrium stochastic processes. We
discuss a new measure for correlations which is analogous to the entanglement
entropy, the entropy cost , and show that this measure quantifies the bond
dimension needed to represent a steady state as a matrix product state. We
illustrate these concepts on the hand of the asymmetric exclusion process
Cycles of construing in radicalization and deradicalization: a study of Salafist Muslims.
© Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.This article explores radicalization and deradicalization by considering the experiences of six young Tunisian people who had become Salafist Muslims. Their responses to narrative interviews and repertory grid technique are considered from a personal construct perspective, revealing processes of construing and reconstruing, as well as relevant aspects of the structure and content of their construct systems. In two cases, their journeys involved not only radicalization but self-deradicalization, and their experiences are drawn on to consider implications for deradicalization.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio
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