435 research outputs found
Do You See What Eyes See? Implementing Inattentional Blindness
This paper presents a computational model of visual attention incorporating a cognitive imperfection known as inattentional blindness. We begin by presenting four factors that determine successful attention allocation: conspicuity, mental workload, expectation and capacity. We then propose a framework to study the effects of those factors on an unexpected object and conduct an experiment to measure the corresponding subjective awareness level. Finally, we discuss the application of a visual attention model for conversational agents
Theory and computation of covariant Lyapunov vectors
Lyapunov exponents are well-known characteristic numbers that describe growth
rates of perturbations applied to a trajectory of a dynamical system in
different state space directions. Covariant (or characteristic) Lyapunov
vectors indicate these directions. Though the concept of these vectors has been
known for a long time, they became practically computable only recently due to
algorithms suggested by Ginelli et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 2007, 130601] and
by Wolfe and Samelson [Tellus 59A, 2007, 355]. In view of the great interest in
covariant Lyapunov vectors and their wide range of potential applications, in
this article we summarize the available information related to Lyapunov vectors
and provide a detailed explanation of both the theoretical basics and numerical
algorithms. We introduce the notion of adjoint covariant Lyapunov vectors. The
angles between these vectors and the original covariant vectors are
norm-independent and can be considered as characteristic numbers. Moreover, we
present and study in detail an improved approach for computing covariant
Lyapunov vectors. Also we describe, how one can test for hyperbolicity of
chaotic dynamics without explicitly computing covariant vectors.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figure
Magnetic fields in cosmic particle acceleration sources
We review here some magnetic phenomena in astrophysical particle accelerators
associated with collisionless shocks in supernova remnants, radio galaxies and
clusters of galaxies. A specific feature is that the accelerated particles can
play an important role in magnetic field evolution in the objects. We discuss a
number of CR-driven, magnetic field amplification processes that are likely to
operate when diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) becomes efficient and
nonlinear. The turbulent magnetic fields produced by these processes determine
the maximum energies of accelerated particles and result in specific features
in the observed photon radiation of the sources. Equally important, magnetic
field amplification by the CR currents and pressure anisotropies may affect the
shocked gas temperatures and compression, both in the shock precursor and in
the downstream flow, if the shock is an efficient CR accelerator. Strong
fluctuations of the magnetic field on scales above the radiation formation
length in the shock vicinity result in intermittent structures observable in
synchrotron emission images. Resonant and non-resonant CR streaming
instabilities in the shock precursor can generate mesoscale magnetic fields
with scale-sizes comparable to supernova remnants and even superbubbles. This
opens the possibility that magnetic fields in the earliest galaxies were
produced by the first generation Population III supernova remnants and by
clustered supernovae in star forming regions.Comment: 30 pages, Space Science Review
The PHENIX Experiment at RHIC
The physics emphases of the PHENIX collaboration and the design and current
status of the PHENIX detector are discussed. The plan of the collaboration for
making the most effective use of the available luminosity in the first years of
RHIC operation is also presented.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure. Further details of the PHENIX physics program
available at http://www.rhic.bnl.gov/phenix
Review debate: we need human rights not nationalism 'lite': globalization and British solidarity
The article explores the relationship of multiculturalism to social solidarity. The multicultural nature of Britain is accepted as a welcome reality but certain problems in relation to the development of multiculturalism in Britain are acknowledged. Various approaches to buttress or replace multiculturalism are reviewed. These are: a strengthened and/or reconstituted nationalism (`Britishness'); human rights; and social equality. The issue of citizenship recurs throughout. It is argued that a combined emphasis on human rights and greater social equality offer a better basis than nationalism for strengthening solidarity in Britain, especially in the longer term. Sociological theory offers a fruitful if strangely neglected starting point for understanding social solidarity. I draw critically on Durkheim and Marx to obtain some objective perspective on this controversial matter. Copyright 2007 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution
Measurements of branching fraction ratios and CP-asymmetries in suppressed B^- -> D(-> K^+ pi^-)K^- and B^- -> D(-> K^+ pi^-)pi^- decays
We report the first reconstruction in hadron collisions of the suppressed
decays B^- -> D(-> K^+ pi^-)K^- and B^- -> D(-> K^+ pi^-)pi^-, sensitive to the
CKM phase gamma, using data from 7 fb^-1 of integrated luminosity collected by
the CDF II detector at the Tevatron collider. We reconstruct a signal for the
B^- -> D(-> K^+ pi^-)K^- suppressed mode with a significance of 3.2 standard
deviations, and measure the ratios of the suppressed to favored branching
fractions R(K) = [22.0 \pm 8.6(stat)\pm 2.6(syst)]\times 10^-3, R^+(K) =
[42.6\pm 13.7(stat)\pm 2.8(syst)]\times 10^-3, R^-(K)= [3.8\pm 10.3(stat)\pm
2.7(syst]\times 10^-3, as well as the direct CP-violating asymmetry A(K) =
-0.82\pm 0.44(stat)\pm 0.09(syst) of this mode. Corresponding quantities for
B^- -> D(-> K^+ pi^-)pi^- decay are also reported.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure, accepted by Phys.Rev.D Rapid Communications for
Publicatio
On the Holographic RG-flow and the Low-energy, Strong Coupling, Large N Limit
From the AdS/CFT correspondence, we learn that the classical evolution of
supergravity in the bulk can be reduced to a RG-flow equation for the dual
low-energy, strongly coupled and large N gauge theory on the boundary. This
result has been used to obtain interesting relations between the various terms
in the gravitational part of the boundary effective action, in particular the
term that affect the cosmological constant. It is found that once the
cosmological constant is cancelled in the UV theory, the RG-flow symmetry of
the boundary effective action automatically implies the existence of zero
cosmological constant solutions that extend all the way into the IR. Given the
standard (and well founded) contradiction between the RG-flow idea and the
observational evidence of a small cosmological constant, this is considered to
be an important progress, albeit incomplete, towards the final solution.
Motivated by this success, it would be interesting to see whether this
RG-stability extends outside the scope of strong 't Hooft coupling and large N
regime that are implicitly assumed in the de Boer-Verlinde-Verlinde
Hamilton-Jacobi formulation of the holographic RG-flow equations of the
boundary theory. In this paper, we address this question. Taking into account
the leading order corrections in the 1/N and parameters, we
derive new bulk/boundary relations, from which one can read all the local terms
in the boundary effective action. Next, we use the resulting constraints, to
examine whether the RG-stability of the cosmological constant extends to the
new coupling regime. It would be also interesting to use these constraints to
study the Randall-Sundrum scenario in this case.Comment: 27 pages, LateX, no figures, minor changes, typos corrected and added
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