488 research outputs found
Testing Library Specifications by Verifying Conformance Tests
Abstract. Formal specifications of standard libraries are necessary when statically verifying software that uses those libraries. Library specifications must be both correct, accurately reflecting library behavior, and useful, describing library behavior in sufficient detail to allow static verification of client programs. Specification and verification researchers regularly face the question of whether the library specifications we use are correct and useful, and we have collectively provided no good answers. Over the past few years we have created and refined a software engineering process, which we call the Formal CTD Process (FCTD), to address this problem. Although FCTD is primarily targeted toward those who write Java libraries (or specifications for existing Java libraries) using the Java Modeling Language (JML), its techniques are broadly applicable. The key to FCTD is its novel usage of library conformance test suites. Rather than executing the conformance tests, FCTD uses them to measure the correctness and utility of specifications through static verification. FCTD is beginning to see significant use within the JML community and is the cornerstone process of the JML Spec-a-thons, meetings that bring JML researchers and practitioners together for intensive specification writing sessions. This article describes the Formal CTD Process, its use in small case studies, and its broad application to the standard Java class library.
Extensional flow affecting shear viscosity: experimental evidence and comparison to models
The effect of extensional flow on apparent shear viscosity has never previously been directly measured nor is it often considered. Here, for the first time, through using a novel flow configuration (two-phase shear response under extensional flow), we have directly measured the effect extensional flow has on the apparent shear viscosity of a viscoelastic polymer solution in a controlled and kinematically mixed manner. We show, via a control transient shear experiment, that the apparent shear viscosity of the solution under mixed deformation depends not only on the shear rate but also on the extension rate and their relative direction: shear thinning being enhanced by parallel and reduced by perpendicular extensional flow, respectively. A 62% reduction in apparent viscosity with parallel extension was seen in this work. We then test the ability of the commonly used Giesekus and CarreauâYasuda (incorporating generalized shear rate) models to predict the effect of extension rate on apparent shear viscosity against our data. The Giesekus model was found to predict the correct qualitative behavior under both parallel and perpendicular extensional flow, and depending on the fitting parameters, also provided a loosely quantitative agreement. Conversely, the generalized shear rate description does not capture the qualitative behavior, with the most significant errors occurring for perpendicular extension (i.e., expansion) flows. This work emphasizes the rarely noted shortcomings of the latter approach when used for experimental analysis and engineering design when extensional flows are additionally present
Atomistic Studies of Defect Nucleation during Nanoindentation of Au (001)
Atomistic studies are carried out to investigate the formation and evolution
of defects during nanoindentation of a gold crystal. The results in this
theoretical study complement the experimental investigations [J. D. Kiely and
J. E. Houston, Phys. Rev. B, v57, 12588 (1998)] extremely well. The defects are
produced by a three step mechanism involving nucleation, glide and reaction of
Shockley partials on the {111} slip planes noncoplanar with the indented
surface. We have observed that slip is in the directions along which the
resolved shear stress has reached the critical value of approximately 2 GPa.
The first yield occurs when the shear stresses reach this critical value on all
the {111} planes involved in the formation of the defect. The phenomenon of
strain hardening is observed due to the sessile stair-rods produced by the
zipping of the partials. The dislocation locks produced during the second yield
give rise to permanent deformation after retraction.Comment: 11 pages, 13 figures, submitted to Physical Review
Single Spin Measurement using Single Electron Transistors to Probe Two Electron Systems
We present a method for measuring single spins embedded in a solid by probing
two electron systems with a single electron transistor (SET). Restrictions
imposed by the Pauli Principle on allowed two electron states mean that the
spin state of such systems has a profound impact on the orbital states
(positions) of the electrons, a parameter which SET's are extremely well suited
to measure. We focus on a particular system capable of being fabricated with
current technology: a Te double donor in Si adjacent to a Si/SiO2 interface and
lying directly beneath the SET island electrode, and we outline a measurement
strategy capable of resolving single electron and nuclear spins in this system.
We discuss the limitations of the measurement imposed by spin scattering
arising from fluctuations emanating from the SET and from lattice phonons. We
conclude that measurement of single spins, a necessary requirement for several
proposed quantum computer architectures, is feasible in Si using this strategy.Comment: 22 Pages, 8 Figures; revised version contains updated references and
small textual changes. Submitted to Phys. Rev.
Zeta function method and repulsive Casimir forces for an unusual pair of plates at finite temperature
We apply the generalized zeta function method to compute the Casimir energy
and pressure between an unusual pair of parallel plates at finite temperature,
namely: a perfectly conducting plate and an infinitely permeable one. The high
and low temperature limits of these quantities are discussed; relationships
between high and low temperature limits are estabkished by means of a modified
version of the temperature inversion symmetry.Comment: latex file 9 pages, 3 figure
Gravitational Wave Emission from Galactic Radio Pulsars
We consider in this work continuous gravitational wave (GW) emission from
non-axisymmetric radio pulsars. We treat in some detail the observational
issues related to the known radio pulsar sample with the aim of unveiling the
actual number of sources contributing to GW, which are likely to be the main
contributors of GWs. It is shown that the operation of spheroidal GW detectors
and full-size interferometers could detect this component of the radiation or
impose useful limits on the effective oblateness of young radio pulsars.Comment: 7 pages, RevTex , no figures , to appear in Phys. Rev.
Black Hole Spin via Continuum Fitting and the Role of Spin in Powering Transient Jets
The spins of ten stellar black holes have been measured using the
continuum-fitting method. These black holes are located in two distinct classes
of X-ray binary systems, one that is persistently X-ray bright and another that
is transient. Both the persistent and transient black holes remain for long
periods in a state where their spectra are dominated by a thermal accretion
disk component. The spin of a black hole of known mass and distance can be
measured by fitting this thermal continuum spectrum to the thin-disk model of
Novikov and Thorne; the key fit parameter is the radius of the inner edge of
the black hole's accretion disk. Strong observational and theoretical evidence
links the inner-disk radius to the radius of the innermost stable circular
orbit, which is trivially related to the dimensionless spin parameter a_* of
the black hole (|a_*| < 1). The ten spins that have so far been measured by
this continuum-fitting method range widely from a_* \approx 0 to a_* > 0.95.
The robustness of the method is demonstrated by the dozens or hundreds of
independent and consistent measurements of spin that have been obtained for
several black holes, and through careful consideration of many sources of
systematic error. Among the results discussed is a dichotomy between the
transient and persistent black holes; the latter have higher spins and larger
masses. Also discussed is recently discovered evidence in the transient sources
for a correlation between the power of ballistic jets and black hole spin.Comment: 30 pages. Accepted for publication in Space Science Reviews. Also to
appear in hard cover in the Space Sciences Series of ISSI "The Physics of
Accretion onto Black Holes" (Springer Publisher). Changes to Sections 5.2,
6.1 and 7.4. Section 7.4 responds to Russell et al. 2013 (MNRAS, 431, 405)
who find no evidence for a correlation between the power of ballistic jets
and black hole spi
Measurement of and charged current inclusive cross sections and their ratio with the T2K off-axis near detector
We report a measurement of cross section and the first measurements of the cross section
and their ratio
at (anti-)neutrino energies below 1.5
GeV. We determine the single momentum bin cross section measurements, averaged
over the T2K -flux, for the detector target material (mainly
Carbon, Oxygen, Hydrogen and Copper) with phase space restricted laboratory
frame kinematics of 500 MeV/c. The
results are and $\sigma(\nu)=\left( 2.41\
\pm0.022{\rm{(stat.)}}\pm0.231{\rm (syst.)}\ \right)\times10^{-39}^{2}R\left(\frac{\sigma(\bar{\nu})}{\sigma(\nu)}\right)=
0.373\pm0.012{\rm (stat.)}\pm0.015{\rm (syst.)}$.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figure
Distribution of frogs in riparian areas of an urban forest fragment in Central Amazonia
Relation of Pathways and Transit Times of Recharge Water to Nitrate Concentrations Using Stable Isotopes.
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