Spacecraft attitude detection system by stellar reference Patent

Attitude detection system using stellar references for three-axis control and spin stabilized spacecraf

Spatiotemporal complexity of the universe at subhorizon scales

This is a short note on the spatiotemporal complexity of the dynamical state(s) of the universe at subhorizon scales (up to 300 Mpc). There are reasons, based mainly on infrared radiative divergences, to believe that one can encounter a flicker noise in the time domain, while in the space domain, the scaling laws are reflected in the (multi)fractal distribution of galaxies and their clusters. There exist recent suggestions on a unifying treatment of these two aspects within the concept of spatiotemporal complexity of dynamical systems driven out of equilibrium. Spatiotemporal complexity of the subhorizon dynamical state(s) of the universe is a conceptually nice idea and may lead to progress in our understanding of the material structures at large scalesComment: references update

Non-equilibrium dynamics of stochastic point processes with refractoriness

Stochastic point processes with refractoriness appear frequently in the quantitative analysis of physical and biological systems, such as the generation of action potentials by nerve cells, the release and reuptake of vesicles at a synapse, and the counting of particles by detector devices. Here we present an extension of renewal theory to describe ensembles of point processes with time varying input. This is made possible by a representation in terms of occupation numbers of two states: Active and refractory. The dynamics of these occupation numbers follows a distributed delay differential equation. In particular, our theory enables us to uncover the effect of refractoriness on the time-dependent rate of an ensemble of encoding point processes in response to modulation of the input. We present exact solutions that demonstrate generic features, such as stochastic transients and oscillations in the step response as well as resonances, phase jumps and frequency doubling in the transfer of periodic signals. We show that a large class of renewal processes can indeed be regarded as special cases of the model we analyze. Hence our approach represents a widely applicable framework to define and analyze non-stationary renewal processes.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

Quantum Diffusion and Localization in Disordered Electronic Systems

The diffusion of electronic wave packets in one-dimensional systems with on-site, binary disorder is numerically investigated within the framework of a single-band tight-binding model. Fractal properties are incorporated by assuming that the distribution of distances $\ell$ between consecutive impurities obeys a power law, $P(\ell) \sim \ell^{-\alpha}$. For suitable ranges of $\alpha$, one finds system-wide anomalous diffusion. Asymmetric diffusion effects are introduced through the application of an external electric field, leading to results similar to those observed in the case of photogenerated electron-hole plasmas in tilted InP/InGaAs/InP quantum wells.Comment: RevTex4, 6 pages, 6 .eps figures: published versio

Self-Organized Criticality model for Brain Plasticity

Networks of living neurons exhibit an avalanche mode of activity, experimentally found in organotypic cultures. Here we present a model based on self-organized criticality and taking into account brain plasticity, which is able to reproduce the spectrum of electroencephalograms (EEG). The model consists in an electrical network with threshold firing and activity-dependent synapse strenghts. The system exhibits an avalanche activity power law distributed. The analysis of the power spectra of the electrical signal reproduces very robustly the power law behaviour with the exponent 0.8, experimentally measured in EEG spectra. The same value of the exponent is found on small-world lattices and for leaky neurons, indicating that universality holds for a wide class of brain models.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Scaling-violation phenomena and fractality in the human posture control systems

By analyzing the movements of quiet standing persons by means of wavelet statistics, we observe multiple scaling regions in the underlying body dynamics. The use of the wavelet-variance function opens the possibility to relate scaling violations to different modes of posture control. We show that scaling behavior becomes close to perfect, when correctional movements are dominated by the vestibular system.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Integrated random processes exhibiting long tails, finite moments and 1/f spectra

A dynamical model based on a continuous addition of colored shot noises is presented. The resulting process is colored and non-Gaussian. A general expression for the characteristic function of the process is obtained, which, after a scaling assumption, takes on a form that is the basis of the results derived in the rest of the paper. One of these is an expansion for the cumulants, which are all finite, subject to mild conditions on the functions defining the process. This is in contrast with the Levy distribution -which can be obtained from our model in certain limits- which has no finite moments. The evaluation of the power spectrum and the form of the probability density function in the tails of the distribution shows that the model exhibits a 1/f spectrum and long tails in a natural way. A careful analysis of the characteristic function shows that it may be separated into a part representing a Levy processes together with another part representing the deviation of our model from the Levy process. This allows our process to be viewed as a generalization of the Levy process which has finite moments.Comment: Revtex (aps), 15 pages, no figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Ultrametricity and Memory in a Solvable Model of Self-Organized Criticality

Slowly driven dissipative systems may evolve to a critical state where long periods of apparent equilibrium are punctuated by intermittent avalanches of activity. We present a self-organized critical model of punctuated equilibrium behavior in the context of biological evolution, and solve it in the limit that the number of independent traits for each species diverges. We derive an exact equation of motion for the avalanche dynamics from the microscopic rules. In the continuum limit, avalanches propagate via a diffusion equation with a nonlocal, history-dependent potential representing memory. This nonlocal potential gives rise to a non-Gaussian (fat) tail for the subdiffusive spreading of activity. The probability for the activity to spread beyond a distance $r$ in time $s$ decays as $\sqrt{24\over\pi}s^{-3/2}x^{1/3} \exp{[-{3\over 4}x^{1/3}]}$ for $x={r^4\over s} \gg 1$. The potential represents a hierarchy of time scales that is dynamically generated by the ultrametric structure of avalanches, which can be quantified in terms of ``backward'' avalanches. In addition, a number of other correlation functions characterizing the punctuated equilibrium dynamics are determined exactly.Comment: 44 pages, Revtex, (12 ps-figures included

Liquid-liquid equilibrium for monodisperse spherical particles

A system of identical particles interacting through an isotropic potential that allows for two preferred interparticle distances is numerically studied. When the parameters of the interaction potential are adequately chosen, the system exhibits coexistence between two different liquid phases (in addition to the usual liquid-gas coexistence). It is shown that this coexistence can occur at equilibrium, namely, in the region where the liquid is thermodynamically stable.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures. Published versio