Efficiency at optimal work from finite reservoirs: a probabilistic perspective

We revisit the classic thermodynamic problem of maximum work extraction from two arbitrary sized hot and cold reservoirs, modelled as perfect gases. Assuming ignorance about the extent to which the process has advanced, which implies an ignorance about the final temperatures, we quantify the prior information about the process and assign a prior distribution to the unknown temperature(s). This requires that we also take into account the temperature values which are regarded to be unphysical in the standard theory, as they lead to a contradiction with the physical laws. Instead in our formulation, such values appear to be consistent with the given prior information and hence are included in the inference. We derive estimates of the efficiency at optimal work from the expected values of the final temperatures, and show that these values match with the exact expressions in the limit when any one of the reservoirs is very large compared to the other. For other relative sizes of the reservoirs, we suggest a weighting procedure over the estimates from two valid inference procedures, that generalizes the procedure suggested earlier in [J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. {\bf 46}, 365002 (2013)]. Thus a mean estimate for efficiency is obtained which agrees with the optimal performance to a high accuracy.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figure

Identification and stochastic control of helicopter dynamic modes

A general treatment of parameter identification and stochastic control for use on helicopter dynamic systems is presented. Rotor dynamic models, including specific applications to rotor blade flapping and the helicopter ground resonance problem are emphasized. Dynamic systems which are governed by periodic coefficients as well as constant coefficient models are addressed. The dynamic systems are modeled by linear state variable equations which are used in the identification and stochastic control formulation. The pure identification problem as well as the stochastic control problem which includes combined identification and control for dynamic systems is addressed. The stochastic control problem includes the effect of parameter uncertainty on the solution and the concept of learning and how this is affected by the control's duel effect. The identification formulation requires algorithms suitable for on line use and thus recursive identification algorithms are considered. The applications presented use the recursive extended kalman filter for parameter identification which has excellent convergence for systems without process noise

Tracking the Tracker from its Passive Sonar ML-PDA Estimates

Target motion analysis with wideband passive sonar has received much attention. Maximum likelihood probabilistic data-association (ML-PDA) represents an asymptotically efficient estimator for deterministic target motion, and is especially well-suited for low-observable targets; the results presented here apply to situations with higher signal to noise ratio as well, including of course the situation of a deterministic target observed via clean measurements without false alarms or missed detections. Here we study the inverse problem, namely, how to identify the observing platform (following a two-leg motion model) from the results of the target estimation process, i.e. the estimated target state and the Fisher information matrix, quantities we assume an eavesdropper might intercept. We tackle the problem and we present observability properties, with supporting simulation results.Comment: To appear in IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic System

A Configurationally-Resolved-Super-Transition-Arrays method for calculation of the spectral absorption coefficient in hot plasmas

A new method, 'Configurationally-Resolved-Super-Transition-Arrays', for calculation of the spectral absorption coefficient in hot plasmas is presented. In the new method, the spectrum of each Super-Transition-Array is evaluated as the Fourier transform of a single Complex Pseudo Partition Function, which represents the exact analytical sum of the contributions of all constituting unresolved transition arrays sharing the same set of one-electron solutions. Thus, in the new method, the spectrum of each Super-Transition-Array is resolved down to the level of the (unresolved) transition arrays. It is shown that the corresponding spectrum, evaluated by the traditional Super-Transition-Arrays (STA) method [A. Bar Shalom, J. Oreg, W.H. Goldstein, D. Shvarts and A. Zigler, Phys. Rev. A 40, 3183 (1989)], is just the coarse grained Gaussian approximation of the Configurationally-Resolved-Super-Transition-Array. A new computer program is presented, capable of evaluating the absorption coefficient by both the new configurationally resolved and the traditional Gaussian Super-Transition-Arrays methods. A numerical example of gold at temperature 1keV and density 0.5 gr/cm^{3}, is presented, demonstrating the simplicity, efficiency and accuracy of the new method

Evaluation of the effect of vibration nonlinearity on convergence behavior of adaptive higher harmonic controllers

Effect of nonlinearity on convergence of the local linear and global linear adaptive controllers is evaluated. A nonlinear helicopter vibration model is selected for the evaluation which has sufficient nonlinearity, including multiple minimum, to assess the vibration reduction capability of the adaptive controllers. The adaptive control algorithms are based upon a linear transfer matrix assumption and the presence of nonlinearity has a significant effect on algorithm behavior. Simulation results are presented which demonstrate the importance of the caution property in the global linear controller. Caution is represented by a time varying rate weighting term in the local linear controller and this improves the algorithm convergence. Nonlinearity in some cases causes Kalman filter divergence. Two forms of the Kalman filter covariance equation are investigated

An investigation of adaptive controllers for helicopter vibration and the development of a new dual controller

An investigation of the properties important for the design of stochastic adaptive controllers for the higher harmonic control of helicopter vibration is presented. Three different model types are considered for the transfer relationship between the helicopter higher harmonic control input and the vibration output: (1) nonlinear; (2) linear with slow time varying coefficients; and (3) linear with constant coefficients. The stochastic controller formulations and solutions are presented for a dual, cautious, and deterministic controller for both linear and nonlinear transfer models. Extensive simulations are performed with the various models and controllers. It is shown that the cautious adaptive controller can sometimes result in unacceptable vibration control. A new second order dual controller is developed which is shown to modify the cautious adaptive controller by adding numerator and denominator correction terms to the cautious control algorithm. The new dual controller is simulated on a simple single-control vibration example and is found to achieve excellent vibration reduction and significantly improves upon the cautious controller

Systematic Approach to IMM Mixing for Unequal Dimension States

The interacting multiple model (IMM) estimator outperforms fixed model filters, e.g. the Kalman filter, in scenarios where the targets have periods of disparate behavior. Key to the good performance and low complexity is the mode mixing. Here we propose a systematic approach to mode mixing when the modes have states of different dimensions. The proposed approach is general and encompasses previously suggested solutions. Different mixing approaches are compared, and the proposed methodology is shown to perform very well

Asymmetric Threat Modeling Using HMMs: Bernoulli Filtering and Detectability Analysis

There is good reason to model an asymmetric threat (a structured action such as a terrorist attack) as an HMM whose observations are cluttered. Within this context, this paper presents two important contributions. The first is a Bernoulli filter that can process cluttered observations and is capable of detecting whether there is an HMM present, and if so, estimate the state of the HMM. The second is an analysis of the problem that, for a given HMM model, is able to make statements regarding the minimum complexity that an HMM would need to involve in order that it be detectable with reasonable fidelity, as well as upper bounds on the level of clutter (expected number of false measurements) and probability of miss of a relevant observation. In a simulation study, the Bernoulli filter is shown to give good performance provided that the probability of observation is larger than the probability of an irrelevant clutter observation. Further, the results show that the longer the delays are between the HMM state transitions, the larger the probability margin must be. The feasibility prediction shows that it is possible to predict the boundary between poor performance and good performance for the Bernoulli filter, i.e., it is possible to predict when the Bernoulli filter will be useful, and when it will not be

Quantum memory for squeezed light

We produce a 600-ns pulse of 1.86-dB squeezed vacuum at 795 nm in an optical parametric amplifier and store it in a rubidium vapor cell for 1 us using electromagnetically induced transparency. The recovered pulse, analyzed using time-domain homodyne tomography, exhibits up to 0.21+-0.04 dB of squeezing. We identify the factors leading to the degradation of squeezing and investigate the phase evolution of the atomic coherence during the storage interval.Comment: To appear in PRL. Changes to version 3: we present a larger data set featuring somewhat less squeezing, but also better statistics and a lower margin of error. Some additional revisions are made in response to the referees' comment

New scalar resonances from sneutrino-Higgs mixing in supersymmetry with small lepton number (R-parity) violation

We consider new s-channel scalar exchanges in top quark and massive gauge-bosons pair production in e+e- collisions, in supersymmetry with a small lepton number violation. We show that a soft bilinear lepton number violating term in the scalar potential which mixes the Higgs and the slepton fields can give rise to a significant scalar resonance enhancement in e+e- -> ZZ, W+W- and in e+e- -> t t(bar). The sneutrino-Higgs mixed state couples to the incoming light leptons through its sneutrino component and to either the top quark or the massive gauge bosons through its Higgs component. Such a scalar resonance in these specific production channels cannot result from trilinear Yukawa-like R-parity violation alone, and may, therefore, stand as strong evidence for the existence of R-parity violating bilinears in the supersymmetric scalar potential. We use the LEP2 measurements of the WW and ZZ cross-sections to place useful constrains on this scenario, and investigate the expectations for the sensitivity of a future linear collider to these signals. We find that signals of these scalar resonances, in particular in top-pair production, are well within the reach of linear colliders in the small lepton number violation scenario.Comment: 22 pages in revtex, 10 figures embadded in the text using epsfi