25,135 research outputs found
A generalized Schroedinger equation for loop quantum cosmology
A temporally discrete Schroedinger time evolution equation is proposed for
isotropic quantum cosmology coupled to a massless scalar source. The approach
employs dynamically determined intrinsic time and produces the correct
semiclassical limit.Comment: 5 pages, to appear in the Proceedings of the Eleventh Marcel
Grossmann Meetin
MINIVER upgrade for the AVID system. Volume 2: LANMIN input guide
In order to effectively incorporate MINIVER into the AVID system, several changes to MINIVER were made. The thermal conduction options in MINIVER were removed and a new Explicit Interactive Thermal Structures (EXITS) code was developed. Many upgrades to the MINIVER code were made and a new Langley version of MINIVER called LANMIN was created. A user input guide for LANMIN is provided
Costs and Benefits of a WTO Dispute: Philippine Bananas and the Australian Market
Why do governments engage in WTO disputes? What can countries expect to gain from international legal trade battles? This article examines the costs and benefits of the Philippine-Australian dispute regarding Australia's quarantine policy on Philippine fresh fruits and vegetables, a case also of keen interest to a number of countries including those in the European Union, the United States, Canada, Ecuador, Thailand, China, India, and Chile. We find that a host of institutional, political, and economic factors can trigger disputes under strong, yet debatable, expectations over winning a case in the WTO.bananas, cost-benefit analysis, sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures, trade disputes, World Trade Organization, International Relations/Trade,
An Initial study on The Reliability of Power Semiconductor Devices
An initial literature study combined with some basic comparative simulations has been performed on different electricfield modulation techniques and the subsequent reliability issues are reported for power semiconductor devices. An explanation of the most important power device metrics such as the offstate breakdown (BV) and specific on-resistance (RON) will be given, followed by a short overview of some of the electrostatic techniques (fieldplates, RESURF e.g. [1]) used to suppress peak electric fields. Furthermore it will be addressed that the high current operation of these devices results in shifting electric field peaks (Kirk effect [2], [3]) and as such different avalanche behavior, resulting in (gate oxide) reliability issues unlike those of conventional CMOS
Distinguishing Hidden Markov Chains
Hidden Markov Chains (HMCs) are commonly used mathematical models of
probabilistic systems. They are employed in various fields such as speech
recognition, signal processing, and biological sequence analysis. We consider
the problem of distinguishing two given HMCs based on an observation sequence
that one of the HMCs generates. More precisely, given two HMCs and an
observation sequence, a distinguishing algorithm is expected to identify the
HMC that generates the observation sequence. Two HMCs are called
distinguishable if for every there is a distinguishing
algorithm whose error probability is less than . We show that one
can decide in polynomial time whether two HMCs are distinguishable. Further, we
present and analyze two distinguishing algorithms for distinguishable HMCs. The
first algorithm makes a decision after processing a fixed number of
observations, and it exhibits two-sided error. The second algorithm processes
an unbounded number of observations, but the algorithm has only one-sided
error. The error probability, for both algorithms, decays exponentially with
the number of processed observations. We also provide an algorithm for
distinguishing multiple HMCs. Finally, we discuss an application in stochastic
runtime verification.Comment: This is the full version of a LICS'16 pape
Space reactor/Stirling cycle systems for high power lunar application
An analysis is performed to mathematically model a 550 kWe lunar base power supply which uses a SP-100 reactor coupled with Stirling converters. The reactor is placed in an excavation to keep activated coolant in the hole and to allow maintenance of the components outside the hole. Two technology levels are considered. They are 1050 and 1300 K heater head Stirling converts. It is found that for a 1050 K converter the total mass which provided 1000 volts DC at 250 m is 14,366 kg while the 1300 K system mass is 12,104 kg. The radiation area of the 1050 and 1300 K systems are 641 and 356 sq m respectively. Comparisons are made with Brayton and thermionic systems with both near term and advanced technology considered
Optical spectroscopy study on pressure-induced phase transitions in the three-dimensional Dirac semimetal CdAs
We report a room-temperature optical reflectivity study performed on
[112]-oriented CdAs single crystals over a broad energy range under
external pressure up to 10 GPa. The abrupt drop of the band dispersion
parameter (-parameter) and the interruption of the gradual redshift of the
bandgap at 4~GPa confirms the structural phase transition from a
tetragonal to a monoclinic phase in this material. The pressure-induced
increase of the overall optical conductivity at low energies and the continuous
redshift of the high-energy bands indicate that the system evolves towards a
topologically trivial metallic state, although a complete closing of the band
gap could not be observed in the studied pressure range. Furthermore, a
detailed investigation of the low-pressure regime suggests the possible
existence of an intermediate state between 2 and 4~GPa , that might be a
precursor of the structural phase transition or due to the lifted degeneracy of
the Dirac nodes. Several optical parameters show yet another anomaly at 8~GPa,
where low-temperature superconductivity was found in an earlier study.Comment: submitted to PR
Moisture resistance of SU-8 and KMPR as structural material for integrated gaseous detectors
This paper treats the moisture resistance of SU-8 and KMPR, two photoresists considered as structural material in microsystems. Our experiments focus on the moisture resistance of newly developed radiation imaging detectors containing these resists. Since these microsystems will be used unpackaged, they are susceptible to all kinds of environmental conditions. Already after one day of exposure to a humid condition the structural integrity and adhesion of SU-8 structures, measured by a shear test is drastically reduced. KMPR photoresist shows much stronger moisture resistance properties, making it a suitable alternative in our application. © 2008 Elsevier Science. All rights reserved
- …