13,183 research outputs found
Behaviour of compacted silt used to construct flood embankment
This paper investigates the unsaturated mechanical behaviour of a fill material sampled from flood embankments located along the Bengawan Solo River in Indonesia. In order to gain a better understanding of this fill material, in situ tests were carried out alongside an extensive laboratory programme. Two different phenomena related to changes in moisture content of the embankment fill material are experimentally studied herein: (a) volumetric collapse and (b) variation in shear strength with suction. At low densities, similar to those found in situ, the material exhibited significant volumetric collapse behaviour. Triaxial tests carried out under saturated, suction-controlled and constant water content conditions indicate that the shear strength of the material increased with suction; in particular the effective angle of friction increased from 24.9 degrees under saturated conditions to 35.8 degrees under air-dried conditions
Simple quantum model for light depolarization
Depolarization of quantum fields is handled through a master equation of the
Lindblad type. The specific feature of the proposed model is that it couples
dispersively the field modes to a randomly distributed atomic reservoir, much
in the classical spirit of dealing with this problem. The depolarizing dynamics
resulting from this model is analyzed for relevant states.Comment: Improved version. Accepted for publication in the Journal of the
Optical Society of America
Superconducting Vortex Lattices for Ultracold Atoms
We propose and analyze a nanoengineered vortex array in a thin-film type-II
superconductor as a magnetic lattice for ultracold atoms. This proposal
addresses several of the key questions in the development of atomic quantum
simulators. By trapping atoms close to the surface, tools of nanofabrication
and structuring of lattices on the scale of few tens of nanometers become
available with a corresponding benefit in energy scales and temperature
requirements. This can be combined with the possibility of magnetic single site
addressing and manipulation together with a favorable scaling of
superconducting surface-induced decoherence.Comment: Published Version. Manuscript: 5 pages, 3 figures. Supplementary
Information: 11 pages, 7 figure
Discrete phase-space structure of -qubit mutually unbiased bases
We work out the phase-space structure for a system of qubits. We replace
the field of real numbers that label the axes of the continuous phase space by
the finite field \Gal{2^n} and investigate the geometrical structures
compatible with the notion of unbiasedness. These consist of bundles of
discrete curves intersecting only at the origin and satisfying certain
additional properties. We provide a simple classification of such curves and
study in detail the four- and eight-dimensional cases, analyzing also the
effect of local transformations. In this way, we provide a comprehensive
phase-space approach to the construction of mutually unbiased bases for
qubits.Comment: Title changed. Improved version. Accepted for publication in Annals
of Physic
The Impact of Reducing the Pension Generosity on Inequality and Schooling
We investigate the impact of a reduction in the pension replacement rate on the schooling choice and on inequality in an overlapping generations model in which individuals differ by their life expectancy and in their cost of attending schooling. Within our framework we illustrate that many pension systems are ex ante regressive due to the difference in life expectancy across skill groups. We then derive the level of progressivity that needs to be implemented to restore an equal treatment of the pension system across skill groups
An X-ray study of the SNR G344.7-0.1 and the central object CXOU J170357.8-414302
Aims. We report results of an X-ray study of the supernova remnant (SNR)
G344.7-0.1 and the point-like X-ray source located at the geometrical center of
the SNR radio structure. Methods. The morphology and spectral properties of the
remnant and the central X-ray point-like source were studied using data from
the XMM-Newton and Chandra satellites. Archival radio data and infrared Spitzer
observations at 8 and 24 m were used to compare and study its multi-band
properties at different wavelengths. Results. The XMM-Newton and Chandra
observations reveal that the overall X-ray emission of G344.7-0.1 is extended
and correlates very well with regions of bright radio and infrared emission.
The X-ray spectrum is dominated by prominent atomic emission lines. These
characteristics suggest that the X-ray emission originated in a thin thermal
plasma, whose radiation is represented well by a plane-parallel shock plasma
model (PSHOCK). Our study favors the scenario in which G344.7-0.1 is a 6 x 10^3
year old SNR expanding in a medium with a high density gradient and is most
likely encountering a molecular cloud on the western side. In addition, we
report the discovery of a soft point-like X-ray source located at the
geometrical center of the radio SNR structure. The object presents some
characteristics of the so-called compact central objects (CCO). However, its
neutral hydrogen absorption column (N_{H}) is inconsistent with that of the
SNR. Coincident with the position of the source, we found infrared and optical
objects with typical early-K star characteristics. The X-ray source may be a
foreground star or the CCO associated with the SNR. If this latter possibility
were confirmed, the point-like source would be the farthest CCO detected so far
and the eighth member of the new population of isolated and weakly magnetized
neutron stars.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysics. Higher resolution figures can be seen on A&
Axion dark matter in a 3-3-1 model
FAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULOCAPES - COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL E NÍVEL SUPERIORSlightly extending a right-handed neutrino version of the 3 - 3 - 1 model, we show that it is not only possible to solve the strong CP problem but also to give the total dark matter abundance reported by the Planck collaboration. Specifically, we consider the possibility of introducing a 3 - 3 - 1 scalar singlet to implement a gravity stable Peccei-Quinn mechanism in this model. Remarkably, for allowed regions of the parameter space, the arising axions with masses m(a) approximate to meV can both make up the total dark matter relic density through nonthermal production mechanisms and be very close to the region to be explored by the IAXO helioscope.976112FAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULOCAPES - COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL E NÍVEL SUPERIORFAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULOCAPES - COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL E NÍVEL SUPERIOR2014/19164-6Sem informaçã
"Security Model for a Central Bank in Latin America using Blockchain"
"Banking institutions in Latin America are the target of increasingly sophisticated and advanced
cyber-attacks and threats, which increase every year and leave substantial economic losses, due to
the high level of global interconnection and digitization of their operations. The objective of this
work is to design a model to guarantee information security in a Central Bank in Latin America
using Blockchain technology. Exploratory research, observation and inductive and deductive
methods are used to propose Blockchain solutions in a Central Bank. The results are a model for
secure transactions in Blockchain, Smart Contract functions and a data management process. It was
concluded that the security model for a central bank provides high level of information management
and storage of transactions in a secure and immutable way.
Partial Product Reduction based on Look-Up Tables
In this paper a new technique for partial product reduction based on the use of look-up tables for efficient processing is presented. We describe how to construct counter devices with pre-calculated data and their subsequent integration into the whole operation. The development of reduction trees organizations for this kind of devices uses the inherent integration benefits of computer memories and offers an alternative implementation to classic operation methods. Therefore, in our experiments we compare our implementation model with CMOS technology model in homogeneous terms
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