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At least 163 records · Page 9

Higher-Order Neural Networks Applied to 2D and 3D Object Recognition

A Higher-Order Neural Network (HONN) can be designed to be invariant to geometric transformations such as scale, translation, and in-plane rotation. Invariances are built directly into the architecture of a HONN and do not need to be learned. Thus, for 2D object recognition, the network needs to be trained on just one view of each object class, not numerous scaled, translated, and rotated views. Because the 2D object recognition task is a component of the 3D object recognition task, built-in 2D invariance also decreases the size of the training set required for 3D object recognition. We present results for 2D object recognition both in simulation and within a robotic vision experiment and for 3D object recognition in simulation. We also compare our method to other approaches and show that HONNs have distinct advantages for position, scale, and rotation-invariant object recognition. The major drawback of HONNs is that the size of the input field is limited due to the memory required for the large number of interconnections in a fully connected network. We present partial connectivity strategies and a coarse-coding technique for overcoming this limitation and increasing the input field to that required by practical object recognition problems.

Spirkovska, Lilly↗

Communication: Global flux surface hopping in Liouville space

Recent years have witnessed substantial progress in the surface hopping (SH) formulation of non-adiabatic molecular dynamics. A generalization of the traditional fewest switches SH (FSSH), global flux SH (GFSH) utilizes the gross population flow between states to derive SH probabilities. The Liouville space formulation of FSSH puts state populations and coherences on equal footing, by shifting the hopping dynamics from Hilbert to Liouville space. Both ideas have shown superior results relative to the standard FSSH in Hilbert space, which has been the most popular approach over the past two and a half decades. By merging the two ideas, we develop GFSH in Liouville space. The new method is nearly as straightforward as the standard FSSH, and carries comparable computational expense. Tested with a representative super-exchange model, it gives the best performance among all existing techniques in the FSSH series. The obtained numerical results match almost perfectly the exact quantum mechanical solutions. Moreover, the results are nearly invariant under the choice of a basis state representation for SH, in contrast to the earlier techniques which exhibit notable basis set dependence. Unique to the developed approach, this property is particularly encouraging, because exact quantum dynamics is representation independent. GFSH in Liouville space significantly improves accuracy and applicability of SH for a broad range of chemical and physical processes.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Second-order ( 2 + 1 ) -dimensional anisotropic hydrodynamics

We present a complete formulation of second-order (2+1)-dimensional anisotropic hydrodynamics. The resulting framework generalizes leading-order anisotropic hydrodynamics by allowing for deviations of the one-particle distribution function from the spheroidal form assumed at leading order. We derive complete second-order equations of motion for the additional terms in the macroscopic currents generated by these deviations from their kinetic definition using a Grad-Israel-Stewart 14-moment ansatz. The result is a set of coupled partial differential equations for the momentum-space anisotropy parameter, effective temperature, the transverse components of the fluid four-velocity, and the viscous tensor components generated by deviations of the distribution from spheroidal form. We then perform a quantitative test of our approach by applying it to the case of one-dimensional boost-invariant expansion in the relaxation time approximation (RTA) in which case it is possible to numerically solve the Boltzmann equation exactly.We demonstrate that the second-order anisotropic hydrodynamics approach provides an excellent approximation to the exact (0+1)-dimensional RTA solution for both small and large values of the shear viscosity.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Simulation of plasma double-layer structures

Electrostatic plasma double layers are numerically simulated by means of a magnetized 2 1/2 dimensional particle in cell method. The investigation of planar double layers indicates that these one dimensional potential structures are susceptible to periodic disruption by instabilities in the low potential plasmas. Only a slight increase in the double layer thickness with an increase in its obliqueness to the magnetic field is observed. Weak magnetization results in the double layer electric field alignment of accelerated particles and strong magnetization results in their magnetic field alignment. The numerical simulations of spatially periodic two dimensional double layers also exhibit cyclical instability. A morphological invariance in two dimensional double layers with respect to the degree of magnetization implies that the potential structures scale with Debye lengths rather than with gyroradii. Electron beam excited electrostatic electron cyclotron waves and (ion beam driven) solitary waves are present in the plasmas adjacent to the double layers.

Borovsky, J. E.↗

Buckling and vibration analysis of laminated panels using VICONOPT

The analysis aspects of the 23,000-line FORTRAN program VIPASA with constraints and optimization (VICONOPT) are described. Overall stiffness matrices assembled from the earlier exact vibration and instability of plate assemblies including shear and anisotropy (VIPASA) flat plate stiffnesses are optionally coupled by Langrangian multipliers to find critical buckling loads, or natural frequencies of undamped vibration, of prismatic assemblies of anisotropic flat plates with arbitrarily located point supports or simple transverse supporting frames. The longitudunal continuity of typical wing and fuselage panels is closely approximated because the solutions are for the infinitely long structure obtained by repeating a bay and its supports longitudinally. Any longitudinally invariant in-plane plate stresses are permitted, and very rapid solutions are guaranteed by numerous refinements, including multilevel substructuring and a method for repetitive cross sections that is exact for regular polygons used to represent cylinders. Modal displacements and stresses in or between plies of laminated plates are calculated and plotted, with values being recovered at all nodes of substructures. Comparison with usual approximate finite-element methods confirms that, for comparably converged solutions, VICONOPT is typically between 100 and 10(exp 4) times faster.

Kennedy, David↗

Advanced Computational Aeroacoustics Methods for Fan Noise Prediction

Direct computation of fan noise is presently not possible. One of the major difficulties is the geometrical complexity of the problem. In the case of fan noise, the blade geometry is critical to the loading on the blade and hence the intensity of the radiated noise. The precise geometry must be incorporated into the computation. In computational fluid dynamics (CFD), there are two general ways to handle problems with complex geometry. One way is to use unstructured grids. The other is to use body fitted overset grids. In the overset grid method, accurate data transfer is of utmost importance. For acoustic computation, it is not clear that the currently used data transfer methods are sufficiently accurate as not to contaminate the very small amplitude acoustic disturbances. In CFD, low order schemes are, invariably, used in conjunction with unstructured grids. However, low order schemes are known to be numerically dispersive and dissipative. dissipative errors are extremely undesirable for acoustic wave problems. The objective of this project is to develop a high order unstructured grid Dispersion-Relation-Preserving (DRP) scheme. would minimize numerical dispersion and dissipation errors. contains the results of the funded portion of the project. scheme on an unstructured grid has been developed. constructed in the wave number space. The characteristics of the scheme can be improved by the inclusion of additional constraints. Stability of the scheme has been investigated. Stability can be improved by adopting the upwinding strategy.

Envia, Edmane↗

On the conservation of the first adiabatic invariant in perpendicular shocks

The conservation of the first adiabatic invariant of particle motion, the particle magnetic moment, at the front of perpendicular magnetosonic fast-mode shock waves is considered. Results of numerical simulations are presented which show that preshock and postshock values of the magnetic moment are on the average equal for particles transmitted by infinitesimally thin perpendicular magnetosonic fast-mode shocks, in contrast to extrapolations from adiabatic theory, which suggest that the first invariant is least likely to be conserved in this situation. The observed conservation is thus attributed to the continuity of the flux of total particle and field angular momentum across the shock front as a result of angular momentum conservation.

Pesses, M. E.↗

Integral Twist Actuation of Helicopter Rotor Blades for Vibration Reduction

Active integral twist control for vibration reduction of helicopter rotors during forward flight is investigated. The twist deformation is obtained using embedded anisotropic piezocomposite actuators. An analytical framework is developed to examine integrally-twisted blades and their aeroelastic response during different flight conditions: frequency domain analysis for hover, and time domain analysis for forward flight. Both stem from the same three-dimensional electroelastic beam formulation with geometrical-exactness, and axe coupled with a finite-state dynamic inflow aerodynamics model. A prototype Active Twist Rotor blade was designed with this framework using Active Fiber Composites as the actuator. The ATR prototype blade was successfully tested under non-rotating conditions. Hover testing was conducted to evaluate structural integrity and dynamic response. In both conditions, a very good correlation was obtained against the analysis. Finally, a four-bladed ATR system is built and tested to demonstrate its concept in forward flight. This experiment was conducted at NASA Langley T~ansonic Dynamics Tunnel and represents the first-of-a-kind Mach-scaled fully-active-twist rotor system to undergo forward flight test. In parallel, the impact upon the fixed- and rotating-system loads is estimated by the analysis. While discrepancies are found in the amplitude of the loads under actuation, the predicted trend of load variation with respect to its control phase correlates well. It was also shown, both experimentally and numerically, that the ATR blade design has the potential for hub vibratory load reduction of up to 90% using individual blade control actuation. Using the numerical framework, system identification is performed to estimate the harmonic transfer functions. The linear time-periodic system can be represented by a linear time-invariant system under the three modes of blade actuation: collective, longitudinal cyclic, and lateral cyclic. A vibration minimizing controller is designed based on this result, which implements classical disturbance rejection algorithm with some modifications. The controller is simulated numerically, and more than 90% of the 4P hub vibratory load is eliminated. By accomplishing the experimental and analytical steps described in this thesis, the present concept is found to be a viable candidate for future generation low-vibration helicopters. Also, the analytical framework is shown to be very appropriate for exploring active blade designs, aeroelastic behavior prediction, and as simulation tool for closed-loop controllers.

Shin, SangJoon↗

Lepton number violation as a key to low-scale leptogenesis

We explore the possibility of having a successful leptogenesis through oscillations between new sterile fermion states added to the Standard Model field content in a well motivated framework, naturally giving rise to the required mass splitting between the sterile states through a small total lepton number violation. We propose a framework with only two sterile states forming a pseudo-Dirac state, in which their mass difference as well as the smallness of the neutrino masses are due to two sources of lepton number violation with ΔL=2, corresponding to an Inverse Seesaw framework extended by a Linear Seesaw mass term. We also explore the pure Inverse Seesaw mechanism in its minimal version, requiring at least four new sterile states in order to comply with neutrino data. Our analytical and numerical studies reveal that one can have a successful leptogenesis at the temperature of the electroweak scale through oscillations between the two sterile states with a “natural” origin of the strong degeneracy in their mass spectrum. We also revisit the analytical expression of the baryon asymmetry of the Universe in the weak washout regime of this framework.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Model-Invariant Hybrid RANS-LES Computations on Unstructured Meshes

Hybrid RANS-LES computations combine the bene ts of RANS and LES so that LES is used in regions where the accuracy of RANS deteriorates. The numerous hybrid approaches are limited by the speci cation of the LES-RANS interface, which can cause nonphysical results such as log-layer mismatch and low shear stress. The hybrid RANS-LES approach based on the concept of model invariance, mitigates these problems, enabling seamless blending of the RANS and LES regions while forming the basis for interpreting the results in the interface region. This hybrid formulation was implemented in the NASA FUN3D unstructured code and computations for ow in a channel at Reynolds number of 3300 (based on the channel half width h and the bulk in ow velocity u(infinity) were carried out. An isotropic stochastic turbulence generator was implemented to generate in ow turbulence. The present approach was able to eliminate the log-layer mismatch and predict the shear stress fairly well. Thus, the model-invariant hybrid formulation coupled with the isotropic turbulence in ow generation serves as a physically meaningful way of performing hybrid RANS-LES computations.

Sreekanth, R.↗

Electron kinetics in a high- Z plasmoid

The problem of the electron dynamics on a closed magnetic field line passing through a high-Z plasmoid is considered. The electron kinetic equation is integrated over bounce motion and pitch angle, reducing the independent variables to a single adiabatic invariant plus time. Integration of the full Landau self-collision operator is carried out exactly, resulting in a nonlinear integro-differential operator in the new invariant. Conservation laws and the H theorem of the integrated self-collision operator are proven. Numerical solutions of the integrated kinetic equation are obtained with a self-consistent quasineutral electric potential, given the initial condition of a cold plasmoid immersed in a hot ambient plasma. The fact that cold electrons are deeply trapped in a potential with a parabolic peak leads to exactly 3/4 the usual rate of collisional heating by the ambient plasma, independent of any other parameters.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Anatomy of relativistic pion loop corrections to the electromagnetic nucleon coupling

We present a relativistic formulation of pion loop corrections to the coupling of photons with nucleons on the light-front. Vertex and wave function renormalization constants are computed to lowest order in the pion field, including their nonanalytic behavior in the chiral limit, and studied numerically as a function of the ultraviolet cutoff. Particular care is taken to explicitly verify gauge invariance and Ward-Takahashi identity constraints to all orders in the m_\pi expansion. The results are used to compute the chiral corrections to matrix elements of local operators, related to moments of deep-inelastic structure functions. Finally, comparisons of results for pseudovector and pseudoscalar coupling allows the resolution of a long-standing puzzle in the computation of pion cloud corrections to structure function moments.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Topological Gauge Actions on the Lattice as Overlap Fermion Determinants

Overlap fermion on the lattice has been shown to properly reproduce topological aspects of gauge fields. In this paper, we review the derivation of Overlap fermion formalism in a torus of three space-time dimensions. Using the formalism, we show how to use the Overlap fermion determinants in the massless and infinite mass limits to construct different continuum topological gauge actions, such as the level-k Chern–Simons action, “half-CS” term and the mixed Chern–Simons (BF) coupling, in a gauge-invariant lattice UV regulated manner. Taking special Abelian and non-Abelian background fields, we demonstrate numerically how the lattice formalism beautifully reproduces the continuum expectations, such as the flow of action under large gauge transformations.

2 + 1 dimensions↗

Compensator improvement for multivariable control systems

A theory and the associated numerical technique are developed for an iterative design improvement of the compensation for linear, time-invariant control systems with multiple inputs and multiple outputs. A strict constraint algorithm is used in obtaining a solution of the specified constraints of the control design. The result of the research effort is the multiple input, multiple output Compensator Improvement Program (CIP). The objective of the Compensator Improvement Program is to modify in an iterative manner the free parameters of the dynamic compensation matrix so that the system satisfies frequency domain specifications. In this exposition, the underlying principles of the multivariable CIP algorithm are presented and the practical utility of the program is illustrated with space vehicle related examples.

Mitchell, J. R.↗

A degree of controllability definition - Fundamental concepts and application to modal systems

Starting from basic physical considerations, this paper develops a concept of the degree of controllability of a control system, and then develops numerical methods to generate approximate values of the degree of controllability for any linear time-invariant system. In many problems, such as the control of future, very large, flexible spacecraft and certain chemical process control problems, the question of how to choose the number and locations of the control system actuators is an important one. The results obtained here offer the control system designer a tool which allows him to rank the effectiveness of alternative actuator distributions, and hence to choose the actuator locations on a rational basis. The degree of controllability is shown to take a particularly simple form when the dynamic equations of a satellite are in second-order modal form. The degree of controllability concept has still other fundamental uses - it allows one to study the system structural relations between the various inputs and outputs of a linear system, which has applications to decoupling and model reduction.

Viswanathan, C. N.↗

Boundary formulations for sensitivities of three-dimensional stress invariants

The direct, singular, boundary element analysis (BEA) formulation has been shown to provide a basis for a computationally efficient and accurate shape structural design sensitivity analysis (DSA) approach for three-dimensional solid objects. Within the boundary element analysis context, the theoretical formulation for sensitivities of important stress-related quantities including principal and deviatoric stresses, von Mises, maximum shear, and other stress invariants are presented, both for the surface as well as the interior of a continuum structure. Numerical results are given to demonstrate the accuracy of this approach.

Guru Prasad, K.↗

Extension of Efficient Low Dissipative High Order Schemes for 3-D Curvilinear Moving Grids

The efficient low dissipative high order schemes proposed by Yee et al. is formulated for 3-D curvilinear moving grids. These schemes consists of a high order base schemes combined with nonlinear characteristic filters. The amount of numerical dissipation is minimized by applying the schemes to the entropy splitting form of the inviscid flux derivatives. The analysis is given for a thermally perfect gas. The main difficulty in the extension of higher order schemes that were formulated in Cartesian coordinates to curvilinear moving grids is the higher order transformed metric evaluations. The higher order numerical evaluation of the transformed metric terms to insure freestream preservation is done in a coordinate invariant manner. The formulation is an improvement over existing formulation of high order scheme in curvilinear moving grids.

Vinokur, Marcel↗

DDFRG2: Double-Differential FRaGmentation Model with Pion Production

A set of Double-Differential FRaGmentation (DDFRG) models for production of fragments from nucleon-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions, relevant to space radiation, is currently being developed. DDFRG1 was a previous model developed for production of protons and light ions. A new model for pion production is developed in the present work and is called DDFRG2, which is based upon thermal production of pions from a central fireball source. The Lorentzinvariant double-differential cross section is calculated in the central fireball frame, and is Lorentz transformed to the laboratory frame, which results in a closed-form analytic formula involving no numerical integration, and which can be run very efficiently in radiation transport codes. The Lorentz-invariant double-differential cross section is then integrated over angle to give the singledifferential energy spectral distribution. Two versions of the DDFRG2 pion production are developed, namely DDFRG2-SIMPLE and DDFRG2-FULL. Both versions produce pion production Lorentz-invariant double-differential cross sections and also pion production single-differential spectral (energy) distributions. The SIMPLE version contains only one adjustable parameter. The FULL version contains three additional adjustable parameters. Both DDFRG2 versions are compared to over 1,000 data points. The SIMPLE version describes the p + 12 C → π − much better than the current HZETRN pion model. For other reactions, the SIMPLE version is of comparable quality to the current HZETRN pion model compared to data. For both the p + 12 C → π − reaction and all other reactions, DDFRG2-FULL describes the data much more accurately than the current HZETRN pion model.

John W. Norbury↗