管道结构中的类兰姆波层析成像

理论和实验上研究了层析成像在管道结构导波检测中的适用性。在管的两个圆周带上分别布置发射和接收换能器,形成多点发射-多点接收的几何结构。将管中绕管道沿最短路径的螺旋方向到达接收换能器的模式作为感兴趣的模式,它们看起来像在弯曲的板中传播,称之为类兰姆波模式。给出了类兰姆波各射线路径走时的理论计算方法,并采用联合迭代重建技术(SIRT)对走时数据进行慢度图像重建。数值模拟和实验研究了管中横穿孔缺陷层析成像的输出并对健康管和缺陷管中类兰姆波的走时数据进行比较,发现穿过缺陷区域的类兰姆波因为绕过缺陷传播而呈现出更长的走时。文中也给出了两缺陷管道类兰姆波层析成像的数值模拟和实验结果,相比单缺陷的情况,射线较少穿过区域缺陷的重建图像质量下降。研究结果为采用类兰姆波模式进行管道缺陷无损评价提供了理论依据。      

The quantum mechanics of particle-correlation measurements in high-energy heavy-ion collisions

The Hanbury Brown–Twiss (HBT) effect in two-particle correlations is a fundamental wave phenomenon that occurs at the sensitive elements of detectors; it is one of the few processes in elementary particle detection that depends on the wave mechanics of the produced particles. We analyze here, within a quantum mechanical framework for computing correlations among high-energy particles, how particle detectors produce the HBT effect. We focus on the role played by the wave functions of particles created in collisions and the sensitivity of the HBT effect to the arrival times of pairs at the detectors, and show that the two detector elements give an enhanced signal when the single-particle wave functions of the detected particles overlap at both elements within the characteristic atomic transition time of the elements. The measured pair correlation function is reduced when the delay in arrival times between pairs at the detectors is of order of or larger than the transition time.     

Particle filtering for dispersion curve tracking in ocean acoustics

A particle filtering method is developed for dispersion curve extraction from spectrograms of broadband acoustic signals propagating in underwater media. The goal is to obtain accurate representation of modal dispersion which can be employed for source localization and geoacoustic inversion. Results are presented from the application of the method to synthetic data, demonstrating the potential of the approach for accurate estimation of waveguide dispersion characteristics. The method outperforms simple time-frequency analysis providing estimates that are very close to numerically calculated dispersion curves. The method also provides uncertainty information on modal arrival time estimates, typically unavailable when traditional methods are used.     

Arrival-time structure of the time-averaged ambient noise cross-correlation function in an oceanic waveguide

Coherent deterministic arrival times can be extracted from the derivative of the time-averaged ambient noise cross-correlation function between two receivers. These coherent arrival times are related to those of the time-domain Green's function between these two receivers and have been observed experimentally in various environments and frequency range of interest (e.g., in ultrasonics, seismology, or underwater acoustics). This nonintuitive result can be demonstrated based on a simple time-domain image formulation of the noise cross-correlation function, for a uniform distribution of noise sources in a Pekeris waveguide. This image formulation determines the influence of the noise-source distribution (in range and depth) as well as the dependence on the receiver bandwidth for the arrival-time structure of the derivative of the cross-correlation function. These results are compared with previously derived formulations of the ambient noise cross-correlation function. Practical implications of these results for sea experiments are also discussed.     

Determining tomographic arrival times based on matched filter processing: considering the impact of ocean waves

Reflection of high-frequency acoustic signals from an air-sea interface with waves is considered in terms of determining travel times for acoustic tomography. Wave-induced, multi-path rays are investigated to determine how they influence the assumption that the time of the largest matched filter magnitude between the source and receiver signals is the best estimate of the arrival time of the flat-surface specular ray path. A simple reflection model is developed to consider the impact of in-plane, multi-path arrivals on the signal detected by a receiver. It is found that the number of multi-path rays between a source and receiver increases significantly with the number of times the ray paths strike the ocean surface. In test cases, there was always one of the multi-path rays that closely followed the flat-surface specular ray path. But all the multi-path rays arrive at the receiver almost simultaneously, resulting in interference with the signal from the flat-surface specular ray path. As a result, multi-path arrivals due to open ocean surface waves often distort the received signal such that maxima of matched filtering magnitudes will not always be a reliable indicator of the arrival time of flat-surface specular ray paths.     

复杂介质地震初至波数值模拟

发展了一种地震初至波(first break)数值模拟的旅行时插值波前追踪方法.将复杂变速介质剖分成匀速的矩形或多边形单元,在单元边界上设置一些对波前旅行时采样的节点.首先从震源开始计算波前到达所有节点的旅行时,然后从接收点开始反向确定震源与接收点之间的射线路径.其中,到达任意一点的波前旅行时和射线是通过对该点所在单元其它两两相邻的已算节点旅行时的插值和Fermat原理求极小而获得的.该算法对介质的复杂程度、单元形状和震源与接收点的位置没有限制,能模拟直达波、临界折射波和绕射波以及盲区射线等,具有较强的适应性和较高的精度.用该方法对一些典型近地表模型的初至波进行了数值计算,清晰地显示出这些模型的波前形态和射线路径.     

Confined quantum time of arrivals

We show that formulating the quantum time of arrival problem in a segment of the real line suggests rephrasing the quantum time of arrival problem to finding states that evolve to unitarily collapse at a given point at a definite time. For the spatially confined particle, we show that the problem admits a solution in the form of an eigenvalue problem of a compact and self-adjoint time of arrival operator derived by a quantization of the classical time of arrival, which is canonically conjugate with the Hamiltonian in a closed subspace of the Hilbert space.     

Extreme Narrow Escape: Shortest paths for the first particles among n to reach a target window

What are the paths associated with the fastest Brownian particles that reach a narrow window located on the boundary of a microdomain? Although the distribution of the fastest arrival times has been well studied in dimension 1, much less is known in higher dimensions. Based on the Wiener path-integral, we suggest that the paths of the fastest particle are concentrated near the shortest paths that minimize the energy-action. Stochastic simulations confirm the present result when an obstacle is positioned between the source point and a narrow window. To conclude paths associated with the fastest arrival times differ significantly from the ones of mean properties of Brownian motions, associated to mean first passage times of a single particle. These extreme properties should be considered instead of the classical Smoluchowski's rate of chemical reactions, because the statistics of the extreme for many copies of the same molecule changes the time scales of activation in cellular domain.     

First-Passage and Extreme-Value Statistics of a Particle Subject to a Constant Force Plus a Random Force

We consider a particle which moves on the x axis and is subject to a constant force, such as gravity, plus a random force in the form of Gaussian white noise. We analyze the statistics of first arrival at point x ₁ of a particle which starts at x ₀ with velocity v ₀. The probability that the particle has not yet arrived at x ₁ after a time t, the mean time of first arrival, and the velocity distribution at first arrival are all considered. We also study the statistics of the first return of the particle to its starting point. Finally, we point out that the extreme-value statistics of the particle and the first-passage statistics are closely related, and we derive the distribution of the maximum displacement m=max  _t [x(t)].     

Decision-directed Kalman particle filter with application to the MIMO phase noise channel

Demodulation of data transmitted over time-varying channels with a free running hidden Markov state, like the phase noise channel or the fading channel, requires that the receiver tracks the hidden channel state. The tracking technique adopted in the paper is based on non-data-aided sequential importance sampling, also known as particle filtering.The paper proposes a new particle filtering framework for data communication receivers based on an importance distribution such that each individual particle becomes a decision-directed Kalman filter relying upon its local symbol-by-symbol hard decisions. In this framework, different particles are left free to take different sequences of decisions. This leaves to the receiver the possibility of exploring different sequences of transmitted modulation symbols. The weight of the particle will be high for those particles that took in the past the correct sequence of decisions, while will be low for those particles that took wrong decisions. In the resampling procedure, particles with high weight will survive, while particles with low weight will be terminated, leaving space to the birth of new particles resampled from the surviving ones.The crucial point in importance sampling is the choice of the importance distribution and the main novelty of the paper is the proposal of an importance distribution such that the particles of the particle filter become decision-directed Kalman filters. One important benefit brought by our proposed method is that, being non-data-aided, it does not need pilot symbols, thus allowing to preserve the transmission rate. A significant application example, presented and developed in the paper, is constituted by MIMO systems affected by phase noise, where the channel state vector consists of many parameters.     

New algorithm for footstep localization using seismic sensors in an indoor environment

In this study, we consider the use of seismic sensors for footstep localization in indoor environments. A popular strategy of localization is to use the measured differences in arrival times of source signals at multiple pairs of receivers. In the literature, most algorithms that are based on time differences of arrival (TDOA) assume that the propagation velocity is a constant as a function of the source position, which is valid for air propagation or even for narrow band signals. However a bounded medium such as a concrete slab (encountered in indoor environment) is usually dispersive and damped. In this study, we demonstrate that under such conditions, the concrete slab can be assimilated to a thin plate; considering a Kelvin–Voigt damping model, we introduce the notion of perceived propagation velocity, which decreases when the source-sensor distance increases. This peculiar behavior precludes any possibility to rely on existing localization methods in indoor environment. Therefore, a new localization algorithm that is adapted to a damped and dispersive medium is proposed, using only on the sign of the measured TDOA (SO-TDOA). A simulation and some experimental results are included, to define the performance of this SO-TDOA algorithm.     

The Pulse Displacement Technique — a single particle counter with a size range larger than 1000: 1

This paper describes the pulse displacement technique(PDT) to simultaneously measure particle size and velocity in applications characterized by a large size range and high particle concentration. PDT is based on the detection of scattered refraction and reflection pulses which sweep past a detector at different times as a particle traverses a narrow probe volume. Basic analytical relationships are presented which allow the calculation of the spatial and temporal widths and separations of the reflection and refraction pulse as a function of particle diameter and velocity. Two implementations of PDT are discussed using one or two receivers with two laser sheets having the same or different wavelengths. This paper also discusses several methods to measure particle velocity with PDT, discusses the limitations associated with signal broadening in practical systems, and briefly presents experimental results which show that the temporal separation between the refraction and reflection and reflection pulse maxima is independent of collecting lens f-number from f/3 to f/20 for particle sizes ranging from 250 to 2000 μm.     

Stochastic Resonance and First Arrival Time for Excitable Systems

We study the noise induced thermally activated barrier crossing of Brownian particles that hop in a piecewise linear potential. Using the exact analytic solutions and via numerical simulations not only we explore the dependence for the first passage time of a single particle but also we calculate the first arrival time for one particle out of N particles. The first arrival time decreases as the number of particles increases as expected. We then explore the thermally activated barrier crossing rate of the system in the presence of time varying signal. The dependence of signal to noise ratio SNR as well as the power amplification (\(\eta \)) on model parameters is explored. \(\eta \) and SNR depict a pronounced peak at particular noise strength. In the presence of N particles, \(\eta \) is considerably amplified as N steps up showing the weak periodic signal plays a vital role in controlling the noise induced dynamics of the system. Moreover, for the sake of generality, the viscous friction \(\gamma \) is considered to decrease exponentially when the temperature T of the medium increases (\(\gamma =Be^{-A T}\)) as proposed originally by Reynolds (Philos Trans R Soc Lond 177:157, 1886).     

Reconstruction of the signal produced by a directional sound source from remote multi-microphone recordings

A mathematical method for reconstructing the signal produced by a directional sound source from knowledge of the same signal in the far field, i.e., microphone recordings, is developed. The key idea is to compute inverse filters that compensate for the directional filtering of the signal by the sound source directivity, using a least-square error optimization strategy. Previous work pointed out how the method strongly depends on arrival times of signal in the microphone recordings. Two strategies are used in this paper for calculating the time shifts that are afterward taken as inputs, together with source directivity, for the reconstruction. The method has been tested in a laboratory environment, where ground truth was available, with a Polaroid transducer as source. The reconstructions are similar with both strategies. The performance of the method also depends on source orientation.     

Low cost solution to high capacity 32 × 32 channel FTTH duplex link employing triple play services

In this paper, low cost solution based on RSOAs is proposed for a high capacity 32 × 32 channel, 20 km, FTTH duplex link employing triple play services. Here, downstream transmitters generate a 2.5-Gbps NRZ signal which is routed to both receivers and RSOA-based upstream transmitters. The RSOA modulates this signal with a 1.25-Gbps NRZ signal that effectively overwrites the downstream signal and then it is transmitted back over the same 20 km of bidirectional fiber, where it is routed to receivers at the CO. The proposed model completely eliminates the requirement of separate lasers for upstream communication which makes the system very cost effective. The high-pass filtering effect of the RSOA becomes predominant at higher input powers which has been used as an advantage here to effectively suppress the downstream signal. The impact of RSOA input power and extinction ratio of the downstream signal have been investigated and reported.     

Sound propagation and speech transmission in a branching underground tunnel

The characteristics of sound propagation and speech transmission along a tunnel with a "T" intersection were investigated. At receivers within sight of the sound source, low frequencies were mainly attenuated around the intersection than high frequencies. At receivers out of sight of the source, high frequencies were extensively attenuated. The overall pattern of sound attenuation along the different sections of tunnel, which was calculated by the conical beam method, agreed well with the measurements in this study. Numerical calculations of reflected and diffracted waves with minimum transmission paths in a two-dimensional plane showed that reflected waves were the primary contributors to sound fields out of sight of the source. The articulation scores measured at receivers within sight of the source were high, and most of the confusion concerned syllables that could easily be misheard, even if there were a high signal-to-noise ratio. The types of syllable confusions observed at the receivers out of sight of the source appeared to have been caused by the greater deterioration in speech signals along this part of the tunnel, especially at high frequencies. The evaluation by rapid speech transmission indices (RASTI) appeared to be overestimated at the receivers out of sight of the source. Taking into account the early decay times of impulsive sound and the calculation procedures used in RASTI, it is concluded that speech intelligibility may not have been evaluated correctly by RASTI.     

角闪烁噪声测量条件下的剩余飞行时间估计

针对雷达导引头角闪烁噪声测量条件下的机动目标,研究剩余飞行时间计算方法。建立了闪烁噪声计算模型;在粒子滤波算法和扩展卡尔曼滤波算法的基础上,推导了扩展卡尔曼粒子滤波算法的实现过程;根据估计结果建立了剩余飞行时间计算模型,在剩余飞行时间表达式中考虑了目标机动加速度的影响。仿真结果表明,基于机动目标当前统计模型的扩展卡尔曼粒子滤波算法对闪烁噪声测量条件下的机动目标具有良好的跟踪性能,对剩余飞行时间具有较高的估计精度。     

Quantum-Gravitational Diffusion and Stochastic Fluctuations in the Velocity of Light

We argue that quantum-gravitational fluctuations in the space-time background give the vacuum non-trivial optical properties that include diffusion and consequent uncertainties in the arrival times of photons, causing stochastic fluctuations in the velocity of light in vacuo. Our proposal is motivated within a Liouville string formulation of quantum gravity that also suggests a frequency-dependent refractive index of the particle vacuum. We construct an explicit realization by treating photon propagation through quantum excitations of D-brane fluctuations in the space-time foam. These are described by higher-genus string effects, that lead to stochastic fluctuations in couplings, and hence in the velocity of light. We discuss the possibilities of constraining or measuring photon diffusion in vacuo via -ray observations of distant astrophysical sources.     

Multi-sampling and filtering technology of IRFPA

In order to overcome the drawbacks of low SNR of IR (infrared) images and resolve the problem that widely used 2D-TDI (two dimensional time delay integration) algorithm could only be applied to static or slow-moving targets, the application of multi-sampling and filtering technology is discussed in this paper. The technology adopted the method of sampling the same pixel repeatedly in one image which ensured that it could be applied to fast-moving targets and lowered random noise of IR images in the meantime. Both the images effects and the experimental data show that multi-sampling and filtering technology of infrared focal plane array (IRFPA) have the same ability of improving SNR (signal noise ratio) of IR images as the 2D-TDI algorithm which can raise the SNR of IR images to times of the original ones (m equals to the sampling times at the same pixel), and the experimental result also proves that the technology can be applied to all moving targets.     

Modulating the precision of recurrent bursts in cultured neural networks

Synchronized bursts are a very common feature in biological neural networks, and they play an important role in various brain functions and neurological diseases. This Letter investigates "recurrent synchronized bursts" induced by a single pulse stimulation in cultured networks of rat cortical neurons. We look at how the precision in their arrival times can be modified by a noble time-delayed stimulation protocol, which we term as "Δt training." The emergence of recurrent bursts and the change of the precision in their arrival times can be explained by the stochastic resonance of a damped, subthreshold, neural oscillation.