A new method to analyse pulsar nulling phenomenon

Pulsar nulling is a phenomenon of sudden cessation of pulse emission for a number of periods.The nulling fraction was often used to characterize the phenomenon.We propose a new method to analyse pulsar nulling phenomenon,by involving two key parameters,the nulling degree,χ,which is defined as the angle in a rectangular coordinates for the numbers of nulling periods and bursting periods,and the nulling scale,N,which is defined as the effective length of the consecutive nulling periods and bursting periods.The nulling degreeχcan be calculated by tanχ=Nnulling/Nburstingand the mean is related to the nulling fraction,while the nulling scale,N,is also a newly defined fundamental parameter which indicates how often the nulling occurs.We determined the distributions ofχand N for 10 pulsars by using the data in literature.We found that the nulling degreeχindicates the relative length of nulling to that of bursting,and the nulling scale N is found to be related to the derivative of rotation frequency and hence the loss rate of rotational energy of pulsars.Their deviations reflect the randomness of the nulling process.     

Visualization of crowd synchronization on footbridges

Abstract  

This paper proposes a framework for the visualization of crowd walking synchronization on footbridges. The bridge is modeled as a mass-spring system, which is a weakly damped and driven harmonic oscillator. Both the bridge and the pedestrians walking on the bridge are affected by the movement of each other. The crowd acts according to local behavioral rules. Each pedestrian is provided with a kinematic walking system. We extend a current mathematical model of crowd synchronization on footbridges to include human walking model and crowd simulation techniques. We run experiments to evaluate the influence of these extensions on synchronization.     

Microwave control electrodes for scalable,parallel, single-qubit operations in a surface-electrode ion trap

We propose a surface ion trap design incorporating microwave control electrodes for near-field single-qubit control. The electrodes are arranged so as to provide arbitrary frequency, amplitude and polarization control of the microwave field in one trap zone, whilst a similar set of electrodes is used to null the residual microwave field in a neighbouring zone. The geometry is chosen to reduce the residual field to the 0.5 % level without nulling fields; with nulling, the crosstalk may be kept close to the 0.01 % level for realistic microwave amplitude and phase drift. Using standard photolithography and electroplating techniques, we have fabricated a proof-of-principle electrode array with two trapping zones. We discuss requirements for the microwave drive system and prospects for scalability to a large 2-D trap array.     

Unbalanced nulling interferometer and precise wavefront control

A nulling interferometer was proposed to achieve direct detection of extra-solar planets (exoplanets) by suppressing light from the central star using a pair of telescopes. Recently, the stellar coronagraph method has shown rapid progress, which uses an extended concept of the nulling interferometer within single telescope optics. A dynamic range larger than 1 × 10⁹ for the detection of Earth-like exoplanets can be attained by reducing diffraction patterns using the nulling coronagraph, and by suppressing speckle noise using an adaptive optics with an accuracy of λ/10000 rms. An unbalanced nulling interferometer (UNI), which is used as fore-optics, improves the wavefront sensing sensitivity and compensation level of the adaptive optics by a factor of 10. Consequently, the dynamic range of the coronagraph can also be improved by two orders of magnitude. The UNI is composed of a modified coronagraph or a traditional interferometer and magnifies the aberrations of incoming wavefronts.     

各向异性表面的椭偏测量的消光过程

本文描述了在正向入射条件下,当待测的各向异性反射面(如全息光栅)的两个笛卡儿本征矢方向与系统的指向有微小偏离时,椭偏测量的消光过程由理想的两步过程转变成多步过程。文中同时定量指出该偏离所造成的影响及应用。     

Poisson's ratio in composite elastic media with rigid rods

We calculate both the micromechanical response and bulk elastic constants of composites of rods embedded in elastic media. We find two fixed points for Poisson's ratio with respect to rod density: there is an unstable fixed point for Poisson's ratio =1/2 (an incompressible system) and a stable fixed point for Poisson's ratio =1/4 (a compressible system). We also derive approximate expressions for the elastic constants for arbitrary rod density, which agree with exact results for both low and high density. These results may help to explain recent experiments [Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 188303 (2009)10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.188303] that reported compressibility for composites of microtubules in filamentous actin networks.     

Nulling interferometry for the DARWIN space mission

The DARWIN observatory will include an interferometric instrument dedicated to the search for and spectral analysis of extrasolar planets. This instrument is based on the principle of Bracewell's interferometric coronograph or nulling interferometer, proposed in 1978, but at present never experimentally demonstrated in the thermal infrared with high extinctions.We have shown that high interferometric extinctions can only be obtained with `classical' optical pieces if the beams are cleaned by optical filtering during the recombination. After a short reminder of the nulling interferometer, we present different techniques of optical filtering to perform it. Then, we present a laboratory experimental bench we have constructed, which allows us, at present, to exhibit a monochromatic stable interferometric extinction better than 10³. Finally, we discuss this method, applied to ground-based telescopes.     

Subwavelength optical imaging through a metallic nanorod array

We propose a subwavelength imaging system without a lens or a mirror but with an array of metallic nanorods. The near-field components of dipole sources were plasmonically transferred through the rod array to reproduce the source distribution in the other side. We calculated the field distribution at the different planes of imaging process using the finite-difference time-domain algorithm and found that the spatial resolution was 40 nm given by the rod size and spacing. A typical configuration is a hexagonal arrangement of silver rods of 50 nm height and 20 nm diameter. We also show that the image formation highly depends on the coherence and the polarization of the source distribution and the source-array distance.     

再论用Laplace变换法求解端点系有集中质量的弹性杆的振动问题

将作者在《大学物理》2004年第12期上的一篇文章的解法推广到弹性杆的强迫纵振动问题,并求解了两端系有集中质量的弹性杆的自由纵振动问题．     

Line-scan CCD camera calibration in 2D coordinate measurement

We present a line-scan camera calibration method in a plane not perpendicular to but parallel to the optical axis, without requiring the camera motion or a complex calibration pattern. A random 2D reference coordinate system in the calibration plane can be used, images of a rod perpendicular to the calibration plane at known coordinates are captured by the camera, the relation between the given coordinates and the rod image centroid position are analyzed based on a reduced pinhole model and image processing, and then the camera parameters and distortion factors are all estimated. These distortion factors build a sample relation only between the image position in theory and in practice, and they do not change with object position. Two wide-angle line-scan cameras that are used in a 2D-coordinate measurement system are calibrated by this method; the application results illustrate the effectiveness and convenience of this method.     

Achromatic nulling interferometer based on a geometric spin-redirection phase

Nulling interferometry aims to perform destructive interference achromatically. It is used to detect a faint source near a bright one and to provide dark field, an annular pupil, and rotational shear. A nulling out-of-plane interferometer that utilizes the geometric phase of spin redirection is proposed. The degree of nulling is determined by beam collimation and angular orientation of mirrors. Simulations and experiments are in reasonable agreement.     

Automatic alignment of a rigid spacer cavity

A bench-top auto-alignment system employing an invariant Gouy phase telescope is described in this paper. Our system uses external galvanometer-actuated mirrors for the tilt and offset control of a laser beam onto a rigid spacer cavity. Wavefront sensing diagnostics which accurately decouple tilt and offset er-rors are employed, and corresponding orthogonal corrections are enabled with the aid of electronic nulling. The closed loop system achieves an alignment fluctua-tion suppression of 50.4 dB for angular tilt and 58.3 dB for lateral offset at 1 Hz, with a unity gain bandwidth in excess of 115 Hz.     

Wide-band nulling system for antenna array based on a photonic microwave filter and optical delay lines

A nulling system for phased array antennas with broad bandwidth and reduced complexity is presented. The system is based on combining the output of an optical beamforming network with an optical transversal filter steered in the angle where a null is desired in a configuration that reduces the number of optoelectronic conversion compared to previous proposals. Preliminary experimental results to show the feasibility of the concept are provided between 2 and 6 GHz, showing null depths of 22, 10 and 19 dB at 2, 5 and 6 GHz, respectively.     

Detection of contiguous and distributed damage through contours of equal frequency change

The paper presents the results of a computational modeling for damage identification process for an axial rod representing an end-bearing pile foundation with known damage and a simply supported beam representing a bridge girder. The paper proposes a methodology for damage identification from measured natural frequencies of a contiguously damaged reinforced concrete axial rod and beam, idealized with distributed damage model. Identification of damage is from Equal_Eigen_value_change (Iso_Eigen_value_Change) contours, plotted between pairs of different frequencies. The performance of the method is checked for a wide variation of damage positions and extents. An experiment conducted on a free-free axially loaded reinforced concrete member and a flexural beam is shown as examples to prove the pros and cons of this method.     

Active focus locking in an optically sectioning microscope utilizing a deformable membrane mirror

A significant challenge for in vivo imaging is to remove movement artifacts. These movements (typically due to either respiration and cardiac-related movement or surface chemical response) are normally limited to the axial direction, and hence features move in and out of the focal plane. This presents a real problem for high-resolution optically sectioned imaging techniques such as confocal and multiphoton microscopy. To overcome this we have developed an actively locked focus-tracking system based around a deformable membrane mirror. This has a significant advantage over more conventional focus-tracking techniques where the microscope objective is dithered, since the active element is not in direct, or indirect, contact with the sample. To examine the operational limits and to demonstrate possible applications for this form of focus locking, sample oscillation and movement are simulated for two different biological applications. We were able to track focus over a 400 microm range (limited by the range of the piezomounted objective) with a rms precision on the focal depth of 0.31 microm +/- 0.05 microm.     

Photoluminescence and electroluminescence properties of ZnO films on p-type silicon wafers

A simplified n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction has been prepared by growing n-type ZnO rods on p-type silicon wafer through the chemical vapour deposition method. The reflectance spectrum of the sample shows an independent absorption peak at 384 nm, which may be originated from the bound states at the junction. In the photoluminescence spectrum a new emission band is shown at 393 nm, besides the bandedge emission at 380 nm. The electroluminescence spectrum of the n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction shows a stable yellow luminescence band centred at 560 nm,which can be attributed to the emission from trapped states. Another kind of discrete ZnO rod has also been prepared on such silicon wafer and is encapsulated with carbonated polystyrene for electroluminescence detection. This composite structure shows a weak ultraviolet electroluminescence band at 395 nm and a yellow electroluminescence band. These data prove that surface modification which blocks the transverse movement of carriers between neighbouring nanorods plays important roles in the ultraviolet emission of ZnO nanorods. These findings are vital for future display device design.     

DARWIN – The infrared space interferometer

The major technical elements of the DARWIN mission are described. These are based on the analysis and design work carried out by Alcatel Space during the course of an industrial contract issued by the European Space Agency, for the preliminary feasibility study of the mission. It is found that the initially chosen scientific and system requirements of the DARWIN mission, including that corresponding to the highly challenging task of detecting and spectrally analysing `Earth-like' exo-planets orbiting nearby stars, can be satisfied. It has also been shown that a complementary `imaging capability' could be implemented, using the same beam-combining optics as for the nulling mode of the interferometer.     

Modelling crowd–bridge dynamic interaction with a discretely defined crowd

This paper presents a novel method of modelling crowd–bridge interaction using discrete element theory (DET) to model the pedestrian crowd. DET, also known as agent-based modelling, is commonly used in the simulation of pedestrian movement, particularly in cases where building evacuation is critical or potentially problematic. Pedestrians are modelled as individual elements subject to global behavioural rules. In this paper a discrete element crowd model is coupled with a dynamic bridge model in a time-stepping framework. Feedback takes place between both models at each time-step. An additional pedestrian stimulus is introduced that is a function of bridge lateral dynamic behaviour. The pedestrians' relationship with the vibrating bridge as well as the pedestrians around them is thus simulated. The lateral dynamic behaviour of the bridge is modelled as a damped single degree of freedom (SDoF) oscillator. The excitation and mass enhancement of the dynamic system is determined as the sum of individual pedestrian contributions at each time-step. Previous crowd–structure interaction modelling has utilised a continuous hydrodynamic crowd model. Limitations inherent in this modelling approach are identified and results presented that demonstrate the ability of DET to address these limitations. Simulation results demonstrate the model's ability to consider low density traffic flows and inter-subject variability. The emergence of the crowd's velocity–density relationship is also discussed.     

Polarization interferometric stellar coronagraph

A nulling stellar coronagraph based on polarization interferometry is proposed that has achromatic characteristics. The principle and the optical setup of the nulling stellar coronagraph are described. Experimental results with monochromatic and white light show the usefulness of the proposed method. A liquid-crystal device is used as a four-quadrant polarization mask, which is the key element of a polarization interferometric stellar coronagraph.     

Synthesis of nulls in the beam pattern of a linear array

We discuss three ways to form nulls (deep dips) in the beam pattern of an equally spaced linear array. The first two approaches give the fastest computer run time. The third can be applied in phase or amplitude-phase synthesis of a scanning array with concomitant nulling in a given direction.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 27, No. 1, pp. 96–103, January, 1984.