Gibbs sampling for time-delay-and amplitude estimation in underwater acoustics

Multipath arrivals at a receiving sensor are frequently encountered in many signal-processing areas, including sonar, radar, and communication problems. In underwater acoustics, numerous approaches to source localization, geoacoustic inversion, and tomography rely on accurate multipath arrival extraction. A novel method for estimation of time delays and amplitudes of arrivals with maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimation is presented here. MAP estimation is optimal if appropriate statistical models are selected for the data; implementation, requiring maximization of a multidimensional function, is computationally demanding. Gibbs sampling is proposed as an efficient means for estimating necessary posterior probability distributions, bypassing analytical calculations. The Gibbs sampler includes as unknowns time delays, amplitudes, noise variance, and number of arrivals. Through Monte Carlo simulations, the method is shown to have a performance very close to that of analytical MAP estimation. The method is also shown to be superior to expectation-maximization, which is often applied to time-delay estimation. The Gibbs sampling approach is demonstrated to be more informative than other time-delay estimation methods, providing complete posterior distributions compared to just point estimates; the distributions capture the uncertainty in the problem, presenting likely values of the unknowns that are different from simple point estimates.     

Acoustic characterization and prediction for fan-duct-plenum-room integrations

This paper investigates mutual influence of duct and room acoustics in the whole fan-duct-plenum-room integrations. Applying the parametric design language of finite element software ANSYS (APDL), dimensional and positional influence on system acoustics has been studied. Models with different room dimensions, duct lengths, duct cross-sections, duct locations, duct discharges and duct elbow were constructed, and their characteristics were compared qualitatively. Results show that small rooms, short ducts, large duct cross-sections and bell mouth duct discharges help to increase room sound pressure levels (SPLs); SPLs in ducts and plenums are sensitive to duct dimensions and duct discharge types but insensitive to duct locations and room dimensions; duct elbows have relatively indistinct acoustic influence in each component. Based on the calculation results, a semi-experimental method was proposed for simply and approximately evaluating indoor acoustic spectra of fan-duct-plenum-room integrations, then an example was used to demonstrate the prediction process. Finally, by adopting several ideal models, sound field constitutions, duct and room wall admittances and duct end reflection were explored quantitatively. This study may give a detailed understanding of fan-duct-plenum-room acoustics for researchers, also it might provide a new, simple and approximate prediction method for professionals to evaluate and improve fan-ducted acoustics.     

Geometric Mean of States and Transition Amplitudes

The transition amplitude between square roots of states, which is an analogue of Hellinger integral in classical measure theory, is investigated in connection with operator-algebraic representation theory. A variational expression based on geometric mean of positive forms is utilized to obtain an approximation formula for transition amplitudes.     

Automatic speech recognition using articulatory features from subject-independent acoustic-to-articulatory inversion

An automatic speech recognition approach is presented which uses articulatory features estimated by a subject-independent acoustic-to-articulatory inversion. The inversion allows estimation of articulatory features from any talker's speech acoustics using only an exemplary subject's articulatory-to-acoustic map. Results are reported on a broad class phonetic classification experiment on speech from English talkers using data from three distinct English talkers as exemplars for inversion. Results indicate that the inclusion of the articulatory information improves classification accuracy but the improvement is more significant when the speaking style of the exemplar and the talker are matched compared to when they are mismatched.     

高压换流站交流滤波器组相干噪声源声功率反演

针对高压换流站内交流滤波器组相干噪声源的声功率难以确定的问题,该文提出了一种基于几何声学理论的声功率反演方法。该方法采用可同时考虑噪声源强度和相位的几何声学理论建立相干声场模型,在此基础上构建声功率反演模型,通过寻找使声学模型输出和实测数据差异最小的声源参数(强度和相位),实现了对相干噪声源声功率的反演。数值仿真和实验数据验证了该方法的有效性。     

Effect of wall thickness on the end corrections of the extended inlet and outlet of a double-tuned expansion chamber

Simple expansion chambers, the simplest of the muffler configurations, have very limited practical application due to the presence of periodic troughs in the transmission loss spectrum which drastically lower the overall transmission loss of the muffler. Tuned extended inlet and outlet can be designed to nullify three-fourths of these troughs, making use of the plane wave theory. These cancellations would not occur unless one altered the geometric lengths for the extended tube in order to incorporate the effect of evanescent higher-order modes (multidimensional effect) through end corrections or lumped inertance approximation at the area discontinuities or junctions. End corrections of the extended inlet and outlet have been studied by several researchers. However the effect of wall thickness of the inlet/outlet duct on end correction has not been studied explicitly. This has significant effect on the tuning of an extended inlet/outlet expansion chamber. It is investigated here experimentally as well as numerically (through use of 3-D FEM software) for stationary medium.     

Mode detection in turbofan inlets from near field sensor arrays

Knowledge of the modal content of the sound field radiated from a turbofan inlet is important for source characterization and for helping to determine noise generation mechanisms in the engine. An inverse technique for determining the mode amplitudes at the duct outlet is proposed using pressure measurements made in the near field. The radiated sound pressure from a duct is modeled by directivity patterns of cut-on modes in the near field using a model based on the Kirchhoff approximation for flanged ducts with no flow. The resulting system of equations is ill posed and it is shown that the presence of modes with eigenvalues close to a cutoff frequency results in a poorly conditioned directivity matrix. An analysis of the conditioning of this directivity matrix is carried out to assess the inversion robustness and accuracy. A physical interpretation of the singular value decomposition is given and allows us to understand the issues of ill conditioning as well as the detection performance of the radiated sound field by a given sensor array.     

Experimental investigation of an inversion technique for the determination of broadband duct mode amplitudes by the use of near-field sensor arrays

This paper is an experimental investigation of an inverse technique for deducing the amplitudes of the modes radiated from a turbofan engine, including schemes for stablizing the solution. The detection of broadband modes generated by a laboratory-scaled fan inlet is performed using a near-field array of microphones arranged in a geodesic geometry. This array geometry is shown to allow a robust and accurate modal inversion. The sound power radiated from the fan inlet and the coherence function between different modal amplitudes are also presented. The knowledge of such modal content is useful in helping to characterize the source mechanisms of fan broadband noise generation, for determining the most appropriate mode distribution model for duct liner predictions, and for making sound power measurements of the radiated sound field.     

Fluctuations in diffuse field-field correlations and the emergence of the Green's function in open systems

Recent intense interest in diffuse field correlation functions, with applications to passive imaging in underwater acoustics and seismology, has raised questions about the degree with which a retrieved waveform can be expected to conform to the Green's function, and in particular the degree with which a ray arrival may be discerned. On considering a simple scalar wave model consisting of fields with distributed random sources, the difffuse field-field correlation function R is defined as a sum of correlation integrals, one for each of the many distinct distributed sources. It is then shown that this ensemble of fields has a correlation function with expectation (R) equal to the Green's function. This model also lends itself to calculations of the variance of R, and thus to estimates of the degree to which an R calculated using finite amounts of data will conform to the Green's function. The model predicts that such conformation is strongest at low frequencies. Ray arrivals are detectable if sufficient data have been collected, but the amount of data needed scales in three dimensions with the square of the source-receiver separation, and the square of the frequency. Applications to seismology are discussed.     

Beam and phase effects in angle-beam-through-transmission method of ultrasonic velocity measurement

The accuracy of a plane wave approximation for phase velocity measurements in isotropic and anisotropic material using the angle-beam-through-transmission method has been investigated numerically and experimentally. In this method the velocity is measured in different propagation directions as a function of incidence angle. The effect of two factors on the measurement accuracy have been discussed: intrinsic phase shift of the transmitted signal through a fluid-solid interface and beam diffraction due to the finite beam size of receiver and transmitter. It is shown that the interface-induced phase shift can introduce an error in time delay measurements of the shear wave after the first critical angle and that this time delay error can be accurately corrected for. Numerical results obtained by a time-domain beam model show that except at the critical angles, the finite width of the transmitter and receiver only affects the amplitudes of the transmitted signals and has almost no effect on the measured zero-cross time delay; therefore the plane wave approximation for obtaining phase velocity from the measured time delay data by this method and the plane wave interface-induced phase correction are fully applicable.     

大振幅平面声波的反射和折射（Ⅱ）——二维情况

在Lagrange坐标系中,根据流体力学的基本方程式,利用逐级近似法推导了计及二级近似的二维空间内平面波传播的波动方程式。以这组方程式为出发点分析了二层液态介质模型下,大振幅平面声波在平面分界面上的反射和折射。二级近似下的反射系数和透射系数不仅与介质的参数（包括非线性参数）有关,而且依赖于声源的位置。在斜投射时,一般而言,遵循线性声学反射和折射定律的二级近似反射波和折射波的波前上,波的幅度不再保持恒等。因之,除遵循线性声学反射和折射定律的二级近似反射波和折射波外,在其他方向上也有二级近似反射波和折射波。这个现象表明解释Muir等人的实验结果必须计及非线性效应。     

Modeling acoustic propagation of airgun array pulses recorded on tagged sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus)

In 2002 and 2003, tagged sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) were experimentally exposed to airgun pulses in the Gulf of Mexico, with the tags providing acoustic recordings at measured ranges and depths. Ray trace and parabolic equation (PE) models provided information about sound propagation paths and accurately predicted time of arrival differences between multipath arrivals. With adequate environmental information, a broadband acoustic PE model predicted the relative levels of multipath arrivals recorded on the tagged whales. However, lack of array source signature data limited modeling of absolute received levels. Airguns produce energy primarily below 250 Hz, with spectrum levels about 20-40 dB lower at 1 kHz. Some arrivals recorded near the surface in 2002 had energy predominantly above 500 Hz; a surface duct in the 2002 sound speed profile helps explain this effect, and the beampattern of the source array also indicates an increased proportion of high-frequency sound at near-horizontal launch angles. These findings indicate that airguns sometimes expose animals to measurable sound energy above 250 Hz, and demonstrate the influences of source and environmental parameters on characteristics of received airgun pulses. The study also illustrates that on-axis source levels and simple geometric spreading inadequately describe airgun pulse propagation and the extent of exposure zones.     

Fluctuating arrivals of short-range acoustic data

Geoacoustic inversion using fluctuating signal observations can be challenging. The origin of these fluctuations needs to be understood so the signals can be used appropriately. A set of experiments [Tang et al., Oceanogr. 20(4), 156-167 (2007)] was carried out in shallow water near the New Jersey shelf break in summer 2006. Significant fluctuations in the direct path and surface-reflected arrivals of short-range chirp transmissions (1.1-2.9 kHz) were observed on a vertical line array. This paper explains the origin of these signal fluctuations through analysis of the arrival amplitudes. It is shown that the strong thermocline combined with an oscillating source motion due to ocean surface waves results in the signal fluctuations.     

Interactions of a two-level atom and a field with a time-varying frequency without rotating-wave approximation

The interactions between a two-level atom and a field with a time-varying frequency without rotating-wave approximation have been investigated. The frequency of the field varies in the form of rectangle. The dynamic behaviors of the atomic population inversion, photon anti-bunching and atomic dipole squeezing are investigated numerically as function of time. A number of novel phenomena are discovered and discussed.     

非旋波近似下频率变化的场与原子的相互作用

研究了非旋波近似下频率随时间变化的相干态光场与二能级原子的相互作用，主要讨论了光场频率随时间作正弦和方波变化两种典型情况下，原子布居数反转随时间的演化特性. 当光场频率随时间作正弦变化时，原子布居数反转的崩塌-回复过程和由虚光子过程引起的快速振荡均会受到影响. 当光场频率随时间以方波形式变化时，脉冲调制不仅在原子布居数反转随时间演化过程中诱导出新的崩塌-回复过程，而且可以引起虚光子快速振荡的突变. 关键词： Jaynes-Cummings模型 非旋波近似 原子布居数反转     

非旋波近似下频率变化的光场对原子布居反转的调控

利用相干态正交化展开方法,在非旋波近似下研究了原子的布居反转随时间的演化情况.数值计算的结果表明了,场频以及耦合强度不随时间变化时,布居反转的周期随着平均光子数的增加而增大,虚光子效应引起的快速振荡随耦合强度的增大而逐渐增大.当光场随时间做正弦调制时,光场的振幅α和角频率β对布居反转的演化都会产生很大影响.光场随时间做方波形式变化,会导致原子布居反转出现新的塌缩回复现象.无论是正弦调制还是方波调制,都会对由虚光子效应产生的小锯齿状的振荡产生影响. 关键词： 相干态正交化展开 非旋波近似 原子布居数反转     

Attenuation of sound in wide ducts with flow at elevated pressure and temperature

At ambient conditions the acoustic losses within the fluid are two orders of magnitude smaller than those occurring at a duct wall, so that they are commonly neglected in duct acoustics. Recent measurements revealed an increasing sound attenuation at elevated pressure and temperature, which cannot be justified by the viscothermal losses at the wall alone. In the first part, this paper compiles available models to pursue a comprehensive treatment of the sound attenuation in a duct at elevated pressure and temperature. The second part presents an experimental study of the attenuation. The measurements have been performed at the Hot Acoustic Test Rig, where pressure and temperature can be independently adjusted from their ambient values up to 1100 kPa and 823 K, respectively. The theoretical prediction of the total losses matches the experimental data, thus confirming that the losses within the fluid cannot be neglected in ducts at elevated pressure and temperature.     

Diffusion and the BFKL pomeron

We study the high energy behaviour of elastic scattering amplitudes within the leading logarithm approximation. In particular, we cast the amplitude in a form which allows us to study the internal dynamics of the BFKL Pomeron for general momentum transfer. We demonstrate that the momentum transfer acts as an effective infrared cut-off which ensures that the dominant contribution arises from short distance physics.     

Siebenmann-type cobordisms with borders and topology changes by quantum tunneling

Siebenmann-type cobordisms are constructed to describe topology changes with the Seifert fibered homology spheres in in- and out-states. We study the problem of determining of topology-changing amplitudes for these quantum tunneling processes. The calculations are performed in the stationary phase approximation for Kodama wave functions. In this approximation the amplitudes are expressed in terms of Chern-Simons invariants of flatSU(2)-connections over the cobordism boundary components. The topology-change amplitudes found are factorized into the Kodama wave functions for the lens spaces. The results are compared with those for Fintushel-Stern-type cobordisms which have been previously investigated.