A scale model investigation of sound reflection from building façades

A simple model for predicting the sound reflected from a building façade is developed based upon the assumption that the scattering coefficient is small. This model is then used as the basis of an experimental attempt to measure the scattering properties of scale model façades featuring a similar degree of surface irregularity to that found on real buildings. A series of measurements made on a simple scale model are described and the effect of a non-uniform distribution of façade scattering is examined. The measured value of the scattering coefficient is found to be small and not very sensitive to the degree of surface irregularity. A progression of energy from a specular reflection field to a diffuse reflection field for successive orders of reflections is observed. It is suggested that the dominant mechanism of sound propagation for higher order reflections is via random scattering and that the development of propagation models based upon purely random scattering is a valid approach.     

Anomalous lateral beam shift and total absorption due to excitation of surface waves in materials with negative refraction

We studied electromagnetic beam reflection from layered structures that include materials with negative refraction. Excitation of leaky surface waves leads to the formation of anomalous lateral shifts in the reflected beams with single or double peak structures. The presence of reasonable losses within material with negative refraction, besides significant influence on manifestation of the giant lateral shifts, can lead to their total suppression and anomalously high absorption of the incident radiation. If, in addition to the resonant excitation of leaky surface waves, radiation inflow exactly compensates their irreversible damping, total absorption of the incoming radiation can be achieved for moderately wide beams.     

The role of duct thickness on the quenching process of premixed flame propagation

The propagation of premixed laminar flame in ducts of circular cross-section considering a thermal-diffusive model is investigated numerically. Heat losses by conduction to the channels walls are taken into account using the thermally thin wall regime. The effects and the relationship between thickness and diameter of the tube with the flame speed propagation are studied and the quenching condition is obtained as a function of the heat-loss parameter. The mathematical model employs the axisymmetric energy and species equations. The calculations are based on a two-step chemistry, with an Arrhenius, energetically neutral, radical production reaction followed by an exothermic radical recombination reaction. For large values of the heat-loss parameter, the wall temperature is close to the free stream temperature and all the heat losses through the wall are convected away. No heat feedback occurs. On the other hand, for small values of the heat-loss parameter, a feedback mechanism occurs by transferring heat from the burned gas to the fresh mixture along the tube wall. For values of the heat-loss parameter of order unity, the heat feedback mechanism is able to sustain the flame propagation and the quenching condition disappears, producing an almost planar flame front as the propagation velocity reduces. For this two-step reaction mechanism, the radical species behaviour at the duct walls seems to have negligible effect on the quenching process.     

Opinion dynamics in networks with heterogeneous confidence and influence

We propose a discrete-time model of opinion dynamics. The neighborhood relationship is decided by confidence radius and influence radius of each agent. We investigate the influence of heterogeneity in confidence/influence distribution on the behavior of the network. The simulations suggest that the heterogeneity of single confidence or influence networks can promote the opinions to achieve consensus. It is shown that the heterogeneous influence radius systems converge in fewer time steps and more often in finite time than the heterogeneous confidence radius systems. We find that heterogeneity does not always promote consensus, and there is an optimal heterogeneity so that the relative size of the largest consensus cluster reaches maximum in heterogeneous confidence and influence networks.     

Detecting community structure using label propagation with weighted coherent neighborhood propinquity

Community detection has become an important methodology to understand the organization and function of various real-world networks. The label propagation algorithm (LPA) is an almost linear time algorithm proved to be effective in finding a good community structure. However, LPA has a limitation caused by its one-hop horizon. Specifically, each node in LPA adopts the label shared by most of its one-hop neighbors; much network topology information is lost in this process, which we believe is one of the main reasons for its instability and poor performance. Therefore in this paper we introduce a measure named weighted coherent neighborhood propinquity (weighted-CNP) to represent the probability that a pair of vertices are involved in the same community. In label update, a node adopts the label that has the maximum weighted-CNP instead of the one that is shared by most of its neighbors. We propose a dynamic and adaptive weighted-CNP called entropic-CNP by using the principal of entropy to modulate the weights. Furthermore, we propose a framework to integrate the weighted-CNP in other algorithms in detecting community structure. We test our algorithm on both computer-generated networks and real-world networks. The experimental results show that our algorithm is more robust and effective than LPA in large-scale networks.     

Image segmentation using adaptive loopy belief propagation

Loopy belief propagation (LBP) algorithm over pairwise-connected Markov random fields (MRFs) has become widely used for low-level vision problems. However, Pairwise MRF is often insufficient to capture the statistics of natural images well, and LBP is still extremely slow for application on an MRF with large discrete label space. To solve these problems, the present study proposes a new segmentation algorithm based on adaptive LBP. The proposed algorithm utilizes local region information to construct a local region model, as well as a local interaction region MRF model for image segmentation. The adaptive LBP algorithm maximizes the global probability of the proposed MRF model, which employs two very important strategies, namely, “message self-convergence” and “adaptive label pruning”. Message self-convergence can improve the reliability of a pixel in choosing a label in local region, and label pruning can dismiss impossible labels for every pixel. Thus, the most reliable information messages transfer through the LBP algorithm. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm not only obtains more accurate segmentation results but also greater speed.     

A comparative study of dispersion relation of EM waves in ternary one-dimensional plasma photonic crystals having two different structures

In this paper, a rigorous theoretical analysis has been made to study the dispersion relation of EM waves in periodic ternary one-dimensional photonic crystal having two different structures. In one case we have chosen glass-plasma and ZnS in one unit cell and in other case we have considered glass-plasma and M_gF₂ in one unit cell. Using Kronig-Penney model the dispersion relation for proposed structures has been obtained and numerical results are presented in the form of dispersion curves. The dependence of photonic band gap (PBG) characteristics on plasma frequency, plasma width and the width of dielectric media are discussed in the light of frequency gap and cutoffs of binary one-dimensional plasma photonic crystal. An attempt has been made to show how the PBG characteristic of a particular structure changes when the dielectric materials of its unit cell is changed by the other dielectric material. It is found that the structure having glass-plasma-ZnS in unit cell is more useful for broad band filtering and other plasma functioning devices compared to the structure having glass-plasma-MgF₂ in one unit cell.     

An improved algorithm for detecting point of impact in anisotropic inhomogeneous plates

Conventional triangulation techniques fail to correctly predict the acoustic source location in anisotropic plates due to the direction dependent nature of the elastic wave speeds. To overcome this problem, Kundu et al. [1] proposed an alternative method for acoustic source prediction based on optimizing an objective function. They defined an objective function that uses the time of flight information of the acoustic waves to the passive transducers attached to the plate and the wave propagation direction (θ) from the source point to the receiving sensors. Some weaknesses of the original algorithm proposed in Ref. [1] were later overcome by developing a modified objective function [2]. A new objective function is introduced here to further simplify the optimization procedure and improve the computational efficiency. A new algorithm for source location is also introduced here to increase the source location accuracy. The performance of the objective function and source location algorithm were experimentally verified on a homogeneous anisotropic plate and a non-homogeneous anisotropic plate with a doubler patch. Results from these experiments indicate that the new objective function and source location algorithm have improved performance when compared with those discussed in Refs. [1] and [2].     

PageRank model of opinion formation on social networks

We propose the PageRank model of opinion formation and investigate its rich properties on real directed networks of the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford, LiveJournal, and Twitter. In this model, the opinion formation of linked electors is weighted with their PageRank probability. Such a probability is used by the Google search engine for ranking of web pages. We find that the society elite, corresponding to the top PageRank nodes, can impose its opinion on a significant fraction of the society. However, for a homogeneous distribution of two opinions, there exists a bistability range of opinions which depends on a conformist parameter characterizing the opinion formation. We find that the LiveJournal and Twitter networks have a stronger tendency to a totalitarian opinion formation than the university networks. We also analyze the Sznajd model generalized for scale-free networks with the weighted PageRank vote of electors.     

Electromagnetically induced transparency and evolution of a two-level system under chaotic field of arbitrary intensity

The electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) with a (near-)resonant chaotic (amplitude-phase fluctuating, Gaussian-Markovian) coupling field is studied theoretically. The Fourier transform of the steady-state EIT spectrum, which determines a nonstationary probe absorption, is also considered. This quantity equals the average diagonal element of the (reduced) evolution operator of the coupled transition (the evolution function). The exact solution in the form of a continued fraction is obtained and used to perform numerical calculations. Moreover, a number of approximate analytical results are obtained, which, together with the results of previous publications, describe the EIT and the evolution function in all possible regimes. In particular, in the constructive-interference case the EIT increases with the coupling-field bandwidth ν at sufficiently small ν. For a strong field, the maximum of the transparency as a function of ν is less than that for a monochromatic field of the same average intensity. In contrast, for a weak field, there is a range of ν values, where the field fluctuations do not affect the EIT. The latter result is shown to hold for a broad class of stochastic fields. Received 31 December 2000 and Received in final form 14 May 2001