Showing papers on "Acceleration published in 2018"

Near-100 MeV protons via a laser-driven transparency-enhanced hybrid acceleration scheme

Abstract: The range of potential applications of compact laser-plasma ion sources motivates the development of new acceleration schemes to increase achievable ion energies and conversion efficiencies. Whilst the evolving nature of laser-plasma interactions can limit the effectiveness of individual acceleration mechanisms, it can also enable the development of hybrid schemes, allowing additional degrees of control on the properties of the resulting ion beam. Here we report on an experimental demonstration of efficient proton acceleration to energies exceeding 94 MeV via a hybrid scheme of radiation pressure-sheath acceleration in an ultrathin foil irradiated by a linearly polarised laser pulse. This occurs via a double-peaked electrostatic field structure, which, at an optimum foil thickness, is significantly enhanced by relativistic transparency and an associated jet of super-thermal electrons. The range of parameters over which this hybrid scenario occurs is discussed and implications for ion acceleration driven by next-generation, multi-petawatt laser facilities are explored.

Non-gravitational acceleration in the trajectory of 1I/2017 U1 (‘Oumuamua)

Abstract: ‘Oumuamua (1I/2017 U1) is the first known object of interstellar origin to have entered the Solar System on an unbound and hyperbolic trajectory with respect to the Sun1. Various physical observations collected during its visit to the Solar System showed that it has an unusually elongated shape and a tumbling rotation state1–4 and that the physical properties of its surface resemble those of cometary nuclei5,6, even though it showed no evidence of cometary activity1,5,7. The motion of all celestial bodies is governed mostly by gravity, but the trajectories of comets can also be affected by non-gravitational forces due to cometary outgassing8. Because non-gravitational accelerations are at least three to four orders of magnitude weaker than gravitational acceleration, the detection of any deviation from a purely gravity-driven trajectory requires high-quality astrometry over a long arc. As a result, non-gravitational effects have been measured on only a limited subset of the small-body population9. Here we report the detection, at 30σ significance, of non-gravitational acceleration in the motion of ‘Oumuamua. We analyse imaging data from extensive observations by ground-based and orbiting facilities. This analysis rules out systematic biases and shows that all astrometric data can be described once a non-gravitational component representing a heliocentric radial acceleration proportional to r−2 or r−1 (where r is the heliocentric distance) is included in the model. After ruling out solar-radiation pressure, drag- and friction-like forces, interaction with solar wind for a highly magnetized object, and geometric effects originating from ‘Oumuamua potentially being composed of several spatially separated bodies or having a pronounced offset between its photocentre and centre of mass, we find comet-like outgassing to be a physically viable explanation, provided that ‘Oumuamua has thermal properties similar to comets.

Fitting the radial acceleration relation to individual SPARC galaxies

Abstract: Galaxies follow a tight radial acceleration relation (RAR): the acceleration observed at every radius correlates with that expected from the distribution of baryons. We use the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method to fit the mean RAR to 175 individual galaxies in the SPARC database, marginalizing over stellar mass-to-light ratio ($\Upsilon_{\star}$), galaxy distance, and disk inclination. Acceptable fits with astrophysically reasonable parameters are found for the vast majority of galaxies. The residuals around these fits have an rms scatter of only 0.057 dex ($\sim$13$\%$). This is in agreement with the predictions of modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND). We further consider a generalized version of the RAR that, unlike MOND, permits galaxy-to-galaxy variation in the critical acceleration scale. The fits are not improved with this additional freedom: there is no credible indication of variation in the critical acceleration scale. The data are consistent with the action of a single effective force law. The apparent universality of the acceleration scale and the small residual scatter are key to understanding galaxies.

Fitting the Radial Acceleration Relation to Individual SPARC Galaxies

Abstract: Galaxies follow a tight radial acceleration relation (RAR): the acceleration observed at every radius correlates with that expected from the distribution of baryons. We use the Markov chain Monte Carlo method to fit the mean RAR to 175 individual galaxies in the SPARC database, marginalizing over stellar mass-to-light ratio (ϒ⋆ ), galaxy distance, and disk inclination. Acceptable fits with astrophysically reasonable parameters are found for the vast majority of galaxies. The residuals around these fits have an rms scatter of only 0.057 dex (~13%). This is in agreement with the predictions of modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND). We further consider a generalized version of the RAR that, unlike MOND, permits galaxy-to-galaxy variation in the critical acceleration scale. The fits are not improved with this additional freedom: there is no credible indication of variation in the critical acceleration scale. The data are consistent with the action of a single effective force law. The apparent universality of the acceleration scale and the small residual scatter are key to understanding galaxies.

A Reinforcement Learning Based Approach for Automated Lane Change Maneuvers

Abstract: Lane change is a crucial vehicle maneuver which needs coordination with surrounding vehicles. Automated lane changing functions built on rule-based models may perform well under pre-defined operating conditions, but they may be prone to failure when unexpected situations are encountered. In our study, we proposed a Reinforcement Learning based approach to train the vehicle agent to learn an automated lane change behavior such that it can intelligently make a lane change under diverse and even unforeseen scenarios. Particularly, we treated both state space and action space as continuous, and designed a Q-function approximator that has a closed-form greedy policy, which contributes to the computation efficiency of our deep Q-learning algorithm. Extensive simulations are conducted for training the algorithm, and the results illustrate that the Reinforcement Learning based vehicle agent is capable of learning a smooth and efficient driving policy for lane change maneuvers.

Could Solar Radiation Pressure Explain ‘Oumuamua’s Peculiar Acceleration?

Abstract: 'Oumuamua (1I/2017 U1) is the first object of interstellar origin observed in the solar system. Recently, Micheli et al. reported that 'Oumuamua showed deviations from a Keplerian orbit at a high statistical significance. The observed trajectory is best explained by an excess radial acceleration Δa ∝ r −2, where r is the distance of 'Oumuamua from the Sun. Such an acceleration is naturally expected for comets, driven by the evaporating material. However, recent observational and theoretical studies imply that 'Oumuamua is not an active comet. We explore the possibility that the excess acceleration results from solar radiation pressure. The required mass-to-area ratio is (m/A) ≈ 0.1 g cm−2. For a thin sheet this requires a thickness of ≈0.3–0.9 mm. We find that although extremely thin, such an object would survive interstellar travel over Galactic distances of ~5 kpc, withstanding collisions with gas and dust grains as well as stresses from rotation and tidal forces. We discuss the possible origins of such an object. Our general results apply to any light probes designed for interstellar travel.

Absence of a fundamental acceleration scale in galaxies

Abstract: Dark matter is currently one of the main mysteries of the Universe. There is much strong indirect evidence that supports its existence, but there is yet no sign of a direct detection1–3. Moreover, at the scale of galaxies, there is tension between the theoretically expected dark matter distribution and its indirectly observed distribution4–7. Therefore, phenomena associated with dark matter have a chance of serving as a window towards new physics. The radial acceleration relation8,9 confirms that a non-trivial acceleration scale a0 can be found from the internal dynamics of several galaxies. The existence of such a scale is not obvious as far as the standard cosmological model is concerned10,11, and it has been interpreted as a possible sign of modified gravity12,13. Here, we consider 193 high-quality disk galaxies and, using Bayesian inference, show that the probability of existence of a fundamental acceleration is essentially 0: the null hypothesis is rejected at more than 10σ. We conclude that a0 is of emergent nature. In particular, the modified Newtonian dynamics theory14–17—a well-known alternative to dark matter based on the existence of a fundamental acceleration scale—or any other theory that behaves like it at galactic scales, is ruled out as a fundamental theory for galaxies at more than 10σ. By studying the properties of almost 200 disk galaxies, it is shown that modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND), or MOND-like alternative theories of gravity based on the existence of a fundamental acceleration scale, are ruled out as fundamental theories for galaxies at more than 10σ.

Enhanced Laser-Driven Ion Acceleration by Superponderomotive Electrons Generated from Near-Critical-Density Plasma.

Abstract: We report on the experimental studies of laser driven ion acceleration from a double-layer target where a near-critical density target with a few-micron thickness is coated in front of a nanometer-thin diamondlike carbon foil. A significant enhancement of proton maximum energies from 12 to similar to 30 MeV is observed when a relativistic laser pulse impinges on the double-layer target under linear polarization. We attributed the enhanced acceleration to superponderomotive electrons that were simultaneously measured in the experiments with energies far beyond the free-electron ponderomotive limit. Our interpretation is supported by two-dimensional simulation results.

Computing the Drivable Area of Autonomous Road Vehicles in Dynamic Road Scenes

Abstract: This paper presents an algorithm for overapproximating the drivable area of road vehicles in the presence of time-varying obstacles. The drivable area can be used to detect whether a feasible trajectory exists and in which area one can limit the search of drivable trajectories. For this purpose, we abstract the considered road vehicle by a point mass with bounded velocity and acceleration. Our algorithm calculates the reachable occupancy at discrete time steps. At each time step, the set is represented by a union of finitely many sets, which are each the Cartesian product of two 2-D convex polytopes. We demonstrate our method with three examples: i) a traffic situation with identical dynamic constraints in the x- and y-directions; ii) a highway scenario with different lateral and longitudinal constraints of the dynamics; and iii) a highway scenario with different traffic predictions. The examples demonstrate that we can compute the drivable area quickly enough to deploy our approach in real vehicles.

Anderson acceleration for geometry optimization and physics simulation

Abstract: Many computer graphics problems require computing geometric shapes subject to certain constraints. This often results in non-linear and non-convex optimization problems with globally coupled variables, which pose great challenge for interactive applications. Local-global solvers developed in recent years can quickly compute an approximate solution to such problems, making them an attractive choice for applications that prioritize efficiency over accuracy. However, these solvers suffer from lower convergence rate, and may take a long time to compute an accurate result. In this paper, we propose a simple and effective technique to accelerate the convergence of such solvers. By treating each local-global step as a fixed-point iteration, we apply Anderson acceleration, a well-established technique for fixed-point solvers, to speed up the convergence of a local-global solver. To address the stability issue of classical Anderson acceleration, we propose a simple strategy to guarantee the decrease of target energy and ensure its global convergence. In addition, we analyze the connection between Anderson acceleration and quasi-Newton methods, and show that the canonical choice of its mixing parameter is suitable for accelerating local-global solvers. Moreover, our technique is effective beyond classical local-global solvers, and can be applied to iterative methods with a common structure. We evaluate the performance of our technique on a variety of geometry optimization and physics simulation problems. Our approach significantly reduces the number of iterations required to compute an accurate result, with only a slight increase of computational cost per iteration. Its simplicity and effectiveness makes it a promising tool for accelerating existing algorithms as well as designing efficient new algorithms.

Alternating-Phase Focusing for Dielectric-Laser Acceleration.

Abstract: The concept of dielectric-laser acceleration provides the highest gradients among breakdown-limited (nonplasma) particle accelerators. However, stable beam transport and staging have not been shown experimentally yet. We present a scheme that confines the beam longitudinally and in one transverse direction. Confinement in the other direction is obtained by a single conventional quadrupole magnet. Within the small aperture of 420 nm we find the matched distributions, which allow an optimized injection into pure transport, bunching, and accelerating structures. The combination of these resembles the photonics analogue of the radio frequency quadrupole, but since our setup is entirely two dimensional, it can be manufactured on a microchip by lithographic techniques. This is a crucial step towards relativistic electrons in the MeV range from low-cost, handheld devices and connects the two fields of attosecond physics and accelerator physics.

On magnetic field amplification and particle acceleration near non-relativistic astrophysical shocks: particles in MHD cells simulations

Abstract: We present simulations of magnetized astrophysical shocks taking into account the interplay between the thermal plasma of the shock and suprathermal particles. Such interaction is depicted by combining a grid-based magnetohydrodynamics description of the thermal fluid with particle in cell techniques devoted to the dynamics of suprathermal particles. This approach, which incorporates the use of adaptive mesh refinement features, is potentially a key to simulate astrophysical systems on spatial scales that are beyond the reach of pure particle-in-cell simulations. We consider in this study non-relativistic shocks with various Alfvenic Mach numbers and magnetic field obliquity. We recover all the features of both magnetic field amplification and particle acceleration from previous studies when the magnetic field is parallel to the normal to the shock. In contrast with previous particle-in-cell-hybrid simulations, we find that particle acceleration and magnetic field amplification also occur when the magnetic field is oblique to the normal to the shock but on larger time-scales than in the parallel case. We show that in our simulations, the suprathermal particles are experiencing acceleration thanks to a pre-heating process of the particle similar to a shock drift acceleration leading to the corrugation of the shock front. Such oscillations of the shock front and the magnetic field locally help the particles to enter the upstream region and to initiate a non-resonant streaming instability and finally to induce diffuse particle acceleration.

Accurate Tracking of Aggressive Quadrotor Trajectories using Incremental Nonlinear Dynamic Inversion and Differential Flatness

Abstract: Autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that can execute aggressive (i.e., high-speed and high-acceleration) maneuvers have attracted significant attention in the past few years. This paper focuses on accurate tracking of aggressive quadcopter trajectories. We propose a novel control law for tracking of position and yaw angle and their derivatives of up to fourth order, specifically, velocity, acceleration, jerk, and snap along with yaw rate and yaw acceleration. Jerk and snap are tracked using feedforward inputs for angular rate and angular acceleration based on the differential flatness of the quadcopter dynamics. Snap tracking requires direct control of body torque, which we achieve using closed-loop motor speed control based on measurements from optical encoders attached to the motors. The controller utilizes incremental nonlinear dynamic inversion (INDI) for robust tracking of linear and angular accelerations despite external disturbances, such as aerodynamic drag forces. Hence, prior modeling of aerodynamic effects is not required. We rigorously analyze the proposed control law through response analysis, and we demonstrate it in experiments. The controller enables a quadcopter UAV to track complex 3D trajectories, reaching speeds up to 12.9 m/s and accelerations up to 2.1g, while keeping the root-mean-square tracking error down to 6.6 cm, in a flight volume that is roughly 18 m by 7 m and 3 m tall. We also demonstrate the robustness of the controller by attaching a drag plate to the UAV in flight tests and by pulling on the UAV with a rope during hover.

Could Solar Radiation Pressure Explain 'Oumuamua's Peculiar Acceleration?

Abstract: `Oumuamua (1I/2017 U1) is the first object of interstellar origin observed in the Solar System. Recently, \citet{Micheli2018} reported that `Oumuamua showed deviations from a Keplerian orbit at a high statistical significance. The observed trajectory is best explained by an excess radial acceleration $\Delta a \propto r^{-2}$, where $r$ is the distance of `Oumuamua from the Sun. Such an acceleration is naturally expected for comets, driven by the evaporating material. However, recent observational and theoretical studies imply that `Oumuamua is not an active comet. We explore the possibility that the excess acceleration results from Solar radiation pressure. The required mass-to-area ratio is $(m/A)\approx 0.1$ g cm$^{-2}$. For a thin sheet this requires a thickness of $\approx 0.3-0.9$ mm. We find that although extremely thin, such an object would survive an interstellar travel over Galactic distances of $\sim 5$ kpc, withstanding collisions with gas and dust-grains as well as stresses from rotation and tidal forces. We discuss the possible origins of such an object. Our general results apply to any light probes designed for interstellar travel.

Kinetic demands of sprinting shift across the acceleration phase: Novel analysis of entire force waveforms.

Abstract: A novel approach of analyzing complete ground reaction force waveforms rather than discrete kinetic variables can provide new insight to sprint biomechanics. This study aimed to understand how these waveforms are associated with better performance across entire sprint accelerations. Twenty-eight male track and field athletes (100-m personal best times: 10.88 to 11.96 seconds) volunteered to participate. Ground reaction forces produced across 24 steps were captured during repeated (two to five) maximal-effort sprints utilizing a 54-force-plate system. Force data (antero-posterior, vertical, resultant, and ratio of forces) across each contact were registered to 100% of stance and averaged for each athlete. Statistical parametric mapping (linear regression) revealed specific phases of stance where force was associated with average horizontal external power produced during that contact. Initially, antero-posterior force production during mid-late propulsion (eg, 58%-92% of stance for the second ground contact) was positively associated with average horizontal external power. As athletes progressed through acceleration, this positive association with performance shifted toward the earlier phases of contact (eg, 55%-80% of stance for the eighth and 19%-64% for the 19th ground contact). Consequently, as athletes approached maximum velocity, better athletes were more capable of attenuating the braking forces, especially in the latter parts of the eccentric phase. These unique findings demonstrate a shift in the performance determinants of acceleration from higher concentric propulsion to lower eccentric braking forces as velocity increases. This highlights the broad kinetic requirements of sprinting and the conceivable need for athletes to target improvements in different phases separately with demand-specific exercises.

Anderson Acceleration for Geometry Optimization and Physics Simulation

Abstract: Many computer graphics problems require computing geometric shapes subject to certain constraints. This often results in non-linear and non-convex optimization problems with globally coupled variables, which pose great challenge for interactive applications. Local-global solvers developed in recent years can quickly compute an approximate solution to such problems, making them an attractive choice for applications that prioritize efficiency over accuracy. However, these solvers suffer from lower convergence rate, and may take a long time to compute an accurate result. In this paper, we propose a simple and effective technique to accelerate the convergence of such solvers. By treating each local-global step as a fixed-point iteration, we apply Anderson acceleration, a well-established technique for fixed-point solvers, to speed up the convergence of a local-global solver. To address the stability issue of classical Anderson acceleration, we propose a simple strategy to guarantee the decrease of target energy and ensure its global convergence. In addition, we analyze the connection between Anderson acceleration and quasi-Newton methods, and show that the canonical choice of its mixing parameter is suitable for accelerating local-global solvers. Moreover, our technique is effective beyond classical local-global solvers, and can be applied to iterative methods with a common structure. We evaluate the performance of our technique on a variety of geometry optimization and physics simulation problems. Our approach significantly reduces the number of iterations required to compute an accurate result, with only a slight increase of computational cost per iteration. Its simplicity and effectiveness makes it a promising tool for accelerating existing algorithms as well as designing efficient new algorithms.

Self-generated surface magnetic fields inhibit laser-driven sheath acceleration of high-energy protons

Abstract: High-intensity lasers interacting with solid foils produce copious numbers of relativistic electrons, which in turn create strong sheath electric fields around the target. The proton beams accelerated in such fields have remarkable properties, enabling ultrafast radiography of plasma phenomena or isochoric heating of dense materials. In view of longer-term multidisciplinary purposes (e.g., spallation neutron sources or cancer therapy), the current challenge is to achieve proton energies well in excess of 100 MeV, which is commonly thought to be possible by raising the on-target laser intensity. Here we present experimental and numerical results demonstrating that magnetostatic fields self-generated on the target surface may pose a fundamental limit to sheath-driven ion acceleration for high enough laser intensities. Those fields can be strong enough (~105 T at laser intensities ~1021 W cm–2) to magnetize the sheath electrons and deflect protons off the accelerating region, hence degrading the maximum energy the latter can acquire. Laser-generated ion acceleration has received increasing attention due to recent progress in super-intense lasers. Here the authors demonstrate the role of the self-generated magnetic field on the ion acceleration and limitations on the energy scaling with laser intensity.

Isolated proton bunch acceleration by a petawatt laser pulse

Abstract: Often, the interpretation of experiments concerning the manipulation of the energy distribution of laser-accelerated ion bunches is complicated by the multitude of competing dynamic processes simultaneously contributing to recorded ion signals. Here we demonstrate experimentally the acceleration of a clean proton bunch. This was achieved with a microscopic and three-dimensionally confined near critical density plasma, which evolves from a 1 µm diameter plastic sphere, which is levitated and positioned with micrometer precision in the focus of a Petawatt laser pulse. The emitted proton bunch is reproducibly observed with central energies between 20 and 40 MeV and narrow energy spread (down to 25%) showing almost no low-energetic background. Together with three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations we track the complete acceleration process, evidencing the transition from organized acceleration to Coulomb repulsion. This reveals limitations of current high power lasers and viable paths to optimize laser-driven ion sources.

Laser-driven ion acceleration via target normal sheath acceleration in the relativistic transparency regime

Abstract: We present an experimental study investigating laser-driven proton acceleration via Target Normal Sheath Acceleration (TNSA) over a target thickness range spanning the typical TNSA-dominant region (1 μm) down to below the relativistic laser-transparency regime (l 40 nm), enabled by freely adjustable target film thickness using liquid crystals along with high contrast (via plasma mirror) laser interaction ( 2.65 J, 30 fs, I g 1 × 10lsupg21l/supg W/cmlsupg2l/supg). Thickness dependent maximum proton energies scale well with TNSA models down to the thinnest targets, while those under 40 nm indicate transparency-enhanced TNSA via differences in light transmission, maximum proton energy, and proton beam spatial profile. Oblique laser incidence (45°) allowed additional diagnostics to be fielded to diagnose the interaction quality: a suite of ion energy and spatial distribution diagnostics in the laser axis and both front and rear target normal directions as well as reflected and transmitted light measurements on-shot collectively verify the dominant acceleration mechanism as TNSA from high contrast interaction, even for ultra-thin targets. Additionally, 3D particle-in-cell simulations support the experimental observations of target-normal-directed proton acceleration from ultra-thin films.

Wave-CAIPI for highly accelerated MP-RAGE imaging.

Abstract: Purpose To introduce a highly accelerated T1-weighted magnetization-prepared rapid gradient echo (MP-RAGE) acquisition that uses wave-controlled aliasing in parallel imaging (wave-CAIPI) encoding to retain high image quality. Methods Significant acceleration of the MP-RAGE sequence is demonstrated using the wave-CAIPI technique. Here, sinusoidal waveforms are used to spread aliasing in all three directions to improve the g-factor. Combined with a rapid (2 s) coil sensitivity acquisition and data-driven trajectory calibration, we propose an online integrated acquisition-reconstruction pipeline for highly efficient MP-RAGE imaging. Results The 9-fold accelerated MP-RAGE acquisition can be performed in 71 s, with a maximum and average g-factor of gmax = 1.27 and gavg = 1.06 at 3T. Compared with the state-of-the-art method controlled aliasing in parallel imaging results in higher acceleration (2D-CAIPIRINHA), this is a factor of 4.6/1.4 improvement in gmax/gavg. In addition, we demonstrate a 57 s acquisition at 7T with 12-fold acceleration. This acquisition has a g-factor performance of gmax = 1.15 and gavg = 1.04. Conclusion Wave encoding overcomes the g-factor noise amplification penalty and allows for an order of magnitude acceleration of MP-RAGE acquisitions. Magn Reson Med 79:401–406, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

A MEMS resonant accelerometer for low-frequency vibration detection

Abstract: According to their inherent characteristics, MEMS resonant accelerometers are suitable for low-frequency, low-g acceleration measurement. In this paper, we report a MEMS accelerometer based on double-ended-tuning fork resonators. The scale factor of our sensor is 1153.3 Hz/g and the bias stability of the oscillator is 58 ppb (parts per billion) for an averaging time of 1 s. The static test showed that the resolution of our sensor was 13.8 μg. The dynamic performance was demonstrated by single-frequency and hybrid-frequency vibration tests, and the results showed that our device is suitable for detecting low-frequency vibration (0.5–5 Hz). The cross-axis sensitivity is 1.33%. Compared with a standard charge accelerometer, our device showed its superiority in mixed acceleration measurement, which makes it a potentially attractive option for geophone or seismometer applications.

Predicting athlete ground reaction forces and moments from motion capture

Abstract: An understanding of athlete ground reaction forces and moments (GRF/Ms) facilitates the biomechanist's downstream calculation of net joint forces and moments, and associated injury risk. Historically, force platforms used to collect kinetic data are housed within laboratory settings and are not suitable for field-based installation. Given that Newton's Second Law clearly describes the relationship between a body's mass, acceleration, and resultant force, is it possible that marker-based motion capture can represent these parameters sufficiently enough to estimate GRF/Ms, and thereby minimize our reliance on surface embedded force platforms? Specifically, can we successfully use partial least squares (PLS) regression to learn the relationship between motion capture and GRF/Ms data? In total, we analyzed 11 PLS methods and achieved average correlation coefficients of 0.9804 for GRFs and 0.9143 for GRMs. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of predicting accurate GRF/Ms from raw motion capture trajectories in real-time, overcoming what has been a significant barrier to non-invasive collection of such data. In applied biomechanics research, this outcome has the potential to revolutionize athlete performance enhancement and injury prevention. Graphical Abstract Using data science to model high-fidelity motion and force plate data frees biomechanists from the laboratory.

Progressive Blockwise Knowledge Distillation for Neural Network Acceleration

Abstract: As an important and challenging problem in machine learning and computer vision, neural network acceleration essentially aims to enhance the computational efficiency without sacrificing the model accuracy too much. In this paper, we propose a progressive blockwise learning scheme for teacher-student model distillation at the subnetwork block level. The proposed scheme is able to distill the knowledge of the entire teacher network by locally extracting the knowledge of each block in terms of progressive blockwise function approximation. Furthermore, we propose a structure design criterion for the student subnetwork block, which is able to effectively preserve the original receptive field from the teacher network. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme against the state-of-the-art approaches.

Estimation of road traffic noise emissions: the influence of speed and acceleration

Abstract: This paper relies on vehicle trajectory collection on a corridor, to compare different traffic representations used for the estimation of the sound power of light vehicles and the resulting sound pressure levels. Four noise emission models are tested. The error introduced when the emissions are calculated based on speeds measured at regular intervals along the road network are quantified and explained. The current noise emission models might in particular misestimate noise levels under congestion. This bias can be reduced by introducing additional traffic variables in the modeling. In addition, significant differences within the models are highlighted, especially concerning their accounting of vehicle accelerations. Models that rely on a binary representation of acceleration regimes (a vehicle or a road segment is accelerating or not) can lead to errors in practice. Models under use in Europe have a very low sensitivity to acceleration values. These results help underlying the further required improvements of dynamic road traffic noise models.

Temporal Simultons in Optical Parametric Oscillators

Abstract: We report the first demonstration of a regime of operation in optical parametric oscillators (OPOs), in which the formation of temporal simultons produces stable femtosecond half-harmonic pulses. Simultons are simultaneous bright-dark solitons of a signal field at frequency ω and the pump field at 2ω, which form in a quadratic nonlinear medium. The formation of simultons in an OPO is due to the interplay of nonlinear pulse acceleration with the timing mismatch between the pump repetition period and the cold-cavity round-trip time and is evidenced by sech^2 spectra with broad instantaneous bandwidths when the resonator is detuned to a slightly longer round-trip time than the pump repetition period. We provide a theoretical description of an OPO operating in a regime dominated by these dynamics, observe the distinct features of simulton formation in an experiment, and verify our results with numerical simulations. These results represent a new regime of operation in nonlinear resonators, which can lead to efficient and scalable sources of few-cycle frequency combs at arbitrary wavelengths.

Study on self-adjustable tuned mass damper with variable mass

Abstract: Summary Tuned mass dampers (TMDs) represent a quite mature technology for controlling human-induced vibrations of footbridges, when they are tuned to the primary structure's fundamental frequency. However, the TMD is very sensitive to even a small change in the tuning ratio. This paper proposes a novel TMD named self-adjustable variable mass TMD (SAVM-TMD), which is capable of varying its mass and retuning its frequency on the basis of the acceleration ratio between the primary system and the TMD. The accelerations are obtained from two acceleration sensors, and the frequency adjustment is achieved by using a microcontroller and actuating devices. The acceleration ratio limit value should be set in the microcontroller firstly, and when the adjustment begins, the microcontroller will retune the TMD to a reasonable frequency region, under a specific harmonic excitation. The SAVM-TMD can be regarded as a passive control device capable of adjusting its frequency. The performance of SAVM-TMD is studied via both experimental studies and numerical simulations under different pedestrian excitations. It is found that the SAVM-TMD is effective in reducing the response and improving the equivalent damping ratio of the primary system when the structural frequency changes, with little power consumption. The results obtained from the experimental studies and the numerical simulations agree with each other very well. More pedestrian vibration situations are studied in the numerical simulations, and the results also show that the SAVM-TMD has excellent performance in controlling human-induced vibrations.

Dual-rate sampled-data stabilization for active suspension system of electric vehicle

Abstract: Summary In this paper, we consider the dual-rate sampled-data state-feedback control problem for an active suspension system of an electric vehicle. In the active suspension system, there exist 2 accelerometers to measure the heave acceleration of the sprung mass and the vertical acceleration of the unsprung mass, respectively. When the 2 accelerations are measured by sampled data under different sampling periods, the difficulty arising from the dual-rate sampled data makes the active suspension stabilization problem challenging but interesting. In this paper, a linear hybrid stabilizer is proposed, which is implemented using dual-rate sampled-data state feedback. In order to deal with the more difficult stabilization problem under different triggering time instants, a coordinate transformation is proposed. A useful technical theorem is proposed in the stability analysis to show that the proposed hybrid controller can guarantee the states of the active suspension system being asymptotically stabilized or at least bounded to arbitrarily small domains. The experiment result is similar to the simulation result and indicates that the proposed active suspension controlling system is effective.