arXiv subjects

C. Peterson

Publications and source records attributed to C. Peterson.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

The Carruthers Mission Concept and Performance

The Carruthers Geocoronal Observatory (Carruthers), formerly GLIDE, is a NASA Heliophysics Science Mission of Opportunity implemented through the Solar Terrestrial Probes (STP) Program and launched as a rideshare in September 2025. Carruthers is the first spaceflight mission edicated to continuous global imaging of Earth's hydrogen exosphere through observations of geocoronal Lyman-$\alpha$ emission at 121.6 nm. The observatory operates at distances of 1.3-1.7 million km in a halo orbit about the Sun-Earth L1 point, enabling retrieval of the three-dimensional distribution of atomic hydrogen, the dominant constituent of the exosphere, on hourly timescales and unprecedented spatial resolution. These new data provide the key to understanding processes governing atmospheric escape, geospace coupling, and solar-wind interaction. Carruthers carries the GeoCoronal Imager (GCI), a dual-channel ultraviolet imaging instrument comprising the Narrow-Field Imager (NFI) for high-resolution observations of the inner exosphere and the Wide-Field Imager (WFI) for synoptic imaging of the extended hydrogen halo. Along with a student-provided experiment, the instrument suite is the sole payload aboard a three-axis-stabilized spacecraft designed to support nadir viewing throughout the $\sim178$ day halo orbit about L1. Observations also measure the interplanetary Lyman-$\alpha$ background, enabling separation of heliospheric and geocoronal emissions. The student-led experiment monitors solar Lyman-$\alpha$ and extreme ultraviolet emission during portions of the orbit. Science data are returned through the Deep Space Network at data rates up to 1 Mbit s$^{-1}$. The two-year baseline mission begins in March 2026, with propellant reserves capable of supporting more than ten years of orbit maintenance and maneuvers.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2023

Kepler K2 Campaign 9: II. First space-based discovery of an exoplanet using microlensing

We present K2-2016-BLG-0005Lb, a densely sampled, planetary binary caustic-crossing microlensing event found from a blind search of data gathered from Campaign 9 of the Kepler K2 mission (K2C9). K2-2016-BLG-0005Lb is the first bound microlensing exoplanet discovered from space-based data. The event has caustic entry and exit points that are resolved in the K2C9 data, enabling the lens--source relative proper motion to be measured. We have fitted a binary microlens model to the Kepler data, and to simultaneous observations from multiple ground-based surveys. Whilst the ground-based data only sparsely sample the binary caustic, they provide a clear detection of parallax that allows us to break completely the microlensing mass--position--velocity degeneracy and measure the planet's mass directly. We find a host mass of $0.58\pm0.04 ~{\rm M}_\odot$ and a planetary mass of $1.1\pm0.1 ~{\rm M_J}$. The system lies at a distance of $5.2\pm0.2~$kpc from Earth towards the Galactic bulge, more than twice the distance of the previous most distant planet found by Kepler. The sky-projected separation of the planet from its host is found to be $4.2\pm0.3~$au which, for circular orbits, deprojects to a host separation $a = 4.4^{+1.9}_{-0.4}~$au and orbital period $P = 13^{+9}_{-2}~$yr. This makes K2-2016-BLG-0005Lb a close Jupiter analogue orbiting a low-mass host star. According to current planet formation models, this system is very close to the host mass threshold below which Jupiters are not expected to form. Upcoming space-based exoplanet microlensing surveys by NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and, possibly, ESA's Euclid mission, will provide demanding tests of current planet formation models.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2020

Statistical Properties of Unrestricted Crew Scheduling Problems

A statistical analysis is performed for a random unrestricted local crew scheduling problem, expressed in terms of pairing arrivals with departures. The analysis is aimed at understanding the structure of similar problems with global restrictions, and estimating their difficulty. The methods developed are of a general nature and can be of use in other problems with a similar structure. For large random problems, the ground-state energy scales like \sqrt{N} and the average excitation like N, where N is the number of arrivals/departures. The average ground-state degeneracy is such that the probability of hitting an optimal pairing by chance scales like 2N2^{-N} for large N. By insisting on the local ground-state energy for a restricted problem, airports can be split into smaller parts, and the state space reduced by typically a factor ~ 2^{N_a}, with N_a the total number of airports.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2017

Haematopietic stem cells -- entropic landscapes of differentiation

The metaphor of a potential epigenetic differentiation landscape broadly suggests that during differentiation a stem cell follows the steepest descending gradient toward a stable equilibrium state which represents the final cell type. It has been conjectured that there is an analogy to the concept of entropy in statistical mechanics. In this context, in the undifferentiated state the entropy would be large since fewer constraints exist on the gene expression programs of the cell. As differentiation progresses, gene expression programs become more and more constrained and thus the entropy would be expected to decrease. Such an entropy decrease would, in analogy to statistical mechanics, require some form of free energy to decrease accordingly. In order to assess these predictions, we compute the Shannon entropy for time-resolved single-cell gene expression data in two different experimental setups of haematopoietic differentiation. We find that the behaviour of this entropy measure is in contrast to these predictions. In particular, we find that the Shannon entropy is not a decreasing function of developmental pseudo-time but instead it increases toward the point of commitment before decreasing again. This behaviour is consistent with an increase in gene expression disorder observed in populations sampled at the point of commitment. Single cells in these populations exhibit different combinations of regulator activity that suggest the presence of multiple configurations of a potential differentiation network as a result of multiple entry points into the committed state.

q-bio.CB↗

arXiv2016

Campaign 9 of the $K2$ Mission: Observational Parameters, Scientific Drivers, and Community Involvement for a Simultaneous Space- and Ground-based Microlensing Survey

$K2$'s Campaign 9 ($K2$C9) will conduct a $\sim$3.7 deg$^{2}$ survey toward the Galactic bulge from 7/April through 1/July of 2016 that will leverage the spatial separation between $K2$ and the Earth to facilitate measurement of the microlens parallax $π_{\rm E}$ for $\gtrsim$127 microlensing events. These will include several that are planetary in nature as well as many short-timescale microlensing events, which are potentially indicative of free-floating planets (FFPs). These satellite parallax measurements will in turn allow for the direct measurement of the masses of and distances to the lensing systems. In this white paper we provide an overview of the $K2$C9 space- and ground-based microlensing survey. Specifically, we detail the demographic questions that can be addressed by this program, including the frequency of FFPs and the Galactic distribution of exoplanets, the observational parameters of $K2$C9, and the array of resources dedicated to concurrent observations. Finally, we outline the avenues through which the larger community can become involved, and generally encourage participation in $K2$C9, which constitutes an important pathfinding mission and community exercise in anticipation of $WFIRST$.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2002

Effect of High Energy Heavy Ion Irradiation on c-axis Oriented MgB2 Films

We report on the transport, magnetization, and scanning tunneling spectroscopy measurements on c-axis oriented thin films of MgB2 irradiated with high energy heavy ions of uranium and gold. We find a slight shift in the irreversibility and upper critical field lines to higher temperatures after irradiation. In addition, we observe an increase in the critical current at high temperatures near Tc2 and only a small change at low temperatures. Furthermore, we find no evidence for the existence of anisotropic pinning induced by heavy ion irradiation in this material. Tunneling spectra in an irradiated sample show a double gap structure with a flat background and very low zero-bias conductance, behaving in much the same way as the pristine unirradiated sample.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2001

Topological Properties of Citation and Metabolic Networks

Topological properties of "scale-free" networks are investigated by determining their spectral dimensions $d_S$, which reflect a diffusion process in the corresponding graphs. Data bases for citation networks and metabolic networks together with simulation results from the growing network model \cite{barab} are probed. For completeness and comparisons lattice, random, small-world models are also investigated. We find that $d_S$ is around 3 for citation and metabolic networks, which is significantly different from the growing network model, for which $d_S$ is approximately 7.5. This signals a substantial difference in network topology despite the observed similarities in vertex order distributions. In addition, the diffusion analysis indicates that whereas the citation networks are tree-like in structure, the metabolic networks contain many loops.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2000

A Novel Approach to Structure Alignment

A novel approach for structure alignment is presented, where the key ingredients are: (1) An error function formulation of the problem simultaneously in terms of binary (Potts) assignment variables and real-valued atomic coordinates. (2) Minimization of the error function by an iterative method, where in each iteration a mean field method is employed for the assignment variables and exact rotation/translation of atomic coordinates is performed, weighted with the corresponding assignment variables. The approach allows for extensive search of all possible alignments, including those involving arbitrary permutations. The algorithm is implemented using a C_alpha representation of the backbone and explored on different protein structure categories using the Protein Data Bank (PDB) and is successfully compared with other algorithms. The approach performs very well with modest CPU consumption and is robust with respect to choice of parameters. It is extremely generic and flexible and can handle additional user-prescribed constraints easily. Furthermore, it allows for a probabilistic interpretation of the results.

physics.bio-ph↗

arXiv1999

Folding and Design in Coarse-Grained Protein Models

Recent advances in coarse-grained lattice and off-lattice protein models are reviewed. The sequence dependence of thermodynamical folding properties are investigated and evidence for non-randomness of the binary sequences of good folders are discussed. Similar patterns for non-randomness are found for real proteins. Dynamical parameter MC methods, such as the tempering and multisequence algorithms, are essential in order to obtain these results. Also, a new MC method for design, the inverse of folding, is presented. Here, one maximizes conditional probabilities rather than minimizing energies. By construction, this method ensures that the designed sequences represent good folders thermodynamically.

hep-lat↗

arXiv1999

Bezout's theorem and Cohen-Macaulay modules

We define very proper intersections of modules and projective subschemes. It turns out that equidimensional locally Cohen-Macaulay modules intersect very properly if and only if they intersect properly. We prove a Bezout theorem for modules which meet very properly. Furthermore, we show for equidimensional subschemes $X$ and $Y$: If they intersect properly in an arithmetically Cohen-Macaulay subscheme of positive dimension then $X$ and $Y$ are arithmetically Cohen-Macaulay. The module version of this result implies splitting criteria for reflexive sheaves.

math.AC↗

arXiv1998

Local Routing Algorithms Based on Potts Neural Networks

A feedback neural approach to static communication routing in asymmetric networks is presented, where a mean field formulation of the Bellman-Ford method for the single unicast problem is used as a common platform for developing algorithms for multiple unicast, multicast and multiple multicast problems. The appealing locality and update philosophy of the Bellman-Ford algorithm is inherited. For all problem types the objective is to minimize a total connection cost, defined as the sum of the individual costs of the involved arcs, subject to capacity constraints. The methods are evaluated for synthetic problem instances by comparing to exact solutions for cases where these are accessible, and else with approximate results from simple heuristics. The computational demand is modest.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv1997

Determinantal schemes and Buchsbaum-Rim sheaves

Let $ϕ$ be a generically surjective morphism between direct sums of line bundles on $\proj{n}$ and assume that the degeneracy locus, $X$, of $ϕ$ has the expected codimension. We call $B_ϕ = \ker ϕ$ a (first) Buchsbaum-Rim sheaf and we call $X$ a standard determinantal scheme. Viewing $ϕ$ as a matrix (after choosing bases), we say that $X$ is good if one can delete a generalized row from $ϕ$ and have the maximal minors of the resulting submatrix define a scheme of the expected codimension. In this paper we give several characterizations of good determinantal schemes. In particular, it is shown that being a good determinantal scheme of codimension $r+1$ is equivalent to being the zero-locus of a regular section of the dual of a first Buchsbaum-Rim sheaf of rank $r+1$. It is also equivalent to being standard determinantal and locally a complete intersection outside a subscheme $Y \subset X$ of codimension $r+2$. Furthermore, for any good determinantal subscheme $X$ of codimension $r+1$ there is a good determinantal subscheme $S$ codimension $r$ such that $X$ sits in $S$ in a nice way. This leads to several generalizations of a theorem of Kreuzer. For example, we show that for a zeroscheme $X$ in $\proj{3}$, being good determinantal is equivalent to the existence of an arithmetically Cohen-Macaulay curve $S$, which is a local complete intersection, such that $X$ is a subcanonical Cartier divisor on $S$.

alg-geom↗

arXiv1997

Buchsbaum-Rim sheaves and their multiple sections

This paper begins by introducing and characterizing Buchsbaum-Rim sheaves on $Z = \Proj R$ where $R$ is a graded Gorenstein K-algebra. They are reflexive sheaves arising as the sheafification of kernels of sufficiently general maps between free R-modules. Then we study multiple sections of a Buchsbaum-Rim sheaf $\cBf$, i.e, we consider morphisms $ψ: \cP \to \cBf$ of sheaves on $Z$ dropping rank in the expected codimension, where $H^0_*(Z,\cP)$ is a free R-module. The main purpose of this paper is to study properties of schemes associated to the degeneracy locus $S$ of $ψ$. It turns out that $S$ is often not equidimensional. Let $X$ denote the top-dimensional part of $S$. In this paper we measure the ``difference'' between $X$ and $S$, compute their cohomology modules and describe ring-theoretic properties of their coordinate rings. Moreover, we produce graded free resolutions of $X$ (and $S$) which are in general minimal. Among the applications we show how one can embed a subscheme into an arithmetically Gorenstein subscheme of the same dimension and prove that zero-loci of sections of the dual of a null correlation bundle are arithmetically Buchsbaum.

alg-geom↗

arXiv1997

Airline Crew Scheduling Using Potts Mean Field Techniques

A novel method is presented and explored within the framework of Potts neural networks for solving optimization problems with a non-trivial topology, with the airline crew scheduling problem as a target application. The key ingredient to handle the topological complications is a propagator defined in terms of Potts neurons. The approach is tested on artificial problems generated with two real-world problems as templates. The results are compared against the properties of the corresponding unrestricted problems. The latter are subject to a detailed analysis in a companion paper [LU TP 97-11]. Very good results are obtained for a variety of problem sizes. The computer time demand for the approach only grows like (number of flights)^3. A realistic problem typically is solved within minutes, partly due to a prior reduction of the problem size, based on an analysis of the local arrival/departure structure at the single airports. To facilitate the reading for audiences not familiar with Potts neurons and mean field techniques, a brief review is given of recent advances in their application to resource allocation problems.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv1997

A Potts Neuron Approach to Communication Routing

A feedback neural network approach to communication routing problems is developed with emphasis on Multiple Shortest Path problems, with several requests for transmissions between distinct start- and endnodes. The basic ingredients are a set of Potts neurons for each request, with interactions designed to minimize path lengths and to prevent overloading of network arcs. The topological nature of the problem is conveniently handled using a propagator matrix approach. Although the constraints are global, the algorithmic steps are based entirely on local information, facilitating distributed implementations. In the polynomially solvable single-request case the approach reduces to a fuzzy version of the Bellman-Ford algorithm. The approach is evaluated for synthetic problems of varying sizes and load levels, by comparing with exact solutions from a branch-and-bound method. With very few exceptions, the Potts approach gives legal solutions of very high quality. The computational demand scales merely as the product of the numbers of requests, nodes, and arcs.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv1996

The Electrostatic Persistence Length Calculated from Monte Carlo, Variational and Perturbation Methods

Monte Carlo simulations and variational calculations using a Gaussian ansatz are applied to a model consisting of a flexible linear polyelectrolyte chain as well as to an intrinsically stiff chain with up to 1000 charged monomers. Addition of salt is treated implicitly through a screened Coulomb potential for the electrostatic interactions. For the flexible model the electrostatic persistence length shows roughly three regimes in its dependence on the Debye-Hückel screening length, $κ^{-1}$.As long as the salt content is low and $κ^{-1}$ is longer than the end-to-end distance, the electrostatic persistence length varies only slowly with $κ^{-1}$. Decreasing the screening length, a controversial region is entered. We find that the electrostatic persistence length scales as $sqrt{ξ_p}/κ$, in agreement with experiment on flexible polyelectrolytes, where $ξ_p$ is a strength parameter measuring the electrostatic interactions within the polyelectrolyte. For screening lengths much shorter than the bond length, the $κ^{-1}$ dependence becomes quadratic in the variational calculation. The simulations suffer from numerical problems in this regime, but seem to give a relationship half-way between linear and quadratic. A low temperature expansion only reproduces the first regime and a high temperature expansion, which treats the electrostatic interactions as a perturbation to a Gaussian chain, gives a quadratic dependence on the Debye length. For a sufficiently stiff chain, the persistence length varies quadratically with $κ^{-1}$ in agreement with earlier theories.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv1996

A Variational Approach to the Structure and Thermodynamics of Linear Polyelectrolytes with Coulomb and Screened Coulomb Interactions

A variational approach, based on a discrete representation of the chain, is used to calculate free energy and conformational properties in polyelectrolytes. The true bond and Coulomb potentials are approximated by a trial isotropic harmonic energy containing force constants between {\em all}monomer-pairs as variational parameters. By a judicious choice of representation and the use of incremental matrix inversion, an efficient and fast-convergent iterative algorithm is constructed, that optimizes the free energy. The computational demand scales as $N^3$ rather than $N^4$ as expected in a more naive approach. The method has the additional advantage that in contrast to Monte Carlo calculations the entropy is easily computed. An analysis of the high and low temperature limits is given. Also, the variational formulation is shown to respect the appropriate virial identities.The accuracy of the approximations introduced are tested against Monte Carlo simulations for problem sizes ranging from $N=20$ to 1024. Very good accuracy is obtained for chains with unscreened Coulomb interactions. The addition of salt is described through a screened Coulomb interaction, for which the accuracy in a certain parameter range turns out to be inferior to the unscreened case. The reason is that the harmonic variational Ansatz becomes less efficient with shorter range interactions. As a by-product a very efficient Monte Carlo algorithm was developed for comparisons, providing high statistics data for very large sizes -- 2048 monomers. The Monte Carlo results are also used to examine scaling properties, based on low-$T$ approximations to end-end and monomer-monomer separations. It is argued that the former increases faster than linearly with the number of bonds.

chem-ph↗

arXiv1996

Airline Crew Scheduling with Potts Neurons

A Potts feedback neural network approach for finding good solutions to resource allocation problems with a non-fixed topology is presented. As a target application the airline crew scheduling problem is chosen. The topological complication is handled by means of a propagator defined in terms of Potts neurons. The approach is tested on artificial random problems tuned to resemble real-world conditions. Very good results are obtained for a variety of problem sizes. The computer time demand for the approach only grows like $\mbox{(number of flights)}^3$. A realistic problem typically is solved within minutes, partly due to a prior reduction of the problem size, based on an analysis of the local arrival/departure structure at the single airports

cond-mat↗