arXiv subjects

Liang Chen

Publications and source records attributed to Liang Chen.

At least 451 records · Page 25Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

Two-dimensional Ca-Cl crystals under ambient conditions observed directly by cryo-electron microscopy

Recently, we report the direct observation, under ambient conditions, of Na2Cl and Na3Cl as two-dimensional (2D) Na-Cl crystals, together with regular NaCl, on reduced graphene oxide membranes and on the surfaces of natural graphite powders from salt solutions far below the saturated concentration. However, what are these abnormal stoichiometries for high valence ions, such as calcium ions and copper ions still remain unknown. Here, using cryo-electron microscopy, we report the direct observation of two-dimensional (2D) Ca-Cl crystals on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) membranes, in which the calcium ions are only monovalent (i.e. +1). Remarkably, metallic properties rather than insulating are displayed by those CaCl crystals. We note that such CaCl crystals are obtained by simply incubating rGO membranes in salt solutions below the saturated concentration, under ambient conditions. Theoretical studies show that the formation of those abnormal crystals is attributed to the strong cation-pi interactions of the Ca2+ ions with the aromatic rings in the graphitic surfaces. Since strong cation-pi interactions also exist between other metal ions (such as Mg2+, Fe2+, Co2+, Cu2+, Cd2+, Cr2+ and Pb2+) and graphitic surfaces, similar 2D crystals with abnormal valence state of the metal cations and corresponding abnormal properties are highly expected. The 2D crystals with monovalent calcium ions show unusual electronic properties, and can be applicated in catalyzer, hydrogen storage, high-performance conducting electrodes and sensors. These findings also produce functionalized graphene including compact "graphene-metallic CaCl-insulating CaCl2" junction that can serve as transistors down to the atomic scale, and other devices for magnetic, optical and mechanical applications.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2018

Observatory science with eXTP

In this White Paper we present the potential of the enhanced X-ray Timing and Polarimetry (eXTP) mission for studies related to Observatory Science targets. These include flaring stars, supernova remnants, accreting white dwarfs, low and high mass X-ray binaries, radio quiet and radio loud active galactic nuclei, tidal disruption events, and gamma-ray bursts. eXTP will be excellently suited to study one common aspect of these objects: their often transient nature. Developed by an international Consortium led by the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Science, the eXTP mission is expected to be launched in the mid 2020s.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2018

A 34.5 day quasi-periodic oscillation in gamma-ray emission from the blazar PKS 2247-131

Since 2016 October, the active galaxy PKS 2247-131 has undergone a gamma-ray outburst, which we studied using data obtained with the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. The emission arises from a relativistic jet in PKS 2247-131, as an optical spectrum only shows a few weak absorption lines, typical of the BL Lacertae sub-class of the blazar class of active galactic nuclei. Here we report a ~34.5 day quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) in the emission after the initial flux peak of the outburst. Compared to one-year time-scale QPOs, previously identified in blazars in Fermi energies, PKS 2247-131 exhibits the first clear case of a relatively short, month-like oscillation. We show that this QPO can be explained in terms of a helical structure in the jet, where the viewing angle to the dominant emission region in the jet undergoes periodic changes. The time scale of the QPO suggests the presence of binary supermassive black holes in PKS 2247-131.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2018

GAN Augmentation: Augmenting Training Data using Generative Adversarial Networks

One of the biggest issues facing the use of machine learning in medical imaging is the lack of availability of large, labelled datasets. The annotation of medical images is not only expensive and time consuming but also highly dependent on the availability of expert observers. The limited amount of training data can inhibit the performance of supervised machine learning algorithms which often need very large quantities of data on which to train to avoid overfitting. So far, much effort has been directed at extracting as much information as possible from what data is available. Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) offer a novel way to unlock additional information from a dataset by generating synthetic samples with the appearance of real images. This paper demonstrates the feasibility of introducing GAN derived synthetic data to the training datasets in two brain segmentation tasks, leading to improvements in Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC) of between 1 and 5 percentage points under different conditions, with the strongest effects seen fewer than ten training image stacks are available.

cs.CV↗

arXiv2018

Magnetic-impurity resonance states for different pairing symmetries in twisted bilayer graphene

In this work, we study the magnetic-impurity resonance states in superconducting phase of twisted bilayer graphene for different pairing symmetries. Using the two-orbital model proposed by Yuan and Fu in [Phys. Rev. B 98, 045103 (2018)], we find that when the impurity is located at one site of the emergent honeycomb lattice, the spacial distributions of the resonance states will break both the threefold and twofold rotation symmetries of $D_3$ group for pairing symmetries which belong to the irreducible representations of this point group. When the magnetic impurity is located at the center of the emergent honeycomb lattice, the appearance of resonance peak at the position close to the impurity can be considered as a strong evidence of non-$s$-wave pairing.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Time-delay signature concealed broadband gain-coupled chaotic laser with fiber random grating induced distributed feedback

A broadband chaotic laser with a flat power spectrum extending up to 8.5GHz is achieved by injecting continuous wave laser light into a chaotic diode laser perturbed by fiber random grating induced distributed feedback, which forms a gain-coupled chaotic laser system. More than triple bandwidth enhancement is realized with appropriate frequency detuning between the master and slave lasers. Unlike normal chaotic lasers, the output from such a broadband chaotic laser is free from time-delay signature, which can be applied for practical real-time random number generations and will find useful applications in the fields of information security and computation systems.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2018

A three-operator splitting perspective of a three-block ADMM for convex quadratic semidefinite programming and extensions

In recent years, several convergent multi-block variants of the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) have been proposed for solving the convex quadratic semidefinite programming via its dual, which is naturally a 3-block separable convex optimization problem with one coupled linear equality constraint. Among of these ADMM-type algorithms, the modified 3-block ADMM in [Chang et al., Neurocomput. 214: 575--586 (2016)] bears a peculiar feature that the augmented Lagrangian function is not necessarily to be minimized with respect to the block-variable corresponding to the quadratic term of the objective function. In this paper, we lay the theoretical foundation of this phenomena by interpreting this modified 3-block ADMM as a realization of a 3-operator splitting framework. Based on this perspective, we are able to extend this modified 3-block ADMM to a generalized 3-block ADMM, which not only applies to the more general convex composite quadratic programming setting but also admits the potential of achieving even a better numerical performance.

math.OC↗

arXiv2018

Attention-Gated Networks for Improving Ultrasound Scan Plane Detection

In this work, we apply an attention-gated network to real-time automated scan plane detection for fetal ultrasound screening. Scan plane detection in fetal ultrasound is a challenging problem due the poor image quality resulting in low interpretability for both clinicians and automated algorithms. To solve this, we propose incorporating self-gated soft-attention mechanisms. A soft-attention mechanism generates a gating signal that is end-to-end trainable, which allows the network to contextualise local information useful for prediction. The proposed attention mechanism is generic and it can be easily incorporated into any existing classification architectures, while only requiring a few additional parameters. We show that, when the base network has a high capacity, the incorporated attention mechanism can provide efficient object localisation while improving the overall performance. When the base network has a low capacity, the method greatly outperforms the baseline approach and significantly reduces false positives. Lastly, the generated attention maps allow us to understand the model's reasoning process, which can also be used for weakly supervised object localisation.

cs.CV↗

arXiv2018

On the jet properties of the gamma-ray loud active galactic nuclei

Based on broadband spectral energy distribution (SEDs), we estimate the jet physical parameters of 1392 $γ$-ray-loud active galactic nuclei (AGNs), the largest sample so far. The (SED) jet power and magnetization parameter are derived for these AGNs. Out of these sources, the accretion disk luminosity of 232 sources and (extended) kinetic jet powers of 159 sources are compiled from archived papers. We find the following, (1) Flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) and BL Lacs are well separated by $Γ=-0.127\log L_γ+8.18$, in $γ$-ray luminosity versus photon index plane with a success rate of 88.6\%. (2) Most FSRQs present a (SED) jet power larger than the accretion power, which suggests that the relativistic jet-launching mechanism is dominated by the Blandford-Znajek process. This result confirms previous findings. (3) There is asignificant anticorrelation between jet magnetization and a ratio of the (SED) jet power to the (extended) kinetic jet power, which, for the first time, provides supporting evidence for the jet energy transportation theory: a high-magnetization jet may be more easily to transport energy to a large scale than a low-magnetization jet.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2018

Resonance states near a quantum magnetic impurity in single-layer FeSe superconductors with $d$-wave symmetry

In this work, we investigate the local density of states (LDOS) near a magnetic impurity in single-layer FeSe superconductors. The two-orbital model with spin-orbit coupling proposed in Ref. [{\emph{Phys. Rev. Lett.} \textbf{119}, 267001 (2017)}] is used to describe the FeSe superconductor. In the strong coupling regime, two impurity resonance peaks appear with opposite resonance energies in the LDOS spectral function. For a strong spin-orbit coupling, the superconducting gap in this model is $d$-wave symmetric with nodes, the spatial distributions of the LDOS at the two resonance energies are fourfold symmetric, which reveals typical characteristic of $d$-wave pairing. When the spin-orbit coupling is not strong enough to close the superconducting gap, we find that the spatial distribution of the LDOS at one of the resonance energies manifests $s$-wave symmetry, while the pairing potential preserves $d$-wave symmetry. This result is consistent with previous experimental investigations.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Examining High Energy Radiation Mechanisms of Knots and Hotspots in Active Galactic Nucleus Jets

We compile the radio-optical-X-ray spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of 65 knots and 29 hotspots in 41 active galactic nucleus jets to examine their high energy radiation mechanisms. Their SEDs can be fitted with the single-zone leptonic models, except for the hotspot of Pictor A and six knots of 3C 273. The X-ray emission of one hotspot and 22 knots is well explained as synchrotron radiations under the equipartition condition; they usually have lower X-ray and radio luminosities than the others, which may be due to a lower beaming factor. An inverse Compton (IC) process is involved for explaining the X-ray emission of the other SEDs. Without considering the equipartition condition, their X-ray emission can be attributed to the synchrotron-self-Compton (SSC) process, but the derived jet power (P_jet) are not correlated with L_k and most of them are larger than L_k with more than three orders of magnitude, where L_k is the jet kinetic power estimated with their radio emission. Under the equipartition condition, the X-ray emission is well interpreted with the IC process to the cosmic microwave background photons (IC/CMB). In this scenario, the derived P_jet of knots and hotspots are correlated with and comparable to L_k. These results suggest that the IC/CMB model may be the promising interpretation of their X-ray emission. In addition, a tentative knot-hotspot sequence in the synchrotron peak-energy--peak-luminosity plane is observed, similar to the blazar sequence, which may be attributed to their different cooling mechanisms of electrons.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2018

Ramsey Interferometry based on stimulated Brillouin scattering

Realizing highly sensitive interferometry is essential to accurate observation of quantum properties. Here we study two kinds of Ramsey interference fringes in a whispering-gallery resonator, where the coherent phonons for free evolution can be achieved by stimulated Brillouin scattering. These two different fringes appear, respectively, in the regimes of rotating wave approximation (RWA) and anti-RWA. Our work shows particularly that the anti-RWA Ramsey interference takes some quantum properties of squeezing, which enhances the strength and visibility of the fringes and shows robustness against the system's decay. In application, our proposal, feasible with current laboratory techniques, provides a practical idea for building better quantum interferometers.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Optical and Gamma-Ray Variability Behaviors of 3C 454.3 from 2006 to 2011

We present our photometric monitoring of a flat spectrum radio quasar (FSRQ) 3C 454.3 at Yunnan observatories from 2006 to 2011. We find that the optical color of 3C 454.3 shows obvious redder-when-brighter trend, which reaches a saturation stage when the source is brighter than 15.15 mag at V band. We perform a simulation with multiple values of disk luminosity and spectral index to reproduce the magnitude-color diagram. The results show that the contamination caused by the disk radiation alone is difficult to produce the observed color variability. The variability properties during the outburst in December 2009 are also compared with $γ$-ray data derived from Fermi $γ$-ray space telescope. The flux variation of these two bands follow a linear relation with $F_γ \propto F_R^{1.14\pm0.07}$, which provides an observational evidence for external Compton process in 3C 454.3. Meanwhile, this flux correlation indicates that electron injection is the main mechanism for variability origin. We also explore the variation of the flux ratio $F_γ/F_R$ and the detailed structures in the lightcurves, and discuss some possible origins for the detailed variability behaviors.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2018

A Generalized Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers with Semi-Proximal Terms for Convex Composite Conic Programming

In this paper, we propose a generalized alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) with semi-proximal terms for solving a class of convex composite conic optimization problems, of which some are high-dimensional, to moderate accuracy. Our primary motivation is that this method, together with properly chosen semi-proximal terms, such as those generated by the recent advance of symmetric Gauss-Seidel technique, is applicable to tackling these problems. Moreover, the proposed method, which relaxes both the primal and the dual variables in a natural way with one relaxation factor in the interval $(0,2)$, has the potential of enhancing the performance of the classic ADMM. Extensive numerical experiments on various doubly non-negative semidefinite programming problems, with or without inequality constraints, are conducted. The corresponding results showed that all these multi-block problems can be successively solved, and the advantage of using the relaxation step is apparent.

math.OC↗

arXiv2018

Constraints on the location of $γ$-ray emitting region for a sample of blazars with radio core-shift measurements

We model simultaneous or quasi-simultaneous multi-band spectral energy distributions (SEDs) for a sample of 25 blazars that have radio core-shift measurements, where a one-zone leptonic model and Markov chain Monte Carlo technique are adopted. In the SED fitting for 23 low-synchrotron-peaked (LSP) blazars, the seed photons from broad line region (BLR) and molecular torus are considered respectively in the external Compton process. We find that the SED fitting with the seed photons from the torus are better than those utilizing BLR photons, which suggests that the $γ$-ray emitting region may be located outside the BLR. Assuming the magnetic field strength in the $γ$-ray emitting region as constrained from the SED fitting follows the magnetic field distribution as derived from the radio core-shift measurements (i.e., $B(R)\simeq B_{\rm 1 pc}(R/\rm 1pc)^{-1}$, $R$ is the distance from the central engine and $B_{\rm 1 pc}$ is the magnetic field strength at 1 pc), we further calculate the location of the $γ$-ray emitting region, $R_γ$, for these blazars. We find that $R_γ\sim2\times10^{4}R_{\rm S}\simeq10 R_{\rm BLR}$ ($R_{\rm S}$ is the Schwarzschild radius and $R_{\rm BLR}$ is the BLR size), where $R_{\rm BLR}$ is estimated from the broad line luminosities using the empirical correlations obtained using the reverberation mapping methods.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2017

Kondo temperature of Anderson impurity model in a quantum wire with spin-orbit coupling

We use two different methods, the Hirsch-Fye quantum Monte Carlo simulation and the slave-boson mean field analysis to estimate the effect of spin-orbit coupling on the Kondo temperature in a quantum wire. In quantum Monte Carlo simulation, we calculate the product of spin susceptibility and temperature for different spin-orbit couplings and impurity energies. The variation of the Kondo temperature is estimated via the low temperature universal curves. In the mean field analysis, the Kondo temperature is estimated as the condensation temperature of slave-boson. Both the two methods demonstrate that the Kondo temperature is almost a linear function of the spin-orbit energy, and that the Kondo temperature is suppressed by the spin-orbit coupling. Our results are dramatically different from those given by the perturbative renormalization group analysis.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2017

The Hard X-ray emission of the blazar PKS 2155--304

The synchrotron peak of the X-ray bright High Energy Peaked Blazar (HBL) PKS 2155$-$304 occurs in the UV-EUV region and hence its X-ray emission (0.6--10 keV) lies mostly in the falling part of the synchrotron hump. We aim to study the X-ray emission of PKS 2155$-$304 during different intensity states in 2009$-$2014 using XMM$-$Newton satellite. We studied the spectral curvature of all of the observations to provide crucial information on the energy distribution of the non-thermal particles. Most of the observations show curvature or deviation from a single power-law and can be well modeled by a log parabola model. In some of the observations, we find spectral flattening after 6 keV. In order to find the possible origin of the X-ray excess, we built the Multi-band Spectral Energy distribution (SED). We find that the X-ray excess in PKS 2155--304 is difficult to fit in the one zone model but, could be easily reconciled in the spine/layer jet structure. The hard X-ray excess can be explained by the inverse Comptonization of the synchrotron photons (from the layer) by the spine electrons.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2017

A Broad Learning Approach for Context-Aware Mobile Application Recommendation

With the rapid development of mobile apps, the availability of a large number of mobile apps in application stores brings challenge to locate appropriate apps for users. Providing accurate mobile app recommendation for users becomes an imperative task. Conventional approaches mainly focus on learning users' preferences and app features to predict the user-app ratings. However, most of them did not consider the interactions among the context information of apps. To address this issue, we propose a broad learning approach for \textbf{C}ontext-\textbf{A}ware app recommendation with \textbf{T}ensor \textbf{A}nalysis (CATA). Specifically, we utilize a tensor-based framework to effectively integrate user's preference, app category information and multi-view features to facilitate the performance of app rating prediction. The multidimensional structure is employed to capture the hidden relationships between multiple app categories with multi-view features. We develop an efficient factorization method which applies Tucker decomposition to learn the full-order interactions within multiple categories and features. Furthermore, we employ a group $\ell_{1}-$norm regularization to learn the group-wise feature importance of each view with respect to each app category. Experiments on two real-world mobile app datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

cs.IR↗