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Search indexed arXiv papers on artificial intelligence, large language models, computer vision and robotics. Read source abstracts and follow links to arXiv.

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At least 577 records · Page 32Linked to original sources
arXiv2020

Why the same key can open different padlocks?

We accidentally observed that one key can open two padlocks from different brands. Based on this observation, here we derived equations to estimate the number of different padlocks that can be produced. We focus on simple padlocks that are usually used in most households. It is made of a rectangular block of metal and crafted at any position. Different keys have different sizes and positions of the crafting (hole) and un-crafting (hill) portions. We limit the study to only padlocks having a maximum of four holes. This is the typical architecture of household padlocks. We observed that the number of different padlocks depends on the minimum size of the holes and hills. We also observe a scaling relationship between the number of different padlocks that can be produced with the size of holes or hills.

physics.pop-ph↗
arXiv2020

Whitening the Sky: light pollution as a form of cultural genocide

Light pollution is actively destroying our ability to see the stars. Many Indigenous traditions and knowledge systems around the world are based on the stars, and the peoples' ability to observe and interpret stellar positions and properties is of critical importance for daily life and cultural continuity. The erasure of the night sky acts to erase Indigenous connection to the stars, acting as a form of ongoing cultural and ecological genocide. Efforts to reduce, minimise, or eliminate light pollution are being achieved with varying degrees of success, but urban expansion, poor lighting design, and the increased use of blue-light emitting LEDs as a cost-effective solution is worsening problems related to human health, wildlife, and astronomical heritage for the benefit of capitalistic economic growth. We provide a brief overview of the issue, illustrating some of the important connections that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia maintain with the stars, as well as the impact growing light pollution has on this ancient knowledge. We propose a transdisciplinary approach to solving these issues, using a foundation based on Indigenous philosophies and decolonising methodologies.

physics.pop-ph↗
arXiv2020

Physics of Beer Tapping -- Lower vs. Upper Bottle

"Beer tapping" is a well known prank where a bottle of carbonised liquid strikes another bottle of carbonised liquid from above, with the usual result that the lower bottle foams over whereas the upper one does not. Though the physics leading to the foaming process in the lower bottle has been investigated and well documented, no explanation to date has been provided why the upper bottle produces little to no foam. In this article we describe the reasons for the entirely different behaviours of the two bottles.

physics.pop-ph↗
arXiv2020

Quantum Computing @ MIT: The Past, Present, and Future of the Second Revolution in Computing

This article provides an overview of the history, theoretical basis, and different implementations of quantum computers. In Fall 2018, four MIT faculty -- Isaac Chuang, Dirk Englund, Aram Harrow, and William Oliver -- at the forefront of quantum computation and information research were interviewed. They provided personal perspectives on the development of the field, as well as insight to its near-term trajectory. There has been a lot of recent media hype surrounding quantum computation, so in this article we present an academic view of the matter, specifically highlighting progress being made at MIT.

physics.pop-ph↗
arXiv2020

Simple Relativity Approach to Special Relativity

The development of both special and general relativity is accomplished in a series of 6 papers using a simple approach. The purpose is to explain the how and why of relativity to a broad public, and to be useful for students of physics by providing alternate ways to develop and view relativistic phenomena. In this first paper, the rules for special relativity are developed to explain velocity-related time dilation and length contraction, and the interchangeable nature of mass and energy. In subsequent papers, conservation of energy is applied to show how gravity affects time speed, fall velocities, and length measurements, the effect known as the Shapiro Time Delay, the precession of satellites and planets, gravitational lensing, the appearance of Lorentz contraction and a simple resolution of the Ehrenfest paradox.

physics.pop-ph↗
arXiv2020

Doomsday: A Response to Simpson's Second Question

The Doomsday Argument (DA) has sparked a variety of opinions. Here I address a key question posed by F. Simpson (2016) that confronts the views of DA proponents and those who, like me, oppose the DA. I agree that typical locations within a complete spatial distribution are calculable using ordinary frequentist probability. But I argue that the temporal probability distribution is unknown: we have records of our past yet are ignorant of our future. It is this asymmetry that upsets the idea of Copernicanism in time. Although frequentist methods do not apply to this asymmetric situation, Bayesian methods do apply. They show that the various Quick Doom and Distant Doom scenarios are equally likely. I conclude that the DA has no predictive power whatsoever.

physics.pop-ph↗
arXiv2020

Mathematical Formulae for the Vibration Frequencies of Rubber Wiper on Windshield

Automotive engineers want to reduce the noise generated by the vibrations of rubber wiper on the windshield of an automobile. To understand the vibrations of wiper noise, certain spring-mass models were presented by some specialists, over the past few years, to simulate the vibrations of rubber wiper on windshield. In this article, we will give precise mathematical formulas for the vibration frequencies of rubber wiper on windshield. Comparison of our model predictions with experimental data confirms the accuracy of our mathematical formulas for the vibration frequencies of wiper on windshield. In fact, our model predictions are in almost perfect agreement with experimental data. These mathematical formulas for the vibration frequencies of rubber wiper on windshield are derived from our analysis of a 3-dimensional elastic model with specific boundary conditions. These specific boundary conditions are set up due to mechanical and mathematical consideration. Our mathematical formulas can be used to test the quality of wiper design.

physics.pop-ph↗
arXiv2020

Meteorology and Oceanography on a Flat Earth

To build insight into the atmosphere and ocean, it is useful to apply qualitative reasoning to predict the geophysical fluid dynamicss of worlds radically different from our own such as exoplanets, earth in Nuclear Winter, other solar system worlds, and far future terrestial climates. Here, we look at atmospheric and oceanic dynamics on a flat earth, that is a disc-shaped planet rather like Sir Terry Pratchet's fantasy Discworld. Altough this has the disadvantage that this geometry is a completely imaginary, there is a rich larray of videos by flat earth proponents whose errors illuminate how concepts can be misconceived and misapplied by amateurs and freshman science studients. As such, this case is very useful to geophysics instructors. We show that weather and ocean flows on a flat, nonrotating earth and a rotating spherical planet are wildly different. These differences are a crushing debunk of the flat earh heresy, if one were needed. The "high contrast" of these very different atmospheres and oceans is valuable in instilling the open-mindedness that is essential in understanding excoplanets and Nuclear Winter and Post-Climate-Apocalypse earth.

physics.geo-ph↗
arXiv2020

Water and air consumption aboard interstellar arks

The architecture of a large interstellar spaceship, which is capable of serving as a living environment for a population over many generations, is mainly dictated by the needs of said population in terms of food, water and breathable gases. These resources cannot be stored for the entire duration of a journey that goes on for several centuries, so they must be produced in situ. In order to determine the quantities necessary for the survival of the population, it is imperative to precisely estimate their needs. In this article, we focus on accurate simulations of the water and air (oxygen) requirements for any type of population in order to be able to provide precise constraints on the overall architecture of an interstellar ark (the requirements in terms of food having already been studied in a previous publication). We upgrade our agent-based, numerical, Monte Carlo code HERITAGE to include human physiological needs. Our simulations show that, for a crew of about 1100 crew members (each characterized with individual anthropometric and biological data), 1.8 $\times$ 10$^8$ litres of oxygen are annually required, together with 1.1 $\times$ 10$^6$ litres of water. Those results do not account for oxygen and water used in growing plants, but they give us an insight of how much resources are needed in the spaceship. We also review the best methods for generating water from waste gases (namely carbon dioxide and dihydrogen) and how such system could complement the oxygen-supplying biospheres inside multi-generational spaceship to form a closed and controlled environment.

physics.pop-ph↗
arXiv2020

Understanding the Schrodinger equation as a kinematic statement: A probability-first approach to quantum

Quantum technology is seeing a remarkable explosion in interest due to a wave of successful commercial technology. As a wider array of engineers and scientists are needed, it is time we rethink quantum educational paradigms. Current approaches often start from classical physics, linear algebra, or differential equations. This chapter advocates for beginning with probability theory. In the approach outlined in this chapter, there is less in the way of explicit axioms of quantum mechanics. Instead the historically problematic measurement axiom is inherited from probability theory where many philosophical debates remain. Although not a typical route in introductory material, this route is nonetheless a standard vantage on quantum mechanics. This chapter outlines an elementary route to arrive at the Schrödinger equation by considering allowable transformations of quantum probability functions (density matrices). The central tenet of this chapter is that probability theory provides the best conceptual and mathematical foundations for introducing the quantum sciences.

physics.pop-ph↗
arXiv2021

The data center of tomorrow is made up of heterogeneous accelerators

The data center of tomorrow is a data center made up of heterogeneous systems, which will run heterogeneous workloads. The systems will be located as close as possible to the data. Heterogeneous systems will be equipped with binary, biological inspired and quantum accelerators. These architectures will be the foundations to address challenges. Like an orchestra conductor, the hybrid cloud will make it possible to set these systems to music thanks to a layer of security and intelligent automation.

physics.pop-ph↗
arXiv2020

Making It Rain: How Giving Me Telescope Time Can Reduce Drought

In this paper we assess the correlation between recent observing runs (2018 and 2019) and inclement weather, and demonstrate that these observing runs have seen much more rainfall than would otherwise be expected, an increase of over 200%. We further look at a number of observatory sites in areas that are facing or will face drought, and suggest that a strong environmental benefit would follow from telescope allocation committees providing us an inordinate amount of telescope time at facilities located around the globe.

astro-ph.IM↗
arXiv2020

The search for life and a new logic

Exploring the Universe is one of the great unifying themes of humanity. Part of this endeavour is the search for extraterrestrial life. But how likely is it that we will find life, or that if we do it will be similar to ourselves? And therefore how do we know where and how to look? We give examples of the sort of reasoning that has been used to narrow and focus this search and we argue that obvious extensions to that logical framework will result in greater success.

physics.pop-ph↗
arXiv2020

An Artificially-intelligent Means to Escape Discreetly from the Departmental Holiday Party; guide for the socially awkward

We employ simulated annealing to identify the global solution of a dynamical model, to make a favorable impression upon colleagues at the departmental holiday party and then exit undetected as soon as possible. The procedure, Gradual Freeze-out of an Optimal Estimation via Optimization of Parameter Quantification - GFOOEOPQ, is designed for the socially awkward. The socially awkward among us possess little instinct for pulling off such a maneuver, and may benefit from a machine to do it for us. The method rests upon Bayes' Theorem, where the probability of a future model state depends on current knowledge of the model. Here, model state vectors are party attendees, and the future event of interest is their disposition toward us at times following the party. We want these dispositions to be favorable. To this end, we first interact so as to make favorable impressions, or at least ensure that these people remember having seen us there. Then we identify the exit that minimizes the chance that anyone notes how early we high-tailed it. Now, poorly-resolved estimates will correspond to degenerate solutions. As noted, we possess no instinct to identify a global optimum by ourselves. This can have disastrous consequences. For this reason, GFOOEOPQ employs annealing to iteratively home in on this optimum. The method is illustrated via a simulated event hosted by someone in the physics department (I am not sure who), in a two-bedroom apartment on the fifth floor of an elevator building in Manhattan, with viable Exit parameters: front door, side door to a stairwell, fire escape, and a bathroom window that opens onto the fire escape. Preliminary tests are reported at two real social celebrations. The procedure is generalizable to corporate events and family gatherings. Readers are encouraged to report novel applications of GFOOEOPQ, to expand the algorithm.

physics.pop-ph↗
arXiv2020

Termoelectricidad cuántica: conversión de energía a escala nanométrica

Thermoelectricity describes phenomena that allow us to convert heat into electricity and vice versa. The practical implications of this conversion are obvious. However, research on thermoelectric effects also leads to a deep understanding of the electronic properties in conductive materials. In this paper, we discuss the most interesting results obtained recently in ultrasmall conductors, where the electronic behavior is purely quantum and classical theories of thermoelectricity are thus to be revised in detail.

physics.pop-ph↗
arXiv2020

Nanomechanical sonification of the 2019-nCoV coronavirus spike protein through a materiomusical approach

Proteins are key building blocks of virtually all life, providing the material foundation of spider silk, cells, and hair, but also offering other functions from enzymes to drugs, and pathogens like viruses. Based on a nanomechanical analysis of the structure and motions of atoms and molecules at multiple scales, we report sonified versions of the coronavirus spike protein of the pathogen of COVID-19, 2019-nCoV. The audio signal, created using a novel nanomechanical sonification method, features an overlay of the vibrational signatures of the protein's primary, secondary and higher-order structures. Presenting musical encoding in two versions - one in the amino-acid scale and one based on equal temperament tuning - the method allows for expressing protein structures in audible space, offering novel avenues to represent, analyze and design architectural features across length- and time-scales. We further report a hierarchical frequency spectrum analysis of five distinct protein structures, which offer insights into how genetic mutations, and the binding of the virus spike protein to the human ACE2 cell receptor directly influence the audio. Applications of the approach may include the development of de novo antibodies by designing protein sequences that match, through melodic counterpoints, the binding sites in the spike protein. Other applications of audible coding of matter include material design by manipulating sound, detecting mutations, and offering a way to reach out to broader communities to explain the physics of proteins. It also forms a physics-based compositional technique to create new art, referred to as materiomusic, which is akin to finding a new palette of colors for a painter. Here, the nanomechanical structure of matter, reflected in an oscillatory framework, presents a new palette for sound generation, and can complement or support human creativity.

physics.pop-ph↗
arXiv2020

Conspiratorial cosmology. II. The anthropogenic principle

We revisit our 2013 claim [arXiv:1303.7476] that the Universe is the result of a conspiratorial plot, and find that it cannot be trusted, because even the belief in this conspiracy likely results from a conspiracy. On the basis of mathematical beauty, the final results of the Planck mission, the exploration of the dark sector by means of occult rituals and symbols, and a powerful new philosophical approach to physics, we demonstrate here that not only the existence of our Universe but the whole concept of reality has to be rejected as obsolete and generally misleading. By introducing the new concept of the "anthropogenic principle", we eventually illuminate the darkest corners of the conspiracy behind the conspiracy and briefly discuss some important implications regarding the survival of wo*mankind.

physics.pop-ph↗