The central concern of this thesis is the study of non-equilibrium behaviour in magnetic materials and its interpretation within the framework of the Preisach model of hysteresis. Comprehensive experimental characterizations of the field and temperature and time dependence of a suite of standard magnetic response functions have been performed on a variety of magnetic materials, including a naturally occurring mineral of nanodimensional titanomagnetite particles embedded in volcanic glass, a compressed powder of nanodimensional magnetite particles immobilized in an organic binder, a thin film of nanodimensional Fe particles embedded in alumina, and a series of sintered, bond-disordered CaxSr1-xRuO3 ferromagnets. The measurements were compared with numerical simulations based on a model Preisach ensemble of thermally activated two-level subsystems, characterized individually by a double well free energy profile in a two-dimensional configuration space, an elementary moment reversal, a dissipation field and a bias field, and characterized collectively by a distribution of these characteristic fields. Our efforts were concentrated on two principal spheres of investigation. (1) By performing detailed numerical simulations of the relaxation response of model Preisach collections of two-level subsystems under the same field and temperature protocols used to probe experimentally the relaxation dynamics of spin glasses, we have been able to show that aging, memory and rejuvenation effects are ubiquitous features of all materials which possess a broad distribution of free energy barriers which block the approach to thermal equilibrium. (2) We propose a general strategy for isolating and quantifying the two principal mechanisms, thermal fluctuations and barrier growth, which are jointly responsible for shaping the measured temperature dependence of the magnetic properties of all magnetic materials which exhibit a history dependent response to an external field excitation, and is based on the analysis of viscosity isotherms and, in particular, on a plot of T ln(tr/0) versus Ha , where tr is the time at which a viscosity isotherm measured in a field Ha at temperature T reverses sign. When thermal activation dominates barrier growth, this plot will yield a universal curve while, in the opposite limit the plot fractures into a family of isothermal curves. The strategy is applied to the analysis of each magnetic material listed above. / February 2009

With the rapid development of wireless and wireline communications, a variety of new standards and applications are emerging in the marketplace. In order to achieve higher levels of integration, RF circuits are frequently embedded into System on Chip (SoC) or System in Package (SiP) products. These developments, however, lead to new challenges in manufacturing test time and cost. Use of traditional RF test techniques requires expensive high frequency test instruments and long test time, which makes test one of the bottlenecks for reducing IC costs. This research is in the area of built-in self test technique for RF subsystems. In the test approach followed in this research, on-chip detectors are used to calculate circuits specifications, and data converters are used to collect the data for analysis by an on-chip processor. A novel on-chip amplitude detector has been designed and optimized for RF circuit specification test. By using on-chip detectors, both the system performance and specifications of the individual components can be accurately measured. On-chip measurement results need to be collected by Analog to Digital Converters (ADCs). A novel time domain, low power ADC has been designed for this purpose. The ADC architecture is based on a linear voltage controlled delay line. Using this structure results in a linear transfer function for the input dependent delay. The time delay difference is then compared to a reference to generate a digital code. Two prototype test chips were fabricated in commercial CMOS processes. One is for the RF transceiver front end with on-chip detectors; the other is for the test ADC. The 940MHz RF transceiver front-end was implemented with on-chip detectors in a 0.18 [micrometer] CMOS technology. The chips were mounted onto RF Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs), with tunable power supply and biasing knobs. The detector was characterized with measurements which show that the detector keeps linear performance over a wide input amplitude range of 500mV. Preliminary simulation and measurements show accurate transceiver performance prediction under process variations. A 300MS/s 6 bit ADC was designed using the novel time domain architecture in a 0.13 [micrometer] standard digital CMOS process. The simulation results show 36.6dB Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), 34.1dB Signal to Noise and Distortion Ratio (SNDR) for 99MHz input, Differential Non-Linearity (DNL)<0.2 Least Significant Bit (LSB), and Integral Non-Linearity (INL)<0.5LSB. Overall chip power is 2.7mW with a 1.2V power supply. The built-in detector RF test was extended to a full transceiver RF front end test with a loop-back setup, so that measurements can be made to verify the benefits of the technique. The application of the approach to testing gain, linearity and noise figure was investigated. New detector types are also evaluated. In addition, the low-power delay-line based ADC was characterized and improved to facilitate gathering of data from the detector. Several improved ADC structures at the system level are also analyzed. The built-in detector based RF test technique enables the cost-efficient test for SoCs. / text

Healthy coral reefs have become increasingly rare, and their continuous degradation has serious implications for loss of marine biodiversity. There is an urgent need to assess the strength of top-down versus bottom-up effects on reef communities, to better understand how food web alterations can change the structure and function of these vulnerable marine systems. In this study, I used fatty acid (FA) analysis to investigate the trophic and ecological relationships among potential key forage species of the critically endangered monk seal in the Hawaiian archipelago. A series of multivariate tests performed on groups of closely related and ecologically equivalent species of fishes and invertebrates using a restricted number of FAs revealed that FA differences among groups primarily reflected diet, but could also be related to habitat and ecology. The same groups were subsequently analysed using an alternate method in quantitative FA signature analysis (QFASA) simulations, which allowed for the effects of using various subsets of FAs to be evaluated. Overall, species groups were relatively well characterized using both methods. When present, overlap in FA composition principally occurred among groups with similar diet/ecology, and were more prominent at higher trophic levels. A last set of analyses which combined the multivariate and QFASA simulation methods revealed that despite taxonomical relatedness and similarities in trophic ecology, individual species of carnivorous fish could be reliably distinguished using FAs. Therefore, while increasing the number of FAs used in the analyses might be useful to refine the resolution of distinctions, using a restricted number of FAs can also result in reliable differentiation among species. My results suggested that despite tremendous diversity, finer scale variations in FA composition could be detected among groups, and among species which shared the same diet and trophic ecology. These findings have important implications for the study of food web interactions in the Hawaiian archipelago, as they provide the foundation for using the same species groups in diets estimations of monk seal, as well as other top predators in this ecosystem. Moreover, they provide a framework for using multiple approaches to link FA patterns to the foraging ecology of individual species.

The central concern of this thesis is the study of non-equilibrium behaviour in magnetic materials and its interpretation within the framework of the Preisach model of hysteresis. Comprehensive experimental characterizations of the field and temperature and time dependence of a suite of standard magnetic response functions have been performed on a variety of magnetic materials, including a naturally occurring mineral of nanodimensional titanomagnetite particles embedded in volcanic glass, a compressed powder of nanodimensional magnetite particles immobilized in an organic binder, a thin film of nanodimensional Fe particles embedded in alumina, and a series of sintered, bond-disordered CaxSr1-xRuO3 ferromagnets. The measurements were compared with numerical simulations based on a model Preisach ensemble of thermally activated two-level subsystems, characterized individually by a double well free energy profile in a two-dimensional configuration space, an elementary moment reversal, a dissipation field and a bias field, and characterized collectively by a distribution of these characteristic fields. Our efforts were concentrated on two principal spheres of investigation. (1) By performing detailed numerical simulations of the relaxation response of model Preisach collections of two-level subsystems under the same field and temperature protocols used to probe experimentally the relaxation dynamics of spin glasses, we have been able to show that aging, memory and rejuvenation effects are ubiquitous features of all materials which possess a broad distribution of free energy barriers which block the approach to thermal equilibrium. (2) We propose a general strategy for isolating and quantifying the two principal mechanisms, thermal fluctuations and barrier growth, which are jointly responsible for shaping the measured temperature dependence of the magnetic properties of all magnetic materials which exhibit a history dependent response to an external field excitation, and is based on the analysis of viscosity isotherms and, in particular, on a plot of T ln(tr/0) versus Ha , where tr is the time at which a viscosity isotherm measured in a field Ha at temperature T reverses sign. When thermal activation dominates barrier growth, this plot will yield a universal curve while, in the opposite limit the plot fractures into a family of isothermal curves. The strategy is applied to the analysis of each magnetic material listed above.

The central concern of this thesis is the study of non-equilibrium behaviour in magnetic materials and its interpretation within the framework of the Preisach model of hysteresis. Comprehensive experimental characterizations of the field and temperature and time dependence of a suite of standard magnetic response functions have been performed on a variety of magnetic materials, including a naturally occurring mineral of nanodimensional titanomagnetite particles embedded in volcanic glass, a compressed powder of nanodimensional magnetite particles immobilized in an organic binder, a thin film of nanodimensional Fe particles embedded in alumina, and a series of sintered, bond-disordered CaxSr1-xRuO3 ferromagnets. The measurements were compared with numerical simulations based on a model Preisach ensemble of thermally activated two-level subsystems, characterized individually by a double well free energy profile in a two-dimensional configuration space, an elementary moment reversal, a dissipation field and a bias field, and characterized collectively by a distribution of these characteristic fields. Our efforts were concentrated on two principal spheres of investigation. (1) By performing detailed numerical simulations of the relaxation response of model Preisach collections of two-level subsystems under the same field and temperature protocols used to probe experimentally the relaxation dynamics of spin glasses, we have been able to show that aging, memory and rejuvenation effects are ubiquitous features of all materials which possess a broad distribution of free energy barriers which block the approach to thermal equilibrium. (2) We propose a general strategy for isolating and quantifying the two principal mechanisms, thermal fluctuations and barrier growth, which are jointly responsible for shaping the measured temperature dependence of the magnetic properties of all magnetic materials which exhibit a history dependent response to an external field excitation, and is based on the analysis of viscosity isotherms and, in particular, on a plot of T ln(tr/0) versus Ha , where tr is the time at which a viscosity isotherm measured in a field Ha at temperature T reverses sign. When thermal activation dominates barrier growth, this plot will yield a universal curve while, in the opposite limit the plot fractures into a family of isothermal curves. The strategy is applied to the analysis of each magnetic material listed above.

We state a sufficient condition for a fusion system to be saturated. This is then used to investigate localities with kernels: that is, localities that are (in a particular way) extensions of groups by localities. As an application of these results, we define and study certain products in fusion systems and localities, thus giving a new method to construct saturated subsystems of fusion systems.

More electric aircraft systems, high power avionics, and a reduction in heat sink capacity have placed a larger emphasis on correctly satisfying aircraft thermal management requirements during conceptual design. Thermal management systems must be capable of dealing with these rising heat loads, while simultaneously meeting mission performance. Since all subsystem power and cooling requirements are ultimately traced back to the engine, the growing interactions between the propulsion and thermal management systems are becoming more significant. As a result, it is necessary to consider their integrated performance during the conceptual design of the aircraft gas turbine engine cycle to ensure that thermal requirements are met. This can be accomplished by using thermodynamic modeling and simulation to investigate the subsystem interactions while conducting the necessary design trades to establish the engine cycle. As the foundation for this research, a parsimonious, transparent thermodynamic model of propulsion and thermal management systems performance was created with a focus on capturing the physics that have the largest impact on propulsion design choices. A key aspect of this approach is the incorporation of physics-based formulations involving the concurrent usage of the first and second laws of thermodynamics to achieve a clearer view of the component-level losses. This is facilitated by the direct prediction of the exergy destruction distribution throughout the integrated system and the resulting quantification of available work losses over the time history of the mission. The characterization of the thermodynamic irreversibility distribution helps give the designer an absolute and consistent view of the tradeoffs associated with the design of the system. Consequently, this leads directly to the question of the optimal allocation of irreversibility across each of the components. An irreversibility allocation approach based on the economic concept of resource allocation is demonstrated for a canonical propulsion and thermal management systems architecture. By posing the problem in economic terms, exergy destruction is treated as a true common currency to barter for improved efficiency, cost, and performance. This then enables the propulsion systems designer to better fulfill system-level requirements and to create a system more robust to future requirements.

The theory of decoherence aims to explain how macroscopic quantum objects become effectively classical. Understanding this process could help in the search for the quantum theory underlying gravity, and suggest new schemes for preserving the coherence of technological quantum devices. The process of decoherence is best understood in terms of information flow within a quantum system, and between the system and its environment. We develop a novel way of characterizing this information, and give a sufficient condition for its classicality. These results generalize previous models of decoherence, clarify the process by which a phase-space based on non-commutative quantum variables can emerge, and provide a possible explanation for the universality of the phenomenon of decoherence. In addition, the tools developed in this approach generalize the theory of quantum error correction to infinite-dimensional Hilbert spaces. We characterize the nature of the information preserved by a quantum channel by the observables which exist in its image (in the Heisenberg picture). The sharp observables preserved by a channel form an operator algebra which can be characterized in terms of the channel's elements. The effect of the channel on these observables can be reversed by another physical transformation. These results generalize the theory of quantum error correction to codes characterized by arbitrary von Neumann algebras, which can represent hybrid quantum-classical information, continuous variable systems, or certain quantum field theories. The preserved unsharp observables (positive operator-valued measures) allow for a finer characterization of the information preserved by a channel. We show that the only type of information which can be duplicated arbitrarily many times consists of coarse-grainings of a single POVM. Based on these results, we propose a model of decoherence which can account for the emergence of a realistic classical phase-space. This model supports the view that the quantum-classical correspondence is given by a quantum-to-classical channel, which is another way of representing a POVM.

The theory of decoherence aims to explain how macroscopic quantum objects become effectively classical. Understanding this process could help in the search for the quantum theory underlying gravity, and suggest new schemes for preserving the coherence of technological quantum devices. The process of decoherence is best understood in terms of information flow within a quantum system, and between the system and its environment. We develop a novel way of characterizing this information, and give a sufficient condition for its classicality. These results generalize previous models of decoherence, clarify the process by which a phase-space based on non-commutative quantum variables can emerge, and provide a possible explanation for the universality of the phenomenon of decoherence. In addition, the tools developed in this approach generalize the theory of quantum error correction to infinite-dimensional Hilbert spaces. We characterize the nature of the information preserved by a quantum channel by the observables which exist in its image (in the Heisenberg picture). The sharp observables preserved by a channel form an operator algebra which can be characterized in terms of the channel's elements. The effect of the channel on these observables can be reversed by another physical transformation. These results generalize the theory of quantum error correction to codes characterized by arbitrary von Neumann algebras, which can represent hybrid quantum-classical information, continuous variable systems, or certain quantum field theories. The preserved unsharp observables (positive operator-valued measures) allow for a finer characterization of the information preserved by a channel. We show that the only type of information which can be duplicated arbitrarily many times consists of coarse-grainings of a single POVM. Based on these results, we propose a model of decoherence which can account for the emergence of a realistic classical phase-space. This model supports the view that the quantum-classical correspondence is given by a quantum-to-classical channel, which is another way of representing a POVM.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T20:09:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 3205.pdf: 5300214 bytes, checksum: 3f861c26909b3c7508f3c108c17ef408 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-08-20 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / The identification and resolution of interfaces is a requirement that must be met for additional methods for evaluating design for Hydraulic and Sanitary Building Services (plumbing systems). The reason is that these building systems, in general, may have a higher incidence of problems of compatibility with others, because they all relate to. In this context, this work aims to identify the main physical interfaces among the plumbing systems, masonry and structures systems, which occur in the pavement type of residential multistory buildings. The building system of fuel gas is also discussed, because it works in conjunction with cold water system in these buildings. Physical interfaces are considered: between plumbing systems and non-loadbearing walls or structural masonry; and between the plumbing systems and masonry structures and reinforced concrete cast on site. For this literature review was performed and case studies in the cities of Ribeirão Preto, São Carlos and São Paulo, comprising six companies and two buildings (units of analysis). Of the companies surveyed, two are construction and incorporation companies (the contractors). Four companies are design offices (contracted), two specialized in plumbing systems, one in masonry structure, and one architectural design offices specializing in non-loadbearing walls. The literature review is related to the main recommendations of the Brazilian technical standards and with the necessary information for the design phases, referring to the interfaces of the systems mentioned. The case studies resulted in findings that identified the compliance and nonconformities resulting from physical interaction among the various designs necessary for the production of buildings. Through these case studies, it was still possible to develop a matrix for the interfaces found on the pavement type, and relating them to main stages of the design. The results of this study can allow feedback from the design stage, thus contributing to the same quality as the product. / A identificação e a solução de interfaces é um dos requisitos que devem ser atendidos para complementar os métodos de avaliação dos projetos dos Sistemas Prediais Hidráulicos e Sanitários (SPHS). Isto porque estes sistemas prediais, de um modo geral, podem apresentar maior incidência de problemas de compatibilização com os demais, pois se relacionam com todos eles. Neste contexto, esta dissertação tem por objetivo identificar as principais interfaces físicas entre os SPHS e os de vedações e estruturas, que ocorrem no pavimento tipo de edifícios residenciais de múltiplos pavimentos. O sistema predial de gás combustível também é abordado, pois trabalha conjuntamente com o predial de água fria nesses edifícios. As interfaces físicas consideradas são: entre os SPHS e as vedações com blocos cerâmicos convencionais e estruturais, e entre os SPHS e as estruturas de alvenaria e de concreto armado moldado no local. Para isso foi realizada revisão bibliográfica e estudo de casos nas cidades de Ribeirão Preto, São Carlos e São Paulo, compreendendo seis empresas e dois edifícios (unidades de análise). Das empresas consultadas, duas empresas são incorporadoras e construtoras (contratantes). Quatro empresas são de projetos (contratadas), sendo duas especializadas em projetos de sistemas prediais, uma de alvenaria estrutural, e uma de arquitetura especializada em alvenaria de vedação. A revisão bibliográfica está relacionada com as principais recomendações das normas técnicas brasileiras e com as informações necessárias para as fases de projeto, referentes às interfaces dos sistemas citados. O estudo de casos implicou em resultados que permitiram identificar as conformidades e as inconformidades físicas decorrentes da interação entre os distintos projetos necessários à produção de edifícios. Através deste, foi possível ainda, elaborar uma matriz para as principais interfaces encontradas no pavimento tipo, relacionando-as com as fases de projeto. Os resultados deste trabalho possibilitam a retroalimentação da etapa projeto, contribuindo para a qualidade do mesmo como produto.