Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Are Self-Driving Cars Secure? Evasion Attacks Against Deep Neural Networks for Steering Angle Prediction

Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) have tremendous potential in advancing the vision for self-driving cars. However, the security of DNN models in this context leads to major safety implications and needs to be better understood. We consider the case study of steering angle prediction from camera images, using the dataset from the 2014 Udacity challenge. We demonstrate for the first time adversarial testing-time attacks for this application for both classification and regression settings. We show that minor modifications to the camera image (an L_2 distance of 0.82 for one of the considered models) result in mis-classification of an image to any class of attacker's choice. Furthermore, our regression attack results in a significant increase in Mean Square Error (MSE) – by a factor of 69 in the worst case.
An Area-Efficient Deblocking Filter Architecture for Multi-standard Video Codec

Video needs to be compressed before transmission or storage, and the continuous development of video coding standards has brought about the need for multi-standard video codecs. Deblocking filter is an important tool to improve the efficiency of video coding in both the H.264 Advanced Video Coding (H.264/AVC) standard and the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard. To support these two standards, this paper proposes an area-efficient general deblocking filter hardware architecture. The proposed architecture reuses similar parts in the filter to control the increased area cost of supporting multiple standards and achieves a 37% gate count reduction. And by switching the connection form of filter modules between series and parallel, a good trade-off is made between throughput and area. The architecture has a throughput of 8K@60fps in H.264/AVC and 8K@160fps in HEVC. The experimental result shows that the multi-standard architecture consumes 61.3k gates at 526 MHz in GF 28 nm process, and the design has been successfully integrated into a multi-standard video codec.
Isotropic–Nematic Phase Transitions in Gravitational Systems. II. Higher Order Multipoles

The gravitational interaction among bodies orbiting in a spherical potential leads to the rapid relaxation of the orbital planes’ distribution, a process called vector resonant relaxation. We examine the statistical equilibrium of this process for a system of bodies with similar semimajor axes and eccentricities. We extend the previous model of Roupas et al. by accounting for the multipole moments beyond the quadrupole, which dominate the interaction for radially overlapping orbits. Nevertheless, we find no qualitative differences between the behavior of the system with respect to the model restricted to the quadrupole interaction. The equilibrium distribution resembles a counterrotating disk at low temperature and a spherical structure at high temperature. The system exhibits a first-order phase transition between the disk and the spherical phase in the canonical ensemble if the total angular momentum is below a critical value. We find that the phase transition erases the high-order multipoles, i.e., small-scale structure in angular momentum space, most efficiently. The system admits a maximum entropy and a maximum energy, which lead to the existence of negative temperature equilibria.
Spin-orbit coupled fermions in ladderlike optical lattices at half filling

We study the ground-state phase diagram of two-component fermions loaded in a ladder-like lattice at half filling in the presence of spin-orbit coupling. For repulsive fermions with unidirectional spin-orbit coupling along the legs we identify a N\'{e}el state which is separated from rung-singlet and ferromagnetic states by Ising phase transition lines. These lines cross for maximal spin-orbit coupling and a direct Gaussian phase transition between rung-singlet and ferro phases is realized. For the case of Rashba-like spin-orbit coupling, besides the rung singlet phases two distinct striped ferromagnetic phases are formed. In case of attractive fermions with spin-orbit coupling at half-filling for decoupled chains we identify a dimerized state that separates a singlet superconductor and a ferromagnetic states.
The interacting multiverse and its effect on the cosmic microwave background

We study a toy model of a multiverse consisting of canonically quantized universes that interact with each other on a quantum level based on a field-theoretical formulation of the Wheeler-DeWitt equation. This interaction leads to the appearance of a pre-inflationary phase in the evolution of the individual universes. We analyze scalar perturbations within the model and calculate the influence of the pre-inflationary phase onto the power spectrum of these perturbations. The result is that there is a suppression of power on large scales, which can describe well the Planck 2018 data for the cosmic microwave background anisotropies and could thus indicate a possible solution to the observed quadrupole discrepancy.
Chaotic dynamics of the planet in HD 196885 AB

Depending on the planetary orbit around the host star(s), a planet could orbit either one or both stars in a binary system as S-type or P-type, respectively. We have analysed the dynamics of the S-type planetary system in HD 196885 AB with an emphasis on a planet with a higher orbital inclination relative to the binary plane. The mean exponential growth factor of nearby orbits (MEGNO) maps are used as an indicator to determine regions of periodicity and chaos for the various choices of the planet's semimajor axis, eccentricity and inclination with respect to the previously determined observational uncertainties. We have quantitatively mapped out the chaotic and quasi-periodic regions of the system's phase space which indicate a likely regime of the planet's inclination. In addition, we inspect the resonant angle to determine whether alternation between libration and circulation occurs as a consequence of Kozai oscillations, a probable mechanism that can drive the planetary orbit to a very large inclination. Also, we demonstrate the possible higher mass limit of the planet and improve upon the current dynamical model based on our analysis.
Why does Einasto profile index n∼ 6 occur so frequently?

We consider the behavior of spherically symmetric Einasto halos composed of gravitating particles in the Fokker-Planck approximation. This approach allows us to consider the undesirable influence of close encounters in the N-body simulations more adequately than the generally accepted criteria. The Einasto profile with index n ≈ 6 is a stationary solution of the Fokker-Planck equation in the halo center. There are some reasons to believe that the solution is an attractor. Then the Fokker-Planck diffusion tends to transform a density profile to the equilibrium one with the Einasto index n ≈ 6. We suggest this effect as a possible reason why the Einasto index n ≈ 6 occurs so frequently in the interpretation of N-body simulation results. The results obtained cast doubt on generally accepted criteria of N-body simulation convergence.
Measuring the superconducting coherence length in thin films using a two-coil experiment

We present measurements of the superconducting coherence length \xi\ in thin (d < 100 \AA) films of MoGe alloy and Nb using a combination of linear and nonlinear mutual inductance techniques. As the alternating current in the drive coil is increased at fixed temperature, we see a crossover from linear to nonlinear coupling to the pickup coil, consistent with the unbinding of vortex-antivortex pairs as the peak pair momentum nears \hbar\/\xi\ and the unbinding barrier vanishes. We compare measurements of \xi\ made by this mutual inductance technique to values determined from the films' upper critical fields, thereby confirming the applicability of a recent calculation of the upper limit on a vortex-free state in our experiment.
Simion Zoo: A Workbench for Distributed Experimentation with Reinforcement Learning for Continuous Control Tasks

We present Simion Zoo, a Reinforcement Learning (RL) workbench that provides a complete set of tools to design, run, and analyze the results,both statistically and visually, of RL control applications. The main features that set apart Simion Zoo from similar software packages are its easy-to-use GUI, its support for distributed execution including deployment over graphics processing units (GPUs) , and the possibility to explore concurrently the RL metaparameter space, which is key to successful RL experimentation.
Spin-charge separation and many-body localization

We study many-body localization for a disordered chain of spin 1/2 fermions. In [Phys. Rev. B \textbf{94}, 241104 (2016)], when both down and up components are exposed to the same strong disorder, the authors observe a power law growth of the entanglement entropy that suggests that many-body localization is not complete; the density (charge) degree of freedom is localized, while the spin degree of freedom is apparently delocalized. We show that this power-like behavior is only a transient effect and that, for longer times, the growth is logarithmic in time suggesting that the spin degree of freedom is also localized, so that the system follows the standard many-body localization scenario. We also study the experimentally relevant case of quasiperiodic disorder.
String-Inspired Infinite-Derivative Theories of Gravity: A Brief Overview

In String Theory there often appears a rather interesting class of higher derivative theories containing an infinite set of derivatives in the form of an exponential. These theories may provide a way to tame ultraviolet divergences without introducing ghost-like states. In this invited article we provide a brief overview on the progress that has been made over the last decade to construct such infinite derivative theories of gravity which may be able to address the singularity problems in gravity. In the process we will also be able to present some general results that applies to covariant torsion-free metric theories of gravity.
Evolution of broad-band SED during outburst rise in NS X-ray Nova Aql X-1

The observed evolution of the broad-band spectral energy distribution (SED) in NS X-ray Nova Aql X-1 during the rise phase of a bright FRED-type outburst in 2013 can be understood in the framework of thermal emission from unstationary accretion disc with temperature radial distribution transforming from a single-temperature blackbody emitting ring into the multi-colour irradiated accretion disc. SED evolution during the hard to soft X-ray state transition looks curious, as it can not be repro- duced by the standard disc irradiation model with a single irradiation parameter for NUV, Optical and NIR spectral bands. NIR (NUV) band is correlated with soft (hard) X-ray flux changes during the state transition interval, respectively. In our interpreta- tion, at the moment of X-ray state transition UV-emitting parts of the accretion disc are screened from direct X-ray illumination from the central source and are heated primary by hard X-rays (E > 10 keV), scattered in the hot corona or wind possibly formed above the optically-thick outer accretion flow; the outer edge of multi-colour disc, which emits in Optical-NIR, can be heated primary by direct X-ray illumination. We point out that future simultaneous multi-wavelength observations of X-ray Nova systems during the fast X-ray state transition interval are of great importance, as it can serve as 'X-ray tomograph' to study physical conditions in outer regions of accretion flow. This can provide an effective tool to directly test the energy-dependent X-ray heating efficiency, vertical structure and accretion flow geometry in transient LMXBs.
The mass of the black hole in RE J1034+396

The black hole mass measurement in active galaxies is a challenge, particularly in sources where the reverberation method cannot be applied. We aim to determine the black hole mass in a very special object, RE J1034+396, one of the two AGN with QPO oscillations detected in X-rays, and a single bright AGN with optical band totally dominated by starlight. We fit the stellar content using the code starlight, and the broad band disk contribution to optical/UV/X-ray emission is modeled with optxagnf. We also determine the black hole mass using several other independent methods. Various methods give contradictory results. Most measurements of the blacc hole mass are in the range 1.e6-1.e7 Msun, and the measurements based on dynamics give higher values than measurements based on Hbeta and Mg II emission lines.
Anomalous transport model study of chiral magnetic effects in heavy ion collisions

Using an anomalous transport model for massless quarks and antiquarks, we study the effect of a magnetic field on the elliptic flows of quarks and antiquarks in relativistic heavy ion collisions. With initial conditions from a blast wave model and assuming that the strong magnetic field produced in non-central heavy ion collisions can last for a sufficiently long time, we obtain an appreciable electric quadrupole moment in the transverse plane of a heavy ion collision. The electric quadrupole moment subsequently leads to a splitting between the elliptic flows of quarks and antiquarks. The slope of the charge asymmetry dependence of the elliptic flow difference between positively and negatively charged particles is positive, which is expected from the chiral magnetic wave formed in the produced QGP and observed in experiments at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, only if the Lorentz force acting on the charged particles is neglected and the quark-antiquark scattering is assumed to be dominated by the chirality changing channel.
Transverse Quantum Confinement in Metal Nanofilms: Optical Spectra

We report optical absorption and photoluminescence spectra of Au, Fe, Co and Ni polycrystalline nanofilms in the UV-Vis-NIR range, featuring discrete bands resulting from transverse quantum confinement. The film thickness ranged from 1.1 to 15.6 nm, depending on the material. The films were deposited on fused silica substrates by sputtering and thermo-evaporation, with Fe, Co and Ni protected by a SiO2 film deposited on top. The results are interpreted within the particle-in-a-box model, with the box width equal to the mass thickness of the nanofilm. The transverse-quantized energy levels and transition energies scale as the inverse square of the film thickness. The calculated values of the effective electron mass are 0.93 (Au), 0.027 (Fe), 0.21 (Co) and 0.16 (Ni), in units of the mass of the free electron, being independent on the film thickness. The uncertainties in the effective mass values are ca. 2.5%, determined by the film thickness calibration. The second calculated model parameter, the quantum number n of the HOMO, was thickness-independent in Au (5) and Fe (6), and increased with the film thickness in Co (from 7 to 9) and Ni (from 7 to 11). The transitions observed in absorbance all start at the level n and correspond to {\Delta}n = +1, +2, +3, etc. The photoluminescence bands exhibit large Stokes shifts, shifting to higher energies with the increased excitation energy. The photoluminescence quantum yields grow linearly with the excitation energy, showing evidence of multiple exciton generation. A prototype Fe-SnO2 nanofilm photovoltaic cell demonstrated at least 90% quantum yield of photoelectrons at 77K.
Deterministic field-free skyrmion nucleation at a nano-engineered injector device.

Magnetic skyrmions are topological solitons promising for applications as encoders for digital information. A number of different skyrmion-based memory devices have been recently proposed. In order to demonstrate a viable skyrmion-based memory device, it is necessary to reliably and reproducibly nucleate, displace, detect, and delete the magnetic skyrmions, possibly in absence of external applied magnetic fields, which would needlessly complicate the device design. While the skyrmion displacement and detection have both been thoroughly investigated, much less attention has been dedicated to the study of the skyrmion nucleation process and its sub-ns dynamics. In this study, we investigate the nucleation of magnetic skyrmions from a dedicated nano-engineered injector, demonstrating the reliable magnetic skyrmion nucleation at the remnant state. The sub-ns dynamics of the skyrmion nucleation process were also investigated, allowing us to shine light on the physical processes driving the nucleation.
Discretization–Filtering–Reconstruction: Railway Detection in Images for Navigation of Inspection UAV

High-precision railway detection constitutes one of the primary challenges in railway inspection systems using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery. In this article, a discretization–filtering–reconstruction (DFR) method is proposed for high-precision railway detection in the wild, by leveraging the representation capability of deep networks and the intrinsic characteristics of railway lines. As a preprocessing step, the DFR method segments railway images through a lightweight convolutional neural network, where a split–recursion–merge (SRM) module is designed to enhance the railway features among different rows or columns. Then, the segmentation mask is discretized into a series of trapezoidal connected components, which are formulated as nodes to construct a directed graph. The graph nodes are grouped into different clusters, and background clusters are filtered according to their shape confidence. Finally, the connected components of filtered clusters are reconstructed into a polynomial curve (the railway line). With the discretization, filtering, and reconstruction procedures of the DFR method, the problems of false segmentation, background inference, and occlusions are greatly alleviated, producing continuous and smooth railway lines. Experiments on the dataset released in this article show that the DFR method significantly improves the accuracy of railway detection. Based on the DFR method and a UAV control strategy, a real-time visual UAV navigation system is built for railway inspection. The dataset and code for DFR are available at github.com/ksws0499733/DFR.
Speed-planning algorithm and super twisting control for autonomous vehicle steering system

Autonomous vehicle field has seen much development in recent years, especially with the appearance of new efficient control techniques focusing on longitudinal and lateral direction in order to follow a specified trajectory or path. This paper proposes a new systematic control technique to simultaneously generate a suitable speed profile and control the vehicle lateral motion through a predetermined path that considers different driving scenarios representing real-world driving. First, an extended-kinematic model for an autonomous vehicle is designed based on side-slip angle estimation. Then, the proposed technique uses a relationship between lateral error, heading error, and vehicle velocity to generate a suitable steering angle based on super twisting mode control. Second, a speed-planning algorithm is developed to control vehicle velocity. The algorithm uses a strategy for sharp curve identification; then it generates an adequate speed profile depending on the dynamic characteristics of these curves to ensure smooth motion of the vehicle through the whole trajectory. The obtained results from using a speed-planning algorithm with a super twisting controller prove the high performance of this control technique in terms of decreasing errors and respecting passenger comfort.
A method to Quantify Memory Utilization of Heartbeat Dynamics in Continuous Time

We present an approach to quantify the predictive capacity of point processes analyzed in continuous time. An index of the so-called memory utilization rate (MUR) is defined as a model-free measure of the amount of predictive information stored in a point process. A strategy for the data-efficient, model-free estimation of MUR is proposed and validated in simulations of independent and history-dependent heartbeat intervals. Our results document the ability of the proposed MUR estimator to detect the absence and quantify the extent of predictable information in heart rate variability signals.
MEMS Sensor Network for Submarine Terrain and Strata Deformation Monitoring: Design and Field Experiment

The deformation monitoring of terrain and shallow strata is important to the gas hydrate mining environment and the early warning of seabed instabilities. Due to the complexity of the deep-sea environment and the difficulty of the seabed operation, in situ and high-precision deformation monitoring of terrain and shallow strata simultaneously are big challenges for existing observation methods. This article describes the design and experimental research of a terrain and strata deformation monitoring system based on micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) sensor network (SN). The SN consists of a horizontal array and a vertical array containing multiple cascaded MEMS accelerometers. The pitch angle and roll angle of the monitoring node can be calculated through the three-axis components of the accelerometer in the gravity field. Then, a reconstruction model of the terrain and strata deformation was proposed based on the rotation matrix and the arc model. To evaluate the monitoring system and validate the reconstruction model, a field experiment was conducted on a tidal flat in Changzhi Island for one week. The deformation of the terrain and strata and the pore water pressure were measured and obtained. The results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed system.
Thermophysical characteristics of the large main-belt asteroid (349) Dembowska

(349) Dembowska is a large, bright main-belt asteroid that has a fast rotation and an oblique spin axis. It might have experienced partial melting and differentiation. We constrain Dembowska's thermophysical properties, such as thermal inertia, roughness fraction, geometric albedo and effective diameter within 3s uncertainty of Gamma = 20(-7)(+12) Jm(-2) s(-0.5) K-1, fr = 0.25(-0.25)(+0.60), p(v) = 0.309(-0.038)(+0.026) and D-eff = 155.8(-6.2)(+7.5) km, by utilizing the advanced thermophysical model to analyse four sets of thermal infrared data obtained by the Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS), AKARI, the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and the Subaru/Cooled Mid-Infrared Camera and Spectrometer (COMICS) at different epochs. In addition, by modelling the thermal light curve observed by WISE, we obtain the rotational phases of each data set. These rotationally resolved data do not reveal significant variations of thermal inertia and roughness across the surface, indicating that the surface of Dembowska should be covered by a dusty regolith layer with few rocks or boulders. Besides, the low thermal inertia of Dembowska shows no significant difference with other asteroids larger than 100 km, which indicates that the dynamical lives of these large asteroids are long enough to make their surfaces have sufficiently low thermal inertia. Furthermore, based on the derived surface thermophysical properties, as well as the known orbital and rotational parameters, we can simulate Dembowska's surface and subsurface temperatures throughout its orbital period. The surface temperature varies from similar to 40 to similar to 220 K, showing significant seasonal variation, whereas the subsurface temperature achieves equilibrium temperature about 120-160 K below a depth of 30-50 cm.
Optical manipulation of the wave function of quasiparticles in a solid

R. Cerna1∗, D. Sarchi, T. K. Paräıso, G. Nardin, Y. Léger, M. Richard, B. Pietka, O. El Daif, F. Morier-Genoud, V. Savona, M. T. Portella-Oberli, B. Deveaud-Plédran Institut de Photonique et d’Électronique Quantiques, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne; ∗roland.cerna@epfl.ch Institute of Theoretical Physics, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne EPFL, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland Institut Néel-CNRS, 25 Avenue des Martyrs, BP 166, 38042 Grenoble Cedex 9, France Institut des Nanotechnologies de Lyon (INL), UMR CNRS 5270, Ecole Centrale de Lyon, 36 Avenue Guy de Collongue, 69134 Ecully Cedex, France (Dated: April 28, 2009)