Development (and Evolution) of the Universe

I distinguish Nature from the World. I also distinguish development from evolution. Development is progressive change and can be modeled as part of Nature, using a specification hierarchy. I have proposed a ‘canonical developmental trajectory’ of dissipative structures with the stages defined thermodynamically and informationally. I consider some thermodynamic aspects of the Big Bang, leading to a proposal for reviving final cause. This model imposes a ‘hylozooic’ kind of interpretation upon Nature, as all emergent features at higher levels would have been vaguely and episodically present primitively in the lower integrative levels, and were stabilized materially with the developmental emergence of new levels. The specification hierarchy’s form is that of a tree, with its trunk in its lowest level, and so this hierarchy is appropriate for modeling an expanding system like the Universe. It is consistent with this model of differentiation during Big Bang development to view emerging branch tips as having been entrained by multiple finalities because of the top-down integration of the various levels of organization by the higher levels.     

Scale Relativity and Fractal Space-Time: Theory and Applications

In the first part of this contribution, we review the development of the theory of scale relativity and its geometric framework constructed in terms of a fractal and nondifferentiable continuous space-time. This theory leads (i) to a generalization of possible physically relevant fractal laws, written as partial differential equation acting in the space of scales, and (ii) to a new geometric foundation of quantum mechanics and gauge field theories and their possible generalisations. In the second part, we discuss some examples of application of the theory to various sciences, in particular in cases when the theoretical predictions have been validated by new or updated observational and experimental data. This includes predictions in physics and cosmology (value of the QCD coupling and of the cosmological constant), to astrophysics and gravitational structure formation (distances of extrasolar planets to their stars, of Kuiper belt objects, value of solar and solar-like star cycles), to sciences of life (log-periodic law for species punctuated evolution, human development and society evolution), to Earth sciences (log-periodic deceleration of the rate of California earthquakes and of Sichuan earthquake replicas, critical law for the arctic sea ice extent) and tentative applications to systems biology.     

Informational Branching Universe

This paper suggests an epistemic interpretation of Belnap’s branching space-times theory based on Everett’s relative state formulation of the measurement operation in quantum mechanics. The informational branching models of the universe are evolving structures defined from a partial ordering relation on the set of memory states of the impersonal observer. The totally ordered set of their information contents defines a linear “time” scale to which the decoherent alternative histories of the informational universe can be referred—which is quite necessary for assigning them a probability distribution. The “historical” state of a physical system is represented in an appropriate extended Hilbert space and an algebra of multi-branch operators is developed. An age operator computes the informational depth of historical states and its standard deviation can be used to provide a universal information/energy uncertainty relation. An information operator computes the encoding complexity of historical states, the rate of change of its average value accounting for the process of correlation destruction inherent to the branching dynamics. In the informational branching models of the universe, the asymmetry of phenomena in nature appears as a mere consequence of the subject’s activity of measuring, which defines the flow of time-information.     

Ultrafast polarization optical switch constructed from one-dimensional photonic crystal and its performance analysis

All-optical switch with the ultrafast optical switching rate is a key device in the next generation optical network. In this article, we propose a polarization switch with ps switching time, which is constructed from one-dimensional resonant photonic crystal （1D RPC）. The model of switch operating at 1.5 μm is established based on the optical stark effect （OSE）. We calculate the performance indices of the switch and the influences of errors of periods and refractive index on the performance characteristics.     

Concentration level and distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soil and grass around Mt. Qomolangma, China

High mountains may serve as a condenser for persistent organic pollutants. In the present study, soil and grass samples from Mt. Qomolangma region, China were collected from 4600 to 5620 m a.s.I and were analyzed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons （PAHs） to determine if they are concentrated at colder, more elevated sites and to evaluate their possible resources and fractionation. The total PAHs concentration in soil samples was 〈 600 ng g^-1, the critical value to differentiate PAHs levels in remote and urban regions. This implied the PAHs levels at Mt. Qomolangma are relatively low and what one might expect in such a remote region of the world. These low values may represent a soil background for mid-latitude Northern Hemisphere soils away from the direct influence of an anthropogenic source. As for the distribution pattern, the low molecular weight PAHs were prone to accumulate at higher altitude, while the high molecular weight PAHs inversely related or unrelated with elevation. Based on high concentration of phenanthrene at elevated sample site and the ratios of individual PAHs, we deduced that home-heating combustion and vehicle emission may result in the constitution trait of PAHs in this mountain region. Monsoon traveling over India, Pakistan and other countries with dense population may carry contaminant to Mt. Qomolangma region.     

非理想条件下MMC-DVR的PBC和SMC混合控制策略

动态电压调节器(DVR)与模块化多电平转换器(MMC)组合的MMC-DVR可用于解决中高电压的动态电压补偿问题。但当电网电压不平衡较大时,采用传统的PID控制或者单一的无源性控制（PBC）或单一的滑模控制（SMC）均难以很好地对动态电压进行补偿控制。为此,提出了PBC+SMC两种控制方法的混合控制方法能够很好地解决电网电压不平衡时动态电压补偿问题。首先,推导出不平衡电网下MMC-DVR的数学模型;接着,针对目前控制方法存在问题,提出了PBC与SMC的混合控制策略用于MMC-DVR的动态电压补偿,解决了单一PBC控制方法的难以精确控制、响应速度慢、补偿效果不佳等问题;最后,在实验平台上将本文的PBC+SMC控制与PBC、PID两种控制进行实验效果比较,实验结果表明,本文的MMC-DVR混合控制系统能够快速、准确地自动补偿动态电压,且该系统具有鲁棒性强、控制精度高等特点,从而验证了本文混合控制方法的有效性和优越性。     

利用并行算法分析平底结构砰击作用下具有自由表面水域的水动力特性

采用VOF和动网格方法、考虑限制水域边界条件的约束因素.利用CFD商业软件FLUENT通过求解脉冲砰击压力作用下具有自由表面限制水域上的Navier-Stokes方程来分析与观察平底结构从一定的高度以一定速度落下砰击限制水域的水面所引起的三维流体动力现象.数值模拟结果表明:采用所提出的数值方法可以对平底结构砰击压力作用于考虑自由表面效应的封闭或开放水域的水面所激发起的水面波动和水下压力场变化进行有效的数值模拟.所利用若干台多核微型计算机对平底结构撞击自由水面所引起的砰击问题进行的并行算法,为利用并行算法分析大型平底结构砰击限制水域水面所产生的水动力现象进行了有益的尝试.     

Enhancing site style tree construction algorithm

The World Wide Web has become a global information service center with a vast amount of news, advertisements, product and service information, and disparate information from diversified sources. However, only a small portion of information is truly relevant and useful to the users who are seeking information on specific topics. In this paper, common relations among nodes are taken into consideration when constructing site style tree, and a new node type is introduced. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm has higher precision and recall.