The theory of an auto-resonant field emission cathode relativistic electron accelerator for high efficiency microwave to direct current power conversion

A novel method of microwave power conversion to direct current is discussed that relies on a modification of well known resonant linear relativistic electron accelerator techniques. An analysis is presented that shows how, by establishing a 'slow' electromagnetic field in a waveguide, electrons liberated from an array of field emission cathodes, are resonantly accelerated to several times their rest energy, thus establishing an electric current over a large potential difference. Such an approach is not limited to the relatively low frequencies that characterize the operation of rectennas, and can, with appropriate waveguide and slow wave structure design, be employed in the 300 to 600 GHz range where much smaller transmitting and receiving antennas are needed

Optimizing the antenna system of a microwave space power station: Implications for the selection of operating power, frequency and antenna size

A design for a space power station that is to transmit power to the surface of a planet via high powered microwaves should commence with the optimum design of the transmitting and receiving antenna combination to be employed. Once one has assured that the desired amount of power has been transferred (which, after all, is the prupose of any power transmission system), one can, from the constraints imposed by such a design, taylor other parameters of the system such as antenna sizes and weights, power density in the planet's atmosphere (e.g., to avoid electrical breakdown), and frequency of operation. It is the purpose of this brief analysis to provide the working equations of such an optimized antenna system, and to give examples of their use. Related problems that should be analyzed in the future will then be discussed and a flow chart of the indicated order of priority presented. The analysis given here differs from previous work on this subject in that the development given will allow analytical expressions to be obtained for the relevant parameters. This is made possible by employing an approximation procedure to be given during the exposition

A statistical rain attenuation prediction model with application to the advanced communication technology satellite project. Part 2: Theoretical development of a dynamic model and application to rain fade durations and tolerable control delays for fade countermeasures

A dynamic rain attenuation prediction model is developed for use in obtaining the temporal characteristics, on time scales of minutes or hours, of satellite communication link availability. Analagous to the associated static rain attenuation model, which yields yearly attenuation predictions, this dynamic model is applicable at any location in the world that is characterized by the static rain attenuation statistics peculiar to the geometry of the satellite link and the rain statistics of the location. Such statistics are calculated by employing the formalism of Part I of this report. In fact, the dynamic model presented here is an extension of the static model and reduces to the static model in the appropriate limit. By assuming that rain attenuation is dynamically described by a first-order stochastic differential equation in time and that this random attenuation process is a Markov process, an expression for the associated transition probability is obtained by solving the related forward Kolmogorov equation. This transition probability is then used to obtain such temporal rain attenuation statistics as attenuation durations and allowable attenuation margins versus control system delay

Disentangling defects and sound modes in disordered solids

We develop a new method to isolate localized defects from extended vibrational modes in disordered solids. This method augments particle interactions with an artificial potential that acts as a high-pass filter: it preserves small-scale structures while pushing extended vibrational modes to higher frequencies. The low-frequency modes that remain are "bare" defects; they are exponentially localized without the quadrupolar tails associated with elastic interactions. We demonstrate that these localized excitations are excellent predictors of plastic rearrangements in the solid. We characterize several of the properties of these defects that appear in mesoscopic theory of plasticity, including their distribution of energy barriers, number density, and size, which is a first step in testing and revising continuum models for plasticity in disordered solids

Steady-state, effective-temperature dynamics in a glassy material

We present an STZ-based analysis of numerical simulations by Haxton and Liu (HL). The extensive HL data sharply test the basic assumptions of the STZ theory, especially the central role played by the effective disorder temperature as a dynamical state variable. We find that the theory survives these tests, and that the HL data provide important and interesting constraints on some of its specific ingredients. Our most surprising conclusion is that, when driven at various constant shear rates in the low-temperature glassy state, the HL system exhibits a classic glass transition, including super-Arrhenius behavior, as a function of the effective temperature.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure

Identifying Unclear Questions in Community Question Answering Websites

Thousands of complex natural language questions are submitted to community question answering websites on a daily basis, rendering them as one of the most important information sources these days. However, oftentimes submitted questions are unclear and cannot be answered without further clarification questions by expert community members. This study is the first to investigate the complex task of classifying a question as clear or unclear, i.e., if it requires further clarification. We construct a novel dataset and propose a classification approach that is based on the notion of similar questions. This approach is compared to state-of-the-art text classification baselines. Our main finding is that the similar questions approach is a viable alternative that can be used as a stepping stone towards the development of supportive user interfaces for question formulation.Comment: Proceedings of the 41th European Conference on Information Retrieval (ECIR '19), 201