Fast Directional Changes during Geomagnetic Transitions: Global Reversals or Local Fluctuations?

Paleomagnetic investigations from sediments in Central and Southern Italy found directional changes of the order of 10∘ per year during the last geomagnetic field reversal (which took place about 780,000 years ago). These values are orders of magnitudes larger than what is expected from the estimated millennial timescales for geomagnetic field reversals. It is yet unclear whether these extreme changes define the timescale of global dipolar change or whether they indicate a rapid, but spatially localised feature that is not indicative of global variations. Here, we address this issue by calculating the minimum amount of kinetic energy that flows at the top of the core required to instantaneously reproduce these two scenarios. We found that optimised flow structures compatible with the global-scale interpretation of directional change require about one order of magnitude more energy than those that reproduce local change. In particular, we found that the most recently reported directional variations from the Sulmona Basin, in Central Italy, can be reproduced by a core-surface flow with rms values comparable to, or significantly lower than, present-day estimates of about 8 to 22 km/y. Conversely, interpreting the observations as global changes requires rms flow values in excess of 77 km/y, with pointwise maximal velocities of 127 km/y, which we deem improbable. We therefore concluded that the extreme variations reported for the Sulmona Basin were likely caused by a local, transient feature during a longer transition.

Nonsteady fracture of transient networks: The case of vitrimer

We have discovered a peculiar form of fracture that occurs in polymer network formed by covalent adaptable bonds. Due to the dynamic feature of the bonds, fracture of this network is rate dependent, and the crack propagates in a highly nonsteady manner. These phenomena cannot be explained by the existing fracture theories, most of which are based on steady-state assumption. To explain these peculiar characteristics, we first revisit the fundamental difference between the transient network and the covalent network in which we highlighted the transient feature of the cracks. We extend the current fracture criterion for crack initiation to a time-evolution scheme that allows one to track the nonsteady propagation of a crack. Through a combined experimental modeling effort, we show that fracture in transient networks is governed by two parameters: the Weissenberg number W0 that defines the history path of crack-driving force and an extension parameter Z that tells how far a crack can grow. We further use our understanding to explain the peculiar experimental observation. To further leverage on this understanding, we show that one can “program” a specimen’s crack extension dynamics by tuning the loading history.

Transient feature extraction method based on adaptive TQWT sparse optimization

Aiming at the problem of strong impact, short response period and wide resonance frequency bandwidth of transient vibration signals, a transient feature extraction method based on adaptive tunable Q-factor wavelet transform (TQWT) was proposed. Firstly, the characteristic frequency band of the vibration signal was selected according to the time–frequency distribution. Based on the characteristic frequency band, the sub-band average energy weighted wavelet Shannon entropy was used to optimize the number of decomposition layers, quality factor and redundancy of TQWT, so as to achieve the adaptive optimal matching of the impact characteristic components in the vibration signal. Then, according to the characteristics of the transient impact of the telemetry vibration signal, the TQWT decomposition coefficients were sparse reconstructed to obtain more sparse impact characteristics, and the weighted power spectrum kurtosis was used as the impact characteristic index to select the optimal sub-band, Finally, the inverse transform of TQWT was used to reconstruct the optimal sub-band to enhance its weak impact features. The simulation and measured signal processing results verify the effectiveness of the algorithm.

Transient Feature Extraction method based on adaptive TQWT sparse optimization

Aiming at the problem of strong impact, short response period and wide resonance frequency bandwidth of transient vibration signals, a transient feature extraction method based on adaptive Tunable Q-factor Wavelet Transform (TQWT) was proposed. Firstly, the characteristic frequency band of the vibration signal was selected according to the time-frequency distribution. Based on the characteristic frequency band, the sub-band average energy weighted wavelet Shannon entropy was used to optimize the number of decomposition layers, quality factor and redundancy of TQWT, so as to achieve the adaptive optimal matching of the impact characteristic components in the vibration signal. Then, according to the characteristics of the transient impact of the telemetry vibration signal, the TQWT decomposition coefficients were sparse reconstructed to obtain more sparse impact characteristics, and the weighted power spectrum kurtosis was used as the impact characteristic index to select the optimal sub-band, Finally, the inverse transform of TQWT was used to reconstruct the optimal sub-band to enhance its weak impact features. The simulation and measured signal processing results verify the effectiveness of the algorithm.

Effects of Transient and Nontransient Changes of Surface Feature on Object Correspondence

Object correspondence is a fundamental problem in perception. Classic theories hold that the computation of correspondence is solely based on spatiotemporal information. Recent research showed that surface features also play an important role. However, the surface features of objects in many studies did not change throughout a trial. This study investigated the effect of feature change on object correspondence using the object-reviewing paradigm. Two moving objects underwent transient feature changes on color dimension (Experiment 1A) or a combination of three dimensions (Experiment 2A). Moreover, the objects moved behind four occluders to make the feature change nontransient (Experiments 1B and 2B). Object-specific preview benefits were reduced or eliminated when feature changes were transient, but the benefits were not affected when feature changes were nontransient. The effects of transient versus nontransient changes of surface feature in object correspondence are discussed.

Classical Nova Carinae 2018: discovery of circumbinary iron and oxygen

ABSTRACT We present time-lapse spectroscopy of a classical nova explosion commencing 9 d after discovery. These data reveal the appearance of a transient feature in Fe ii and [O i]. We explore different models for this feature and conclude that it is best explained by a circumbinary disc shock-heated following the classical nova event. Circumbinary discs may play an important role in novae in accounting for the absorption systems known as transient heavy element absorption (THEA), the transfer of angular momentum, and the possible triggering of the nova event itself.