Stability Analysis for Linear Uncertain Switched Systems in Infinite-time Domain

In this work, an uncertain switched system expressed as a series of uncertain differential equations is considered in depth. Stability issues have been widely investigated on switched systems while few results related to stability analysis for uncertain switched systems can be found. Due to such fact, three different stabilities, including stability in measure, almost sure stability and stability in mean, are comprehensively studied for linear uncertain switched systems in infinite-time domain. Internal property of the systems is able to be illustrated from different perspectives with the help of above stability analysis. By employing uncertainty theory and the feature of switched systems, corresponding judgement theorems of these stabilities are proposed and verified. An example with respect to stability in measure is provided to display the validness of the results derived.

Young children’s sensitivity to priors in causal inference reflects their mechanistic knowledge

This manuscript examines the relation between preschoolers’ ability to integrate base rates into their causal inferences about objects with their understanding that objects have stable properties that deterministically relate to their causal properties. Three- and 4-year-olds were tested on two measures of causal inference. In the first, children were shown a pattern of ambiguous data that could be resolved by appealing to base rate information. In the second, children’s mechanistic assumptions about the same causal system were tested, specifically to determine if they recognized that an object’s causal efficacy was related to it possessing a stable internal property. Children who possessed this mechanism information were more likely to resolve the ambiguous information by appealing to base rates. The results are discussed in terms of rational models of children’s causal inference.

The Form and Communicative Impact of Shona Postproverbials

This article explores the syntax-semantics nexus of Shona postproverbials in the contemporary Zimbabwean society. In terms of syntax, Shona postproverbials are aligned to the following types of sentences found in the Shona language; substantival, verbal, and a combination of both. Like traditional proverbs, there is no postproverbial that takes the form of the ideophonic sentence. The communicative power of postproverbials is an inherent, inbuilt, and internal property stemming from their syntactic and lexical properties. The postproverbial forms, studied in this article, exhibit innovation and ingenuity of the users. The communicative force of the postproverbials arises from the correspondence and cross-correspondence of the structures and grammatical items that constitute them. Congruence and contrast of the lexical items found in the postproverbials also contribute to meanings. The study established that, just like the traditional proverbs, postproverbials are pithy and terse philosophical statements that resonate with a people’s collective experience. In most cases, the postproverbials provide a conduit for people to comment on issues regarded as politically ‘taboo’ and sensitive in a society where the state does not tolerate open criticism.

On the Dynamics of a Visco–Piezo–Flexoelectric Nanobeam

The fundamental motivation of this research is to investigate the effect of flexoelectricity on a piezoelectric nanobeam for the first time involving internal viscoelasticity. To date, the effect of flexoelectricity on the mechanical behavior of nanobeams has been investigated extensively under various physical and environmental conditions. However, this effect as an internal property of materials has not been studied when the nanobeams include an internal damping feature. To this end, a closed-circuit condition is considered taking converse piezo–flexoelectric behavior. The kinematic displacement of the classical beam using Lagrangian strains, also applying Hamilton’s principle, creates the needed frequency equation. The natural frequencies are measured in nanoscale by the available nonlocal strain gradient elasticity model. The linear Kelvin–Voigt viscoelastic model here defines the inner viscoelastic coupling. An analytical solution technique determines the values of the numerical frequencies. The best findings show that the viscoelastic coupling can directly affect the flexoelectricity property of the material.

Cosmic web anisotropy is the primary indicator of halo assembly bias

ABSTRACT The internal properties of dark matter haloes correlate with the large-scale halo clustering strength at fixed halo mass – an effect known as assembly bias – and are also strongly affected by the local, non-linear cosmic web. Characterizing a halo’s local web environment by its tidal anisotropy α at scales approximately four times the halo radius, we demonstrate that these multiscale correlations represent two distinct statistical links: one between the internal property and α, and the other between α and large-scale (${\gtrsim}30\, h^{-1}\, {\rm Mpc}$) halo bias b1. We focus on scalar internal properties of haloes related to formation time (concentration cvir), shape (mass ellipsoid asphericity c/a), velocity dispersion structure (velocity ellipsoid asphericity cv/av and velocity anisotropy β), and angular momentum (dimensionless spin λ) in the mass range $8\times 10^{11}\lesssim M_{\rm vir}/(\, h^{-1}\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot })\lesssim 5\times 10^{14}$. Using conditional correlation coefficients and other detailed tests, we show that the joint distribution of α, b1, and any of the internal properties c ∈ {β, cv/av, c/a, cvir, λ} is consistent with p(α, b1, c) ≃ p(α)p(b1|α)p(c|α), at all but the largest masses. Thus, the assembly bias trends c↔b1 reflect the two fundamental correlations c↔α and b1↔α. Our results are unaffected by the exclusion of haloes with recent major merger events or splashback objects, although the latter are distinguished by the fact that α does not explain their assembly bias trends. The overarching importance of α provides a new perspective on the nature of assembly bias of distinct haloes, with potential ramifications for incorporating realistic assembly bias effects into mock catalogues of future large-scale structure surveys and for detecting galaxy assembly bias.

Language Signalling High Proportions, not Just Generics, Leads to Essentializing for Novel Social Kinds

Generics (e.g., “Dogs bark”) are proposed to lead to essentializing: to assuming that members of the same category share an internal property that causally grounds shared behaviors and traits, even without evidence. Academics have suggested generics help transmit prejudice, and should be avoided around children when discussing stigmatized social groups. We dispute these contentions. Study 1 (100 5-6 year-olds, 140 adults) found high proportion quantifiers (“most”, “many”) elicited essentializing about a novel social kind (Zarpies) as well as generics for adults, demonstrating generics are not unique in forming essentialist beliefs. Language did not affect children’s essentializing. Study 2 (100 5-6 year-olds, 112 adults) found neither generics nor visual imagery indicating multiple instances led to essentializing in adults or children.

The Quantum Cheshire Cat Effect in the Presence of Decoherence

Even the subtle and apparently strange quantum effects can sometimes survive otherwise lethal influence of an omnipresent decoherence. We show that an archetypal quantum Cheshire Cat, a paradox of a separation between a position of a quantum particle, a photon, and its internal property, the polarization, in a two-path Mach–Zehnder setting, is robust to decoherence caused by a bosonic infinite bath locally coupled to the polarization of a photon. Decoherence affects either the cat or its grin depending on which of the two paths is noisy. For a pure decoherence, in an absence of photon–environment energy exchange, we provide exact results for weak values of the photon position and polarization indicating that the information loss affects the quantum Cheshire Cat only qualitatively and the paradox survives. We show that it is also the case beyond the pure decoherence for a small rate of dissipation.