Failure models based on the Palmgren-Miner concept that material darnage is cumulative have been derived and used mainly for fatigue life predictions for metals and composite materials. Wexeview the principles underlying such models and suggest ways in which they may be best applied to polymeric materials in temperature environments. We first outline expectations when polymer degradation data c...

The availability of Bose-Einstein condensates as mesoscopic or macro-scopic quantum objects has aroused new interest in the possiblity of making and detecting coherent superpositions involving many atoms. In this article we show that it may be possible to generate such a superposition state in a reasonably short time using Feshbach resonances to tune the inter-atomic interactions in a double-we...

A delayed response tracer experiment is suggested, based on the following constraints: (1) The kinetics of the process can be expressed by local evolution equations without delays, for example by the mass action law. (2) The kinetic isotope effect can be neglected, that is, the rate coefficients for labeled and unlabeled chemicals are the same. (3) The total fluxes of the various chemicals are ...

In this paper we propose to use elements of the mathematical formalism of Quantum Mechanics to capture the idea that agents’ preferences, in addition to being typically uncertain, can also be indeterminate. They are determined (i.e., realized, and not merely revealed) only when the action takes place. An agent is described by a state that is a superposition of potential types (or preferences or...

The paper presents a modular superposition calculus for the combination of first-order theories involving both total and partial functions. Modularity means that inferences are pure, only involving clauses over the alphabet of either one, but not both, of the theories. The calculus is shown to be complete provided that functions that are not in the intersection of the component signatures are d...

The Wehrl information entropy and its phase density, the so-called Wehrl phase distribution, are applied to describe Schrödinger cat and cat-like (kitten) states. The advantages of the Wehrl phase distribution over the Wehrl entropy in a description of the superposition principle are presented. The entropic measures are compared with a conventional phase distribution from the Husimi Q-function....

Qualitative spatial reasoning (QSR) is a method for treating images or figures qualitatively by extracting only the information required by a user for a specified purpose (Aliello et al. 2007). It is widely considered a promising method for reducing memory and workspace requirements for computations that do not involve strict data. However, few studies have developed practical applications. We ...

Given a perfect superposition of [Formula: see text] states on a quantum system of [Formula: see text] qubits. We propose a fast quantum algorithm for collapsing the perfect superposition to a chosen quantum state [Formula: see text] without applying any measurements. The basic idea is to use a phase destruction mechanism. Two operators are used, the first operator applies a phase shift and a t...

The new quantum principle of a time machine that is not using a smooth timelike loops in Lorentz manifolds is described. The proposed time machine is based on the destruction of interference of quantum superposition states in the Wheeler superspace.