Brief Overview of Recent Developments on Negative Phase–Velocity Mediums (alias Left–Handed Materials)

This brief overview covers a rapidly occurring development in the area of microwave composite materials: isotropic dielectric–magnetic mediums wherein the phase velocity vector and the time–averaged Poynting vector are oppositely directed. Such materials have also been inappropriately designated as left–handed materials. Ramifications for aberration–free lenses, homogenization approaches, and complex mediums are also presented.     

Exploring aspects of cell intelligence with artificial reaction networks

The Artificial Reaction Network (ARN) is a Cell Signalling Network inspired connectionist representation belonging to the branch of A-Life known as Artificial Chemistry. Its purpose is to represent chemical circuitry and to explore computational properties responsible for generating emergent high-level behaviour associated with cells. In this paper, the computational mechanisms involved in pattern recognition and spatio-temporal pattern generation are examined in robotic control tasks. The results show that the ARN has application in limbed robotic control and computational functionality in common with Artificial Neural Networks. Like spiking neural models, the ARN can combine pattern recognition and complex temporal control functionality in a single network, however it offers increased flexibility. Furthermore, the results illustrate parallels between emergent neural and cell intelligence.     

Structural analysis and optimization of tall buildings connected with skybridges and atria

Multi-level skybridges and atria between tall buildings make possible a new urban paradigm that has the potential to dramatically reduce resource consumption, air pollution, and traffic accidents. Structural analysis and optimization methods and results are presented for tall buildings connected with roller or hinge-skybridges at multiple levels and atria between buildings. Generic building systems were studied with controlled factors such as number of buildings, equal-height vs. variable-height, skybridge connection type, site seismicity and wind intensity, and presence/absence of skybridges and atria. The 48 optimization problems held all other factors constant such as building width, shape, configuration, and spacing. A simplified lateral load analysis model is described which makes optimization of large systems possible. The simplified lateral load analysis model was compared to a finite element model for accuracy. An optimization strategy was developed involving gradient and evolutionary algorithms. Results show that atria and hinge-connected skybridges reduced the total structural volume by as much as 10 %.     

Integrated optical polarization filtration via sculptured-thin-film technology

Abstract

The viability of combining chiral sculptured thin films with a standard Mach-Zehnder fibre interferometer to produce a passive, lossless, inline, polarization router and combiner is demonstrated. The spectral response of the device is calculated with respect to the input of orthogonal polarizations which are shown to be either efficiently routed to different output ports or combined at one port.     

Development and assessment of coupled wave theory of axial propagation in thin-film helicoidal bi-anisotropic media. Part 2: Dichroisms,ellipticity transformation and optical rotation

Abstract

The coupled wave theory (CWT) for axial propagation of light in dielectric thin-film helicoidal bi-anisotropic mediums is exploited to obtain simple expressions for true and apparent circular dichroisms, true and apparent linear dichroisms, transmission ellipticity, and optical rotation. The effect of weak isotropic absorption on the circular Bragg phenomenon is elucidated, in terms of simple expressions. Comparison is made with exact results obtained with the full electromagnetic analysis (FEMA), any differences between the CWT and the FEMA results being due to the neglect of cross-polarized scattering by the CWT.