nanoscale论文范文

编译 | 未玖

Nature , 27 May 2021, VOL 593, ISSUE 7860

《自然》 2021年5月27日，第593卷，7860期

天文学 Astronomy

Evidence of hydrogen helium immiscibility at Jupiter-interior conditions

木星内部条件下氢-氦不混溶的证据

作者：S. Brygoo, P. Loubeyre, M. Millot, J. R. Rygg, P. M. Celliers, J. H. Eggert, et al.

链接：

摘要

温致密氢 氦（H-He）混合物的相行为影响了人们对木星和土星及其内部结构演化的理解。然而，尽管H-He相具有重要意义，但在相关的行星条件下，它的相行为仍然很难约束，因为通过计算来确定它极具挑战性，且极端温度和压力也难以通过实验达到。

研究组报道了通过激光驱动的冲击压缩已在钻石砧电池中预压缩的H2 He样品，可以达到适当的温度和压力。这使研究组能够探测木星内部条件下H-He混合物的性质，揭示了沿雨贡纽曲线的一个不混溶区域。

样品反射率的明显不连续变化表明，在10200 K时，该区域结束于150吉帕以上；在4700 K时，93吉帕以上的反射率发生了更细微的变化。考虑到木星的压力-温度分布，这些近原太阳混合物的实验不混溶约束表明H-He相分离影响了木星内部的很大一部分，研究组估计该部分大约占木星半径的15%。

这一发现为木星模型提供了微物理支持，该模型利用分层内部来解释朱诺号和伽利略号航天器的观测。

Abstract

The phase behaviour of warm dense hydrogen helium (H He) mixtures affects our understanding of the evolution of Jupiter and Saturn and their interior structures. But despite its importance, H He phase behaviour under relevant planetary conditions remains poorly constrained because it is challenging to determine computationally and because the extremes of temperature and pressure are difficult to reach experimentally. Here we report that appropriate temperatures and pressures can be reached through laser-driven shock compression of H2 He samples that have been pre-compressed in diamond-anvil cells. This allows us to probe the properties of H He mixtures under Jovian interior conditions, revealing a region of immiscibility along the Hugoniot. A clear discontinuous change in sample reflectivity indicates that this region ends above 150 gigapascals at 10,200 kelvin and that a more subtle reflectivity change occurs above 93 gigapascals at 4,700 kelvin. Considering pressure–temperature profiles for Jupiter, these experimental immiscibility constraints for a near-protosolar mixture suggest that H He phase separation affects a large fraction—we estimate about 15 per cent of the radius—of Jupiter’s interior. This finding provides microphysical support for Jupiter models that invoke a layered interior to explain Juno and Galileo spacecraft observations.

材料科学 Materials Science

Long-range nontopological edge currents in charge-neutral graphene

电荷中性石墨烯中的长程非拓扑边缘电流

作者：A. Aharon-Steinberg, A. Marguerite, D. J. Perello, K. Bagani, T. Holder, Y. Myasoedov, et al.

链接：

摘要

范德华异质结构显示出许多独特的电子性质。单层、双层和薄层石墨烯、过渡金属二卤化物和莫尔超晶格已被发现显示出明显的非局域效应。

然而，这些效应的起源却引起了激烈的争论。尤其是石墨烯，在电荷中性时表现出巨大的非局域性，这一惊人行为吸引了各种不同的解释。

利用尖端超导量子干涉装置（SQUID-on-tip）进行纳米尺度的热成像和扫描门成像，研究组证明了石墨烯边缘常见的电荷积累会导致巨大的非局域性，产生了支持长程电流的狭窄导电通道。

出乎意料的是，虽然边缘电导对零磁场中的电流流动影响不大，但在中等磁场下，它会导致边缘和体输运之间的场诱导解耦。由此产生的巨大非局域性在电荷中性和远离电荷时产生了对边缘无序敏感的奇异流型，在这种流型中电荷可以对抗全局电场流动。

所观察到的一维边缘输运是通用和非拓扑的，有望支持许多电子系统中的非局域输运，为深入研究众多争论提供了线索，并将它们与系统边缘的远程引导电子态联系起来。

Abstract

Van der Waals heterostructures display numerous unique electronic properties. Monolayer, bilayer and few-layer graphene, transition-metal dichalcogenides and moiré superlattices have been found to display pronounced nonlocal effects. However, the origin of these effects is hotly debated. Graphene, in particular, exhibits giant nonlocality at charge neutrality, a striking behaviour that has attracted competing explanations. Using a superconducting quantum interference device on a tip (SQUID-on-tip) for nanoscale thermal and scanning gate imaging, here we demonstrate that the commonly occurring charge accumulation at graphene edges leads to giant nonlocality, producing narrow conductive channels that support long-range currents. Unexpectedly, although the edge conductance has little effect on the current flow in zero magnetic field, it leads to field-induced decoupling between edge and bulk transport at moderate fields. The resulting giant nonlocality at charge neutrality and away from it produces exotic flow patterns that are sensitive to edge disorder, in which charges can flow against the global electric field. The observed one-dimensional edge transport is generic and nontopological and is expected to support nonlocal transport in many electronic systems, offering insight into the numerous controversies and linking them to long-range guided electronic states at system edges.

Perovskite-type superlattices from lead halide perovskite nanocubes

卤化铅钙钛矿纳米立方体的钙钛矿型超晶格

作者：Ihor Cherniukh, Gabriele Rainò, Thilo Stöferle, Max Burian, Alex Travesset, Denys Naumenko, et al.

链接：

摘要

铯-铅卤化物钙钛矿型纳米晶体是长程有序超晶格很有前途的构建基块，因其明亮三重态激子的高振荡强度、缓慢失相（高达80皮秒的相干时间）和最小发射线不均匀展宽。到目前为止，人们从这些纳米晶体中仅设计出来单组分超晶格与简单立方堆积。

研究组提出了钙钛矿型（ABO3）二元和三元纳米晶超晶格，通过立体稳定、高发光的立方CsPbBr3纳米晶（占据B和/或O晶格位）、球形Fe3O4或NaGdF4纳米晶（A位）和截角立方PbS纳米晶（B位）的形状定向共组装而成。

这些ABO3超晶格，以及研究组展示的二元NaCl和AlB2超晶格结构，均表明了CsPbBr3纳米立方体的高度取向有序性。它们还表现出超荧光——一种集体发射，导致超快辐射衰减（22皮秒）的光子爆发，可用于定制超亮（量子）光源。

研究组的工作为进一步 探索 复杂有序、功能有用的钙钛矿介观结构奠定了基础。

Abstract

Caesium lead halide perovskite nanocrystals are promising building blocks for long-range-ordered superlattices, owing to the high oscillator strength of bright triplet excitons, slow dephasing (coherence times of up to 80 picoseconds) and minimal inhomogeneous broadening of emission lines. So far, only single-component superlattices with simple cubic packing have been devised from these nanocrystals. Here we present perovskite-type (ABO3) binary and ternary nanocrystal superlattices, created via the shape-directed co-assembly of steric-stabilized, highly luminescent cubic CsPbBr3 nanocrystals (which occupy the B and/or O lattice sites), spherical Fe3O4 or NaGdF4 nanocrystals (A sites) and truncated-cuboid PbS nanocrystals (B sites). These ABO3 superlattices, as well as the binary NaCl and AlB2 superlattice structures that we demonstrate, exhibit a high degree of orientational ordering of the CsPbBr3 nanocubes. They also exhibit superfluorescence—a collective emission that results in a burst of photons with ultrafast radiative decay (22 picoseconds) that could be tailored for use in ultrabright (quantum) light sources. Our work paves the way for further exploration of complex, ordered and functionally useful perovskite mesostructures.

地球科学 Earth Science

A 10 per cent increase in global land evapotranspiration from 2003 to 2019

2003-2019年，全球陆地蒸散量增加10%

作者：Madeleine Pascolini-Campbell, John T. Reager, Hrishikesh A. Chandanpurkar & Matthew Rodell

链接：

摘要

准确量化全球陆地蒸散量对于理解全球水循环的变异性是必要的，在气候变化下，这种变异性预计将加剧。目前的全球蒸散量产品来源很多，包括模型、遥感和现场观测。

然而，现有的方法包含广泛不确定性；例如，与模型结构相关，或将观测值提升到全球水平。因此，全球蒸散量的变异性和趋势仍不清楚。

研究组表明，2003至2019年，全球陆地蒸散量增加了10 2%，陆地降水越来越多地被划分为蒸散量，而非径流。

该结果基于全球陆地蒸散量的独立水平衡集合时间序列和相应的不确定性分布，使用的数据来自重力恢复及气候实验（GRACE）和GRACE后续（GRACE-FO）卫星。

全球陆地蒸散量的变异性与厄尔尼诺-南方涛动正相关。然而，这种趋势的主要驱动力是不断升高的地表温度。

研究组的发现为全球陆地蒸散量提供了一个观测约束，且与全球蒸散量在气候变暖下增加的假设相一致。

Abstract

Accurate quantification of global land evapotranspiration is necessary for understanding variability in the global water cycle, which is expected to intensify under climate change. Current global evapotranspiration products are derived from a variety of sources, including models, remote sensing and in situ observations. However, existing approaches contain extensive uncertainties; for example, relating to model structure or the upscaling of observations to a global level. As a result, variability and trends in global evapotranspiration remain unclear. Here we show that global land evapotranspiration increased by 10 2 per cent between 2003 and 2019, and that land precipitation is increasingly partitioned into evapotranspiration rather than runoff. Our results are based on an independent water-balance ensemble time series of global land evapotranspiration and the corresponding uncertainty distribution, using data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and GRACE-Follow On (GRACE-FO) satellites. Variability in global land evapotranspiration is positively correlated with El Niño–Southern Oscillation. The main driver of the trend, however, is increasing land temperature. Our findings provide an observational constraint on global land evapotranspiration, and are consistent with the hypothesis that global evapotranspiration should increase in a warming climate.

Overriding water table control on managed peatland greenhouse gas emissions

地下水位控制泥炭地温室气体排放

作者：C. D. Evans, M. Peacock, A. J. Baird, R. R. E. Artz, A. Burden, N. Callaghan, et al.

链接：

摘要

全球泥炭地储存的碳比大气中自然存在的还要多。然而，许多泥炭地受到基于排水的农业、种植开发和火灾的压力，仅相当于排水泥炭地排放的所有人为温室气体的3%左右。通过保护未排水的泥炭地和使排水系统再湿润，人们正加强努力来遏制此类排放。

研究组报道了来自16个地点的 CO2 涡流协方差数据和来自英国和爱尔兰41个地点的 CH4 静态室测量数据，并将这些数据与所有主要泥炭地生物群落公布的数据相结合。

结果表明，年平均有效地下水位（ WTDe ；即通气泥炭层的平均深度）超过了所有其他与温室气体排放相关的生态系统和管理控制。

研究组估计， WTDe 每减少10 cm， CO2 和 CH4 排放（100年全球变暖潜势）的净变暖效应每年每公顷至少减少3吨 CO2 ，直到 WTDe 小于30 cm。进一步提高水位将继续产生净冷却效应，直到 WTDe 位于地表10 cm以内。

研究结果表明，农业泥炭地的温室气体排放可以大大减少，而不必停止其生产性使用。例如，将所有排干的农业泥炭地中的 WTDe 减半，可减少的排放量相当于全球人为排放的1%以上。

Abstract

Global peatlands store more carbon than is naturally present in the atmosphere. However, many peatlands are under pressure from drainage-based agriculture, plantation development and fire, with the equivalent of around 3 per cent of all anthropogenic greenhouse gases emitted from drained peatland. Efforts to curb such emissions are intensifying through the conservation of undrained peatlands and re-wetting of drained systems. Here we report eddy covariance data for carbon dioxide from 16 locations and static chamber measurements for methane from 41 locations in the UK and Ireland. We combine these with published data from sites across all major peatland biomes. We find that the mean annual effective water table depth ( WTDe ; that is, the average depth of the aerated peat layer) overrides all other ecosystem- and management-related controls on greenhouse gas fluxes. We estimate that every 10 centimetres of reduction in WTDe could reduce the net warming impact of CO2 and CH4 emissions (100-year global warming potentials) by the equivalent of at least 3 tonnes of CO2 per hectare per year, until WTDe is less than 30 centimetres. Raising water levels further would continue to have a net cooling effect until WTDe is within 10 centimetres of the surface. Our results suggest that greenhouse gas emissions from peatlands drained for agriculture could be greatly reduced without necessarily halting their productive use. Halving WTDe in all drained agricultural peatlands, for example, could reduce emissions by the equivalent of over 1 per cent of global anthropogenic emissions.

社会 学 Sociology

The universal visitation law of human mobility

人群流动的普遍访问规律

作者：Markus Schläpfer, Lei Dong, Kevin O’Keeffe, Paolo Santi, Michael Szell, Hadrien Salat, et al.

链接：

摘要

人的流动性影响着城市的许多方面，从城市的空间结构到城市对流行病的反应。它最终也是 社会 互动、创新和生产力的关键。

研究组揭示了一个简单而稳健的标度律，它基于全球不同城市的人口大规模流动数据，来捕捉人口流动的时空谱。根据这一规律，任何地点的游客人数都会随着其访问频率和旅行距离乘积的平方反比而减少。

研究组进一步证明流向不同地点的时空流产生了显著的空间集群，其区域分布遵循齐夫定律。最后，研究组建立了一个基于 探索 和优先返回的个体流动模型，为所发现的标度律和新兴的空间结构提供了一个机制解释。

该研究结果证实了人文地理学中长期存在的猜想，并允许对人群重复流动进行预测，这为在城市规划、交通工程和减少流行病方面的应用提供了基础。

Abstract

Human mobility impacts many aspects of a city, from its spatial structure to its response to an epidemic. It is also ultimately key to social interactions, innovation and productivity. However, our quantitative understanding of the aggregate movements of inpiduals remains incomplete. Existing models—such as the gravity law or the radiation model—concentrate on the purely spatial dependence of mobility flows and do not capture the varying frequencies of recurrent visits to the same locations. Here we reveal a simple and robust scaling law that captures the temporal and spatial spectrum of population movement on the basis of large-scale mobility data from perse cities around the globe. According to this law, the number of visitors to any location decreases as the inverse square of the product of their visiting frequency and travel distance. We further show that the spatio-temporal flows to different locations give rise to prominent spatial clusters with an area distribution that follows Zipf’s law. Finally, we build an inpidual mobility model based on exploration and preferential return to provide a mechanistic explanation for the discovered scaling law and the emerging spatial structure. Our findings corroborate long-standing conjectures in human geography and allow for predictions of recurrent flows, providing a basis for applications in urban planning, traffic engineering and the mitigation of epidemic diseases.

编译 | 未玖

Nature, 10 February 2022, VOL 602, ISSUE 7896

《自然》 2022年2月10日，第602卷，7896期

天文学 Astronomy

A white dwarf accreting planetary material determined from X-ray observations

X射线观测到白矮星吸积行星物质

作者：Tim Cunningham, Peter J. Wheatley, Pier-Emmanuel Tremblay, Boris T. Gänsicke, George W. King, Odette Toloza, et al.

链接：

摘要

大多数白矮星的大气受到重元素的污染，这些重元素预计会在短时间内从可见层下沉。这被解释为白矮星不断吸积小行星、彗星和巨行星碎片的标志。探测一些白矮星周围的碎片盘和行星碎片凌星现象支持了这一设想。

然而，光球金属只是持续吸积的间接证据，推断的吸积率和母体成分在很大程度上取决于白矮星大气中扩散和混合过程的模型。

研究组报道了被污染白矮星G29–38的X射线σ探测。根据测得的X射线光度，他们推导出瞬时吸积率MX= 109 g s 1，且独立于恒星大气模型。该比率高于过去对G29–38光球丰度研究所作的估计，表明可能需要对流过冲来模拟白矮星碎片聚集的光谱。

研究组测量出kBT=     keV的低等离子体温度，证实了此前预测的白矮星以低吸积率吸积的爆炸方式。

Abstract

The atmospheres of a large proportion of white dwarf stars are polluted by heavy elements that are expected to sink out of visible layers on short timescales. This has been interpreted as a signature of ongoing accretion of debris from asteroids, comets and giant planets. This scenario is supported by the detection of debris discs and transits of planetary fragments around some white dwarfs. However, photospheric metals are only indirect evidence for ongoing accretion, and the inferred accretion rates and parent body compositions heavily depend on models of diffusion and mixing processes within the white dwarf atmosphere. Here we report a σ detection of X-rays from a polluted white dwarf, G29–38. From the measured X-ray luminosity, we derive an instantaneous accretion rate of MX= 109 g s 1, which is independent of stellar atmosphere models. This rate is higher than estimates from past studies of the photospheric abundances of G29–38, suggesting that convective overshoot may be needed to model the spectra of debris-accreting white dwarfs. We measure a low plasma temperature of kBT =     keV, corroborating the predicted bombardment solution for white dwarfs accreting at low accretion rates.

物理学 Physics

Real-space visualization of intrinsic magnetic fields of an antiferromagnet

反铁磁体内禀磁场的实空间可视化

作者：Yuji Kohno, Takehito Seki, Scott D. Findlay, Yuichi Ikuhara & Naoya Shibata

链接：

摘要

原子尺度的磁性结构表征，是材料和器件中纳米磁性设计与调控的核心。然而，在该维度上，磁场的实空间可视化一直颇具挑战性。近年来，原子分辨率差分相衬扫描透射电子显微镜（DPC STEM）已能够直接成像单个原子内部的电场分布。

研究组展示了在无磁场环境中使用原子分辨率DPC STEM实现反铁磁赤铁矿（α-Fe2O3）内部磁场分布的实空间可视化。

在去除原子电场引起的相移分量并通过单元平均法提高信噪比后，研究组实现了α-Fe2O3内禀磁场的实空间可视化。这些研究结果为许多磁性结构的实空间表征提供了新途径。

Abstract

Characterizing magnetic structures down to atomic dimensions is central to the design and control of nanoscale magnetism in materials and devices. However, real-space visualization of magnetic fields at such dimensions has been extremely challenging. In recent years, atomic-resolution differential phase contrast scanning transmission electron microscopy (DPC STEM) has enabled direct imaging of electric field distribution even inside single atoms. Here we show real-space visualization of magnetic field distribution inside antiferromagnetic haematite (α-Fe2O3) using atomic-resolution DPC STEM in a magnetic-field-free environment. After removing the phase-shift component due to atomic electric fields and improving the signal-to-noise ratio by unit-cell averaging, real-space visualization of the intrinsic magnetic fields in α-Fe2O3 is realized. These results open a new possibility for real-space characterization of many magnetic structures.

Ferroelectric incommensurate spin crystals

铁电不相称自旋晶体

作者：Dorin Rusu, Jonathan J. P. Peters, Thomas P. A. Hase, James A. Gott, Gareth A. A. Nisbet, Jörg Strempfer, et al.

链接：

摘要

铁性材料，尤其是铁磁体，在特定的电和力学边界条件下，可形成复杂的拓扑自旋结构，如漩涡和斯格明子。

在专用铁电系统中，尤其是在PbTiO3/SrTiO3等铁电-绝缘体超晶格中，人们已观察到简单的涡状电偶极子拓扑结构，但后来由于其高去极化场，被证明是一个模型系统。迄今为止，还没有实验观察到由Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya相互作用（DMi）驱动的有序磁自旋晶格的等效电偶极。

研究组探讨了夹在SrRuO3电极间的单一PbTiO3外延层的畴结构。他们观察到周期性的顺时针和逆时针铁电旋涡，沿其环形核心受到二阶调制。计算结果支持的拓扑结构是具有两个正交周期调制的迷宫状图案，形成了一个不相称的极性晶体，其铁电性类似于最近在铁磁材料中发现的不相称自旋晶体。

这些发现进一步模糊了突现铁磁和铁电拓扑之间的边界，为未来磁DMi驱动相的电对应物的实验实现扫清了道路。

Abstract

Ferroics, especially ferromagnets, can form complex topological spin structures such as vortices and skyrmions when subjected to particular electrical and mechanical boundary conditions. Simple vortex-like, electric-dipole-based topological structures have been observed in dedicated ferroelectric systems, especially ferroelectric–insulator superlattices such as PbTiO3/SrTiO3, which was later shown to be a model system owing to its high depolarizing field. To date, the electric dipole equivalent of ordered magnetic spin lattices driven by the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction (DMi) has not been experimentally observed. Here we examine a domain structure in a single PbTiO3 epitaxial layer sandwiched between SrRuO3 electrodes. We observe periodic clockwise and anticlockwise ferroelectric vortices that are modulated by a second ordering along their toroidal core. The resulting topology, supported by calculations, is a labyrinth-like pattern with two orthogonal periodic modulations that form an incommensurate polar crystal that provides a ferroelectric analogue to the recently discovered incommensurate spin crystals in ferromagnetic materials. These findings further blur the border between emergent ferromagnetic and ferroelectric topologies, clearing the way for experimental realization of further electric counterparts of magnetic DMi-driven phases.

材料科学 Materials Science

A highly distorted ultraelastic chemically complex Elinvar alloy

一种高度变形超弹性化学复杂的艾林瓦合金

作者：Q. F. He, J. G. Wang, H. A. Chen, Z. Y. Ding, Z. Q. Zhou, L. H. Xiong, et al.

链接：

摘要

高性能超弹性金属的研发具有超高强度、大弹性应变极限和温度不敏感的弹性模量（艾林瓦效应），对于从致动器、医疗设备到高精度仪器的各种工业应用都至关重要。由于位错易滑动，体晶金属的弹性应变极限通常小于1%。

形状记忆合金（包括胶质金属和应变玻璃合金）的弹性应变极限可高达几个百分点，虽然这是伪弹性的结果，且伴随着巨大的能量耗散。近年来，化学性质复杂的合金，如“高熵”合金，因其良好性能引发了人们广泛的研究兴趣。

在这项工作中，研究组报道了一种化学复杂的合金，其原子尺寸错配较大，常规合金通常无法承受。该合金在室温下具有较高的弹性应变极限（约2%）和极低的内耗（小于2    10 4 ）。

更有趣的是，这种合金表现出非凡的艾林瓦效应，在室温和627 （900K）之间的弹性模量近乎恒定，迄今为止报道的现有合金均无法与之比拟。

Abstract

The development of high-performance ultraelastic metals with superb strength, a large elastic strain limit and temperature-insensitive elastic modulus (Elinvar effect) are important for various industrial applications, from actuators and medical devices to high-precision instruments. The elastic strain limit of bulk crystalline metals is usually less than 1 per cent, owing to dislocation easy gliding. Shape memory alloys—including gum metals and strain glass alloys—may attain an elastic strain limit up to several per cent, although this is the result of pseudo-elasticity and is accompanied by large energy dissipation. Recently, chemically complex alloys, such as ‘high-entropy’ alloys, have attracted tremendous research interest owing to their promising properties. In this work we report on a chemically complex alloy with a large atomic size misfit usually unaffordable in conventional alloys. The alloy exhibits a high elastic strain limit (approximately 2 per cent) and a very low internal friction (less than 2    10 4 ) at room temperature. More interestingly, this alloy exhibits an extraordinary Elinvar effect, maintaining near-constant elastic modulus between room temperature and 627 degrees Celsius (900 kelvin), which is, to our knowledge, unmatched by the existing alloys hitherto reported.

人工智能 Artificial Intelligence

Outracing champion Gran Turismo drivers with deep reinforcement learning

通过深度强化学习超越Gran Turismo冠军级赛车手

作者：Peter R. Wurman, Samuel Barrett, Kenta Kawamoto, James MacGlashan, Kaushik Subramanian, Thomas J. Walsh, et al.

链接：

摘要

人工智能的许多潜在应用涉及与人类交互时在物理系统中做出实时决策。赛车就是这种情况的一个典型代表；赛车手必须执行复杂的战术性操作以超越或阻挡对手，同时在牵引力极限下驾驶赛车。

赛车模拟，比如PlayStation 游戏 Gran Turismo，忠实地再现了真实赛车的非线性控制挑战，同时也封装了复杂的多代理交互。

研究组介绍了他们如何训练Gran Turismo的AI代理，使其能够与世界上最优秀的电子竞技赛车手相匹敌。他们将最先进的、无模型的深度强化学习算法与混合场景训练相结合，来学习一种综合控制策略，将卓越的速度与令人印象深刻的战术相结合。

此外，研究组还构建了一个奖励函数，使AI代理能够在遵守重要但灵活的赛车规则的同时保持竞争力。最终研究组的AI代理Gran Turismo Sophy崭露头角，在正面竞争中战胜了四名世界顶级Gran Turismo赛车手。

通过描述如何训练冠军级别的赛车手，研究组展示了使用这些技术来控制复杂动态系统的机遇和挑战，在这些领域中，AI代理必须尊重灵活定义的人类规则。

Abstract

Many potential applications of artificial intelligence involve making real-time decisions in physical systems while interacting with humans. Automobile racing represents an extreme example of these conditions; drivers must execute complex tactical manoeuvres to pass or block opponents while operating their vehicles at their traction limits. Racing simulations, such as the PlayStation game Gran Turismo, faithfully reproduce the non-linear control challenges of real race cars while also encapsulating the complex multi-agent interactions. Here we describe how we trained agents for Gran Turismo that can compete with the world’s best e-sports drivers. We combine state-of-the-art, model-free, deep reinforcement learning algorithms with mixed-scenario training to learn an integrated control policy that combines exceptional speed with impressive tactics. In addition, we construct a reward function that enables the agent to be competitive while adhering to racing’s important, but under-specified, sportsmanship rules. We demonstrate the capabilities of our agent, Gran Turismo Sophy, by winning a head-to-head competition against four of the world’s best Gran Turismo drivers. By describing how we trained championship-level racers, we demonstrate the possibilities and challenges of using these techniques to control complex dynamical systems in domains where agents must respect imprecisely defined human norms.

地球科学 Earth Science

Superionic iron alloys and their seismic velocities in Earth’s inner core

超离子铁合金及其在地球内核中的地震速度

作者：Yu He, Shichuan Sun, Duck Young Kim, Bo Gyu Jang, Heping Li & Ho-kwang Mao

链接：

摘要

地球内核（IC）的密度低于纯铁，这表明其内部存在轻元素。硅、硫、碳、氧和氢被认为是候选元素，人们研究了铁-轻元素合金的性能以约束IC成分。轻元素对铁合金的地震速度、熔化温度和热导率有很大影响。然而，人们很少考虑IC中轻元素的状态。

研究组利用第一性原理分子动力学模拟，发现在IC条件下，六方密排铁中的氢、氧和碳转变为超离子态，表现出像流体一样的高扩散系数。这表明IC可以处于超离子态，而非正常固态。

流体轻元素导致地震速度大幅降低，接近IC的地震学观测值。横波波速的大幅降低为软IC提供了一种解释。此外，轻元素对流对IC地震学结构和磁场也有潜在影响。

Abstract

Earth’s inner core (IC) is less dense than pure iron, indicating the existence of light elements within it. Silicon, sulfur, carbon, oxygen and hydrogen have been suggested to be the candidates, and the properties of iron–light-element alloys have been studied to constrain the IC composition. Light elements have a substantial influence on the seismic velocities, the melting temperatures and the thermal conductivities of iron alloys. However, the state of the light elements in the IC is rarely considered. Here, using ab initio molecular dynamics simulations, we find that hydrogen, oxygen and carbon in hexagonal close-packed iron transform to a superionic state under the IC conditions, showing high diffusion coefficients like a liquid. This suggests that the IC can be in a superionic state rather than a normal solid state. The liquid-like light elements lead to a substantial reduction in the seismic velocities, which approach the seismological observations of the IC. The substantial decrease in shear-wave velocity provides an explanation for the soft IC. In addition, the light-element convection has a potential influence on the IC seismological structure and magnetic field.