Thermodynamics of the two-dimensional O(3) σ-model with fixed-point lattice action

The free energy density of the two-dimensional O(3) non-linear σ-model is calculated at finite temperature and finite spatial extent. Both an analytic calculation in the perturbative regime and a Monte Carlo study at low temperatures are presented. It is shown that using the fixed-point action instead of the standard Wilson action leads to a substantial reduction of the cut-off effects.     

Optimization of a Composite Plate Buckling under Thermal Action with Account of Reliability

Optimization of the structure of a laminated anisotropic composite plate subjected to thermal action is considered. The thermoelastic properties of the laminated composite are determined from the known stochastic properties of the components and the given values of the variable structural parameters, using the method of orientational averaging. The properties to be optimized - the critical load and thermal stresses - depend on two variable parameters, the stochastic properties of the composite and the temperature. In the space of the properties being optimized, the domain of admissible solutions and the parameters of the property scatter ellipses at the characteristic points of the project are found. For the compromise optimum project obtained, the reliability is determined with account of the correlation between the critical and thermal stresses. Reduced requirements to the critical loads and thermal stresses lead to an increase in the reliability of the project.     

G-spaces and Fixed Point Sets

For a compact connected group G, in a compact free G-space M every closed subset is the fixed point set of an autohomeomorphism if the weight of M is not bigger than that of G. In a compact group with nonsingleton components, every closed subset is the fixed point set of an autohomeomorphism if and only if the weight of the whole group is not bigger than that of the component of the identity.     

The dynamics of disordered systems and the motion of vortices in disordered type-II superconductors

We develop a field theoretical method which permits us to study the dynamics of interacting particles in disordered systems. In particular, making use of a Hartree-type approximation, we obtain a self-consistent system of equations for disorder averaged quantities. The method is first applied to a single particle on a rough surface. Then, we calculate the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of a type-II superconductor in the flux flow regime. Finally, the structure of the steps is discussed which arise in the I-V-characteristics when a small ac field is superimposed on the constant voltage. These may serve as a probe for incipient melting of the vortex lattice.     

Multi-objectives Tabu Search based algorithm for progressive resource allocation

Military course of action planning involves time and space synchronization as well as resource and asset allocation. A mission could be seen as a defined set of logical ordered tasks with time and space constraints. The resources to task rules require that available assets should be allocated to each task. A combination of assets might be required to execute a given task. The couple (task, resources) constitutes an action. This problem is formulated as a multi-objectives scheduling and resource allocation problem. Any solution is assessed based on a number of conflicting and heterogeneous objectives. In fact, military planning officers should keep perfecting the plan based on the Commander’s criteria for success. The scheduling problem and resource allocation problem are considered as NP-Hard Problems [A. Guitouni, B. Urli, J.-M. Martel, Course of action planning: A project based modelling, Working Paper, Faculté des sciences de l’ administration, Université Laval, Québec, 2005]. This paper is concerned with the multi-objectives resource allocation problem. Our objective is to find adequate resource allocation for given courses of action schedule. To optimize this problem, this paper investigates non-exact solution methods, like meta-heuristic methods for finding potential efficient solutions. A progressive resource allocation methodology is proposed based on Tabu Search and multi-objectives concepts. This technique explores the search space so as to find a set of potential efficient solutions without aggregating the objectives into a single objective function. It is guided by the principle of maximizing the usage of any resource before considering a replacement resource. Thus, a given resource is allocated to the maximum number of tasks for a given courses of action schedule. A good allocation is a potential efficient solution. These solutions are retained by applying a combination of a dominance rule and a multi-criteria filtering method. The performance of the proposed Pareto-based approach is compared to two aggregation approaches: weighted-sum and the lexicographic techniques. The result shows that a Pareto-based approach is providing better solutions and allowing more flexibility to the decision-maker.     

风险企业的委托-代理模型

传统的委托—代理理论在解释风险企业家的行为时遇到了困难。通过对传统的委托—代理理论进行重新构造和拓展，本提出逆反努力法则，验证了隐藏行动的道德风险的存在，并通过Newton迭代法和图形学方法对风险企业家的长期努力水平进行计算，发现努力水平对努力效应指数n表现出协同效应。     

Dynamics of Backscattering of Human Tissue on Exposure to a Low-Intensity Optical Radiation

The results of in vivo experiments on the spectral response of a human organism to the action of low–intensity optical radiation are presented. The dynamics of backscattering of diagnostic radiation in infrared and red spectral regions was recorded. The characteristic types of response to exposure have been revealed: a sudden increase or decrease in the value of the relative coefficient of backscattering accompanied by saturation.     

On the computation of the optimal cost function for discrete time Markov models with partial observations

We consider several applications of two state, finite action, infinite horizon, discrete-time Markov decision processes with partial observations, for two special cases of observation quality, and show that in each of these cases the optimal cost function is piecewise linear. This in turn allows us to obtain either explicit formulas or simplified algorithms to compute the optimal cost function and the associated optimal control policy. Several examples are presented.Research supported in part by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under Grant AFOSR-86-0029, in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant ECS-8617860, in part by the Advanced Technology Program of the State of Texas, and in part by the DoD Joint Services Electronics Program through the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFSC) Contract F49620-86-C-0045.     

Timing in EPR correlations

Detecting the instants of absorption of two paired EPR particles, and varying independently the distances of the detectors to the source, will experimentally display the V-shaped causal link between the two correlated occurrences.