On Newton’s method for solving equations containing Fréchet-differentiable operators of order at least two

We provide sufficient conditions for the semilocal convergence of Newton’s method to a locally unique solution of a nonlinear operator equation containing operators that are Fréchet-differentiable of order at least two, in a Banach space setting. Numerical examples are also provided to show that our results apply to solve nonlinear equations in cases earlier ones cannot [J.M. Gutiérrez, A new semilocal convergence theorem for Newton’s method, J. Comput. Appl. Math. 79(1997) 131-145; Z. Huang, A note of Kantorovich theorem for Newton iteration, J. Comput. Appl. Math. 47 (1993) 211-217; F.A. Potra, Sharp error bounds for a class of Newton-like methods, Libertas Mathematica 5 (1985) 71-84].     

A note on the existence and uniqueness of the solution to neutral stochastic functional differential equations with infinite delay

In this note, we prove the existence and uniqueness of the solution to neutral stochastic functional differential equations with infinite delay (INSFDEs in short) in which the initial value belongs to the phase space BC((-∞,0]R^d), which denotes the family of bounded continuous R^d-value functions φ defined on (-∞,0] with norm ||φ||=sup_-∞<θ?0|φ(θ)|, under some Carathéodory-type conditions on the coefficients by means of the successive approximation. Especially, we extend the results appeared in Ren et al. [Y. Ren, S. Lu, N. Xia, Remarks on the existence and uniqueness of the solutions to stochastic functional differential equations with infinite delay, J. Comput. Appl. Math. 220 (2008) 364-372], Ren and Xia [Y. Ren, N. Xia, Existence, uniqueness and stability of the solutions to neutral stochastic functional differential equations with infinite delay, Appl. Math. Comput. 210 (2009) 72-79] and Zhou and Xue [S. Zhou, M. Xue, The existence and uniqueness of the solutions for neutral stochastic functional differential equations with infinite delay, Math. Appl. 21 (2008) 75-83].     

Bayesian analysis of non-linear structural equation models with non-ignorable missing outcomes from reproductive dispersion models

Non-linear structural equation models are widely used to analyze the relationships among outcomes and latent variables in modern educational, medical, social and psychological studies. However, the existing theories and methods for analyzing non-linear structural equation models focus on the assumptions of outcomes from an exponential family, and hence can’t be used to analyze non-exponential family outcomes. In this paper, a Bayesian method is developed to analyze non-linear structural equation models in which the manifest variables are from a reproductive dispersion model (RDM) and/or may be missing with non-ignorable missingness mechanism. The non-ignorable missingness mechanism is specified by a logistic regression model. A hybrid algorithm combining the Gibbs sampler and the Metropolis–Hastings algorithm is used to obtain the joint Bayesian estimates of structural parameters, latent variables and parameters in the logistic regression model, and a procedure calculating the Bayes factor for model comparison is given via path sampling. A goodness-of-fit statistic is proposed to assess the plausibility of the posited model. A simulation study and a real example are presented to illustrate the newly developed Bayesian methodologies.     

Bounding the zeros of an interval equation

In this paper, we consider the problem of finding reliably and with certainty all zeros of an interval equation within a given search interval for continuously differentiable functions over real numbers. We propose a new formality of interval arithmetic which is treated in a theoretical manner to develop and prove a new method, lying on the context of interval Newton methods. Some important theoretical aspects of the new method are stated and proved. Finally, an algorithmic realization of our method is proposed to be applied on a set of test functions, where the promising theoretical results are verified.     

A wavelet operational method for solving fractional partial differential equations numerically

Fractional calculus is an extension of derivatives and integrals to non-integer orders, and a partial differential equation involving the fractional calculus operators is called the fractional PDE. They have many applications in science and engineering. However not only the analytical solution existed for a limited number of cases, but also the numerical methods are very complicated and difficult. In this paper, we newly establish the simulation method based on the operational matrices of the orthogonal functions. We formulate the operational matrix of integration in a unified framework. By using the operational matrix of integration, we propose a new numerical method for linear fractional partial differential equation solving. In the method, we (1) use the Haar wavelet; (2) establish a Lyapunov-type matrix equation; and (3) obtain the algebraic equations suitable for computer programming. Two examples are given to demonstrate the simplicity, clarity and powerfulness of the new method.     

Lame equation and asymptotic higher-order periodic solutions to nonlinear evolution equations

Based on an auxiliary Lame equation and the perturbation method, a direct method is proposed to construct asymptotic higher-order periodic solutions to some nonlinear evolution equations. It is shown that some asymptotic higher-order periodic solutions to some nonlinear evolution equations in terms of Jacobi elliptic functions are explicitly obtained with the aid of symbolic computation.     

Solution of the stochastic transport equation of neutral particles with anisotropic scattering using RVT technique

Much of the literatures are directed toward the development of a mathematical formalism for a rigorous estimation of the ensemble average of the solution process of a stochastic differential equation (SDE). The Random Variable Transformation technique (RVT) is a powerful technique to get the complete solution for the SDE represented by the probability-density function of the solution process. In this paper, the RVT technique together with a simple integral transformation to the input stochastic process are implemented to get the complete solution of the one-speed transport equation for neutral particles in a semi-infinite stochastic medium with linear anisotropic scattering. The extinction function of the medium (input stochastic process) is assumed to be a continuous random function of position. The probability-density function and hence, the higher order statistical moments of the solution process are presented. Numerical results are given for different distributions of the input stochastic process.     

A semi-analytic solution for multiple curved cracks emanating from circular hole using singular integral equation

This paper provides an elastic solution for an infinite plate containing multiple curved edge cracks emanating from a circular hole. A fundamental solution is suggested, which represents a particular solution for a concentrated dislocation in an infinite plate with the traction free hole. The generalized image method and the concept of the modified complex potentials are used in the derivation of the fundamental solution. After using the fundamental solution and placing the distributed dislocations at the prospective sites of cracks, a singular integral equation is formulated. The singular integral equation is solved by using the curve length method in conjunction with the semi-opening quadrature rule. By taking an additional point dislocation at the hole center, the number of the unknowns is equal to the number of the resulting algebraic equations. This is a particular advantage of the suggested method. Finally, several numerical examples are given to illustrate the efficiency of the method presented. Numerical examinations are carried out and sufficient accurate results have been found.     

Haar wavelet method for solving Fisher’s equation

In this paper, we develop an accurate and efficient Haar wavelet solution of Fisher’s equation, a prototypical reaction-diffusion equation. The solutions of Fisher’s equation are characterized by propagating fronts that can be very steep for large values of the reaction rate coefficient. There is an ongoing effort to better adapt Haar wavelet methods to the solution of differential equations with solutions that resemble shock waves or fronts typical of hyperbolic partial differential equations. Moreover the use of Haar wavelets is found to be accurate, simple, fast, flexible, convenient, small computation costs and computationally attractive.     

On optimal message vector length for block single parallel partition algorithm in a three-dimensional ADI solver

It has long been recognized that many direct parallel tridiagonal solvers are only efficient for solving a single tridiagonal equation of large sizes, and they become inefficient when naively used in a three-dimensional ADI solver. In order to improve the parallel efficiency of an ADI solver using a direct parallel solver, we implement the single parallel partition (SPP) algorithm in conjunction with message vectorization, which aggregates several communication messages into one to reduce the communication costs. The measured performances show that the longest allowable message vector length (MVL) is not necessarily the best choice. To understand this observation and optimize the performance, we propose an improved model that takes the cache effect into consideration. The optimal MVL for achieving the best performance is shown to depend on number of processors and grid sizes. Similar dependence of the optimal MVL is also found for the popular block pipelined method.