Floating Bodies in Neutral Equilibrium

In his paper preceding in this issue, Finn proved that if the contact angle γ of a convex body B{\mathcal{B}} with a given liquid is π/2, and if B{\mathcal{B}} can be made to float in “neutral equilibrium” in the liquid in any orientation, then B{\mathcal{B}} is a metric ball. The present work extends that result, with an independent proof, to any contact angle in the range 0 < γ < π. Our result is equivalent to the general geometric theorem that if for every orientation of a plane, it can be translated to meet a given strictly convex body B{\mathcal{B}} in a fixed angle γ within the above range, then B{\mathcal{B}} is a metric ball.     

Non-existence of Shilnikov chaos in continuous-time systems

In this paper,a non-existence condition for homoclinic and heteroclinic orbits in n-dimensional,continuous-time,and smooth systems is obtained.Based on this result and an elementary example,it can be conjectured that there is a fourth kind of chaos in polynomial ordinary differential equation(ODE) systems characterized by the nonexistence of homoclinic and heteroclinic orbits.     

Synchronization and Non-Smooth Dynamical Systems

In this article we establish an interaction between non-smooth systems, geometric singular perturbation theory and synchronization phenomena. We find conditions for a non-smooth vector fields be locally synchronized. Moreover its regularization provide a singular perturbation problem with attracting critical manifold. We also state a result about the synchronization which occurs in the regularization of the fold-fold case. We restrict ourselves to the 3-dimensional systems (ℓ = 3) and consider the case known as a T-singularity.     

Stability of Poisson Equilibria and Hamiltonian Relative Equilibria by Energy Methods

We develop a general stability theory for equilibrium points of Poisson dynamical systems and relative equilibria of Hamiltonian systems with symmetries, including several generalisations of the Energy-Casimir and Energy-Momentum Methods. Using a topological generalisation of Lyapunovs result that an extremal critical point of a conserved quantity is stable, we show that a Poisson equilibrium is stable if it is an isolated point in the intersection of a level set of a conserved function with a subset of the phase space that is related to the topology of the symplectic leaf space at that point. This criterion is applied to generalise the energy-momentum method to Hamiltonian systems which are invariant under non-compact symmetry groups for which the coadjoint orbit space is not Hausdorff. We also show that a G-stable relative equilibrium satisfies the stronger condition of being A-stable, where A is a specific group-theoretically defined subset of G which contains the momentum isotropy subgroup of the relative equilibrium. The results are illustrated by an application to the stability of a rigid body in an ideal irrotational fluid.Acknowledgement This work was partially supported by an EPSRC Visiting Fellowship (GR/L57074) and an NSERC individual research grant for GWP, an EPSRC Research Grant (GR/K99893), a Scheme Four grant from the London Mathematical Society, a European Community Marie Curie Fellowship (HPMF-CT-2000-00542) for CW, and by European Community funding for the Research Training Network MASIE (HPRN-CT-2000-00113). We thank the University of Warwick Mathematics Institute for its hospitality during several visits when parts of the paper were written. We are also grateful to TUDOR RATIU for some very helpful remarks.     

The Representational Relation Between Environmental Structures and Neural Systems: Autonomy and Environmental Dependency in Neural Knowledge Representation

In this paper it will be shown that in neural systems with a recurrent architecture, the traditional concepts of knowledge representation cannot be applied any more; no stable representational relationship of reference can be found. That is why a redefinition of the relationship between the states of the environment and the internal representational states is proposed. Studying the dynamics of recurrent neural systems reveals that the goal of representation is no longer to map the environment as accurately as possible to the representation system (e.g., to symbols). It is suggested that it is more appropriate to look at neural systems as physical dynamical devices embodying the (transformation) knowledge for sensorimotor integration and for generating adequate behavior enabling the organism's survival. As an implication the representation is determined not only by the environment, but highly depends on the organization, structure, and constraints of the representation system as well as the sensory/motor systems which are embedded in a particular body structure. This leads to a system relative concept of representation. By transforming recurrent neural networks into the domain of finite automata, the dynamics as well as the epistemological implications become more clear. In recurrent neural systems a type of balance between the autonomy of the representation and the environmental dependence/influence emerges. This not only affects the traditional concept of knowledge representation, but has also implications for the understanding of semantics, language, communication, and even science.     

Uniqueness for Multidimensional Hyperbolic Systems with Commuting Jacobians

We consider nonlinear hyperbolic systems of conservation laws in several space dimensions with Jacobian matrices that commute, and more generally systems that need not be conservative. Generalizing a theorem by Bressan and LeFloch for one-dimensional systems, we establish that the Cauchy problem admits at most one entropy solution depending continuously upon its initial data. The uniqueness result is proven within the class (introduced here) of locally regular BV functions with locally controlled oscillation. These regularity conditions are modeled on well-known properties in the one-dimensional case. Our uniqueness theorem also improves upon the known results for one-dimensional systems.     

Autoresonant homeostat concept for engineering application of nonlinear vibration modes

Analysis of strongly nonlinear (vibro-impact) systems revealed an existence of nonlinear modes of vibration with spatial and temporal concentration of energy. The modes can be realised, for example, through intensification of the vibration process by condensing the vibration into a sequence of collisions for impulsive action of the tools to the media being treated or can be as a result of some discontinuity (slackening of a contact, arrival of crack, etc.) in the structure. The use of the nonlinear modes to develop useful mechanical work leads to necessity of excitation and control of resonance in ill-defined dynamical systems. This is due to the poorly predictable response of the media being treated. Excitation, stabilisation and control of a nonlinear mode at the top intensity in such systems is an engineering challenge and needs a new method of adaptive control for its realisation. Such a control technique was developed with the use of self-exciting mechatronic systems. The excitation of the nonlinear mode in such systems is a result of artificial instability of mechanical system conducted by positive electronic feedback. The instability is controlled by intelligent identification of the mode and active tracing of the optimal relationship between phase shifting and limitation in the feedback circuitry. This method of control is known as autoresonance. Applications of autoresonant control for development of the new machines are described. The paper is a revised and extended version of authors’ presentation at ASME 2004 International Mechanical Engineering Congress, Anaheim, CA, USA. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Robust H∝ filtering for discrete-time impulsive systems with uncertainty

This paper investigates robust filter design for linear discrete-time impulsive systems with uncertainty under H∞ performance. First, an impulsive linear filter and a robust H∞ filtering problem are introduced for a discrete-time impulsive systems. Then, a sufficient condition of asymptotical stability and H∞ performance for the filtering error systems are provided by the discrete-time Lyapunov function method. The filter gains can be obtained by solving a set of linear matrix inequalities （LMIs）. Finally, a numerical example is presented to show effectiveness of the obtained result.     

A contact searching algorithm for contact-impact problems

A new contact searching algorithm for contact-impact systems is proposed in this paper. In terms of the cell structure and the linked-list, this algorithm solves the problem of sorting and searching contacts in three dimensions by transforming it to a retrieving process from two one-dimensional arrays, and binary searching is no longer required. Using this algorithm, the cost of contact searching is reduced to the order ofO(N) instead ofO(Nlog₂ N) for traditional ones, whereN is the node number in the system. Moreover, this algorithm can handle contact systems with arbitrary mesh layouts. Due to the simplicity of this algorithm it can be easily implemented in a dynamic explicit finite element program. Our numerical experimental result shows that this algorithm is reliable and efficient for contact searching of three dimensional systems. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (59875045), and the State Key Laboratory of Automobile Safety and Energy Saving (K9705)     

Hamiltonian Structure and Dynamics of a Neutrally Buoyant Rigid Sphere Interacting with Thin Vortex Rings

In a previous paper, we presented a (noncanonical) Hamiltonian model for the dynamic interaction of a neutrally buoyant rigid body of arbitrary smooth shape with N closed vortex filaments of arbitrary smooth shape, modeled as curves, in an infinite ideal fluid in \mathbbR³\mathbb{R}^3. The setting of that paper was quite general, and the model abstract enough to make explicit conclusions regarding the dynamic behavior of such systems difficult to draw. In the present paper, we examine a restricted class of such systems for which the governing equations can be realized concretely and the dynamics examined computationally. We focus, in particular, on the case in which the body is a smooth sphere. The equations of motion and Hamiltonian structure of this dynamic system, which follow from the general model, are presented. Following this, we impose the constraint of axisymmetry on the entire system and look at the case in which the rings are all circles perpendicular to a common axis of symmetry passing through the center of the sphere. This axisymmetric model, in our idealized framework, is governed by ordinary differential equations and is, relatively speaking, easily integrated numerically. Finally, we present some plots of dynamic orbits of the axisymmetric system.     

Experimental Investigation of the Generation of Internal Waves by a Vertical Cylinder in a Near-Surface Pycnocline

A bench study of the amplitudes, mode composition, and phase structure of the internal waves generated by a vertical cylinder in the presence of a near-surface pycnocline has been performed; the pycnocline took the form of a stratified fluid layer located between two quasi-homogeneous layers of thicknesses h ₁ and h ₂=2h ₁. In the experiments, the cylinder traveled at velocities critical with respect to internal wave generation. Different cases of model submergence relative to the pycnocline are considered. The dependence of the mode structure and the amplitude-phase characteristics of the forced internal waves on the body velocity and its relative submergence is analyzed. The parameters of both steady and unsteady wave systems are studied.The data obtained make it possible to predict the forced wave parameters and the critical body velocities for given model dimensions and pycnocline parameters.     

Representation of solutions to equations of hyperbolic type

The general solutions to hyperbolic equations of fourth and sixth order are obtained using Vekua’s method for the representation of the general solutions to elliptic equations of order 2n with the aid of n analytic functions. It is assumed that the right-hand sides of the hyperbolic equations can be expanded in time series of sines. The systems of equations of various approximations for a prismatic thin body in terms of moments with respect to the system of Legendre polynomials can be reduced to these equations and to some hyperbolic-type equations of higher order.     

$${\mathcal{A}}$$-Stability of Global Attractors of Competition Diffusion Systems

We study the structural stability of global attractors (A{\mathcal{A}}-stability) for two-species competition diffusion systems with Morse-Smale structure. Such systems generate semiflows on positive cones of certain infinite-dimensional Banach spaces (e.g., fractional order spaces). Our main result states that a two species competition diffusion system with Morse-Smale structure is structurally A{\mathcal{A}}-stable, which implies that the set of nonlinearities for which the system possesses Morse-Smale structure is open in an appropriate space under the topology of C ²-convergence on compacta. Moreover, we provide a sufficient condition under which a system has Morse-Smale structure and provide some examples which satisfy the sufficient condition.     

A Note on Diffusion-Induced Blow-up

The goal of paper is to give a simpler proof and some extensions of a result of Weinberger [3] concerning diffusion induced blow-up. The result states that, for certain systems of two parabolic equations with equal diffusion and homogeneous Neumann boundary conditions, some blowing-up solutions exist, although the corresponding system of ODE’s has only global bounded solutions. To Professor Pavol Brunovsky, on the occasion of his 70th birthday.     

A Generalization of the Abel–Forsyth Formulas Via Group Methods

By the use of Lie symmetry analysis, we prove that if we knowm n – 1 linearly independent solutions of a system ofm linear homogeneous nth-order ordinarydifferential equations (odes), we can write down its general solutionemploying known ones only. This result is applied to projective Riccatiequations and to systems of two linear homogeneous second-order odeswhich frequently occur in applications (control theory, populationdynamics, chemistry of self-catalysing reactions, etc.). We also showhow an extention to nonhomogeneous systems can be implemented.     

Some properties of multi-fluid stokes flows

The solution of Stokes' equations for a rotating axisymmetric body which possesses reflection symmetry about a planar interface between two infinite immiscible quiescent viscous fluids is shown to be independent of the viscosities of the fluids and identical with the solution when the fluids have the same viscosity. The result is generalized to a rotating axisymmetric system of bodies which possesses reflection symmetry about each interface of a plane stratified system of fluids. An analogous result for two-fluid systems with a nonplanar static interface is also derived. The effect on torque reduction produced by the presence of a second fluid layer adjacent to a rotating axisymmetric body is considered and explicit calculations are given for the case of a sphere. A proof of uniqueness for unbounded multi-fluid Stokes' flow is given and the asymptotic far field structure of the velocity field is determined for axisymmetric flow caused by the rotation of axisymmetric bodies.     

On the ��principle of virtual power�� for arbitrary parts of a body

Recently, a “principle of virtual power” has been adopted to model the behavior of materials that involve multiple length scales. In these works, the “principle” is stated for arbitrary parts of a body and this arbitrariness is used, but not to its fullest extent, to draw conclusions concerning the structure of the theory that results. Here, a theorem and an example application are given to illustrate the restrictive nature of the requirement that it hold for arbitrary parts of a body and to draw attention to the full consequences that result from this requirement. Several key results that have been reported in the recent literature are incomplete, and this incompleteness has lead to superficial conclusions.     

Vibro-impact dynamics near a strong resonance point

Two typical vibratory systems with impact are considered, one of which is a two-degree-of-freedom vibratory system impacting an unconstrained rigid body, the other impacting a rigid amplitude stop. Such models play an important role in the studies of dynamics of mechanical systems with repeated impacts. Two-parameter bifurcations of fixed points in the vibro-impact systems, associated with 1:4 strong resonance, are analyzed by using the center manifold and normal form method for maps. The single-impact periodic motion and Poincaré map of the vibro-impact systems are derived analytically. Stability and local bifurcations of a single-impact periodic motion are analyzed by using the Poincaré map. A center manifold theorem technique is applied to reduce the Poincaré map to a two-dimensional one, and the normal form map for 1:4 resonance is obtained. Local behavior of two vibro-impact systems, near the bifurcation points for 1:4 resonance, are studied. Near the bifurcation point for 1:4 strong resonance there exist a Neimark–Sacker bifurcation of period one single-impact motion and a tangent (fold) bifurcation of period 4 four-impact motion, etc. The results from simulation show some interesting features of dynamics of the vibro-impact systems: namely, the “heteroclinic” circle formed by coinciding stable and unstable separatrices of saddles, T _in, T _on and T _out type tangent (fold) bifurcations, quasi-periodic impact orbits associated with period four four-impact and period eight eight-impact motions, etc. Different routes of period 4 four-impact motion to chaos are obtained by numerical simulation, in which the vibro-impact systems exhibit very complicated quasi-periodic impact motions. The project supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (50475109, 10572055), Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province Government of China (3ZS061-A25-043(key item)). The English text was polished by Keren Wang.     

On the Chaotic Behaviour of Discontinuous Systems

We follow a functional analytic approach to study the problem of chaotic behaviour in time-perturbed discontinuous systems whose unperturbed part has a piecewise C ¹ homoclinic solution that crosses transversally the discontinuity manifold. We show that if a certain Melnikov function has a simple zero at some point, then the system has solutions that behave chaotically. Application of this result to quasi periodic systems are also given.     

Topological classification of linear hyperbolic cocycles

In this paper linear hyperbolic cocycles are classified by the relation of topological conjugacy. Roughly speaking, two linear cocycles are conjugate if there exists a homeomorphism which maps their trajectories into each other. The problem of classification of discrete-time deterministic hyperbolic dynamical systems was investigated by Robbin (1972). He proved that there exist 4d classes ofd-dimensional deterministic discrete hyperbolic dynamical systems. We obtain a criterion for topological conjugacy of two linear hyperbolic cocycles and show that the number of classes depends crucially on the ergodic properties of the metric dynamical system over which they are defined. Our result is a generalization of the deterministic theorem of Robbin.