A New Definition of A Priori Knowledge: In Search of a Modal Basis

In this paper I will offer a novel understanding of a priori knowledge. My claim is that the sharp distinction that is usually made between a priori and a posteriori knowledge is groundless. It will be argued that a plausible understanding of a priori and a posteriori knowledge has to acknowledge that they are in a constant bootstrapping relationship. It is also crucial that we distinguish between a priori propositions that hold in the actual world and merely possible, non-actual a priori propositions, as we will see when considering cases like Euclidean geometry. Furthermore, contrary to what Kripke seems to suggest, a priori knowledge is intimately connected with metaphysical modality, indeed, grounded in it. The task of a priori reasoning, according to this account, is to delimit the space of metaphysically possible worlds in order for us to be able to determine what is actual.     

Particularism and the contingent a priori

Particularism renders the options for a sound moral epistemology few and the prospects dim. One leading approach treats basic knowledge of particular cases as derivable from an a priori moral principle and a posteriori knowledge of the contingent non-moral facts to which the principle applies. Particularists must forgo this approach because it requires principles. Yet a purely a posteriori moral epistemology is also implausible, especially when combined with particularism. Particularists such as Jonathan Dancy are thus led to the view that our basic moral knowledge is a priori knowledge of contingent moral facts. We argue that this epistemology is unsound. While some cases of a priori knowledge of (even deeply) contingent facts may be defensible, they are not sufficient for particularist purposes. Moreover, neither Dancy’s appeal to the distinction between positive and negative dependence nor his discussion of intuitive examples provides sufficient support for this epistemology.     

Numerical analysis of the primal problem of elastoplasticity with hardening

Summary. The finite element method is a reasonable and frequently utilised tool for the spatial discretization within one time-step in an elastoplastic evolution problem. In this paper, we analyse the finite element discretization and prove a priori and a posteriori error estimates for variational inequalities corresponding to the primal formulation of (Hencky) plasticity. The finite element method of lowest order consists in minimising a convex function on a subspace of continuous piecewise linear resp. piecewise constant trial functions. An a priori error estimate is established for the fully-discrete method which shows linear convergence as the mesh-size tends to zero, provided the exact displacement field u is smooth. Near the boundary of the plastic domain, which is unknown a priori, it is most likely that u is non-smooth. In this situation, automatic mesh-refinement strategies are believed to improve the quality of the finite element approximation. We suggest such an adaptive algorithm on the basis of a computable a posteriori error estimate. This estimate is reliable and efficient in the sense that the quotient of the error by the estimate and its inverse are bounded from above. The constants depend on the hardening involved and become larger for decreasing hardening. Received May 7, 1997 / Revised version received August 31, 1998     

On the Convergence of Adaptive Finite Element Methods

State of the art simulations in computational mechanics aim reliability and efficiency via adaptive finite element methods (AFEMs) with a posteriori error control. The a priori convergence of finite element methods is justified by the density property of the sequence of finite element spaces which essentially assumes a quasi‐uniform mesh‐refining. The advantage is guaranteed convergence for a large class of data and solutions; the disadvantage is a global mesh refinement everywhere accompanied by large computational costs. AFEMs automatically refine exclusively wherever the refinement indication suggests to do so and so violate the density property on purpose. Then, the a priori convergence of AFEMs is not guaranteed automatically and, in fact, crucially depends on algorithmic details. The advantage of AFEMs is a more effective mesh accompanied by smaller computational costs in many practical examples; the disadvantage is that the desirable error reduction property is not always guaranteed a priori. Efficient error estimators can justify a numerical approximation a posteriori and so achieve reliability. But it is not clear from the start that the adaptive mesh‐refinement will generate an accurate solution at all. This paper discusses particular versions of an AFEMs and their analyses for error reduction, energy reduction, and convergence results for linear and nonlinear problems. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Recent developments in the qualitative approach to inverse electromagnetic scattering theory

We consider the inverse scattering problem of determining both the shape and some of the physical properties of the scattering object from a knowledge of the (measured) electric and magnetic fields due to the scattering of an incident time-harmonic electromagnetic wave at fixed frequency. We shall discuss the linear sampling method for solving the inverse scattering problem which does not require any a priori knowledge of the geometry and the physical properties of the scatterer. Included in our discussion is the case of partially coated objects and inhomogeneous background. We give references for numerical examples for each problem discussed in this paper.     

A modified Landweber iteration for general sideways parabolic equations

In this paper,we introduce a modified Landweber iteration to solve the sideways parabolic equation,which is an inverse heat conduction problem(IHCP) in the quarter plane and is severely ill-posed.We shall show that our method is of optimal order under both a priori and a posteriori stopping rule.Furthermore,if we use the discrepancy principle we can avoid the selection of the a priori bound.Numerical examples show that the computation effect is satisfactory.     

Effective implementation of the ε-constraint method in Multi-Objective Mathematical Programming problems

As indicated by the most widely accepted classification, the Multi-Objective Mathematical Programming (MOMP) methods can be classified as a priori, interactive and a posteriori, according to the decision stage in which the decision maker expresses his/her preferences. Although the a priori methods are the most popular, the interactive and the a posteriori methods convey much more information to the decision maker. Especially, the a posteriori (or generation) methods give the whole picture (i.e. the Pareto set) to the decision maker, before his/her final choice, reinforcing thus, his/her confidence to the final decision. However, the generation methods are the less popular due to their computational effort and the lack of widely available software. The present work is an effort to effectively implement the ε-constraint method for producing the Pareto optimal solutions in a MOMP. We propose a novel version of the method (augmented ε-constraint method - AUGMECON) that avoids the production of weakly Pareto optimal solutions and accelerates the whole process by avoiding redundant iterations. The method AUGMECON has been implemented in GAMS, a widely used modelling language, and has already been used in some applications. Finally, an interactive approach that is based on AUGMECON and eventually results in the most preferred Pareto optimal solution is also proposed in the paper.     

New a posteriori L∞(L2) and L2(L2)-error estimates of mixed finite element methods for general nonlinear parabolic optimal control problems

We study new a posteriori error estimates of the mixed finite element methods for general optimal control problems governed by nonlinear parabolic equations. The state and the co-state are discretized by the high order Raviart-Thomas mixed finite element spaces and the control is approximated by piecewise constant functions. We derive a posteriori error estimates in L^∞(J; L²Ω)-norm and L²(J; L²Ω)-norm for both the state, the co-state and the control approximation. Such estimates, which seem to be new, are an important step towards developing a reliable adaptive mixed finite element approximation for optimal control problems. Finally, the performance of the posteriori error estimators is assessed by two numerical examples.     

Three-level warranty service contract among manufacturer,agent and customer: A game-theoretical approach

A warranty is a service contract between a manufacturer and a customer which plays a vital role in many businesses and legal transactions. In this paper, various three-level service contracts will be presented among the following three participants; a manufacturer, an agent, and a customer. In order to obtain a better result, the interaction between the aforementioned participants will be modeled using the game theory approach. Under non-cooperative and semi-cooperative games, the optimal sale price, warranty period and warranty price for the manufacturer and the optimal maintenance cost or repair cost for the agent are obtained by maximizing their profits. The satisfaction of the customer is also maximized by being able to choose one of the suggested options from the manufacturer and the agent, based on the risk parameter. Several numerical examples and managerial insights are presented and used to illustrate the models presented in this paper.     

A Priori and A Posteriori Error Estimates of Streamline Diffusion Finite Element Method for Optimal Control Problem Governed by Convection Dominated Diffusion Equation

In this paper,we investigate a streamline diffusion finite element approxi- mation scheme for the constrained optimal control problem governed by linear con- vection dominated diffusion equations.We prove the existence and uniqueness of the discretized scheme.Then a priori and a posteriori error estimates are derived for the state,the co-state and the control.Three numerical examples are presented to illustrate our theoretical results.     

A posteriori estimates of inverse operators for initial value problems in linear ordinary differential equations

We present constructive a posteriori estimates of inverse operators for initial value problems in linear ordinary differential equations (ODEs) on a bounded interval. Here, “constructive” indicates that we can obtain bounds of the operator norm in which all constants are explicitly given or are represented in a numerically computable form. In general, it is difficult to estimate these inverse operators a priori. We, therefore, propose a technique for obtaining a posteriori estimates by using Galerkin approximation of inverse operators. This type of estimation will play an important role in the numerical verification of solutions for initial value problems in nonlinear ODEs as well as for parabolic initial boundary value problems.     

A posteriori error estimators for the first-order least-squares finite element method

In this paper, we propose a posteriori error estimators for certain quantities of interest for a first-order least-squares finite element method. In particular, we propose an a posteriori error estimator for when one is interested in where . Our a posteriori error estimators are obtained by assigning proper weight (in terms of local mesh size h_T) to the terms of the least-squares functional. An a posteriori error analysis yields reliable and efficient estimates based on residuals. Numerical examples are presented to show the effectivity of our error estimators.     

A posteriori error estimates for hp finite element solutions of convex optimal control problems

In this paper, we present a posteriori error analysis for hp finite element approximation of convex optimal control problems. We derive a new quasi-interpolation operator of Clément type and a new quasi-interpolation operator of Scott-Zhang type that preserves homogeneous boundary condition. The Scott-Zhang type quasi-interpolation is suitable for an application in bounding the errors in L²-norm. Then hp a posteriori error estimators are obtained for the coupled state and control approximations. Such estimators can be used to construct reliable adaptive finite elements for the control problems.     

双调和方程柯西问题的修正的Tikhonov正则化方法

本文研究了双调和方程柯西问题,这类是不适定的,即问题的解(如果存在)不连续依赖于测量数据.首先在精确解的先验假设下给出问题的条件稳定性结果.接着利用修正的Tikhonov正则化方法求解此不适定问题.在先验和后验正则化参数选取规则下,给出正则解和精确解之间的误差估计式.最后给出几个数值例子验证此正则化方法求解此类反问题的有效性.     

Error estimation and adaptive discretization for the discrete stochastic Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman equation

Summary. Generalizing an idea from deterministic optimal control, we construct a posteriori error estimates for the spatial discretization error of the stochastic dynamic programming method based on a discrete Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman equation. These error estimates are shown to be efficient and reliable, furthermore, a priori bounds on the estimates depending on the regularity of the approximate solution are derived. Based on these error estimates we propose an adaptive space discretization scheme whose performance is illustrated by two numerical examples.Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 93E20, 65N50, 49L20, 49M25, 65N15Acknowledgments. This research was supported by the Center for Empirical Macroeconomics, University of Bielefeld. The support is gratefully acknowledged. I would also like to thank an anonymous referee who suggested several improvements for the paper.     

A cut-free sequent system for two-dimensional modal logic,and why it matters

The two-dimensional modal logic of Davies and Humberstone (1980) [3] is an important aid to our understanding the relationship between actuality, necessity and a priori knowability. I show how a cut-free hypersequent calculus for 2D modal logic not only captures the logic precisely, but may be used to address issues in the epistemology and metaphysics of our modal concepts. I will explain how the use of our concepts motivates the inference rules of the sequent calculus, and then show that the completeness of the calculus for Davies–Humberstone models explains why those concepts have the structure described by those models. The result is yet another application of the completeness theorem.     

A MODIFIED TIKHONOV REGULARIZATION METHOD FOR THE CAUCHY PROBLEM OF LAPLACE EQUATION

In this paper,we consider the Cauchy problem for the Laplace equation,which is severely ill-posed in the sense that the solution does not depend continuously on the data.A modified Tikhonov regularization method is proposed to solve this problem.An error estimate for the a priori parameter choice between the exact solution and its regularized approximation is obtained.Moreover,an a posteriori parameter choice rule is proposed and a stable error estimate is also obtained.Numerical examples illustrate the validity and effectiveness of this method.     

A posteriori and constructive a priori error bounds for finite element solutions of the Stokes equations

We describe a method to estimate the guaranteed error bounds of the finite element solutions for the Stokes problem in mathematically rigorous sense. We show that an a posteriori error can be computed by using the numerical estimates of a constant related to the so-called inf-sup condition for the continuous problem. Also a method to derive the constructive a priori error bounds are considered. Some numerical examples which confirm us the expected rate of convergence are presented.     

A posteriori error estimates for the coupling equations of scalar conservation laws

In this paper we prove a posteriori L ₂(L ₂) and L _∞(H ^?1) residual based error estimates for a finite element method for the one-dimensional time dependent coupling equations of two scalar conservation laws. The underlying discretization scheme is Characteristic Galerkin method which is the particular variant of the Streamline diffusion finite element method for δ=0. Our estimate contains certain strong stability factors related to the solution of an associated linearized dual problem combined with the Galerkin orthogonality of the finite element method. The stability factor measures the stability properties of the linearized dual problem. We compute the stability factors for some examples by solving the dual problem numerically.