Robust generalized <Emphasis Type="Italic">H</Emphasis><Subscript>∞</Subscript>-suboptimal control

We consider an optimal perturbation damping problem taking into account not only an external perturbation with bounded L ₂-norm and an initial perturbation caused by unknown initial conditions in the system but also unknown bounded parametric perturbations. We synthesize a robust generalized H _∞-suboptimal control minimizing the upper bound, expressed in terms of solutions of linear matrix inequalities, for the perturbation damping level under uncertainty in the closed system.     

Minimax observers of full and reduced order

We consider the problem of optimal observation of unmeasurable variables in linear dynamical systems with the use of observers of full and reduced order. For the observation performance characteristic to be minimized, we take the initial perturbation damping level in the observation error equation defined as the maximum ratio of the L ₂-norm of the error to the Euclidean norm of the corresponding initial state. Conditions for the existence of such minimax observers and their synthesis are stated in the form of linear matrix inequalities.     

L1-regularisation for ill-posed problems in variational data assimilation

We consider four-dimensional variational data assimilation (4DVar) and show that it can be interpreted as Tikhonov or L₂-regularisation, a widely used method for solving ill-posed inverse problems. It is known from image restoration and geophysical problems that an alternative regularisation, namely L₁-norm regularisation, recovers sharp edges better than L₂-norm regularisation. We apply this idea to 4DVar for problems where shocks and model error are present and give two examples which show that L₁-norm regularisation performs much better than the standard L₂-norm regularisation in 4DVar. (© 2010 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Stationary solutions of the non-linear Boltzmann equation in a bounded spatial domain

A contraction mapping (or, alternatively, an implicit function theory) argument is applied in combination with the Fredholm alternative to prove the existence of a unique stationary solution of the non-linear Boltzmann equation on a bounded spatial domain under a rather general reflection law at the piecewise C¹ boundary. The boundary data are to be small in a weighted L_∞-norm.     

Boundary Controllability of a Stationary Stokes System with Linear Convection Observed on an Interior Curve

We study the approximate controllability of a stationary Stokes system with linearized convection in a bounded domain of ^N. The control acts on a part of the boundary and the velocity field is observed on an interior curve (N=2) or surface (N=3). We establish the L ²-approximate controllability under certain compatibility conditions and suitable geometrical assumptions on the curve or surface. We build controls of minimal L ²-norm by duality. To compute the control, we propose a numerical method, based on duality techniques, consisting in the minimization of a nonquadratic functional coupled to a Stokes system. It is tested in several situations leading to interesting numerical results.     

A remark on a maximal function over a Cantor set of directions

LetM _e ⁰ be the maximal operator over segments of length 1 with directions belonging to a Cantor set. It has been conjectured that this operator is bounded onL ². We consider a sequence of operators over finite sets of directions converging toM _e ⁰ . We improve the previous estimate for the (L ²,L ²)-norm of these particular operators. We also prove thatM _e ⁰ is bounded from some subsets ofL ² toL ². These subsets are composed of positive functions whose Fourier transforms have a very weak decay or are supported in a vertical strip. Partially supported by Spanish DGICYT grant no. PB90-0187.     

A robust semi-explicit difference scheme for the Kuramoto–Tsuzuki equation

In this paper, we propose a robust semi-explicit difference scheme for solving the Kuramoto–Tsuzuki equation with homogeneous boundary conditions. Because the prior estimate in L_∞-norm of the numerical solutions is very hard to obtain directly, the proofs of convergence and stability are difficult for the difference scheme. In this paper, we first prove the second-order convergence in L₂-norm of the difference scheme by an induction argument, then obtain the estimate in L_∞-norm of the numerical solutions. Furthermore, based on the estimate in L_∞-norm, we prove that the scheme is also convergent with second order in L_∞-norm. Numerical examples verify the correction of the theoretical analysis.     

Global Existence and Convergence Rates of Smooth Solutions for the 3-D Compressible Magnetohydrodynamic Equations Without Heat Conductivity

In this paper, we are concerned with the global existence and convergence rates of the smooth solutions for the compressible magnetohydrodynamic equations without heat conductivity, which is a hyperbolic-parabolic system. The global solutions are obtained by combining the local existence and a priori estimates if H³-norm of the initial perturbation around a constant states is small enough and its L¹-norm is bounded. A priori decay-in-time estimates on the pressure, velocity and magnetic field are used to get the uniform bound of entropy. Moreover, the optimal convergence rates are also obtained.     

On the irrotational approximation to steady supersonic flow

Under the hypothesis that the initial perturbation has small BV norm, we prove that in any bounded domain the L¹ norm of the difference between solutions to the isentropic Euler system of steady supersonic flow and the system of steady irrotational supersonic flow with the same initial data can be bounded by the cube of the total variation of the initial perturbation.     

A Maximum Principle for an Explicit Finite Difference Scheme Approximating the Hodgkin-Huxley Model

We analyze an explicit finite difference scheme for the general form of the Hodgkin-Huxley model, which is a nonlinear partial differential equation coupled to a set of ODEs. The system of equations describes propagation of an electrical signal in excitable cells. We prove that the numerical solution is bounded in the L^∞-norm and L² converges to a unique solution. The L^∞-bound, which is the key point of our analysis, is proved by showing that the discrete solutions are invariant in a physically relevant bounded region. For the convergence proof we use the compactness method. AMS subject classification (2000) 65F20     

On the irrotational approximation to steady supersonic flow

Under the hypothesis that the initial perturbation has small BV norm, we prove that in any bounded domain the L¹ norm of the difference between solutions to the isentropic Euler system of steady supersonic flow and the system of steady irrotational supersonic flow with the same initial data can be bounded by the cube of the total variation of the initial perturbation.     

On the existence of square-integrable solutions for systems with weak nonlinearity

The paper considers the problem of structural stability of systems under disturbance of coefficients having small L ²(ℝ)-norm. We derive conditions which guarantee that for every solution of the perturbed system there exists a solution of the original system which is close to the former in L ²(ℝ)-norm.     

Approximations of linear control problems with bang-bang solutions

We analyse the Euler discretization to a class of linear optimal control problems. First we show convergence of order h for the discrete approximation of the adjoint solution and the switching function, where h is the mesh size. Under the additional assumption that the optimal control has bang-bang structure we show that the discrete and the exact controls coincide except on a set of measure O(h). As a consequence, the discrete optimal control approximates the optimal control with order 1 w.r.t. the L ¹-norm and with order 1/2 w.r.t. the L ²-norm. An essential assumption is that the slopes of the switching function at its zeros are bounded away from zero which is in fact an inverse stability condition for these zeros. We also discuss higher order approximation methods based on the approximation of the adjoint solution and the switching function. Several numerical examples underline the results.     

The pointwise estimates of a conservative difference scheme for Burgers' equation

In this article, we are concerned with the numerical analysis of a nonlinear implicit difference scheme for Burgers' equation. A priori estimation of the analytical solution is provided in the sense of L^∞ -norm when the initial value is bounded in H¹-norm. Conservation, boundedness, and unique solvability are proved at length. Inspired by the method of the priori estimation for the analytical solution, we prove the convergence and stability of the difference scheme in L^∞ -norm. Finally, numerical examples are carried out to verify our theoretical results.     

Exact L 2-norm plane separation

We consider the problem of separating two sets of points in an n-dimensional real space with a (hyper)plane that minimizes the sum of L _p -norm distances to the plane of points lying on the wrong side of it. Despite recent progress, practical techniques for the exact solution of cases other than the L ₁ and L _∞-norm were unavailable. We propose and implement a new approach, based on non-convex quadratic programming, for the exact solution of the L ₂-norm case. We solve in reasonable computing times artificial problems of up to 20000 points (in 6 dimensions) and 13 dimensions (with 2000 points). We also observe that, for difficult real-life instances from the UCI Repository, computation times are substantially reduced by incorporating heuristic results in the exact solution process. Finally, we compare the classification performance of the planes obtained for the L ₁, L ₂ and L _∞ formulations. It appears that, despite the fact that L ₂ formulation is computationally more expensive, it does not give significantly better results than the L ₁ and L _∞ formulations.     

On the approximate calculation of time-minimal distributed controls of vibrations by finite element approximations

This paper is concerned with distributed null-control of vibrations governed by an abstract wave equation. Based on a method for the exact computation of minimumL ²-norm controls for given time intervals and time-minimal controls which are bounded with respect to theL ²-norm, an approximation method is developed which is based on Galerkin's method ana convergence results are derived.This paper is based on U. Lamp's doctoral dissertation and was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.     

Optimal boundary control of the wave equation with pointwise control constraints

In optimal control problems frequently pointwise control constraints appear. We consider a finite string that is fixed at one end and controlled via Dirichlet conditions at the other end with a given upper bound M for the L ^∞-norm of the control. The problem is to control the string to the zero state in a given finite time. If M is too small, no feasible control exists. If M is large enough, the optimal control problem to find an admissible control with minimal L ²-norm has a solution that we present in this paper.     

Global existence and convergence rates of smooth solutions for the full compressible MHD equations

In this paper, we consider the global smooth solutions and their decay for the full compressible magnetohydrodynamic equations in R ³. We prove the global existence of smooth solutions near the constant state in Sobolev norms by energy method and show the convergence rates of the L ^p -norm of these solutions to the constant state when the L ^q -norm of the perturbation is bounded.     

Asymptotics for Solutions of Elliptic Equations in Double Divergence Form

We consider weak solutions of an elliptic equation of the form ? _i ? _i (a _ij u) = 0 and their asymptotic properties at an interior point. We assume that the coefficients are bounded, measurable, complex-valued functions that stabilize as x → 0 in that the norm of the matrix (a _ij (x) ? δ _ij ) on the annulus B _2r \ B _r is bounded by a function Ω(r), where Ω²(r) satisfies the Dini condition at r = 0, as well as some technical monotonicity conditions; under these assumptions, solutions need not be continuous. Our main result is an explicit formula for the leading asymptotic term for solutions with at most a mild singularity at x = 0. As a consequence, we obtain upper and lower estimates for the L ^p -norm of solutions, as well as necessary and sufficient conditions for solutions to be bounded or tend to zero in L ^p -mean as r → 0.     

On the three-dimensional Wigner-Poisson problem with inflow boundary conditions

We study the Wigner-Poisson problem in a bounded spatial domain, with non-homogeneous and time-dependent “inflow” boundary conditions. This system is a quantum model of charge transport in a semiconductor device coupled with reservoirs, in presence of a self-consistent potential and of an external one. We state a local-in-time well-posedness result for the problem. The main difficulty is proving in the three-dimensional case that the non-linear potential term is a Lipschitz perturbation of the “affine” streaming operator, in an appropriately weighted L²-space.