A polychromatic inhomogeneity indicator in an unknown medium for an X-ray tomography problem

We pose and study an X-ray tomography problem, which is an inverse problem for the transport differential equation, making account for particle absorption by a medium and single scattering. The statement of the problem corresponds to a stage-by-stage probing of the unknown medium common in practice. Another step towards a more realistic problem is the use of integrals over energy of the density of emanating radiation flux as the known data, in contrast to specifying the flux density for every energy level, as it is customary in tomography. The required objects are the discontinuity surfaces of the coefficients of the equation, which corresponds to searching for the boundaries between various substances contained in the medium. We prove a uniqueness theorem for the solution under quite general assumptions and a condition ensuring the existence of the required surfaces. The proof is rather constructive in character and suitable for creating a numerical algorithm.     

Layerwise sensing in X-ray tomography in the polychromatic case

An X-ray tomography problem that is an inverse problem for the transport differential equation is studied. The absorption and single scattering of particles are taken into account. The suggested statement of the problem corresponds to stepwise and layerwise sensing of an unknown medium with initial data specified as the integrals of the outgoing flux density with respect to energy. The sought object is a set on which the coefficients of the equations suffer a discontinuity, which corresponds to searching for the boundaries between the different substances composing the sensed medium. A uniqueness theorem is proven under rather general assumptions and a condition guaranteeing the existence of the sought lines. The proof is constructive and can be used for developing a numerical algorithm.     

Boundary fluxes for nonlocal diffusion

We study a nonlocal diffusion operator in a bounded smooth domain prescribing the flux through the boundary. This problem may be seen as a generalization of the usual Neumann problem for the heat equation. First, we prove existence, uniqueness and a comparison principle. Next, we study the behavior of solutions for some prescribed boundary data including blowing up ones. Finally, we look at a nonlinear flux boundary condition.     

Stepwise solution to an inverse problem for the radiative transfer equation as applied to tomography

An X-ray tomography problem is formulated and analyzed within the framework of a mathematical model based on the polychromatic stationary radiative transfer equation with no collision integral. It is assumed that the outgoing radiation density is only given, and the task is to find the surface of an internal inclusion on whose boundary the coefficients of the equation may have jump discontinuities. The uniqueness of the solution is proved, and the corresponding solution algorithm is outlined. A feature of this work is that the research technique is local in character. This makes it possible to use only some of the available data, and the procedure can be stopped at an intermediate stage of the reconstruction, which can be useful in applications.     

The Kinetic Transport Equation in the Case of Compton Scattering

We improve the well-known form of the transport equation accounting for Compton scattering. We pose and study the direct problem of finding the radiation density distribution for given characteristics of a medium and known density of exterior sources. We prove existence and uniqueness theorems for a solution to the boundary value problem under consideration. The character of constraints corresponds mostly to the process of photon migration in a substance whose characteristics vary continuously with the space and energy variables. Unlike similar results, the assertions are proven without using the traditional inequalities for the coefficients of the transport equation.     

An explicit staggered-grid method for numerical simulation of large-scale natural gas pipeline networks

We present an explicit second order staggered finite difference (FD) discretization scheme for forward simulation of natural gas transport in pipeline networks. By construction, this discretization approach guarantees that the conservation of mass condition is satisfied exactly. The mathematical model is formulated in terms of density, pressure, and mass flux variables, and as a result permits the use of a general equation of state to define the relation between the gas density and pressure for a given temperature. In a single pipe, the model represents the dynamics of the density by propagation of a non-linear wave according to a variable wave speed. We derive compatibility conditions for linking domain boundary values to enable efficient, explicit simulation of gas flows propagating through a network with pressure changes created by gas compressors. We compare our staggered grid method with an explicit operator splitting method and a lumped element scheme, and perform numerical experiments to validate the convergence order of the new discretization approach. In addition, we perform several computations to investigate the influence of non-ideal equation of state models and temperature effects on pipeline simulations with boundary conditions on various time and space scales.     

Spectral analysis of nonselfadjoint Schrdinger problem with eigenparameter in the boundary condition

In this paper we consider the nonselfadjoint (dissipative) Schrodinger boundary value problem in the limit-circle case with an eigenparameter in the boundary condition. Since the boundary conditions are nonselfadjoint, the approach is based on the use of the maximal dissipative operator, and the spectral analysis of this operator is adequate for the boundary value problem. We construct a selfadjoint dilation of the maximal dissipative operator and its incoming and outgoing spectral representations, which make it possible to determine the scattering matrix of the dilation. We construct a functional model of the maximal dissipative operator and define its characteristic function in terms of solutions of the corresponding Schrodinger equation. Theorems on the completeness of the system of eigenvectors and the associated vectors of the maximal dissipative operator and the Schrodinger boundary value problem are given.     

Well-posedness and approximation of a measure-valued mass evolution problem with flux boundary conditions

This Note deals with imposing a flux boundary condition on a non-conservative measure-valued mass evolution problem posed on a bounded interval. To establish the well-posedness of the problem, we exploit particle system approximations of the mass accumulation in a thin layer near the active boundary. We derive the convergence rate for the approximation procedure as well as the structure of the flux boundary condition in the limit problem.     

On the neutron flux flattening problem

In this paper, we present the critical neutron flux flattening problem governed by the critical transport equation in a nonuniform slab with periodic boundary conditions. Existence and uniqueness theorem of the optimal solution is shown in continuous function space.     

Spectral analysis of nonselfadjoint Schr(o)dinger problem with eigenparameter in the boundary condition

In this paper we consider the nonselfadjoint (dissipative) Schr(o)dinger boundary value problem in the limit-circle case with an eigenparameter in the boundary condition. Since the boundary conditions are nonselfadjoint, the approach is based on the use of the maximal dissipative operator,and the spectral analysis of this operator is adequate for the boundary value problem. We construct a selfadjoint dilation of the maximal dissipative operator and its incoming and outgoing spectral representations, which make it possible to determine the scattering matrix of the dilation. We construct a functional model of the maximal dissipative operator and define its characteristic function in terms of solutions of the corresponding Schr(o)dinger equation. Theorems on the completeness of the system of eigenvectors and the associated vectors of the maximal dissipative operator and the Schr(o)dinger boundary value problem are given.     

Spectral analysis of nonselfadjoint Schrödinger problem with eigenparameter in the boundary condition

In this paper we consider the nonselfadjoint (dissipative) Schrödinger boundary value problem in the limit-circle case with an eigenparameter in the boundary condition. Since the boundary conditions are nonselfadjoint, the approach is based on the use of the maximal dissipative operator, and the spectral analysis of this operator is adequate for the boundary value problem. We construct a selfadjoint dilation of the maximal dissipative operator and its incoming and outgoing spectral representations, which make it possible to determine the scattering matrix of the dilation. We construct a functional model of the maximal dissipative operator and define its characteristic function in terms of solutions of the corresponding Schrödinger equation. Theorems on the completeness of the system of eigenvectors and the associated vectors of the maximal dissipative operator and the Schrödinger boundary value problem are given.     

Convergence of an operator splitting method on a bounded domain for a convection-diffusion-reaction system

We solve a convection-diffusion-sorption (reaction) system on a bounded domain with dominant convection using an operator splitting method. The model arises in contaminant transport in groundwater induced by a dual-well, or in controlled laboratory experiments. The operator splitting transforms the original problem to three subproblems: nonlinear convection, nonlinear diffusion, and a reaction problem, each with its own boundary conditions. The transport equation is solved by a Riemann solver, the diffusion one by a finite volume method, and the reaction equation by an approximation of an integral equation. This approach has proved to be very successful in solving the problem, but the convergence properties where not fully known. We show how the boundary conditions must be taken into account, and prove convergence in L1,loc of the fully discrete splitting procedure to the very weak solution of the original system based on compactness arguments via total variation estimates. Generally, this is the best convergence obtained for this type of approximation. The derivation indicates limitations of the approach, being able to consider only some types of boundary conditions. A sample numerical experiment of a problem with an analytical solution is given, showing the stated efficiency of the method.     

On the approximation method of solving integral equations in diffusion problems

In this paper we consider the one-dimensional problem of heat or mass transport in the system with moving ends. We show that without solving the heat transfer equation, the heat flux flowing out from the system can be found when temperature on the boundary of this system is known. We make use of the Banach contraction theorem for appropriate integral equations. Our method also enables us to find the distribution of temperature in the whole domain that forms the physical system.     

A boundary layer theory for diffusively perturbed transport around a heteroclinic cycle

We consider a two‐dimensional transport equation subject to small diffusive perturbations. The transport equation is given by a Hamiltonian flow near a compact and connected heteroclinic cycle. We investigate approximately harmonic functions corresponding to the generator of the perturbed transport equation. In particular, we investigate such functions in the boundary layer near the heteroclinic cycle; the space of these functions gives information about the likelihood of a particle moving a mesoscopic distance into one of the regions where the transport equation corresponds to periodic oscillations (i.e., a “well” of the Hamiltonian). We find that we can construct such approximately harmonic functions (which can be used as “corrector functions” in certain averaging questions) when certain macroscopic “gluing conditions” are satisfied. This provides a different perspective on some previous work of Freidlin and Wentzell on stochastic averaging of Hamiltonian systems. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

On the uniqueness and reconstruction for an inverse problem of the fractional diffusion process

Consider an inverse problem for the time-fractional diffusion equation in one dimensional spatial space. The aim is to determine the initial status and heat flux on the boundary simultaneously from heat measurement data given on the other boundary. Using the Laplace transform and the unique extension technique, the uniqueness for this inverse problem is proven. Then we construct a regularizing scheme for the reconstruction of boundary flux for known initial status. The convergence rate of the regularizing solution is established under some a priori information about the exact solution. Moreover, the initial distribution can also be recovered approximately from our regularizing scheme. Finally we present some numerical examples, which show the validity of the proposed reconstruction scheme.     

Modeling particle deposition from fully developed turbulent flow

An unsteady state transfer of immersed particles within the interval between the arrival of eddies is solved by use of the Laplace transform schemes. The mean particle flux and the mean particle transport mechanisms are automatically considered on the average sublayer growth period by formulating the mean distributions as a stochastic process with the aid of exponentially distributed density function. The proposed relationship for the particle deposition velocity of average time domain obtained by this analysis is expressed as the form of analytical equation, with the inclusion of the effects of Brownian diffusion, turbulent eddy diffusivity, turbophoresis, and thermophoresis. The solution of this equation is in reasonable agreement with the measured deposition velocities for three distinct categories. This mathematical framework offers a simple computation tool of practical use to aerosol engineers and can further extend by including appropriate forces in the analytical formulation through the equilibrium among acceleration terms.     

Global existence of solutions to a coupled coagulation system

We consider a model equations describing the coagulation process of a gas on a surface. The problem is modeled by two coupled equations. The first one is a nonlinear transport equation with bilinear coagulation operator while the second one is a nonlinear ordinary differential equation. The velocity and the boundary condition of the transport equation depend on the supersaturation function satisfying the nonlinear ode. We first prove global existence and uniqueness of solution to the nonlinear transport equation then, we consider the coupled problem and prove existence in the large of solutions to the full coagulation system.     

Exponentially stable equilibria to an indefinite nonlinear Neumann problem in smooth domains

We prove existence of two nonconstant exponentially stable equilibria to the heat equation supplied with a nonlinear Neumann boundary condition in any smooth n-dimensional domain (n ≥ 2), independently of its geometry. The Neumann boundary condition reflects the fact that the flux on the boundary is proportional to the product of a prescribed bistable function of the density or concentration with an indefinite weight. Such solutions are obtained via variational methods, by minimizing the corresponding energy functional on suitable invariant sets to the semiflow generated by the parabolic problem. But this is possible only if the parameter in the boundary condition is sufficiently large, otherwise we prove using the Implicit Function Theorem the uniqueness of constant equilibrium solutions. The same theorem allows us to derive isolation and smooth dependence on the parameter for nonconstant exponentially stable equilibria found.     

Free boundary problem for a viscous compressible flow associated with oxidation of silicon

This paper is concerned with a free boundary problem describing the oxidation process of silicon. Its mathematical model is a compressible Navier-Stokes equations coupling a parabolic equation and a hyperbolic one. Surface tension is involved at the free boundary and density equation is non-homogeneous. It is proved that for arbitrary data satisfying only natural consistency conditions the problem is uniquely solvable on some finite time interval. Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China     

Lp-solvability of a full superconductive model

In this article the mean-field vortex model arising from the II-type superconductivity is investigated. The vortex model is reduced to a nonlinear hyperbolic–elliptic system of PDEs in a bounded domain. Motivated by experiments, we consider physical boundary conditions, which describe a flux of superconducting vortices through the boundary of the domain. We prove the global solvability for the system. To show the solvability result we take a vanishing “viscosity” limit in an approximated parabolic–elliptic system. Since the approximated solutions do not have a compactness property, we justify this limit transition, using a kinetic formulation of our problem. The main trick is that instead of the nonlinear system, we have to investigate a linear transport equation.