A note on minimization problems and multistep methods

Summary. We use the qualitative properties of the solution flow of the gradient equation to compute a local minimum of a real-valued function . Under the regularity assumption of all equilibria we show a convergence result for bounded trajectories of a consistent, strictly stable linear multistep method applied to the gradient equation. Moreover, we compare the asymptotic features of the numerical and the exact solutions as done by Humphries, Stuart (1994) and Schropp (1995) for one-step methods. In the case of -stable formulae this leads to an efficient solver for stiff minimization problems. Received July 10, 1995 / Revised version received June 27, 1996     

Vector potential theory on nonsmooth domains in R<Superscript>3</Superscript> and applications to electromagnetic scattering

We study boundary value problems for the time-harmonic form of the Maxwell equations, as well as for other related systems of equations, on arbitrary Lipschitz domains in the three-dimensional Euclidean space. The main goal is to develop the corresponding theory for L^p-integrable bounday data for optimal values of p's. We also discuss a number of relevant applications in electromagnetic scattering.     

A Bicriterial Optimization Problem of Antenna Design

In this paper we consider a special optimization problem withtwo objectives which arises in antenna theory. It is shown that thisabstract bicriterial optimization problem has at least one solution.Discretized versions of this problem are also discussed, and therelationships between these finite dimensional problems and the infinitedimensional problem are investigated. Moreover, we presentnumerical results for special parameters using a multiobjectiveoptimization method.     

Investigation of microbial—mineral interactions by Mössbauer spectroscopy

Mössbauer spectroscopy was used to investigate the reactions of microbes with iron minerals in aqueous solutions and as components of rocks in banded iron formations and granite. A microbial biofilm that formed on a wall of an excavated granite vault in a deep underground laboratory initiated this research. At the aerobic face of the biofilm, iron was found in a form of ferrihydrite; in the anaerobic face against the rock, iron was found as very small siderite particles. Laboratory incubations of the biofilm microbial consortium showed different mineral species could be formed. When the microbial consortium from the biofilm was incubated with magnetite grains, up to about 10% of the iron was altered in three weeks to hematite. The ability of the consortium to precipitate iron both as Fe²⁺ and Fe³⁺ in close proximity may have a bearing on the deposition of banded iron formations. These reactions could also be important in microbially induced corrosion.     

Developing models of decision making

Studies that focus on the decision making process can be classified in (at least) two ways: by psychological content and by contextual content. The first describes the degree to which the analysis focuses on the mental processes associated with decision making and the second deals with the degree to which the analysis is dependent upon the study's context. Several studies are examined in terms of where they fall in this two-dimensional taxonomy. Two analyses of maritime command and control conducted by the authors are examined more fully within this taxonomy. Both are context full, but are at opposite ends of the psychological content spectrum. These categorizations are useful in focusing future research aimed at developing models of decision making.     

Impact of Partial Separability on Large-Scale Optimization

ELSO is an environment for the solution oflarge-scale optimization problems. With ELSO the user is required to provide only code for the evaluation of a partially separable function. ELSO exploits the partialseparability structure of the function to computethe gradient efficiently using automatic differentiation.We demonstrate ELSO's efficiency by comparing thevarious options available in ELSO.Our conclusion is that the hybrid option in ELSOprovides performance comparable to the hand-coded option, while having the significantadvantage of not requiring a hand-coded gradient orthe sparsity pattern of the partially separable function.In our test problems, which have carefully coded gradients,the computing time for the hybrid AD option is within a factor of two of thehand-coded option.     

Photodiffraction in InGaAs/InGaAsP multiple quantum wells enclosed in a microcavity

We report new results on the diffraction properties of photoinduced gratings in InGaAs/InGaAsP MQW structures. The original feature of this device is that the QWs are enclosed in an asymmetric Fabry–Perot microcavity in order to increase the diffraction efficiency. We observe oscillations in the diffraction efficiency due to resonant effects in the microcavity. The experimental spectra are compared with theory. Diffraction efficiency at 1.55 μm attains a maximum value of 2.7% at a write beam fluence of 260 μ J cm⁻², and then decreases at higher fluences. We explain this phenomenon by an absorption saturation at high excitation.