Mass‐lumping or not mass‐lumping for eigenvalue problems

In this article we analyze the effect of mass‐lumping in the linear triangular finite element approximation of second‐order elliptic eigenvalue problems. We prove that the eigenvalue obtained by using mass‐lumping is always below the one obtained with exact integration. For singular eigenfunctions, as those arising in non convex polygons, we prove that the eigenvalue obtained with mass‐lumping is above the exact eigenvalue when the mesh size is small enough. So, we conclude that the use of mass‐lumping is convenient in the singular case. When the eigenfunction is smooth several numerical experiments suggest that the eigenvalue computed with mass‐lumping is below the exact one if the mesh is not too coarse. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 19: 653–664, 2003     

Design and Fabrication of Composite Smart Structures with High Electric and Mechanical Performances for Future Mobile Communication

In this paper, we have developed a load-bearing outer skin for antennas, which is termed a composite smart structure (CSS). The CSS is a multilayer composite sandwich structure in which antenna layers are inserted. A direct-feed stacked patch antenna is considered. A design procedure including the structure design, material selection, and design of antenna elements in order to obtain high electric and mechanical performances is presented. An optimized honeycomb thickness is selected for efficient radiation and impedance characteristics. High gain conditions can be obtained by placing the outer facesheet in the resonance position, which is at about a half wavelength distance from the ground plane. The measured electrical performances show that the CSS has a great bandwidth (over 10%) and a higher gain than an antenna without a facesheet and has excellent mechanical performances, owing to the composite laminates and honeycomb cores. The CSS concept can be extended to give a useful guide for manufacturers of structural body panels and for antenna designers.     

Improved bounds for some nonstandard problems in generalized heat conduction

We consider the Maxwell-Cattaneo system of equations for generalized heat conduction where the temperature and heat flux satisfy a nonstandard auxiliary condition which prescribes a combination of their values initially and at a later time. We obtain L₂ bounds for the temperature and heat flux by means of Lagrange identities. These bounds extend the range of validity for the parameter in the nonstandard condition under a constraint on the coefficients in the differential equations.     

Sur les grands quotients partiels du développement en fraction continue

In this paper we obtain some metrics results about large partial quotients in the continued fraction expansion.     

Maximizing revenue in the airline industry under one-way pricing

The paper describes a methodology that has been implemented in a major British airline to find the optimal price to charge for airline tickets under one-way pricing. An analytical model has been developed to describe the buying behaviour of customers for flights over the selling period. Using this model and a standard analytical method for constrained optimization, we can find an expression for the optimal price structure for a flight. The expected number of bookings made on each day of the selling period and in each fare class given these prices can then be easily calculated. A simulation model is used to find the confidence ranges on the numbers of bookings and these ranges can be used to regulate the sale of tickets. A procedure to update the price structure based on the remaining capacity has also been developed.     

Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis transitions of partially and fully substituted cellulose fatty esters

The main transitions of cellulose fatty esters with different degrees of substitution (DSs) were investigated with dynamic mechanical thermal analysis. Two distinct main relaxations were observed in partially substituted cellulose esters (PSCEs). They were attributed to the glass‐transition temperature and to the chain local motion of the aliphatic substituents. The temperatures of both transitions decreased when DS or the number of carbon atoms (n) of the acyl substituent increased. Conversely, all the transitions of fully substituted cellulose esters occurred within a narrow temperature range, and they did not vary significantly with n. This phenomenon was explained by the formation of a crystalline phase of the fatty substituents. The presence of few residual OH groups in PSCEs was responsible for a large increase in the storage bending modulus, and it eliminated the effect of n on damping. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 281–288, 2003     

A Multidimensional Branch-and-Prune Method for Interval Global Optimization

In this paper a new multidimensional extension of the recently developed one-dimensional enclosure method called kite is given for interval global optimization. A more sophisticated version of the pruning technique based on the kite method is introduced. By the new componentwise approach all the one-dimensional theoretical results and procedures can be used in the higher-dimensional case. The possibilities in the implementation of the new algorithm together with numerical results on 40 standard test problems are presented.     

Duality Principles in Frame Theory

Duality principles in Gabor theory such as the Ron–Shen duality principle and the Wexler–Raz biorthogonality relations play a fundamental role for analyzing Gabor systems. In this article we present a general approach to derive duality principles in abstract frame theory. For each sequence in a separable Hilbert space we define a corresponding sequence dependent only on two orthonormal bases. Then we characterize exactly properties of the first sequence in terms of the associated one, which yields duality relations for the abstract frame setting. In the last part we apply our results to Gabor systems.     

The Computational Complexity of the Chow Form

We present a bounded probability algorithm for the computation of the Chowforms of the equidimensional components of an algebraic variety. In particular, this gives an alternative procedure for the effective equidimensional decomposition of the variety, since each equidimensional component is characterized by its Chow form. The expected complexity of the algorithm is polynomial in the size and the geometric degree of the input equation system defining the variety. Hence it improves (or meets in some special cases) the complexity of all previous algorithms for computing Chow forms. In addition to this, we clarify the probability and uniformity aspects, which constitutes a further contribution of the paper. The algorithm is based on elimination theory techniques, in line with the geometric resolution algorithm due to M. Giusti, J. Heintz, L. M. Pardo, and their collaborators. In fact, ours can be considered as an extension of their algorithm for zero-dimensional systems to the case of positive-dimensional varieties. The key element for dealing with positive-dimensional varieties is a new Poisson-type product formula. This formula allows us to compute the Chow form of an equidimensional variety from a suitable zero-dimensional fiber. As an application, we obtain an algorithm to compute a subclass of sparse resultants, whose complexity is polynomial in the dimension and the volume of the input set of exponents. As another application, we derive an algorithm for the computation of the (unique) solution of a generic overdetermined polynomial equation system.