Coarse equivalences of Euclidean buildings

We prove the following rigidity results. Coarse equivalences between metrically complete Euclidean buildings preserve spherical buildings at infinity. If all irreducible factors have dimension at least two, then coarsely equivalent Euclidean buildings are isometric (up to scaling factors); if in addition none of the irreducible factors is a Euclidean cone, then the isometry is unique and has finite distance from the coarse equivalence.     

Loop Groups and Twin Buildings

In these notes we describe some buildings related to complex Kac–Moody groups. First we describe the spherical building of SL_n() (i.e. the projective geometry PG(ⁿ)) and its Veronese representation. Next we recall the construction of the affine building associated to a discrete valuation on the rational function field (z). Then we describe the same building in terms of complex Laurent polynomials, and introduce the Veronese representation, which is an equivariant embedding of the building into an affine Kac–Moody algebra. Next, we introduce topological twin buildings. These buildings can be used for a proof which is a variant of the proof by Quillen and Mitchell, of Bott periodicity which uses only topological geometry. At the end we indicate very briefly that the whole process works also for affine real almost split Kac–Moody groups.Supported by a Heisenberg fellowship by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.     

An investigation of assessment and feedback practices in fully asynchronous online undergraduate mathematics courses

Research suggests it is difficult to learn mathematics in the fully asynchronous online (FAO) instructional modality, yet little is known about associated teaching and assessment practices. In this study, we investigate FAO mathematics assessment and feedback practices in particular consideration of both claims and findings that these practices have a powerful influence on learning.

A survey questionnaire was constructed and completed by 70 FAO undergraduate mathematics instructors, mostly from the USA, who were each asked to detail their assessment and feedback practices in a single FAO mathematics course. Alongside these questions, participants also answered the 16-item version of the Approaches to Teaching Inventory. In addition, a novel feedback framework was also created and used to examine how feedback practices may be related to participants' approaches to teaching.

Results show that assessment and feedback practices are varied and complex: in particular, we found there was not a simple emphasis on summative assessment instruments, nor a concomitant expectation these would always be invigilated. Though richer assessment feedback appears to be emphasized, evidence suggests this feedback may not be primarily directed at advancing student learning. Moreover, we found evidence of a reliance on computer--human interactions (e.g. via computer-assisted assessment systems) and further evidence of a decline in human interactions, suggesting a dynamic that is both consistent with current online learning theory and claims FAO mathematics courses are becoming commodified. Several avenues for further research are suggested.     

A Discrete Element Approach for Wave Propagation in Thin Rods

Wave propagation and evoked side effects, such as material failure, are important parts of analysis of dynamically exposed structures like buildings or machinery. One of the numerical analysis tools for wave propagation is the well-known Finite Element Method (FEM) with its impressive performance but also with the drawback of not being able to model easily material failure, discontinuities and contacts. In contrast, the Discrete Element Method (DEM) is capable to describe these effects on a meso-scale more easily. The here selected concept is based on a DEM particle which is considered as deformable, and can establish and remove lasting bonds with other particles. The simulation example used is a thin rod that has been an extensive numerical and experimental research subject since the last century. A longitudinal wave is excited within the thin rod by simulating an impact on one end of the rod in a free-free configuration. It is found, that the simulation data, the velocity profile and the resulting displacement at the end of the rod, are in good agreement with experimental obtained data. (© 2013 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Spreading Code Design Using a Global Optimization Method

The performance of a code division multiple access system depends on the correlation properties of the employed spreading code. Low cross-correlation values between spreading sequences are desired to suppress multiple access interference and to improve bit error performance. An auto-correlation function with a distinct peak enables proper synchronization and suppresses intersymbol interference. However, these requirements contradict each other and a trade-off needs to be established. In this paper, a global two dimensional optimization method is proposed to minimize the out-of-phase average mean-square aperiodic auto-correlation with average mean-square aperiodic cross-correlation being allowed to lie within a fixed region. This approach is applied to design sets of complex spreading sequences. A design example is presented to illustrate the relation between various correlation characteristics. The correlations of the obtained sets are compared with correlations of other known sequences.     

Complex backflow dynamics in nematic liquid crystals

Received December 31, 2001 / Published online May 21, 2002     

Three-Dimensional Green's Function for a Layered Isotropic Half-space

A numerical approach to calculate the Green's function for a layered half space is presented. It is based on the precise integration method (PIM), which is an efficient and accurate numerical method for the solution of one order ordinary differential equations. In the numerical implementation, the layered half space is divided into numerous mini-layers; and the dual vector form of the wave motion equation is introduced to combine two adjacent mini-layers/layers. The advantages of the proposed algorithm are: (a) it overcomes the exponent overflow generally encountered with employing the transfer matrix method; (b) it avoids solving the intractable transcendental functions in the stiffness matrix method and the huge matrix calculation in the thin layer method; (c) it imposes no limit to the thickness of layered strata and ensures convergence at high-frequency range. (© 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Quotient categories,stability conditions,and birational geometry

This article deals with the quotient category of the category of coherent sheaves on an irreducible smooth projective variety by the full subcategory of sheaves supported in codimension greater than c. We prove that this category has homological dimension c. As an application, we describe the space of stability conditions on its derived category in the case c  \(=\) 1. Moreover, we describe all exact equivalences between these quotient categories in this particular case, which is closely related to classification problems in birational geometry.