Parametric resonance in the problem of a heavy rigid body rolling along a straight line on a plane

The problem of the stability of a heavy rigid body, bounded by the surface of an ellipsoid and with a cavity in the form of a coaxial ellipsoid, rolling along a straight line on a horizontal rough plane is investigated. It is shown that in the case of a body that is close to being dynamically symmetrical, parametric resonance always occurs leading to instability of the rolling. Each ellipsoid has its own “individual” resonance angular velocity. In the general case, regions in which the necessary stability conditions are satisfied can be distinguished in parameter space. The problem of calculating the resonance coefficient corresponding to instability for parametric resonance in a reversible third-order system is solved.     

Necessary Conditions for Differentiability of Distance Functions

Necessary conditions for the Gâteaux differentiability of the distance function to a set are considered. A series of characterizing results is obtained.     

On iteration semigroups of mean-type mappings and invariant means

Summary. Iteration semigroups of weighted quasi-arithmetic mean-type mappings are considered. Existence and uniqueness of a mean which is invariant with respect to a continuous semigroup of mean-type mapping is proved.     

Rigidity and finiteness under Ricci curvature and volume controls

Consider the class of closed Riemannian manifolds M of dimension dim(M) \geqq 3 \dim(M) \geqq 3 , Ricci curvature Ric(M) \geqq -(n - 1) \textrm{Ric}(M) \geqq -(n - 1) , diameter diam(M) < D and almost maximal volume. We show that the isomorphism types of fundamental groups characterize the diffeomorphism types of manifolds in such a class. In particular, it can be viewed as a generalization of the well-known Mostow‘s rigidity theorem and a finiteness theorem.     

Inclusion of carbon nanotubes in a TiO2 sol-gel matrix

We report here the successful inclusion of carbon nanotubes (CNs) into a TiO₂ matrix prepared by a sol-gel method. The presence of CNs in the sol-gel matrix and the structure of the film were analyzed principally by transmission electron microscopy. Complementary information about the behavior of embedded carbon nanotubes versus heat treatment and ion irradiation were obtained by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The elaboration of an inorganic matrix containing embedded carbon nanotubes leads to a new nanocomposite. The possible applications of this nanocomposite are discussed.     

Interplay between four conjectures on certain zero-sum problems

In this paper, we explore the interplay of four different conjectures on certain zero-sum problems in Z_p Z_p. This study of the inter-relations between these conjectures leads to the conclusion that determining the structure of minimal zero sequences (see below for the precise definition) is crucial. Also, we study the analogous situation in Z_n.     

Kalman filtering of a space-time Markov random field

In this paper, finite-dimensional recursive filters for space-time Markov random fields are derived. These filters can be used with the expectation maximization (EM) algorithm to yield maximum likelihood estimates of the parameters of the model.