Nonemptiness conditions for cores of discrete cooperative games

Translated from Programmnoe Oborudovanie i Voprosy Prinyatiya Reshenii, pp. 210–219, 1989.     

Quasi-extremality for control systems

A full exposition of the authors' previously announced results about the extremality index of controls in smooth control systems and a generalization of these results to systems with constraints on the controls.Translated from Itogi Nauki i Tekhniki, Seriya Sovremennye Problemy Matematiki, Noveishie Dostizheniya, Vol. 35, pp. 109–134, 1989.     

Universal algebras

A survey of the development of the theory of universal algebras in the years 1976–1988. Such basic directions of development of this theory as classes of universal algebras (varieties, quasivarieties, etc.), Mal'tsev conditions, congruences, sheaves, homomorphisms, subalgebras, products of algebras, clones of operations, completeness, systems of equations in algeberas, and connections with computer mathematics show up in it. Considerable attention is given to concrete classes of algebras (p-algebras, BCK-algebras, unary algebras, etc.).Translated from Itogi Nauki i Tekhniki, Seriya Algebra, Topologiya, Geometriya, Vol. 27, pp. 45–124, 1989.     

Theory of interfacial phase transitions in surfactant systems

The spin-1 Ising model, which is equivalent to the three-component lattice gas model, is used to study wetting transitions in three-component surfactant systems consisting of an oil, water, and a nonionic surfactant. Phase equilibria, interfacial profiles, and interfacial tensions for three-phase equilibrium are determined in mean field approximation, for a wide range of temperature and interaction parameters. Surfactant interaction parameters are found to strongly influence interfacial tensions, reducing them in some cases to ultralow values. Interfacial tensions are used to determine whether the middle phase, rich in surfactant, wets or does not wet the interface between the oil-rich and water-rich phases. By varying temperature and interaction parameters, a wetting transition is located and found to be of the first order. Comparison is made with recent experimental results on wetting transitions in ternary surfactant systems.This paper is dedicated to J. K. Percus in honor of his 65th birthday.     

Applying Stochastic Algorithms to a Locomotive Scheduling Problem

This paper addresses a problem common to all railway networks. Given a fixed train timetable and locomotives (or other forms of traction) of various types, each train must be allocated a locomotive. This paper examines the use of stochastic algorithms for such a problem. Two types of algorithm are used—a simple ‘local improvement’ method, performed successively from randomly chosen starting points, and a ‘simulated annealing’ approach. Both are found to give considerably better results than a deterministic method in current use, and the annealing approach is probably the better stochastic method.     

An applied cell mapping method for optimal control problems

From the application point of view, a series of modifications are proposed for the cell mapping method discussed in Ref. 1 for the optimal control analysis of dynamical systems. The cell order around the target set is rearranged. A set of common discriminate principles is used for the selection of the optimal one among competing control strategies of the same cost. Inequality constraints of the system are taken into account. The number of elements in the set of allowable time intervals is not prescribed, but left open. These modifications seem to make the cell mapping method more efficient for analyzing feedback systems and for obtaining their global optimal control information. The algorithms presented in this paper could broaden the application of the cell mapping approach of Ref. 1 to a wider class of engineering problems.