Numerical solutions of the shallow water equations with discontinuous bed topography

A simple scheme is developed for treatment of vertical bed topography in shallow water flows. The effect of the vertical step on flows is modelled with the shallow water equations including local energy loss terms. The bed elevation is denoted with z_b^‐ for the left and z_b⁺ for the right values at each grid point, hence exactly representing a discontinuity in the bed topography. The surface gradient method (SGM) is generalized to reconstruct water depths at cell interfaces involving a vertical step so that the fluxes at the cell interfaces can accurately be calculated with a Riemann solver. The scheme is verified by predicting a surge crossing a step, a tidal flow over a step and dam‐break flows on wet/dry beds. The results have shown good agreements compared with analytical solutions and available experimental data. The scheme is efficient, robust, and may be used for practical flow calculations. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Higher-dimensional homogeneous cosmological models as autonomous dynamical systems

The field equations for homogeneous models in an arbitrary number of dimensions form a Hamiltonian system with constraint forces. Due to the monotonic behavior of the determinant of the induced metric, the evolution of the system can be interpreted as the motion of a particle in an explicitly time-dependent potential. Considering vacuum models, we show that this explicit time-dependence can be eliminated. Using the scaling properties of the Ricci tensor we obtain an autonomous system, for which we can also find a Liapunov function in terms of the n-dimensional Ricci curvature.     

Solving the problem of contact equilibrium of a punch and an elastic body

The variational problem of contact equilibrium of a punch and an elastic body is considered. An equivalent formulation of the problem is given in variational inequality form. Existence and uniqueness of the solution is investigated in a particular case. A penalty method is proposed for approximate solution of the problem.Translated from Vychislitel'naya i Prikladnaya Matematika, No. 56, pp. 97–103, 1985.     

Numerical analysis of near electromagnetic fields of a parabolic cylinder and a paraboloid of revolution

Translated from Chislennye Metody Resheniya Obratnykh Zadach Matematicheskoi Fiziki, pp. 119–127.     

Fluorescence spectra of different configurations of the diphenyl molecule in solid paraffin solutions

Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 51, No. 2, pp. 212–217, August, 1989.     

A Recursive Algorithm for Order Cycle-time that Minimizes Logistics Cost

A firm's logistics cost, including shipping and inventory-carrying, is a substantial percentage of its sales. Nevertheless, typical inventory-control methods ignore or insufficiently represent the shipping cost. This paper describes a recursive algorithm that determines the reorder cycle-time that minimizes total logistics cost. It allows for a realistic accounting of shipping cost, which is modelled here as a function of shipping distance and weight. The algorithm uses a relaxation procedure to identify a suitable initial approximation to the optimal order cycle-time and then, through a series of recursive steps, moves to the optimal result. We demonstrate the algorithm with a single item, with a group of items that share a common order cycle, and with multi-items when item demands are random variables. Experience with this algorithm indicates that it converges to the optimal result in a very few steps.     

Symmetries and conservation laws of partial differential equations: Basic notions and results

The main notions and results which are necessary for finding higher symmetries and conservation laws for general systems of partial differential equations are given. These constitute the starting point for the subsequent papers of this volume. Some problems are also discussed.     

On the Limiting Steady Configurations of a Model Plasma

A model equation describing the configuration of a simple plasma maintained by external radiation is studied. A branch of steady solutions of the equation was found by Eckhaus et al. to terminate at a finite critical value of the power of the external source, and this is attributed to the discontinuous nature of a nonlinear term in the governing equation. On introducing a small parameter to render the term continuous, a second branch of solutions is constructed in a neighborhood of the termination point of the original branch. This suggests that the termination point is formed as the limit of a subcritical fold in the surface of the steady solution branch.