Approximation of infinite-dimensional fleming-viot diffusions

The aim of this article is the approximation of a class of infinite-dimensional diffusions occurring in population genetics using a semigroup approach and a suitable sequence of Bernstein-Schnabl type operators which are associated with assigned sequences of positive real numbers.     

Genetic algorithms for supply-chain scheduling: A case study in the distribution of ready-mixed concrete

The coordination of just-in-time production and transportation in a network of partially independent facilities to guarantee timely delivery to distributed customers is one of the most challenging aspect of supply chain management. From a theoretical perspective, the timely production/distribution can be viewed as a hybrid combination of planning, scheduling and routing problems, each notoriously affected by nearly prohibitive combinatorial complexity. From a practical viewpoint, the problem calls for a trade-off between risks and profits. This paper focuses on the ready-mixed concrete delivery: in addition to the mentioned complexity, strict time-constraints forbid both earliness and lateness of the supply. After developing a detailed model of the considered problem, we propose a novel meta-heuristic approach based on a hybrid genetic algorithm combined with constructive heuristics. A detailed case study derived from industrial data is used to illustrate the potential of the proposed approach.     

Stable determination of an inhomogeneous inclusion by local boundary measurements

We deal with the problem of determining an inclusion within an electrostatic conductor from boundary measurements. Under mild a priori assumptions we establish optimal stability estimates. Measurements are performed on a portion of the boundary of the conductor.     

The unsatisfiability threshold revisited

The problem of determining the unsatisfiability threshold for random 3-SAT formulas consists in determining the clause to variable ratio that marks the experimentally observed abrupt change from almost surely satisfiable formulas to almost surely unsatisfiable. Up to now, there have been rigorously established increasingly better lower and upper bounds to the actual threshold value. In this paper, we consider the problem of bounding the threshold value from above using methods that, we believe, are of interest on their own right. More specifically, we show how the method of local maximum satisfying truth assignments can be combined with results for the occupancy problem in schemes of random allocation of balls into bins in order to achieve an upper bound for the unsatisfiability threshold less than 4.571. In order to obtain this value, we establish a bound on the q-binomial coefficients (a generalization of the binomial coefficients). No such bound was previously known, despite the extensive literature on q-binomial coefficients. Finally, to prove our result we had to establish certain relations among the conditional probabilities of an event in various probabilistic models for random formulas. It turned out that these relations were considerably harder to prove than the corresponding ones for unconditional probabilities, which were previously known.     

Superprism Behaviour of an Array of Photonic Crystal Waveguides

The behaviour of an array of photonic crystal waveguides is numerically investigated. It is shown that high dispersion may be achieved in the telecommunication window around 1550 nm, with a device whose dimensions are in the order of half a mm².     

Delayed feedback control of phase synchronisation in a neuronal network model

The human cerebral cortex can be separated into cortical areas forming a clustered network structure. We build two different clustered networks, where one network is based on a healthy brain and the other according to a brain affected by a neurodegenerative process. Each cortical area has a subnetwork with small-world properties. We verify that both networks exhibit rich-club organisation and phase synchronisation. Due to the fact that neuronal synchronisation can be related to brain diseases, we consider the delayed feedback control as a method to suppress synchronous behaviours. In this work, it is presented that depending on the feedback parameters, intensity and time delay, phase synchronisation in both networks can be suppressed. Therefore, one of our main results is to show that delayed feedback control can be used to suppress undesired synchronous behaviours not only in the healthy brain, but also in the brain marked by neurodegenerative processes.     

Chemical modification of chitosan under high-intensity ultrasound

Chitosan (CTS), a biocompatible, biodegradable, non-toxic polymer, dissolves in water only if pH is lowered under 6.5, when a substantial fraction of the amino groups is protonated. Its range of application has been much extended by partially depolymerising it or converting it to water-soluble derivatives. Working under high-intensity ultrasound at 17.8-18.5 kHz, using either a simple horn or a cup horn, we achieved a controlled depolymerization of CTS, also prepared in high yields several derivatives that can be useful intermediates for further chemical modification, as well as several water-soluble derivatives that lend themselves to a host of industrial applications. Compared to conventional methods, all these reactions went to completion in considerably shorter times at lower temperatures.     

Strongly correlated superconductivity and pseudogap phase near a multiband Mott insulator

Near a Mott transition, strong electron correlations may enhance Cooper pairing. This is demonstrated in the dynamical mean field theory solution of a twofold-orbital degenerate Hubbard model with an inverted on-site Hund rule exchange, favoring local spin-singlet configurations. Close to the Mott insulator (which here is a local version of a valence bond insulator) a pseudogap non-Fermi-liquid metal, a superconductor, and a normal metal appear, in striking similarity with the physics of cuprates. The strongly correlated s-wave superconducting state has a larger Drude weight than the corresponding normal state. The role of the impurity Kondo problem is underscored.     

Experimental and numerical investigation of a stagnation pulverised coal flame

A multi-stream Flamelet Progress Variable (FPV) model, specifically developed for coal combustion, is proposed. The model accounts for the different fuel streams associated with the volatile and char burnout products. The applicability of the new FPV model is investigated in a laminar stagnation pulverized coal flame. The flame considered is a premixed mixture of CH₄, O₂ and N₂, carrying pulverized coal particles, stabilized in an impinging wall. Spontaneous emissions of OH*, CH* and C${}_2^{*}$ are measured to identify the flame. The 1D numerical simulations of the experimental conditions are able to reproduce the main features of the flame. The applicability of the multi-stream FPV model to coal combustion is further evaluated with the a posteriori analysis of the FPV results, comparing the results with a reference model, where the species are fully transported and the chemistry directly evaluated. Then, with the budget analysis, the influence of the control variables used to build the look-up table is assessed by examining the conditional contributions to the overall transport terms of scalar quantities (e.g. species, temperature). The results of both analyses show that the proposed multi-stream FPV model can accurately predict the main features of coal combustion, with only minor issues related to the manifold used to build the look-up table.