Writhing instabilities of twisted rods: from infinite to finite length

We use three different approaches to describe the static spatial configurations of a twisted rod as well as its stability during rigid loading experiments. The first approach considers the rod as infinite in length and predicts an instability causing a jump to self-contact at a certain point of the experiment. Semi-finite corrections, taken into account as a second approach, reveal some possible experiments in which the configuration of a very long rod will be stable through out. Finally, in a third approach, we consider a rod of real finite length and we show that another type of instability may occur, leading to possible hysteresis behavior. As we go from infinite to finite length, we compare the different information given by the three approaches on the possible equilibrium configurations of the rod and their stability. These finite size effects studied here in a 1D elasticity problem could help us guess what are the stability features of other more complicated (2D elastic shells for example) problems for which only the infinite length approach is understood.     

正态分布下任意秩有限总体中的Minimax预测

对于任意秩有限总体,在二次损失下,有关文献已给出了线性可预测变量在齐次线性预测类中的唯一线性Minimax预测．本文在正态假设下,证明了这个线性Minimax预测也是线性可预测变量在一切预测类中的唯一Minimax预测．     

On Polynomial Functions over Finite Commutative Rings

Let R be an arbitrary finite commutative local ring. In this paper, we obtain a necessary and sufficient condition for a function over R to be a polynomial function. Before this paper, necessary and sufficient conditions for a function to be a polynomial function over some special finite commutative local rings were obtained.     

A finite element-spherical harmonics radiation transport model for photon migration in turbid media

In this paper, we solve the steady-state form of the Boltzmann transport equation in homogeneous and heterogeneous tissue-like media with a finite element-spherical harmonics (FE-P_N) radiation transport method. We compare FE-transport and diffusion solutions in terms of the ratio of absorption to reduced scattering coefficient, (μ_a/μ_s′) and the anisotropy factor g. Two different scattering phase function formulas are employed to model anisotropic scattering in the slab media with high g-value. Influence of void-like heterogeneities, and of their boundaries with the surrounding medium on the transport of photons are also examined.     

THE COUPLING OF NATURAL BOUNDARY ELEMENT AND FINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR 2D HYPERBOLIC EQUATIONS

In this paper, we investigate the coupling of natural boundary element and finite element methods of exterior initial boundary value problems for hyperbolic equations. The governing equation is first discretized in time, leading to a time-step scheme, where an exterior elliptic problem has to be solved in each time step. Second, a circular artificial boundary FR consisting of a circle of radius R is introduced, the original problem in an unbounded domain is transformed into the nonlocal boundary value problem in abounded subdomain. And the natural integral equation and the Poisson integral formula are obtained in the infinite domainΩ2 outside circle of radius R. The coupled variational formulation is given. Only the function itself, not its normal derivative at artificial boundary ΓR, appears in the variational equation, so that the unknown numbers are reducedand the boundary element stiffness matrix has a few different elements. Such a coupled method is superior to the one based on direct boundary element method. This paper discusses finite element discretization for variational problem and its corresponding numerical technique, and the convergence for the numerical solutions. Finally, the numerical example is presented to illustrate feasibility and efficiency of this method.     

Structural optimization design for large mirror

The system design must be started from the concept with low cost and high performance. In this point, the topological shape of the structure is very important in the view of the structural rigidities and light-weight design.In this paper, the optimization methodology is presented in the design stage of the large optical mirror. We obtain the optimal layout through the topology optimization and then design the details through the size or shape optimization for structural rigidity.     

Nonparametric estimation and adaptive control in a class of finite Markov decision chains

We consider a class of Markov decision processes withfinite state and action spaces which, essentially, is determined by the following condition: The state space isirreducible under the action of any stationary policy. However, except by this restriction, the transition law iscompletely unknown to the controller. In this context, we find a set of policies under which thefrequency estimators of the transition law are strongly consistent and then, this result is applied to constructadaptive asymptotically discount-optimal policies.Dedicated to Professor Truman O. Lewis, on the occasion of his sixtieth birthdayThis research was supported in part by the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) under Grant TWAS RG MP 898-152, and in part by the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT) under Grant A128CCOEO550 (MT-2).     

An exponentially fitted special second-order finite difference method for solving singular perturbation problems

An exponentially fitted special second-order finite difference method is presented for solving singularly perturbed two-point boundary value problems with the boundary layer at one end (left or right) point. A fitting factor is introduced in a tri-diagonal finite difference scheme and is obtained from the theory of singular perturbations. Thomas Algorithm is used to solve the system and its stability is investigated. To demonstrate the applicability of the method, we have solved several linear and non-linear problems. From the results, it is observed that the present method approximates the exact solution very well.     

Weighted extended b-splines for one-dimensional electromagnetic problems

This paper considers the weighted extended b-splines as basis function for finite element method in electromagnetics and compares with the standard finite element method applied to the two-point boundary value problems with different boundary conditions. This new approach, which provides more accurate results than standard finite element method, is presented to compare other numerical techniques and applied to one-dimensional electromagnetic problems. Computed results are compared with other numerical results in literature.     

On a free group of transformations defined by an automaton

We prove that three automorphisms of the rooted binary tree defined by a certain 3-state automaton generate a free non-Abelian group of rank 3. Both authors are supported by the NSF grants DMS-0308985 and DMS-0456185. Yaroslav Vorobets is supported by a Clay Research Scholarship.