Controllability of the wave equation with moving point control

This paper deals with approximate and exact controllability of the wave equation in finite time with interior point control acting along a curve specified in advance in the system's spatial domain. The structure of the control input is dual to the structure of the observations which describe the measurements of velocity and gradient of the solution of the dual system, obtained from the moving point sensor. A relevant formalization of such a control problem is discussed, based on transposition. For any given timeinterval [0,T] the existence of the curves providing approximate controllability inH _D ^–[n/2]–1 ()×H _D ^–[n/2]–1 () (wheren stands for the space dimension) is established with controls fromL ²(0,T; R ⁿ +1). The same curves ensure exact controllability inL ²() × H^–1() if controls are allowed to be selected in [L (0,T; R ⁿ+1)]. Required curves can be constructed to be continuous on [0,T).This work was supported in part by NSF Grant ECS 89-13773 and NASA Grant NAG-1-1081.     

Langevin dynamic simulation of hysteresis in a field-swept Landau potential

Numerical simulations are done of Langevin dynamics for a uniform-orderparameter, field-swept Landau model,= –|a/2|m ²+|b/4|m ⁴–mh(t) , to study hysteresis effects. The field is swept at a constant rateh(t)=h(0)+ht. The stochastic jump values of the field {h_J from an initially prepared metastable minimumm(0) are recorded, on passage to a global minimum m(). The results are: (a) The mean jump¯h _J(h) increases (hysteresis loop widens) with h, confirming a previous theoretical criterion based on rate competition between field-sweep and inverse mean first-passage time (FPT); (b) The broad jump distribution(h _J,h) is related to intrinsically large FPT fluctuations ( ²–²)/ ² O(1), and can be quantitatively understood. Possible experimental tests of the ideas are indicated.     

A discrete method of optimal control based upon the cell state space concept

A discrete method of optimal control is proposed in this paper. The continuum state space of a system is discretized into a cell state space, and the cost function is discretized in a similar manner. Assuming intervalwise constant controls and using a finite set of admissible control levels (u) and a finite set of admissible time intervals (), the motion of the system under all possible interval controls (u, ) can then be expressed in terms of a family of cell-to-cell mappings. The proposed method extracts the optimal control results from these mappings by a systematic search, culminating in the construction of a discrete optimal control table.The possibility of expressing the optimal control results in the form of a control table seems to give this method a means to make systems real-time controllable.Dedicated to G. LeitmannThe material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. MEA-82-17471. The author is also indebted to Professor G. Leitmann for his many helpful comments.     

Surface chemical analysis of raw cotton fibres and associated materials

The surface chemical composition of raw unscoured cotton was successfully investigated by the surface analytical techniques X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and Time of Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS). The presence of non-cellulosic material at the fibre surface was established and determined to be a complex mixture of fatty acids, alcohols, alkanes, esters and glycerides. The effect of scouring and bleaching was to reduce the surface concentration of these materials but even after aqueous processing some non-cellulosic material residue was still detected at the fibre surface.     

Optimal dynamic advertising policies for hereditary processes

In this paper, the Nerlove-Arrow model of optimal dynamic advertising policies is generalized by assuming a general probability distribution of the forgetting time, rather than the exponential one. A control problem with integrodifferential equations of motion is defined for which the transitory and steady-state properties of the optimal advertising policy are examined. The effects of assumptions like IHR-distributions and DHR-distributions, the existence of an upper bound for the forgetting time, etc., are explained. It is shown that there are two (in the case of an exponential distribution even three) different current-value adjoint functions associated with the problem, and relations between the two (three) are established. Also provided is a sensitivity analysis.Thanks are due to G. Feichtinger and S. Jorgensen for useful discussions.     

On the minimal time function for distributed control systems in Banach spaces

In this paper, it is shown that the minimal time function is locally Lipschitz continuous for the control systemx=Ax+u in a Banach spadeE, under either of two conditions:A is linear and generates aC ₀-semigroup of bounded linear operators; orA is nonlinear, possibly multivalued, and dissipative. The main tool used for the nonlinear case is a result of Barbu concerning the null controllability of the system.     

On guaranteed stability of uncertain linear systems via linear control

This paper addresses the problem of stabilizing an uncertain linear system. The uncertaintyq(·) which enters the dynamics is nonstistical in nature. That is, noa priori statistics forq(·) are assumed; only boundsQ on the admissible variations ofq(·) are taken as given. The results given here applied to so-called matched systems differ from previous results in two ways. Firstly, the stabilizing control in this paper is linear; for this same class of problems, many of the existing results would require a nonlinear control. Furthermore, those results which do in fact yield linear controls are only valid when a certain matrix (q) (formed using the given data) is negative definite for allq Q. In contrast, the theory given here only requires compactness of the bounding setQ. Secondly, we show that the so-called matching conditions (used in earlier work) can be generalized so as to encompass a larger class of dynamical systems.This research was supported by the US Department of Energy under Contract No. ET-78-S-01-3390.     

Value function and optimality conditions for semilinear control problems

This paper is concerned with optimal control problems of Mayer and Bolza type for systems governed by a semilinear state equationx(t)=Ax(t) + f(t, x(t), u(t)), u(t) U, whereA is the infinitesimal generator of a strongly continuous semigroup in a Banach spaceX. We prove necessary and sufficient conditions for optimality and then use these conditions to investigate properties of the value function related to superdifferentials. Conversely, we use the value function to obtain criteria for optimality and feedback systems.Work (partially) supported by the Research Project Equazioni di evoluzione e applicazioni fisicomatematiche (M.U.R.S.T.-Italy).     

Necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of positive solutions to algebraic Riccati equations with indefinite quadratic term

Necessary and sufficient conditions are established in this paper for the existence of positive- and/or negative-definite solutions to the algebraic Riccati equation with indefinite coefficient. An iterative procedure is also given for computing such a solution.Project supported by the National Science Foundation of China and by the special program of the State Education Commission of China under grant 9033507.     

Capture by stabilized continuum: Classical and quantum aspects

We review here the results of our investigations concerning chaotic atomic scattering in the presence of a laser field. Particular emphasis is put on the existence of classical stable resonance structures, induced by the intense laser field, which are embedded in the field-free continuum. We show that phase space structures in the vicinity of a resonance island play an important role in the chaotic scattering behavior and form the basis for a mechanism to enhance the lifetimes of the collisional partners. Quantum calculations, based on a wave packet propagation method, show that quantum solutions are strongly influenced by the classical phase space structures. More specifically, a wave packet is found to spread differently in the regular and chaotic regions; in the latter case it spreads exponentially with time until saturation occurs, defining the saturation time. We also investigate the dependence of the spreading rates in both the regular and chaotic regimes. Calculations with an ensemble of classical trajectories are also presented to further illustrate the smoothing effects of varying.