Equations of Hurwitz schemes in the infinite Grassmannian

The main result proved in the paper is the computation of the explicit equations defining the Hurwitz schemes of coverings with punctures as subschemes of the Sato infinite Grassmannian. As an application, we characterize the existence of certain linear series on a smooth curve in terms of soliton equations. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Efficient construction of high‐resolution TVD conservative schemes for equations with source terms: application to shallow water flows

High‐resolution total variation diminishing (TVD) schemes are widely used for the numerical approximation of hyperbolic conservation laws. Their extension to equations with source terms involving spatial derivatives is not obvious. In this work, efficient ways of constructing conservative schemes from the conservative, non‐conservative or characteristic form of the equations are described in detail. An upwind, as opposed to a pointwise, treatment of the source terms is adopted here, and a new technique is proposed in which source terms are included in the flux limiter functions to get a complete second‐order compact scheme. A new correction to fix the entropy problem is also presented and a robust treatment of the boundary conditions according to the discretization used is stated. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The discontinuous profile method for simulating two‐phase flow in pipes using the single component approximation

Godunov‐type algorithms are very attractive for the numerical solution of discontinuous flows. The reconstruction of the profile inside the cells is crucial to scheme performance. The non‐linear generalization of the discontinuous profile method (DPM) presented here for the modelling of two‐phase flow in pipes uses a discontinuous reconstruction in order to capture shocks more efficiently than schemes using continuous functions. The reconstructed profile is used to define the Riemann problem at cell interfaces by averaging of the components of the variable in the base of eigenvectors over their domain of dependence. Intercell fluxes are computed by solving the Riemann problem with an approximate‐state solver. The adapted treatment of boundary conditions is essential to ensure the quality of the computational results and a specific procedure using virtual cells at both extremities of the computational domain is required. Internal boundary conditions can be treated in the same way as external ones. Application of the DPM to test cases is shown to improve the quality of computational results significantly. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Approaches to uncertainty evaluation based on proficiency testing schemes in chemical measurements

Since the advent of the Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM) founding the principles of uncertainty evaluation, numerous projects have been carried out to develop alternative practical methods when it is impossible to model technical or economical aspects of the measurement process. These methods can use all the experimental data available to the laboratories, such as repeatability, reproducibility, quality-control charts, etc. The studies presented in this paper compare the results obtained by the modelling method from GUM with the uncertainties found by applying alternative methods. They show two examples, one in the field of environmental monitoring, the other in the biomedical field, based on the exploitation of PT schemes results. Presented at BERM-11, October 2007, Tsukuba, Japan.     

Unstructured-grid finite-volume discretization of the Navier-Stokes equations based on high-resolution difference schemes

An unstructured-grid discretization of the Navier-Stokes equations based on the finite volume method and high-resolution difference schemes in time and space is described as applied to fluid dynamics problems in two and three dimensions. The control volume is defined as the cell-vertex median dual control volume. The fluxes through the faces of internal and boundary control volumes are written identically, which simplifies their software implementation. The gradient and the pseudo-Laplacian are calculated at the midpoint of a control volume face by using relations adapted to the computations on a strongly stretched grid in the boundary layer.     

Software package for 3D viscous gas flow simulation on multiprocessor computer systems

A parallel software package designed for the numerical simulation of three-dimensional viscous gas flows is presented. The numerical algorithm is based on kinetically consistent difference schemes used on locally refined grids. The software package has been tested in various super-and subsonic flow problems. It provides an opportunity for the direct simulation of turbulent flows. The efficiency of parallelization is analyzed depending on the problem size and the number of processors.     

Locally one-dimensional difference schemes for the fractional order diffusion equation

Locally-one-dimensional difference schemes for the fractional diffusion equation in multidimensional domains are considered. Stability and convergence of locally one-dimensional schemes for this equation are proved.     

Lattice-Boltzmann type relaxation systems and high order relaxation schemes for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations

A relaxation system based on a Lattice-Boltzmann type discrete velocity model is considered in the low Mach number limit. A third order relaxation scheme is developed working uniformly for all ranges of the mean free path and Mach number. In the incompressible Navier-Stokes limit the scheme reduces to an explicit high order finite difference scheme for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations based on nonoscillatory upwind discretization. Numerical results and comparisons with other approaches are presented for several test cases in one and two space dimensions.

     

Beginners’ progress in early arithmetic in the Swedish compulsory school

This article focuses on spontaneous knowledge-building in the field of “the arithmetic of the child.” The aim is to investigate the conceptual progress of fifteen children during their early school years in the compulsory school. The study is based on the epistemology of radical constructivism and the methodology of “multiple clinical interviews”. A model of “the arithmetic of the child” elucidates mental structures used by the child in solving problems. The individual interviews are video-recorded. The results show that the children's solutions are compatible with the model. When the researcher adapts problems to the children's available concepts to bring out their capability, they all solve them in their own ways. Further, the conceptual levels of the children differ to a great extent at school start and do not all show conceptual progress after 2 years of traditional teaching. An implication for an alternative teaching process is suggested, namely “the arithmetic for the child”, accomplished in a triadic teaching process.     

A compact 9 point stencil based on integrated RBFs for the convection–diffusion equation

In this paper, a high-order compact stencil for solving the convection–diffusion equation in two dimensions is proposed. The convection and diffusion terms are both approximated by means of radial basis functions (RBFs) that are constructed over 3×3$3\times 3$ rectangular stencils. Salient features here are that (i) integration is employed to construct local RBF approximations; and (ii) through the constants of integration, values of the convection–diffusion equation at several selected nodes on the stencil are also enforced. Numerical results indicate that (i) the inclusion of the governing equation into the stencil leads to a significant improvement in accuracy; (ii) when the convection dominates, accurate solutions are obtained at a regime of the RBF width which makes the RBFs peaked; and (iii) high levels of accuracy are achieved using relatively coarse grids.