Prediction of critical temperature of n-alkanes and n-alkenes from surface tension vs. temperature data

 The surface tension versus temperature data of homologous series of n-alkanes and n-alkenes is analyzed. Critical temperatures are shown to be predicted from these data, with a very high precision, after some corrections are made. The corrections are shown to arise from the effect of the critical pressure on the extrapolated data to surface tension approaching zero. Received: 29 October 1996 Accepted: 13 December 1996     

Control Policy for a Manufacturing System with Random Yield and Rework

We develop a production policy that controls work-in-process (WIP) levels and satisfies demand in a multistage manufacturing system with significant uncertainty in yield, rework, and demand. The problem addressed in this paper is more general than those in the literature in three aspects: (i) multiple products are processed at multiple workstations, and the capacity of each workstation is limited and shared by multiple operations; (ii) the behavior of a production policy is investigated over an infinite-time horizon, and thus the system stability can be evaluated; (iii) the representation of yield and rework uncertainty is generalized. Generalizing both the system structure and the nature of uncertainty requires a new mathematical development in the theory of infinite-horizon stochastic dynamic programming. The theoretical contributions of this paper are the existence proofs of the optimal stationary control for a stochastic dynamic programming problem and the finite covariances of WIP and production levels under the general expression of uncertainty. We develop a simple and explicit sufficient condition that guarantees the existence of both the optimal stationary control and the system stability. We describe how a production policy can be constructed for the manufacturing system based on the propositions derived.     

Efficient Sequential Quadratic Programming Implementations for Equality-Constrained Discrete-Time Optimal Control

Efficient sequential quadratic programming (SQP) implementations are presented for equality-constrained, discrete-time, optimal control problems. The algorithm developed calculates the search direction for the equality-based variant of SQP and is applicable to problems with either fixed or free final time. Problem solutions are obtained by solving iteratively a series of constrained quadratic programs. The number of mathematical operations required for each iteration is proportional to the number of discrete times N. This is contrasted by conventional methods in which this number is proportional to N ³. The algorithm results in quadratic convergence of the iterates under the same conditions as those for SQP and simplifies to an existing dynamic programming approach when there are no constraints and the final time is fixed. A simple test problem and two application problems are presented. The application examples include a satellite dynamics problem and a set of brachistochrone problems involving viscous friction.     

Application of stochastic optimal control to the suboptimal design of thrust-mass profiles

Stochastic optimal control techniques are applied to compare the performance of identical medium-range air-to-air missiles which have different thrust-mass profiles. The measure of the performance is the probability of reaching a lock-on-point with a favorable range of guidance and flight parameters, during a fixed time interval [0,t _f ], given that, during the flight, the trajectories of the missile are subjected to a variety of constraints including dynamic pressure constraints.     

Reflection of Surface Plasmon Polaritons by a Corner Reflector of Negative Index Materials

A novel type of corner reflector for the reflection of surface plasmon polariton (SPP) is proposed. The reflector consists of two layers of compensatory media whose permittivity and permeability take opposite signs to that of the corresponding layer of the SP waveguide. By rigorously solving Maxwell's equations, the reflected SPP is proved to exist. The transverse wave vector of the reflected SPP is always antiparallel to that of the incident SPP and no phase retardation is introduced.     

基于几何不变量的蛋白质三维分子结构比对

为了解决蛋白质三维结构比对需要处理大量的旋转、平移变换，直接用动态规划将变得十分繁琐这一问题，在保留蛋白质空间结构属性特征的基础上，对蛋白质三维数据进行了预先的处理．通过计算蛋白质结构在旋转和平移下的几何不变量，将蛋白质的三维结构坐标变换为具有旋转、平移不变性的一维序列．进一步给出了“距离”以及“相似得分”的定义．在此基础上采用动态规划方法给出了新的蛋白质结构比对算法．对专家分类的蛋白质结构数据库进行测试，结果显示准确、快速．     

Artificial time integration

Many recent algorithmic approaches involve the construction of a differential equation model for computational purposes, typically by introducing an artificial time variable. The actual computational model involves a discretization of the now time-dependent differential system, usually employing forward Euler. The resulting dynamics of such an algorithm is then a discrete dynamics, and it is expected to be “close enough” to the dynamics of the continuous system (which is typically easier to analyze) provided that small – hence many – time steps, or iterations, are taken. Indeed, recent papers in inverse problems and image processing routinely report results requiring thousands of iterations to converge. This makes one wonder if and how the computational modeling process can be improved to better reflect the actual properties sought. In this article we elaborate on several problem instances that illustrate the above observations. Algorithms may often lend themselves to a dual interpretation, in terms of a simply discretized differential equation with artificial time and in terms of a simple optimization algorithm; such a dual interpretation can be advantageous. We show how a broader computational modeling approach may possibly lead to algorithms with improved efficiency. AMS subject classification (2000)  65L05, 65M32, 65N21, 65N22, 65D18     

On the excitation of a closely spaced array by a line source

An infinite row of periodically spaced, identical rigid circularcylinders is excited by an acoustic line source which is parallelto the generators of the cylinders. A method for calculatingthe scattered field accurately and efficiently is presented.When the cylinders are sufficiently close together, Rayleigh–Blochsurface waves that propagate energy to infinity along the arrayare excited. An expression is derived which enables the amplitudesof these surface waves to be computed without requiring thesolution to the full scattering problem.     

正电子产生靶上初级电子束半径的最小化研究

为获得尽可能高的正电子(e⁺)产额,严格控制初级电子(e^－)束在e⁺产生靶上的束半径是至关重要的.首先分析了使e^－束半径增大的各因素和对这些因素的制约;然后以北京正负电子对撞机(BEPC)的正电子源为例,给出了束半径的实测值和计算值的比较,以具体说明这些因素的影响;最后讨论了北京正负电子对撞机二期工程(BEPC-Ⅱ)的相应优化设计研究,提出了获得靶上最小束半径的若干途径.     

CCD摄像机大视场光学镜头的设计

为提高CCD摄像机的成像质量，同时使镜头结构紧凑、小型化，在大视场光学镜头的设计中，引入标准二次曲面和偶次非球面。根据初级像差理论，分析了非球面的位置、初始结构参数的求解规律。通过理论计算和ZEMAX光学设计软件的优化，给出工作波长为0.4～0.7μm、全视场角为80°，相对孔径为1∶1.5的镜头设计实例。该镜头由7块镜片组成，包括一个标准二次曲面和两个8次方非球面；在40lp/mm空间频率处的MTF值超过0.85，全视场畸变小于3％，像质优良