Causality, symmetries and quantum mechanics

It is argued that there is no evidence for causality as a metaphysical relation in quantum phenomena. The assumptions that there are no causal laws, but only probabilities for physical processes constrained by symmetries, leads naturally to quantum mechanics. In particular, an argument is made for why there are probability amplitudes that are complex numbers. This argument generalizes the Feynman path integral formulation of quantum mechanics to include all possible terms in the action that are allowed by the symmetries, but only the lowest order terms are observable at the presently accessible energy scales, which is consistent with observation. The notion of relational reality is introduced in order to give physical meaning to probabilities. This appears to give rise to a new interpretation of quantum mechanics.     

Convergence analysis of gradient descent stochastic algorithms

This paper proves convergence of a sample-path based stochastic gradient-descent algorithm for optimizing expected-value performance measures in discrete event systems. The algorithm uses increasing precision at successive iterations, and it moves against the direction of a generalized gradient of the computed sample performance function. Two convergence results are established: one, for the case where the expected-value function is continuously differentiable; and the other, when that function is nondifferentiable but the sample performance functions are convex. The proofs are based on a version of the uniform law of large numbers which is provable for many discrete event systems where infinitesimal perturbation analysis is known to be strongly consistent.     

On the convergence of high resolution methods with multiple time scales for hyperbolic conservation laws

A class of finite volume methods based on standard high resolution schemes, but which allows spatially varying time steps, is described and analyzed. A maximum principle and the TVD property are verified for general advective flux, extending the previous theoretical work on local time stepping methods. Moreover, an entropy condition is verified which, with sufficient limiting, guarantees convergence to the entropy solution for convex flux.

     

A Theory of Exact Solutions for Annular Viscous Blobs

Summary. A new theory of exact solutions is presented for the problem of the slow viscous Stokes flow of a plane, doubly connected annular viscous blob driven by surface tension. The formulation reveals the existence of an infinite number of conserved quantities associated with the flow for a certain general class of initial conditions. These conserved quantities are associated with a class of exact solutions. This work is believed to provide the first exact solutions for the evolution of a doubly connected fluid region evolving under Stokes flow with surface tension. Received December 19, 1996; revised September 22, 1997, and accepted October 13, 1997     

Laws of large numbers for cooperative St. Petersburg gamblers

Summary General linear combinations of independent winnings in generalized \St~Petersburg games are interpreted as individual gains that result from pooling strategies of different cooperative players. A weak law of large numbers is proved for all such combinations, along with some almost sure results for the smallest and largest accumulation points, and a considerable body of earlier literature is fitted into this cooperative framework. Corresponding weak laws are also established, both conditionally and unconditionally, for random pooling strategies.     

Quantum mechanics,relativity and time

A discussion on quantum mechanics, general relativity and their relations is introduced. The assumption of the absolute validity of conservation laws and the extension to a 5D-space lead to reconsider several shortcomings and paradoxes of modern physics under a new light without the necessity to take into account symmetry breakings. In this picture, starting from first principles, and after a reduction procedure from 5D to 4D, dynamics leads to the natural emergence of two time arrows and ofa scalar-tensor theory of gravity. In this framework, phenomena like entanglement of systems and topology changes can be naturally accounted and, furthermore, several experimental evidences as gamma ray bursts, sizes of astrophysical structures and the observed values of cosmological parameters can be explained. The identification, thanks to conservation laws, of a covariant symplectic structure as a general feature also for gravity can be seen as a deep link common to all the interactions.     

Finite‐element simulation of incompressible fluid flow in an elastic vessel

Finite‐element simulation was performed to predict the incompressible Navier–Stokes flow in a domain, partly bounded by an elastic vessel, which is allowed to vary with time. Besides satisfying the physical conservation laws, both surface and the volume conservation laws are satisfied at the discrete level for ensuring the balance between physical and geometrical variables. Several problems which are amenable to analytical solutions were tested for validating the method. The simulated results are observed to agree favourably with analytical solutions. Having verified the applicability of the finite‐element code to problems involving moving grids, we consider an incompressible fluid flow bounded by rigid and elastic vessel walls. Our emphasis was placed on the validation of the formulation developed within the moving‐grid framework. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Riemann solvers and boundary conditions for two‐dimensional shallow water simulations

Most existing algorithms for two‐dimensional shallow water simulations treat multi‐dimensional waves using wave splitting or time splitting. This often results in anisotropy of the computed flow. Both wave splitting and time splitting are based on a local decomposition of the multi‐dimensional problem into one‐dimensional, orthogonal problems. Therefore, these algorithms handle boundary conditions in a very similar way to classical one‐dimensional algorithms. This should be expected to trigger a dependence of the number of boundary conditions on the direction of the flow at the boundaries. However, most computational codes based on alternate directions do not exhibit such sensitivity, which seems to contradict the theory of existence and uniqueness of the solution. The present paper addresses these issues. A Riemann solver is presented that aims to convert two‐dimensional Riemann problems into a one‐dimensional equivalent Riemann problem (ERP) at the interfaces between the computational cells. The ERP is derived by applying the theory of bicharacteristics at each end of the interface and by performing a linear averaging along the interface. The proposed approach is tested against the traditional one‐dimensional approach on the classical circular dambreak problem. The results show that the proposed solver allows the isotropy of the solution to be better preserved. Use of the two‐dimensional solver with a first‐order scheme may give better results than use of a second‐order scheme with a one‐dimensional solver. The theory of bicharacteristics is also used to discuss the issue of boundary conditions. It is shown that, when the flow is subcritical, the number of boundary conditions affects the accuracy of the solution, but not its existence and uniqueness. When only one boundary condition is to be prescribed, it should not be the velocity in the direction parallel to the boundary. When two boundary conditions are to be prescribed, at least one of them should involve the component of the velocity in the direction parallel to the boundary. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Balance Laws and Weak Boundary Conditions in Continuum Mechanics

A weak formulation of the stress boundary conditions in Continuum Mechanics is proposed. This condition has the form of a balance law, allows also singular measure data and is consistent with the regular case. An application to the Flamant solution in linear elasticity is shown.     

Exact solutions of semilinear radial wave equations in n dimensions

Exact solutions are derived for an n-dimensional radial wave equation with a general power nonlinearity. The method, which is applicable more generally to other nonlinear PDEs, involves an ansatz technique to solve a first-order PDE system of group-invariant variables given by group foliations of the wave equation, using the one-dimensional admitted point symmetry groups. (These groups comprise scalings and time translations, admitted for any nonlinearity power, in addition to space-time inversions admitted for a particular conformal nonlinearity power.) This is shown to yield not only group-invariant solutions as derived by standard symmetry reduction, but also other exact solutions of a more general form. In particular, solutions with interesting analytical behavior connected with blow-ups as well as static monopoles are obtained.