Some geometrical aspects of semidefinite linear complementarity problems

This article studies some geometrical aspects of the semidefinite linear complementarity problem (SDLCP), which can be viewed as a generalization of the well-known linear complementarity problem (LCP). SDLCP is a special case of a complementarity problem over a closed convex cone, where the cone considered is the closed convex cone of positive semidefinite matrices. It arises naturally in the unified formulation of a pair of primal-dual semidefinite programming problems. In this article, we introduce the notion of complementary cones in the semidefinite setting using the faces of the cone of positive semidefinite matrices and show that unlike complementary cones induced by an LCP, semidefinite complementary cones need not be closed. However, under R₀-property of the linear transformation, closedness of all the semidefinite complementary cones induced by L is ensured. We also introduce the notion of a principal subtransformation with respect to a face of the cone of positive semidefinite matrices and show that for a self-adjoint linear transformation, strict copositivity is equivalent to strict semimonotonicity of each principal subtransformation. Besides the above, various other solution properties of SDLCP will be interpreted and studied geometrically.     

Coupled Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical and Chemical Analysis of Expansive Clay Subjected to Heating and Hydration

A fully coupled formulation combining reactive transport and an existing thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) code is presented. Special attention has been given to phenomena likely to be encountered in clay barriers used as part of containment systems of nuclear waste. The types of processes considered include hydrolysis, complex formation, oxidation/reduction reactions, acid/base reactions, precipitation/dissolution of minerals and cation exchange. Both kinetically-controlled and equilibrium-controlled reactions have been incorporated. The total analytical concentrations (including precipitated minerals) are adopted as basic transport variables and chemical equilibrium is achieved by minimizing Gibbs Free Energy. The formulation has been incorporated in a general purpose computer code capable of performing numerical analysis of engineering problems. A validation exercise concerning a laboratory experiment involving the heating and hydration of an expansive compacted clay is described.     

Numerical solution of the linear inverse problem for the Euler-Darboux equation

An inverse problem of the reconstruction of the right-hand side of the Euler-Darboux equation is studied. This problem is equivalent to the Volterra integral equation of the third kind with the operator of multiplication by a smooth nonincreasing function. Numerical solution of this problem is constructed using an integral representation of the solution of the inverse problem, the regularization method, and the method of quadratures. The convergence and stability of the numerical method is proved.     

Integrability of det▽u and Evolutionary Wente''s Problem Associated to Heat Operator

In this note, the authors resolve an evolutionary Wente's problem associated to heat equation, where the special integrability of det▽u for u ∈ H1(R2,R2) is used.     

Error estimate for the approximation of nonlinear conservation laws on bounded domains by the finite volume method

In this paper we derive a priori and a posteriori error estimates for cell centered finite volume approximations of nonlinear conservation laws on polygonal bounded domains. Numerical experiments show the applicability of the a posteriori result for the derivation of local adaptive solution strategies.

     

ISLAND, revisited

This paper is in answer to the comment on the GRG paper: Lockerbie N.A. Gen. Rel. Grav. 36, 593 (2004), made by A.V. Sanders, G.T. Gillies (ibid.). N. A. Lockerbie is a member of the STEP (Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle) Science Study Team, and an Associate of the Institute for Gravitational Research at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK.     

Existence of a solution for a Signorini contact problem for Maxwell-Norton materials

The aim of this article is to study the quasistatic evolutionof a Maxwell–Norton three-dimensional viscoelastic solidwith contact constraints. After introducing the appropiate functionalframework, we will discretize the problem in time using an implicitscheme whose resultant variational inequality is well posed.By using monotonicity arguments together with compensated compactnesstechniques, we will prove that the corresponding discrete solutionconverges to a solution of the continuous problem.     

Characterization of spherical particles using high-order neural networks and scanning flow cytometry

We retrieve the radius R, real n and imaginary k parts of the refractive index of homogeneous spherical particles using angular distribution of the light-scattering intensity. To solve the inverse light-scattering problem we use a high-order neural-network technique. The effect of network parameters on optimization is examined. The technique is evaluated for noise-corrupted input data at 0.6 μm<R<10.6 μm, 1.02<n<1.38, and 0<k<0.03. The errors of retrieval for nonabsorbing particles do not exceed 0.05 μm for radius and 0.015 for refractive index. The experimental verification is fulfilled by experimental data retrieved by means of a scanning flow cytometer. The light-scattering profiles of polystyrene beads and spherized red blood cells are processed with the high-order neural networks and a non-linear regression at Mie theory. The parameters retrieved by the high-order neural networks correlate well with the parameters retrieved by the least-square method.     

Parking Capacity and Pricing in Park'n Ride Trips: A Continuous Equilibrium Network Design Problem

In this paper we consider the problem of designing parking facilities for park'n ride trips. We present a new continuous equilibrium network design problem to decide the capacity and fare of these parking lots at a tactical level. We assume that the parking facilities have already been located and other topological decisions have already been taken.The modeling approach proposed is mathematical programming with equilibrium constraints. In the outer optimization problem, a central Authority evaluates the performance of the transport network for each network design decision. In the inner problem a multimodal traffic assignment with combined modes, formulated as a variational inequality problem, generates the share demand for modes of transportation, and for parking facilities as a function of the design variables of the parking lots. The objective is to make optimal parking investment and pricing decisions in order to minimize the total travel cost in a subnetwork of the multimodal transportation system.We present a new development in model formulation based on the use of generalized parking link cost as a design variable.The bilevel model is solved by a simulated annealing algorithm applied to the continuous and non-negative design decision variables. Numerical tests are reported in order to illustrate the use of the model, and the ability of the approach to solve applications of moderate size.     

A simple solution of the van der Waerden permanent problem

The van der Waerden permanent problem was solved using mainly algebraic methods. A much simpler analytic proof is given using a new concept in optimization theory which may be of importance in the general theory of mathematical programming.