Numerical experiments on billiards

We investigate decay properties of correlation functions in a class of chaotic billiards. First we consider the statistics of Poincaré recurrences (induced by a partition of the billiard): the results are in agreement with theoretical bounds by Bunimovich, Sinai, and Bleher, and are consistent with a purely exponential decay of correlations out of marginality. We then turn to the analysis of the velocity-velocity correlation function: except for intermittent situations, the decay is purely exponential, and the decay rates scale in a simple way with the (uniform) curvature of the dispersing arcs. A power-law decay is instead observed when the system is equivalent to an infinite-horizon Lorentz gas. Comments are given on the behaviour of other types of correlation functions, whose decay, during the observed time scale, appears slower than exponential.     

The response of microstructure to processing in a series of poly(siloxaneimide) copolymers

Poly(siloxaneimide) (PSI) segmented copolymers exhibit organized microdomains if the blocks are sufficiently incompatible. As with neat diblock and triblock copolymers, the processing route employed to prepare films of PSI materials is expected to influence the dimensions and/or morphology of the resultant microstructure. In this work, small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) is utilized to characterize the disordered microstructure found in films of a series of PSI copolymers which are subjected to solvent casting and various thermal treatments. Microstructural dimensions such as the periodicity and correlation length are deduced from the Teubner-Strey (TS) model for disordered microemulsions. The scattering intensity of each copolymer up to q = 5.0 nm^?1, where q is the scattering vector, is found to scale as q^?2.8+?0.1. Results indicate that processing the materials as cast films or as melt-pressed films allowed to cool slowly has a small, but discernible, effect on microstructural characteristics. SANS profiles of films quenched from elevated temperatures reveal a clear transition in microdomain periodicity, which correlates well with the glass transition temperature of the imide microphase in these and other materials of similar chemical structure. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Notes on relativistic equations of spin motion

Grounds and applications of Bargmann-Michel-Telegdi equations for the precession of the polarization vector of relativistic particles are considered. A critical question in the discussion is the orientation of the rest frame reference vectors. Møller reference frames which keep constant the mutual orientation of the two infinitely close in time rest frames are shown to have a special role. The generally covariant form of the equations is discussed. The assertion that the principle of relativity is violated in the phenomenon of spin precession is proved to be untrue.     

A trajectory-following method for unconstrained optimization

A trajectory-following method with interesting properties is considered for solving unconstrained nonlinear programming problems. The trajectory is defined by a special system of ordinary differential equations. This system uses only the gradient of the objective function. Numerical examples are given.The work of the second author was supported by the DFG Schwerpunkt Anwendungs-bezogene Optimierung and Steuerung.     

Stochastic algorithms with armijo stepsizes for minimization of functions

Stochastic algorithms for optimization problems, where function evaluations are done by Monte Carlo simulations, are presented. At each iteratex _i, they draw a predetermined numbern(i) of sample points from an underlying probability space; based on these sample points, they compute a feasible-descent direction, an Armijo stepsize, and the next iteratex _i+1. For an appropriate optimality function , corresponding to an optimality condition, it is shown that, ifn(i) , then (x _i) 0, whereJ is a set of integers whose upper density is zero. First, convergence is shown for a general algorithm prototype: then, a steepest-descent algorithm for unconstrained problems and a feasible-direction algorithm for problems with inequality constraints are developed. A numerical example is supplied.     

The measure of a translated ball in uniformly convex spaces

Let (E, ¦·¦) be a uniformly convex Banach space with the modulus of uniform convexity of power type. Let be the convolution of the distribution of a random series inE with independent one-dimensional components and an arbitrary probability measure onE. Under some assumptions about the components and the smoothness of the norm we show that there exists a constant such that |{·<t}–{·+r<t}|r ^q , whereq depends on the properties of the norm. We specify it in the case ofL spaces, >1.     

Calculus I: The first derivative of pseudoisotopy theory

Let P be the (stable, smooth) pseudoisotopy space of the space X. For any map Y: YX of spaces, we identify the homotopy type of the fiber of P(f): P(f) P(f) in a stable range, roughly twice the connectivity of the map YX. We establish some language for discussing and manipulating such stable-range relative calculations for any homotopy functor. The theorem about P has a corollary about Waldhausen's A. Dedicated to Alexander GrothendieckResearch supported in part by NSF grant DMS-8806444 and by a Sloan Fellowship. Research at MSRI supported in part by NSF grant DMS-8505550.     

New general guidance method in constrained optimal control,part 2: Application to space shuttle guidance

The application and the performance of the neighboring optimal feedback scheme presented in Part 1 of this paper is demonstrated for the heating-constrained cross-range maximization problem of a space-shuttle-orbiter-type vehicle. This problem contains five state variables, two control variables, and a state variable inequality constraint of order zero.This research was supported in part by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft under the Schwerpunktprogramm Anwendungsbezogene Optimierung und Steuerung.The authors wish to express their sincere and grateful appreciation to Professor Roland Bulirsch who encouraged this work.     

水准折光及双波长激光效应

本文从“同温度层不完全平行于地面,且在变化”的“任意分层”假设出发,导出了水准折光修正公式,并利用光的色散效应在10~(-6)的精度要求下,求得r=r_T=h_1/h_2=(n_(01)-1)/(n_(02)-1)=常数最后指出,研制双波长激光水准仪的必要性和可能性,并提出了研制此种仪器的技术参数.     

How likely is Polya's drunkard to stay in x⩾ y⩾z?

In his celebrated paper, Polya has considered the random walk in the three-dimensional (cubic) lattice and showed that the probability of return to the origin is less than 1. Subsequent authors have shown that the probability is %34.053.... Here we consider the same random walk, with the restriction that the drunkard is only allowed to stay inxyz. It is shown that his probability of returning to the originand staying in the allowed region is %6.4844....