THE HOPF BIFURCATION OF QUADRATIC SYSTEM (I)_(n=0)

δlm is the parameter space of quadratic system (I)n=0. A partition of parameters corresponding to the existence and nonexistence of the limit cycle of the system is given in detail. The Hopf bifurcation surfaces of (I)m=0 are obtained, and the sketch of Hopf bifurcation surfaces of (I)n=0 are drawn.     

Permanence in Nonautonomous Predator-prey Lotka-Volterra Systems

In this paper some easily verifiable sufficient conditions on the permanence of solutions for general nonautonomous two-species predator-prey model are established. These new criteria improve and extend the results given by Ma, Wang, Teng and Teng, Yu.     

Optimal Harvesting and Stability for a Predator-prey System with Stage Structure

The dynamics of a predator-prey system, where prey population has two stages, an immature stage and a mature stage with harvesting, the growth of predator population is of Lotka-Volterra nature, are modelled by a system of retarded functional differential equations. We obtain conditions for global asymptotic stability of three nonnegative equilibria and a threshold of harvesting for the mature prey population. The effect of delay on the population at positive equilibrium and the optimal harvesting of the mature prey population are also considered.     

Optimum Discarding in a Bufferless System

This paper considers queueing systems without buffer. The problem is finding an optimum discipline that gives the minimal number of request discards in a given interval or the minimum discard probability. In the case of a single server fed by an arbitrary request input flow, it is proved that the discipline that discards the request having the maximum residual life is optimal. This result is extended to the system with more than one server. For G/G/1/0, it is given a condition under which the discipline that discards the request in service minimizes the discard probability. Also for a G/G/1/0, we state the problem of finding optimum discipline in terms of the discrete age Markov chain. The problem of minimization of one-step discard probability is stated. It is solved for a system with C servers and general point process of new arrivals.     

Finite Element Solution of Conical Diffraction Problems

This paper is devoted to the numerical study of diffraction by periodic structures of plane waves under oblique incidence. For this situation Maxwell's equations can be reduced to a system of two Helmholtz equations in R ² coupled via quasiperiodic transmission conditions on the piecewise smooth interfaces between different materials. The numerical analysis is based on a strongly elliptic variational formulation of the differential problem in a bounded periodic cell involving nonlocal boundary operators. We obtain existence and uniqueness results for discrete solutions and provide the corresponding error analysis.     

Vector Lattices on a Set of Two Generators

It is proved that the center of an automorphism group Aut(FVL2) of a free vector lattice FVL2 on a set of two free generators is isomorphic to a multiplicative group of positive reals. It is shown that the free vector lattice FVL2 has an isomorphic representation by continuous piecewise linear functions of the real line; as a consequence, the ideal lattice and the root system for rectifying ideals in FVL2 are amply described. Similar results are obtained for a free vector lattice FVL2 _Q 2 generated by two elements over a field of rational numbers.     

Calibrating software reliability models when the test environment does not match the user environment

Software failures have become the major factor that brings the system down or causes a degradation in the quality of service. For many applications, estimating the software failure rate from a user's perspective helps the development team evaluate the reliability of the software and determine the release time properly. Traditionally, software reliability growth models are applied to system test data with the hope of estimating the software failure rate in the field. Given the aggressive nature by which the software is exercised during system test, as well as unavoidable differences between the test environment and the field environment, the resulting estimate of the failure rate will not typically reflect the user‐perceived failure rate in the field. The goal of this work is to quantify the mismatch between the system test environment and the field environment. A calibration factor is proposed to map the failure rate estimated from the system test data to the failure rate that will be observed in the field. Non‐homogeneous Poisson process models are utilized to estimate the software failure rate in both the system test phase and the field. For projects that have only system test data, use of the calibration factor provides an estimate of the field failure rate that would otherwise be unavailable. For projects that have both system test data and previous field data, the calibration factor can be explicitly evaluated and used to estimate the field failure rate of future releases as their system test data becomes available. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

About embedded eigenvalues for a spectral problem arising in the study of elastic surface waves in a topographical waveguide

In this paper, we are interested with the spectral study of an operator given by an elastic topographical waveguide, a deformed half‐space, of which the cross‐section is a local perturbation of a homogeneous half‐plane. We look for guided waves propagating more rapidly than Rayleigh waves (which mathematically would correspond to embedded eigenvalues) and prove that there are no guided waves propagating more rapidly than S‐waves. Thanks to the boundary of the deformed half‐plane and some reduced equations, these eventual eigenmodes must locally vanish. Adapting to our case a unique continuation principle for the elasticity system, we conclude that these eigenmodes vanish everywhere. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cauchy Problem for General Rst Order Inhomogeneous Quasilinear Hyperbolic Systems

In this paper, we consider Cauchy problem for general first order inho- mogeneous quasilinear strictly hyperbolic systems. Under the matching condition, we first give an estimate on inhomogeneous terms. By this estimate, we obtain the asymptotic behaviour for the life-span of C¹ solutions with “slowly” decaying and small initial data and prove that the formation of singularity is due to the envelope of characteristics of the same family.     

Asymptotic and Spectral Analysis of the Spatially Nonhomogeneous Timoshenko Beam Model

We develop spectral and asymptotic analysis for a class of nonselfadjoint operators which are the dynamics generators for the systems governed by the equations of the spatially nonhomogeneous Timoshenko beam model with a 2–parameter family of dissipative boundary conditions. Our results split into two groups. We prove asymptotic formulas for the spectra of the aforementioned operators (the spectrum of each operator consists of two branches of discrete complex eigenvalues and each branch has only two points of accumulation: +∞ and —∞), and for their generalized eigenvectors. Our second main result is the fact that these operators are Riesz spectral. To obtain this result, we prove that the systems of generalized eigenvectors form Riesz bases in the corresponding energy spaces. We also obtain the asymptotics of the spectra and the eigenfunctions for the nonselfadjoint polynomial operator pencils associated with these operators. The pencil asymptotics are essential for the proofs of the spectral results for the aforementioned dynamics generators.