Existence of piecewise optimal control is proved when the cost function includes one or both of (a) a cost of sudden switching (discontinuity) of control variables, and (b) a cost associated with the maximum rate of variation of the control over segments of the path for which the control is continuous.

The spectral function , where are the eigenvalues of the two-dimensional Laplacian, is studied for a variety of domains. The dependence of θ(t) on the connectivity of a domain and the impedance boundary conditions is analysed. Particular attention is given to a doubly-connected region together with the impedance boundary conditions on its boundaries.

We consider a generalised symmetric eigenvalue problem Ax = λMx, where A and M are real n by n symmetric matrices such that M is positive semidefinite. The purpose of this paper is to develop an algorithm based on the homotopy methods in [9, 11] to compute all eigenpairs, or a specified number of eigenvalues, in any part of the spectrum of the eigenvalue problem Ax = λMx. We obtain a special Kronecker structure of the pencil A − λM, and give an algorithm to compute the number of eigenvalues in a prescribed interval. With this information, we can locate the lost eigenpair by using the homotopy algorithm when multiple arrivals occur. The homotopy maintains the structures of the matrices A and M (if any), and the homotopy curves are n disjoint smooth curves. This method can be used to find all/some isolated eigenpairs for large sparse A and M on SIMD machines.

We consider a single server queueing system where each customer visits the queue a fixed number of times before departure. A customer on his j th visit to the queue is defined to be a class-j -customer. We obtain the joint probability generating function for the number of class-j-customers and also obtain the Laplace-Stieltjes transform for the total response time of a customer.

In two dimensions it is found that the most general autonomous Hamiltonian possessing a Laplace-Runge-Lenz vector is The Poisson bracket of the two components of this vector leads to a third first-integral, cubic in the momenta. The Lie algebra of the three integrals under the operation of the Poisson bracket closes, and is shown to be so(3) for negative energy and so(2, 1) for positive energy. In the case of zero energy, the algebra is W(3, 1). The result does not have a three-dimensional analogue, apart from the usual Kepler problem.

The hyper-Wiener index of a connected graph G is defined as , where V (G) is the set of all vertices of G and d(u,v) is the distance between the vertices u,v∈V (G). In this paper we find an exact expression for the hyper-Wiener index of TUHC6[2p,q], the zigzag polyhex nanotube.

A pair of multi-objective programming problems is shown to be symmetric dual by associating a vector-valued infinite game to the given pair. This symmetric dual pair seems to be more general than those studied in the literature.

This paper deals with the study of a general class of nonlinear variational inequalities. An existence result is given, and a perturbed iterative scheme is analyzed for solving such problems.

This is a review of progress made since [R. McKibbin, “An attempt at modelling hydrothermal eruptions”, Proc. 11th New Zealand Geothermal Workshop 1989 (University of Auckland, 1989), 267–273] began development of a mathematical model for progressive hydrothermal eruptions (as distinct from “blasts”). Early work concentrated on modelling the underground process, while lately some attempts have been made to model the eruption jet and the flight and deposit of ejected material. Conceptually, the model is that of a boiling and expanding two-phase fluid rising through porous rock near the ground surface, with a vertical high-speed jet, dominated volumetrically by the gas phase, ejecting rock particles that are then deposited on the ground near the eruption site. Field observations of eruptions in progress and experimental results from a laboratory-sized model have confirmed the conceptual model. The quantitative models for all parts of the process are based on the fundamental conservation equations of motion and thermodynamics, using a continuum approximation for each of the components.

The present paper presents a ray analysis for a problem of technical importance in fragmentation studies. The problem is that of suddenly punching a circular hole in either isotropic or transversely isotropic plates subjected to a uniaxial tension field. The ray method, which involves only differentiation, integration, and simple algebra, is shown to be particularly useful in clarifying the propagation process of the resulting unloading waves and obtaining the attendant discontinuities of the various quantities involved. Numerical results obtained from the ray analysis are presented in graphical form and compared with those obtained by more elaborate schemes.

In this paper a bridging method is introduced for numerical solutions of one-dimensional global optimization problems where a continuously differentiable function is to be minimized over a finite interval which can be given either explicitly or by constraints involving continuously differentiable functions. The concept of a bridged function is introduced. Some properties of the bridged function are given. On this basis, several bridging algorithm are developed for the computation of global optimal solutions. The algorithms are demonstrated by solving several numerical examples.

The problem of reflection and refraction of elastic waves due to an incident quasi-primary $(qP)$ wave at a plane interface between two dissimilar nematic elastomer half-spaces has been investigated. The expressions for the phase velocities corresponding to primary and secondary waves are given. It is observed that these phase velocities depend on the angle of propagation of the elastic waves. The reflection and refraction coefficients corresponding to the reflected and refracted waves, respectively, are derived by using appropriate boundary conditions. The energy transmission of the reflected and refracted waves is obtained, and the energy ratios and the reflection and refraction coefficients are computed numerically.

Consider a density-dependent birth-death process XN on a finite state space of size N. Let PN be the law (on D([0, T]) where T > 0 is arbitrary) of the density process XN/N and let πN be the unique stationary distribution (on[0,1]) of XN/N, if it exists. Typically, these distributions converge weakly to a degenerate distribution as N → ∞ so the probability of sets not containing the degenerate point will tend to 0; large deviations is concerned with obtaining the exponential decay rate of these probabilities. Friedlin-Wentzel theory is used to establish the large deviations behaviour (as N → ∞) of PN. In the one-dimensional case, a large deviations principle for the stationary distribution πN is obtained by elementary explicit computations. However, when the birth-death process has an absorbing state at 0 (so πN no longer exists), the same elementary computations are still applicable to the quasi-stationary distribution, and we show that the quasi-stationary distributions obey the same large deviations principle as in the recurrent case. In addition, we address some questions related to the estimated time to absorption and obtain a large deviations principle for the invariant distribution in higher dimensions by studying a quasi-potential.

A class of non-standard optimal control problems is considered. The non-standard feature of these optimal control problems is that they are of neither fixed final time nor of fixed final state. A method of solution is devised which employs a computational algorithm based on control parametrization techniques. The method is applied to the problem of maximizing the range of an aircraft-like gliding projectile with angle of attack control.

This paper is concerned with constructing polynomial solutions to ordinary boundary value problems. A semi-analytic technique using two-point Hermite interpolation is compared with conventional methods via a series of examples and is shown to be generally superior, particularly for problems involving nonlinear equations and/or boundary conditions.

We introduce assumptions in input optimisation that simplify the necessary conditions for an optimal input. These assumptions, in the context of nonlinear programming, give rise to conceptually new kinds of constraint qualifications.

In this paper, we consider the system governed via the coefficients of a semilinear elliptic equation and give the necessary conditions for optimal control. Furthermore, we obtain the necessary conditions for an optimal domain in a domain optimization problem.

Certain well known results on linear programming duality and matrix game equivalence are extended to nonlinear and fractional programming problems.

The combustion of a material can be modelled by two coupled parabolic partial differential equations for the temperature and concentration of the material. This paper deals with properties of the solution of these equations inside a cylinder or a sphere and under given initial conditions. Bounds for the variation of the temperature with the initial conditions are first established by considering a decoupled form of the equations. Then the coupled system is used to obtain approximate expressions for the temporal evolution of temperature and concentration.

A finite element Galerkin method for a diffusion equation with constrained energy and nonlinear boundary condition is analysed and optimal error estimates in L2 and L∞-norms are derived. These results improve upon previously derived estimates by Cannon et al. [4].