We give sufficient conditions for order-bounded convex operators to be generically differentiable (Gâteaux or Fréchet). When the range space is a countably order-complete Banach lattice, these conditions are also necessary. In particular, every order-bounded convex operator from an Asplund space into such a lattice is generically Fréchet differentiable, if and only if the lattice has weakly-compact order intervals, if and only if the lattice has strongly-exposed order intervals. Applications are given which indicate how such results relate to optimization theory.

Random networks were first used to model epidemic dynamics in the 1950s, but in the last decade it has been realized that scale-free networks more accurately represent the network structure of many real-world situations. Here we give an analytical and a Monte Carlo method for approximating the basic reproduction number ${R}_{0} $ of an infectious agent on a network. We investigate how final epidemic size depends on ${R}_{0} $ and on network density in random networks and in scale-free networks with a Pareto exponent of 3. Our results show that: (i) an epidemic on a random network has the same average final size as an epidemic in a well-mixed population with the same value of ${R}_{0} $; (ii) an epidemic on a scale-free network has a larger average final size than in an equivalent well-mixed population if ${R}_{0} \lt 1$, and a smaller average final size than in a well-mixed population if ${R}_{0} \gt 1$; (iii) an epidemic on a scale-free network spreads more rapidly than an epidemic on a random network or in a well-mixed population.

A class of optimal control models which involve different weightings in the integrand of the objective function is considered. The motivation for considering this class of problems is that this type of objective function is used to account for eccentric movement in biomechanical models. The computation of these optimal control problems using control parametrization directly is difficult, firstly because of ill-conditioning, and secondly because the objective function is not differentiable. A method for smoothing the integrand is presented with convergence results. An example is computed which shows favourable computational improvements.

In this paper, an efficient computation method is developed for solving a general class of minmax optimal control problems, where the minimum deviation from the violation of the continuous state inequality constraints is maximized. The constraint transcription method is used to construct a smooth approximate function for each of the continuous state inequality constraints. We then obtain an approximate optimal control problem with the integral of the summation of these smooth approximate functions as its cost function. A necessary condition and a sufficient condition are derived showing the relationship between the original problem and the smooth approximate problem. We then construct a violation function from the solution of the smooth approximate optimal control problem and the original continuous state inequality constraints in such a way that the optimal control of the minmax problem is equivalent to the largest root of the violation function, and hence can be solved by the bisection search method. The control parametrization and a time scaling transform are applied to these optimal control problems. We then consider two practical problems: the obstacle avoidance optimal control problem and the abort landing of an aircraft in a windshear downburst.

In this paper we introduce an impulsive control model of a rumour process. The spreaders are classified as subscriber spreaders, who receive an initial broadcast of a rumour and start spreading it, and nonsubscriber spreaders who change from being an ignorant to being a spreader after encountering a spreader. There are two consecutive broadcasts. The first starts the rumour process. The objective is to time the second broadcast so that the final proportion of ignorants is minimised. The second broadcast reactivates as spreaders either the subscriber stiflers (Scenario 1) or all individuals who have been spreaders (Scenario 2). It is shown that with either scenario the optimal time for the second broadcast is always when the proportion of spreaders drops to zero.

A five-dimensional deterministic model is proposed for the dynamics between HIV and another pathogen within a given population. The model exhibits four equilibria: a disease-free equilibrium, an HIV-free equilibrium, a pathogen-free equilibrium and a co-existence equilibrium. The existence and stability of these equilibria are investigated. A competitive finite-difference method is constructed for the solution of the non-linear model. The model predicts the optimal therapy level needed to eradicate both diseases.

This paper is devoted to the study of the solvability of certain one-and multidimensional Abel-type integral equations involving the Gauss hypergeometric function as their kernels in the space of summable functions. The multidimensional equations are considered over certain pyramidal domains and the results obtained are used to present the multidimensional pyramidal analogues of generalized fractional calculus operators and their properties.

In this paper we consider a projective connection as defined by the nth-order Adler-Gelfand-Dikii (AGD) operator on the circle. It is well-known that the Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) equation is the archetypal example of a scalar Lax equation defined by a Lax pair of scalar nth-order differential (AGD) operators. In this paper we derive (formally) the KdV equation as an evolution equation of the AGD operator (at least for n ≤ 4) under the action of Vect(S1). The solutions of the AGD operator define an immersion R → RPn−1 in homogeneous coordinates. In this paper we derive the Schwarzian KdV equation as an evolution of the solution curve associated with Δ(n), for n ≤ 4.

New exact solutions are presented for nonlinear diffusion and convection on a finite domain 0 ≤ z ≤ 1. These solutions are developed for the conditions of constant fluxes at both boundaries z = 0 and z = 1. In particular, solutions for the flux QL at the lower boundary z = 1, being a multiple of the flux Qs at the surface z = 0, (that is QL = aQs, where a = constant), are presented. Solutions for any constant, a, are given for an initial condition which is independent of space z. For the special cases (i) a = 1, and (ii) Qs = 0 and hence QL = 0, solutions are given for an initial condition which has an arbitrary dependence on z.

The freezing of water to ice is a classic problem in applied mathematics, involving the solution of a diffusion equation with a moving boundary. However, when the water is salty, the transport of salt rejected by ice introduces some interesting twists to the tale. A number of analytic models for the freezing of water are briefly reviewed, ranging from the famous work by Neumann and Stefan in the 1800s, to the mushy zone models coming out of Cambridge and Oxford since the 1980s. The successes and limitations of these models, and remaining modelling issues, are considered in the case of freezing sea-water in the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans. A new, simple model which includes turbulent transport of heat and salt between ice and ocean is introduced and solved analytically, in two different cases—one where turbulence is given by a constant friction velocity, and the other where turbulence is buoyancy-driven and hence depends on ice thickness. Salt is found to play an important role, lowering interface temperatures, increasing oceanic heat flux, and slowing ice growth.

The high Reynolds number flow past a circular cylinder with a trailing wake region is considered when the wake region is bounded and contains uniform vorticity. The formulation allows only for a single vortex pair trapped behind the cylinder, but calculates solutions over a range of values of vorticity. The separation point and length of the region are determined as outputs. It was found that using this numerical method there is an upper bound on the vorticity for which solutions can be calculated for a given arclength of the cavity. In some cases with shorter cavities, the limiting solutions coincide with the formation of a stagnation point in the outer flow at both separation from the cylinder and reattachment at the end of the cavity.

When optical fibres are made by first constructing optical-fibre preforms, the fibre which is pulled from the heated preform is simply a scaled down version of the original preform structure. The expansion coefficient profile α(r) of the preform, which relates directly to the fabrication variables, can be determined from non-destructive optical retardation measurements δ(r) performed on the preform. In addition, the residual elastic stress distributions in a fabricated preform, which can be used to compare different fabrication procedures, have simple definitions as linear functionals of the expansion coefficients α(r). Thus, through the use of optical retardation data, an examination of different manufacturing procedures for preform fabrication is reduced to a problem in non-destructive manufacturing procedures for preform fabrication is reduced to a problem in non-destructive testing and analysis. The underlying numerical problem of evaluating the stres distributions reduces to solving and Abel-type integral equation for α(r), which involves an indeterminacy, followed by the evaluation of linear functionals defined on α(r). It is shown how the known inversion formulae for the Abel-type integral equation can be used formally to reduce the numerical problem of evaluating the radial stress to the evaluation of a linear functional defined on the data δ(r) which bypasses the indeterminacy. When only the radial stress is required, the problem of actually solving the Abel-type integral equation is avoided. Methods for evaluating the non-radial stresses, which avoid the indeterminacy, are also derived.

This paper gives a numerical method for estimating the Hausdorff-Besicovitch dimension where this differs from the fractal (or capacity or box-counting) dimension. The method has been implemented, and numerical results obtained for the set {1/n | n ∈ N} and the Cantor set. Comments about the practical use of the estimation algorithms are made.

This paper is concerned with the initial boundary value problem of a class of nonlinear wave equations and reaction–diffusion equations with several nonlinear source terms of different signs. For the initial boundary value problem of the nonlinear wave equations, we derive a blow up result for certain initial data with arbitrary positive initial energy. For the initial boundary value problem of the nonlinear reaction–diffusion equations, we discuss some probabilities of the existence and nonexistence of global solutions and give some sufficient conditions for the global and nonglobal existence of solutions at high initial energy level by employing the comparison principle and variational methods.

We investigate the dynamics of a susceptible infected recovered (SIR) epidemic model on small networks with different topologies, as a stepping stone to determining how the structure of a contact network impacts the transmission of infection through a population. For an SIR model on a network of $N$ nodes, there are $3^{N}$ configurations that the network can be in. To simplify the analysis, we group the states together based on the number of nodes in each infection state and the symmetries of the network. We derive analytical expressions for the final epidemic size of an SIR model on small networks composed of three or four nodes with different topological structures. Differential equations which describe the transition of the network between states are also derived and solved numerically to confirm our analysis. A stochastic SIR model is numerically simulated on each of the small networks with the same initial conditions and infection parameters to confirm our results independently. We show that the structure of the network, degree of the initial infectious node, number of initial infectious nodes and the transmission rate all significantly impact the final epidemic size of an SIR model on small networks.

In this paper we consider two spectral refinement schemes, elementary and double iteration, for the approximation of eigenelements of a compact operator using a new approximating operator. We show that the new method performs better than the Galerkin, projection and Sloan methods. We obtain precise orders of convergence for the approximation of eigenelements of an integral operator with a smooth kernel using either the orthogonal projection onto a spline space or the interpolatory projection at Gauss points onto a discontinuous piecewise polynomial space. We show that in the double iteration scheme the error for the eigenvalue iterates using the new method is of the order of , where h is the mesh of the partition and k = 0, 1, 2,… denotes the step of the iteration. This order of convergence is to be compared with the orders in the Galerkin and projection methods and in the Sloan method. The error in eigenvector iterates is shown to be of the order of in the new method, in the Galerkin and projection methods and in the Sloan method. Similar improvement is observed in the case of the elementary iteration. We show that these orders of convergence are preserved in the corresponding discrete methods obtained by replacing the integration by a numerical quadrature formula. We illustrate this improvement in the order of convergence by numerical examples.

The local properties of non-linear differential-difference equations are investigated by considering the location of the roots of the eigen-equation derived from the lineraised approximation of the original model. A general linear system incorporating one time delay is considered and local stability results are obtained for cases in which the coefficient matrices satisfy certain assumptions. The results have applications to recent Biological and Economic models incorporating time lags.

A quasi-trapezoid inequality is derived for double integrals that strengthens considerably existing results. A consonant version of the Grüss inequality is also derived. Applications are made to cubature formulæ and the error variance of a stationary variogram.

This paper is concerned with the injection moulding process, in which hot molten plastic is injected under high pressure into a thin cold mould. Assuming that the velocity and temperature profiles across the mould maintain their shape, a simple steady state model to describe the behaviour of a Newtonian fluid during the filling stage is developed. Various phenomena of the process are examined, including the formation of a layer of solid plastic along the walls of the mould, and the relationship between the flux of liquid plastic through the mould and the average pressure gradient along the mould. In any given situation, it is shown that there is a range of pressures and injection temperatures which will give satisfactory results.

The problem of determining a square integrable function from its modulus and that of its Fourier transform has been considered in an article by Corbett and Hurst ([1]). In this work we point out an error in one of the main results of the cited article concerning the Pauli uniqueness of real states, provide a proof of uniqueness for non-negative states, and present various related examples and discussion of the problem.