An efficient probabilistic algorithm is presented for the determination of the rate matrix of a block-GI/M/1 Markov chain. Recurrence of the chain is not assumed.

We extend an investigation into the bifurcation phenomena exhibited by an oxidation reaction in an adiabatic reactor to the case of a diabatic reactor. The primary bifurcation parameter is the fuel fraction; the inflow pressure and inflow temperature are the secondary bifurcation parameters. The inclusion of heat loss in the model does not change the static steady-state bifurcation diagram; the organising centre is a pitchfork singularity for both the adiabatic and diabatic reactors. However, unlike the adiabatic reactor, Hopf bifurcations may occur in the diabatic reactor. We construct the degenerate Hopf bifurcation curve by determining the double-Hopf locus. When the steady-state and degenerate Hopf bifurcation diagrams are combined it is found that there are 23 generic steady-state diagrams over the parameter region of interest. The implications of these structures from the perspective of flammability in the CSTR are discussed.

An analytical solution of a two-dimensional bow and stern flow model based on a flat ship theory is presented for the first time. The flat ship theory is a counterpart to Michell's thin ship theory and leads to a mixed initial-boundary value problem, which is usually difficult to solve analytically. Starting from the transient problem, we shall first show that a steady state is attainable at the large time limit. Then the steady problem is solved in detail by means of the Wiener-Hopf technique and closed-form far-field results are obtained for an arbitrary hull shape. Apart from providing a better understanding of the underlying physics, the newly found analytical solution has shed some light on solving a longtime outstanding problem in the engineering practice of ship building, the optimisation of hull shape.

We consider an age-structured population model achieved by modifying the classical Sharpe-Lotka-McKendrick model, incorporating an overcrowding effect or competition for resources term. This term depends on the whole population rather than on any specific age group, in the case of overcrowding or limitation of resources. We investigate the solutions for arbitrary initial conditions. We consider the existence of a steady age distribution and its stability and are able to determine this for a simple illustrative case. If the non-trivial steady age distribution is unstable, there is a critical initial population size beyond which the population explodes. This watershed is independent of the shape of the initial age distribution.

In this paper, we develop a discretisation algorithm with an adaptive scheme for solving a class of combined semi-infinite and semi-definite programming problems. We show that any sequence of points generated by the algorithm contains a convergent subsequence; and furthermore, each accumulation point is a local optimal solution of the combined semi-infinite and semi-definite programming problem. To illustrate the effectiveness of the algorithm, two specific classes of problems are solved. They are relaxations of quadratically constrained semi-infinite quadratic programming problems and semi-infinite eigenvalue problems.

The resolution of the identity formula for a localisation operator with two admissible wavelets on a separable and complex Hilbert space is given and the traces of these operators are computed.

Existence criteria are presented for nonlinear singular initial and boundary value problems. In particular our theory includes a problem arising in the theory of pseudoplastic fluids.

It is proved that the Neumann boundary value problem, which Mays and Norbury have recently connected with a certain fluid dynamics equation, has a positive solution for any positive value of a particular parameter. Uniform bounds for the solutions and symmetry on a given range of the parameter are also introduced. The proofs include Krasnoselskii's classical fixed-point theorem on cones of a Banach space and basic comparison techniques.

We consider the form of the probability density function for the ultimate muscle pH in slaughtered animals. Muscle pH in slaughtered animals is dependent on a biochemical process which forms lactic acid from the breakdown of glycogen stored in the muscle at slaughter. The relationship between glycogen and muscle pH after slaughter is expressed as a pair of coupled differential equations. The solution of this system for the equilibrium muscle pH as time → ∞ gives the form of the probability density for the ultimate muscle pH. When the initial density for the muscle glycogen is normal, the density for the ultimate muscle pH is shown to be approximately a mixed normal density.

Conservation laws for partial differential equations can be characterised by an operator, the characteristic and a condition involving the adjoint of the Fréchet derivatives of this operator and the operator defining the partial differential equation. This approach was developed by Anco and Bluman and we exploit it to derive conditions for second-order parabolic partial differential equations to admit conservation laws. We show that such partial differential equations admit conservation laws only if the time derivative appears in one of two ways. The adjoint condition, however, is a biconditional, and we use this to prove necessary and sufficient conditions for a certain class of partial differential equations to admit a conservation law.

A system of new integral equations is presented. They are derived from Maxwell's equations and describe radio-frequency (RF) current densities on a two-dimensional flat plate. The equations are generalisations of Pocklington's integral equation showing phase-retardation in two dimensions. These singular equations are solved, numerically, for the case of one-dimensional geometry. The solutions are shown to display effects which correspond to damped resonance when the wavelength of the current matches aspects of the geometry of the conductor.

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.

The BFGS formula is arguably the most well known and widely used update method for quasi-Newton algorithms. Some authors have claimed that updating approximate Hessian information via the BFGS formula with a Cholesky factorisation offers greater numerical stability than the more straightforward approach of performing the update directly. Other authors have claimed that no such advantage exists and that any such improvement is probably due to early implementations of the DFP formula in conjunction with low accuracy line searches.

This paper supports the claim that there is no discernible advantage in choosing factorised implementations (over non-factorised implementations) of BFGS methods when approximate Hessian information is available to full machine precision. However the results presented in this paper show that a factorisation strategy has clear advantages when approximate Hessian information is available only to limited precision. These results show that a conjugate directions factorisation outperforms the other methods considered in this paper (including Cholesky factorisation).

A method of sequential eigenfunction expansion is developed for a semi-linear parabolic equation. It allows the time-dependent coefficients of the eigenfunctions to be determined sequentially and iterated to reach convergence. At any stage, only a single ordinary differential equation needs to be considered, in contrast to the Galerkin method which requires the consideration of a system of equations. The method is applied to a central problemin combustion theory to provide a definitive answer to the question of the influence of the initial data in determining whether the solution is sub- or super-critical, in the case of multiple steady-state solutions. It is expected this method will prove useful in dealing with similar problems.

In this paper, we investigate minimal (weak) approximate Hessians, and completely answer the open questions raised by V. Jeyakumar and X. Q. Yang. As applications, we first give a generalised Taylor's expansion in terms of a minimal weak approximate Hessian. Then we characterise the convexity of a continuously Gâteaux differentiable function. Finally some necessary and sufficient optimality conditions are presented.

In this paper a constrained Chebyshev polynomial of the second kind with C1-continuity is proposed as an error function for degree reduction of Bézier curves with a C1-constraint at both endpoints. A sharp upper bound of the L∞ norm for a constrained Chebyshev polynomial of the second kind with C1-continuity can be obtained explicitly along with its coefficients, while those of the constrained Chebyshev polynomial which provides the best C1-constrained degree reduction are obtained numerically. The representations in closed form for the coefficients and the error bound are very useful to the users of Computer Graphics or CAD/CAM systems. Using the error bound in the closed form, a simple subdivision scheme for C1-constrained degree reduction within a given tolerance is presented. As an illustration, our method is applied to C1-constrained degree reduction of a plane Bézier curve, and the numerical result is compared visually to that of the best degree reduction method.

This paper gives a necessary and sufficient condition for a Kuhn-Tucker point of a non-smooth vector optimisation problem subject to inequality and equality constraints to be an efficient solution. The main tool we use is an alternative theorem which is quite different to a corresponding result by Xu.

This work is devoted to numerical studies of nearly optimal controls of systems driven by singularly perturbed Markov chains. Our approach is based on the ideas of hierarchical controls applicable to many large-scale systems. A discrete-time linear quadratic control problem is examined. Its corresponding limit system is derived. The associated asymptotic properties and near optimality are demonstrated by numerical examples. Numerical experiments for a continuous-time hybrid linear quadratic regulator with Gaussian disturbances and a discrete-time Markov decision process are also presented. The numerical results have not only supported our theoretical findings but also provided insights for further applications.

This paper investigates the effect of heat transfer on the motion of a spherical bubble in the vicinity of a rigid boundary. The effects of heat transfer between the bubble and the surrounding fluid, and the resulting loss of energy from the bubble, can be incorporated into the simple spherical bubble model with the addition of a single extra ordinary differential equation. The numerical results show that for a bubble close to an infiniterigid boundary there are significant differences in both the radius and Kelvin impulse of the bubble when the heat transfer effects are included.

The concept of nonautonomous (or cocycle) attractors has become a proper tool for the study of the asymptotic behaviour of general nonautonomous partial differential equations. This is a time-dependent family of compact sets, invariant for the associated process and attracting “from –∞”. In general, the concept is rather different to the classical global attractor for autonomous dynamical systems. We prove a general result on the finite fractal dimensionality of each compact set of this family. In this way, we generalise some previous results of Chepyzhov and Vishik. Our results are also applied to differential equations with a nonlinear term having polynomial growth at most.