We study the stochastic effect of resource exploration in dynamic Cournot models of exhaustible resources, such as oil. We firstly treat the case of a monopolist who may undertake costly exploration to replenish his diminishing reserves. We then consider a stochastic game between such an exhaustible producer and a ‘green’ producer that has access to an inexhaustible but relatively expensive source, such as solar power. The effort control variable is taken to be either continuous or discrete (switching control). In both settings, we assume that new discoveries occur according to a jump process with intensity given by the exploration effort. This leads to a study of systems of non-linear first-order delay ordinary differential equations (ODEs). We derive asymptotic expansions for the case of a small-exploration success rate and present some numerical investigations.

Secondary flows consisting of two pairs of vortices arise when two fluid streams meet at a confluence, such as in the airways of the human lung during expiration or at the vertebrobasilar junction in the circulatory system, where the left and right vertebral arteries converge. In this paper the decay of these secondary flows is studied by considering a four-vortex perturbation from Poiseuille flow in a straight, three-dimensional pipe. A polynomial eigenvalue problem is formulated and the exact solution for the zero Reynolds number R is derived analytically. This solution is then extended by perturbation analysis to produce an approximation to the eigenvalues for R ≪ 1. The problem is also solved numerically for 0 ≤ R ≤ 2,000 by a spectral method, and the stability of the computed eigenvalues is analysed using pseudospectra. For all Reynolds numbers, the decay rate of the swirling perturbation is found to be governed by complex eigenvalues, with the secondary flows decaying more slowly as R increases. A comparison with results from an existing computational study of merging flows shows that the two models give rise to similar secondary flow decay rates.

In this paper, we will show how to obtain asymptotic solutions for the problem of pricing Asian options. Under the assumption that the underlying follows geometric Brownian motion, we will derive Taylor expansion series for the fixed and floating strike Asian options. While there will be no analytical formulae for calculating expansion coefficients, we will provide relatively simple algorithms for calculating them. The methodology is particularly effective for the case of continuously sampled fixed-strike Asian calls where it takes only seconds to obtain constants for the Taylor expansion series that can converge beyond 10 significant digits. It is needless to say that we need to calculate Taylor expansion constants only once and the option price would be an analytical expression constructed from a cumulative normal distribution function, an exponential function and finite sums.

We develop a theory to represent dislocations and disclinations in single crystals at the continuum (or mesoscopic) scale by directly modelling the defect densities as concentrated effects governed by the distribution theory. The displacement and rotation multi-valuedness is resolved by introducing the intrinsic and single-valued Frank and Burgers tensors from the distributional gradients of the strain field. Our approach provides a new understanding of the theory of line defects as developed by Kröner [10] and other authors [6, 9]. The fundamental identity relating the incompatibility tensor to the Frank and Burgers vectors (and which is a cornerstone of the theory of dislocations in single crystals) is proved in the 2D case under appropriate assumptions on the strain and strain curl growth in the vicinity of the assumed isolated defect lines. In general, our theory provides a rigorous framework for the treatment of crystal line defects at the mesoscopic scale and a basis to strengthen the theory of homogenisation from mesoscopic to macroscopic scale.