We consider a Josephson junction system installed with a finite length inhomogeneity, either of micro-resistor or micro-resonator type. The system can be modelled by a sine-Gordon equation with a piecewise-constant function to represent the varying Josephson tunneling critical current. The existence of pinned fluxons depends on the length of the inhomogeneity, the variation in the Josephson tunneling critical current and the applied bias current. We establish that a system may either not be able to sustain a pinned fluxon, or – for instance by varying the length of the inhomogeneity – may exhibit various different types of pinned fluxons. Our stability analysis shows that changes of stability can only occur at critical points of the length of the inhomogeneity as a function of the (Hamiltonian) energy density inside the inhomogeneity – a relation we determine explicitly. In combination with continuation arguments and Sturm–Liouville theory, we determine the stability of all constructed pinned fluxons. It follows that if a given system is able to sustain at least one pinned fluxon, a microresistor has exactly one pinned fluxon, i.e. the system selects one unique pinned stable pinned configuration, and a microresonator has at least one stable pinned configuration. Moreover, it is shown that both for micro-resistors and micro-resonators this stable pinned configuration may be non-monotonic – something which is not possible in the homogeneous case. Finally, it is shown that results in the literature on localised inhomogeneities can be recovered as limits of our results on micro-resonators.

We present a new asymptotic formula for the maximum static voltage in a simplified model for on-chip power distribution networks of array bonded integrated circuits. In this model the voltage is the solution of the Poisson's equation in an infinite planar domain whose boundary is an array of circular pads of radius ϵ, and we deal with the singular limit ϵ → 0 case. In comparison with approximations that appear in the electronics engineering literature, our formula is more complete, since we have obtained terms up to order ϵ15. A procedure will be presented to compute all the successive terms, which can be interpreted by using multipole solutions of equations involving spatial derivatives of δ-functions. To deduce the formula, we use the method of matched asymptotic expansions. Our results are completely analytical and we make an extensive use of special functions and the Gauss constant G.

Schölte waves, waves bound to the interface between a fluid and an elastic half-space, are, for many material combinations, evanescent; as they propagate, they are damped due to radiation. A representation of the general evanescent Schölte wave is here obtained in terms of a solution to the membrane equation with complex speed, linked, at each instant, to a complex-valued harmonic function in a half-space. This derivation generalises one obtained recently for (non-evanescent) Rayleigh, Stoneley and Schölte waves. An alternative description is also obtained, in which the time-evolution of the normal displacement of the interface satisfies a first-order, complex-valued, non-local evolution equation. Amongst some explicit solutions obtained are decaying solutions allied to a general solution to the Helmholtz equation, and a solution closely related to a Gaussian beam. In the plane–strain case, the general Schölte wave splits into two disturbances, one right-travelling and one left-travelling, each being described at all times in terms of a harmonic function in a half-plane, decaying with depth yet having arbitrary boundary values. This representation highlights the dual elliptic–hyperbolic nature typical of guided waves and gives a surprisingly compact representation for the two-dimensional case.

This paper provides an algorithm for identifying the multipoles of a meromorphic function from the boundary measurements, which can be applied to inverse source problems for a Poisson equation to reconstruct its source such as linear combination of mono and dipolar point sources. After establishing an algorithm that allows to identify the number, the locations and the moments of poles, we provide a stability estimate of the algorithm under the measurement error.

Above the spinodal temperature for micro-phase separation in block co-polymers, asymmetric mixtures can exhibit random heterogeneous structure. This behaviour is similar to the sub-critical regime of many pattern-forming models. In particular, there is a rich set of localised patterns and associated dynamics. This paper clarifies the nature of the bifurcation diagram of localised solutions in a density functional model of A−B diblock mixtures. The existence of saddle-node bifurcations is described, which explains both the threshold for heterogeneous disordered behaviour as well the onset of pattern propagation. A procedure to generate more complex equilibria by attaching individual structures leads to an interwoven set of solution curves. This results in a global description of the bifurcation diagram from which dynamics, in particular self-replication behaviour, can be explained.