Stability Properties of Feynman's Operational Calculus for Exponential Functions of Noncommuting Operators

Stability properties of Feynman's operational calculus are addressed in the setting of exponential functions of noncommuting operators. Applications of some of the stability results are presented. In particular, the time-dependent perturbation theory of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics is presented in the setting of the operational calculus and application of the stability results of this paper to the perturbation theory are discussed.     

Degenerate nonlinear hyperbolic conservation laws: Non classical geometrical theory

Kinetic selection principles have been shown to be useful and physically reasonable in nonlinear hyperbolic problems with large amplitude phase transitions. We refer to Abeyaratne and Knowles, [A-K], for discussion on the subject. They also have been used for degenerate nonlinear problems, where the genuine nonlinearity property of Lax is violated. This is the framework of Liu, [Li], in the kinetic situation of Hayes and Le Floch, [H-L], where their so-called non classical shocks may be seen as small amplitude phase transitions. Here, we describe the local geometry generated by the generic non genuinely nonlinear assumption. A geometric kinetic criterion can be used to select indeterminate simple waves and obtain the well-posedness of the local Riemann problem. A particular case is the entropic kinetic criterion of Hayes and Le Floch.

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Sunto Principi di selezione cinetica sono stati mostrati utili e fisicamente ragionevoli in problemi iperbolici con transizioni di fase di grande ampiezza. Ci riferiamo ad Abeyaratne e Knowles, [A-K], per discussioni sull'argomento. Detti principi sono stati usati per problemi nonlineari degeneri, dove la proprietà di genuina nonlinearità di Lax è violata. Questo è la prospettiva di Liu, [Li], nella situazione cinetica di Hayes e Le Floch, [H-L], dove i loro così detti urti non classici possono essere considerati come transizioni di fase di piccola ampiezza. Qui, descriviamo la geometria locale generata dall'ipotesi generica genuinamente nonlineare. Un criterio di geometria cinetica può essere usato per selezionare onde semplici indeterminate ed ottenere la buona posizione per il problema locale di Riemann. Un caso particolare è il criterio di entropia cinetico di Hayes e Le Floc.

     

Strengthened semidefinite programming bounds for codes

We give a hierarchy of semidefinite upper bounds for the maximum size A(n,d) of a binary code of word length n and minimum distance at least d. At any fixed stage in the hierarchy, the bound can be computed (to an arbitrary precision) in time polynomial in n; this is based on a result of de Klerk et al. (Math Program, 2006) about the regular ∗-representation for matrix ∗-algebras. The Delsarte bound for A(n,d) is the first bound in the hierarchy, and the new bound of Schrijver (IEEE Trans. Inform. Theory 51:2859–2866, 2005) is located between the first and second bounds in the hierarchy. While computing the second bound involves a semidefinite program with O(n ⁷) variables and thus seems out of reach for interesting values of n, Schrijver’s bound can be computed via a semidefinite program of size O(n ³), a result which uses the explicit block-diagonalization of the Terwilliger algebra. We propose two strengthenings of Schrijver’s bound with the same computational complexity. Supported by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research grant NWO 639.032.203.     

Redefining Event Variables for Efficient Modeling of Continuous-Time Batch Processing

We define events so as to reduce the number of events and decision variables needed for modeling batch-scheduling problems such as described in [15]. We propose a new MILP formulation based on this concept, defining non-uniform time periods as needed and decision variables that are not time-indexed. It can handle complicated multi-product/multi-stage machine processes, with production lines merging and diverging, and with minimum and maximum batch sizes. We compare it with earlier models and show that it can solve problems with small to medium demands relative to batch sizes in reasonable computer times.     

Connections between semidefinite relaxations of the max-cut and stable set problems

We describe links between a recently introduced semidefinite relaxation for the max-cut problem and the well known semidefinite relaxation for the stable set problem underlying the Lovász’s theta function. It turns out that the connection between the convex bodies defining the semidefinite relaxations mimics the connection existing between the corresponding polyhedra. We also show how the semidefinite relaxations can be combined with the classical linear relaxations in order to obtain tighter relaxations. This work was done while the author visited CWI, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Svata Poljak untimely deceased in April 1995. We shall both miss Svata very much. Svata was an excellent colleague, from whom we learned a lot of mathematics and with whom working was always a very enjoyable experience; above all, Svata was a very nice person and a close friend of us. The research was partly done while the author visited CWI, Amsterdam, in October 1994 with a grant fom the Stieltjes Institute, whose support is gratefully acknowledged. Partially supported also by GACR 0519. Research support by Christian Doppler Laboratorium für Diskrete Optimierung.     

ALTERATIONS OF PROTEOGLYCANS IN ULTRAVIOLET-IRRADIATED SKIN

Abstract— The effect of UVB exposure on the distribution and synthesis of dermal proteoglycans was measured in the skin of hairless mice. Two groups of mice were included: one was irradiated for 10 weeks; the other was kept as control. After intraperitoneal injection of sodium ³⁵S-sulfate, punch biopsies were taken for histology and proteoglycans were extracted from the remaining skin with 4 M guanidinium chloride, containing 3–[(3-cholamidopropyl)dimethylammonio]-1-propanesulfonate (0.5%, weight per volume). Following proteolytic digestion, the glycosaminoglycan constituents were isolated and analyzed by quantitative cellulose acetate electrophoresis and enzymatic digestibility.
Under the influence of UVB radiation, newly synthesized proteoglycans measured by ³⁵SO₄ uptake increased as much as 60%. In addition, the irradiated skin had a higher average content of proteoglycan than had control skin (4981 μg vs 4134 μg/g dry weight). This could be ascribed to an increase in heparin (1400 vs 533 μ g/g dry weight) and heparan sulfate (472 vs 367 μg/g dry weight), whereas no change in the concentration of hyaluronic acid (1243 vs 1372 μg/g dry weight) and dermatan sulfate (1866 vs 1863 μg/g dry weight) was observed. The irradiated animals also exhibited a marked increase in the synthesis of heparan sulfate and heparin (62% and 71%, respectively). These results demonstrate that chronic doses of UVB altered proteoglycan metabolism through both quantitative and qualitative changes.     

Controllability of linear systems,differential geometry curves in grassmannians and generalized grassmannians,and riccati equations

We study the linear system =Ax+Bu from a differential geometric point of view. It is well-known that controllability of the system is related to the one-parameter family of operators e^t B. We use this to give a proof of the classical controllability conditions in terms of the differential geometry of certain curves in ⁿ. We then view (t)=Im(e^t B) as a curve in appropriate Grassmannian and see that, in local coordinates, is an integral curve of the flow induced by a matrix Riccati equation. We obtain qualitative geometric conditions on that are equivalent to the controllability of the system. To get quantitiative results, we lift to a curve l' in a splitting space, a generalized Grassmannian, which has the advantage of being a reductive homogeneous space of the general linear group, GL(ⁿ). Explicit and simple expressions concerning the geometry of are computed in terms of the Lie algebra of GL(ⁿ), and these are related to the controllability of the system.James Wolper was a visiting professor in the Department of Mathematics at Texas Tech University while much of this research was conducted. He would like to express appreciation for the hospitality he received during his visit.