Topological Foundations of Cognitive Science

A collection of papers presented at the First International Summer Institute in Cognitive Science, University at Buffalo, July 1994, including the following papers: ** Topological Foundations of Cognitive Science, Barry Smith ** The Bounds of Axiomatisation, Graham White ** Rethinking Boundaries, Wojciech Zelaniec ** Sheaf Mereology and Space Cognition, Jean Petitot ** A Mereotopological Definition of 'Point', Carola Eschenbach ** Discreteness, Finiteness, and the Structure of Topological Spaces, Christopher Habel ** Mass Reference and the Geometry of Solids, Almerindo E. Ojeda ** Defining a 'Doughnut' Made Difficult, N .M. Gotts ** A Theory of Spatial Regions with Indeterminate Boundaries, A.G. Cohn and N.M. Gotts ** Mereotopological Construction of Time from Events, Fabio Pianesi and Achille C. Varzi ** Computational Mereology: A Study of Part-of Relations for Multi-media Indexing, Wlodek Zadrozny and Michelle Ki

An Observation about Truth

Tarski's analysis of the concept of truth gives rise to a hierarchy of languages. Does this fragment the concept all the way to philosophical unacceptability? I argue it doesn't, drawing on a modification of Kaplan's theory of indexicals

Towards the automated modelling and formal verification of analog designs

The verification of analog circuits remains a very time consuming and expensive part of the design process. Complete simulation of the state space is not possible; a line is drawn by the designer when it is deemed that enough sets of inputs and outputs have been covered and therefore the circuit is "verified". Unfortunately, bugs could still exist and for safety critical applications this is not acceptable. As well, a bug in the design could lead to costly recalls and a loss of revenue. Formal methods, which use mathematical logic to prove correctness of a design have been developed. However, available techniques for the formal verification of analog circuits are plagued by inaccuracies and a high level of user effort and interaction. We propose in this thesis a complete methodology for the modelling and formal verification of analog circuits. Bond graphs, which are based on the flow of power, are used to automatically extract the circuit's system of Ordinary Differential Equations. Subsequently, two formal verification methods, one based on automated theorem proving with MetiTarski, the other on predicate abstraction based model checking with HybridSal, are then used to verify functional properties on the extracted models. The methodology proposed is mechanical in nature and can be made completely automated. We apply this modelling and verification methodology on a set of analog designs that exhibit complex non-linear behaviour

17th Baltic conference on History of Science : Baltic science between the West and the East : Tartu, 4-6 October 1993

• Siilivask, К. Instead of Introduction: Baltic Science Between The West And The East • Stiadinš, J. Latvian science in exile and its reintegration into science in Latvia • Erikštopaitis, J. A. Universities of the Baltic states and coming westernization • Tapdanskas, A. The students-refugees from Lithuania at universities of Germany in 1945-1949 • Stiadinš, J., Cebere, Di. Contacts between the scientists of the Scandinavian countries and Latvia during the period of Latvian independence (1918-1940) • Eiikštopaitls, J. A. A pecuUarity of the Baltic civil resistance: its historical smd intellectual sources • Loone, E. Between West and East: the case of philosophy in Estonia • Frašmantaite, A. Vilnius University and Lithuanian society in the lst-3rd decades of the 19th century • Viiralt, M. The role of foreign «icademic centres in the foundation and formation of Estonian national university in Tartu in the years 1919-1929 • Tamal, S. Die Atmosphare des akademischen schwedischestnischen Vereins • Мнижевкчкус И. Спецнфика литовской архитектурной науки в условиях советской оккупации (1940-1990 гг) • Кжштымов А. Л. Белорусские студенческие зеылячества начала ХХвека в Тартуском университете • Исаков С. Профессор Тартуского университета А. Стевдер-Петерсен и научные связи Запада и Востока • Zalsters, А. Б. Die wikingeizeitlichen Schiffbauschulen und die Kontakte zwischen denen . • Masing, V. Ubei Faiadigmenwechsel in Natuiwissenschaften Eelsalu, H. Die Dotpatei Steinwaite ais astionomische Bincke zwischen Ost und West • Kongo, L. West- und Osteinfluss auf die natuiwissenschaftlichen Foischungsaibeiten in Estland • Müürsepp, P. Das Baer — Babinetsche Gesetz • Kalviecas, L. On the realisation of the fouith thesis of P. Bohl's doctoral dissertation • Bzinionis, J. Otto Volk (1892-1989) und die Mathematik an dei Univeisität Ton Vytautas dem GioSen • Makarinniene, E. The beginning of experimental spectroscopy in Lithuania • Maksiriüniene, Б., Makarianas, К. Nuclear physics in Lithuanian popular science publications in 1920-1940's • Gyliene, L. On the level of chemical science in the University of Vilnius in 1822-1833 • Лепайые, Я. Эстоши — перекресток Востока ж Запада по распространению достижений сельскохозяйственной науки • Клммка, Л. Точные науки в старинном Вильнюсском университете: школы и влияния • Шекавнчене, Е. Зарубежные научные поездки профессоров физики Вильнюсского университета в XIX в • Мартншюс, Й.-А. Вопросы астрономии, физики и математики на конференциях Балтийских государств по истории науки . • Мартншюс, Й.-А. Учеба, исследования, ссыпка и эмиграция литовских физиков на Востоке и на Западе • Saarma, J. The graduate of the University of Tartu doctor medicinae Wilhelm Sabler — a reformer of psychiatry in Russia in the first half of the 19th century • Domets, Т., Tähepõld, L. Gustav Bunge's contribution to the development of physiological and pathological chemistry • Roostar, L., Veiksaar, P., Mamute, M. Gründer der aseptik Ernst von Bergmann in Medizin des Ostens und des Westens • Mägi, М. Myoclonus epilepsy — a centniy after the first description of the disease by H. Unverticht in Tartu • Kogermann-Lepp, E. August Rauber's contribution to the investigations of the nervous system • Lindberga, R. Prof. Gaston Victor Backman und die schwedischlettischen Kontakte • Otter, M. Medical legislation in the Republic of Estonia in 1937 • Voswiackel, P. Die Hafflcrankheit 1924/1940 am ehem. Kõnigsberger Haff Gestern und Heute. Wirkungs- und Rezeptiongeschichte zwischen Ost und West • Otter, K. Professor Georg Kingisepp — the first Estonian-born head of the Department of Pharmacology of the University of Tartu • Fersters, V. Scientific missions abroad by Professor Alexander Biezins • Таnkler, H., Vahter, H. L. A. Struves Lehrbuch der Hautkrankheiten vom Jahr 1829 • Анже, M., Балтыньш, M., Внксна, A. Заведующие кафедрами медицинского факультета Латвийского университета во время второй мировой войны • Тиганик, В. Тартуский университет как мост между наукой Востока и Запада. На примере деятельности профессора физиологической химии университетов Тарту, Томска и Ростока Фрвдриха Карла фон Крюгера • Мжлтжньш, А. П. Влияние Востока и Запада на развитие дерматовенерологии Латвии • Авдрюшнс, А. Влияние европейской медицины на практическую деятельность вильнюсских врачей в XIX вехе • Шимкунаите, Е. Внешние влияния на литовскую народную медицину • Калнин, В., Сюдикас, В., Виксна, А. О сотрудничестве медиков Эстонии, Латвии и Ливы в 1920-1940 гг. • Васильев, К.К. Медицинская династия Дитерихсов • Васильев, К. Г., Васильев, К. К. Роль воспитанников медицинского факультета и Профессорского института Дерптского (Тартуского) университета в формирования научно-медицинских центров Украины. • Якобсон, Ю. Ветеринарный врач и микробиолог Эйжен Земмер. • Лыви-Кальных. М.О. Влияние сцязей с Встоком и Западом на развитие стоматологии Тартуском университете. • Лоога, Р. Развитие физиологических наук в Прибалтийских республиках до и после второй мировой войны • Иентс, А. Вклад Пеэтера Хеллата и Хенрика Коппеля в развитие оториноларингологии в России и в Эстонииhttp://tartu.ester.ee/record=b1005647~S1*es

Generalizations of Kempe's universality theorem

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2008.Copyright statement on t.p. reads: ©Timothy Good Abbott, 2004-2007, ©Reid W. Barton, 2004-2007.Includes bibliographical references (p. 85-86).In 1876, A. B. Kempe presented a flawed proof of what is now called Kempe's Universality Theorem: that the intersection of a closed disk with any curve in R2 defined by a polynomial equation can be drawn by a linkage. Kapovich and Millson published the first correct proof of this claim in 2002, but their argument relied on different, more complex constructions. We provide a corrected version of Kempe's proof, using a novel contraparallelogram bracing. The resulting historical proof of Kempe's Universality Theorem uses simpler gadgets than those of Kapovich and Millson. We use our two-dimensional proof of Kempe's theorem to give simple proofs of two extensions of Kempe's theorem first shown by King: a generalization to d dimensions and a characterization of the drawable subsets of Rd. Our results improve King's by proving better continuity properties for the constructions. We prove that our construction requires only O(nd) bars to draw a curve defined by a polynomial of degree n in d dimensions, improving the previously known bounds of O(n4) in two dimensions and O(n6) in three dimensions. We also prove a matching Q(nd) lower bound in the worst case. We give an algorithm for computing a configuration above a given point on a given polynomial curve, running in time polynomial in the size of the dense representation of the polynomial defining the curve. We use this algorithm to prove the coNP-hardness of testing the rigidity of a given configuration of a linkage. While this theorem has long been assumed in rigidity theory, we believe this to be the first published proof that this problem is computationally intractable. This thesis is joint work with Reid W. Barton and Erik D. Demaine.by Timothy Good Abbott.S.M

Implications of Foundational Crisis in Mathematics: A Case Study in Interdisciplinary Legal Research

As a result of a sequence of so-called foundational crises, mathematicians have come to realize that foundational inquiries are difficult and perhaps never ending. Accounts of the last of these crises have appeared with increasing frequency in the legal literature, and one piece of this Article examines these invocations with a critical eye. The other piece introduces a framework for thinking about law as a discipline. On the one hand, the disciplinary framework helps explain how esoteric mathematical topics made their way into the legal literature. On the other hand, the mathematics can be used to examine some aspects of interdisciplinary legal research

Feyerabend and incommensurability

I consider only the semantic claims of Paul Feyerabend's incommensurability thesis. These semantic claims are that incommensurable scientific theories, taken paradigmatically as successive theories: (1) are inconsistent; (2) the terms of one theory differ in meaning to those of another incommensurable theory; and (3) the claims of one theory are largely logically independent of the other. Since the inconsistency claim (1) is essential to Feyerabend's argument (against the Received View on theory reduction and explanation), I claim that (2) and (3) must be understood in the light of (1), and that (3) must be revised to avoid contradiction with (1). Feyerabend's semantic theory supporting (3) is presented and found wanting. Two other main arguments against (3) are also considered. The first is the causal theory of reference (of Putnam and Devitt), including causal descriptive theories advocated by Kitcher and Psillos; none of these theories is found to offer compelling reasons to reject (3). The second main argument against (3) is Donald Davidson's essay 'On the Very Idea of a Conceptual Scheme', and a close reading of Davidson's paper is offered. I find that Davidson does offer convincing reasons for rejecting any implication by (3) that the languages of incommensurable theories are not intertranslatable, or that such theories are closed cognitive frameworks. However, I agree with Larry Laudan that Davidson does not deliver a fatal blow to the semantic incommensurabihty thesis because: (a) incommensurability need not entail nontranslatability; and (b) Davidson's semantic arguments do not succeed in demonstrating that the very notion of a conceptual scheme is incoherent. I present briefly two versions of the semantic incommensurability thesis which are consistent in an interesting way with (1), (2) and a revised (3), namely taxonomic incommensurability and a model of misinterpretation in intractable conflicts

The theory of inconsistency: inconsistant mathematics and paraconsistent logic

Each volume includes author's previously published papers.Bibliography: leaves 147-151 (v. 1).3 v. :Thesis (D.Sc.)--University of Adelaide, School of Mathematical Sciences, 200