Optimal Control of Weakly Forced Nonlinear Oscillators

Optimal control of nonlinear oscillatory systems poses numerous theoretical and computational challenges. Motivated by applications in neuroscience, we develop tools and methods to synthesize optimal controls for nonlinear oscillators described by reduced order dynamical systems. Control of neural oscillations by external stimuli has a broad range of applications, ranging from oscillatory neurocomputers to deep brain stimulation for Parkinson\u27s disease. In this dissertation, we investigate fundamental limits on how neuron spiking behavior can be altered by the use of an external stimulus: control). Pontryagin\u27s maximum principle is employed to derive optimal controls that lead to desired spiking times of a neuron oscillator, which include minimum-power and time-optimal controls. In particular, we consider practical constraints in such optimal control designs including a bound on the control amplitude and the charge-balance constraint. The latter is important in neural stimulations used to avoid from the undesirable effects caused by accumulation of electric charge due to external stimuli. Furthermore, we extend the results in controlling a single neuron and consider a neuron ensemble. We, specifically, derive and synthesize time-optimal controls that elicit simultaneous spikes for two neuron oscillators. Robust computational methods based on homotopy perturbation techniques and pseudospectral approximations are developed and implemented to construct optimal controls for spiking and synchronizing a neuron ensemble, for which analytical solutions are intractable. We finally validate the optimal control strategies derived using the models of phase reduction by applying them to the corresponding original full state-space models. This validation is largely missing in the literature. Moreover, the derived optimal controls have been experimentally applied to control the synchronization of electrochemical oscillators. The methodology developed in this dissertation work is not limited to the control of neural oscillators and can be applied to a broad class of nonlinear oscillatory systems that have smooth dynamics

Symmetry in Modeling and Analysis of Dynamic Systems

Real-world systems exhibit complex behavior, therefore novel mathematical approaches or modifications of classical ones have to be employed to precisely predict, monitor, and control complicated chaotic and stochastic processes. One of the most basic concepts that has to be taken into account while conducting research in all natural sciences is symmetry, and it is usually used to refer to an object that is invariant under some transformations including translation, reflection, rotation or scaling.The following Special Issue is dedicated to investigations of the concept of dynamical symmetry in the modelling and analysis of dynamic features occurring in various branches of science like physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering, with special emphasis on research based on the mathematical models of nonlinear partial and ordinary differential equations. Addressed topics cover theories developed and employed under the concept of invariance of the global/local behavior of the points of spacetime, including temporal/spatiotemporal symmetries

Abstract book

Welcome at the International Conference on Differential and Difference Equations & Applications 2015. The main aim of this conference is to promote, encourage, cooperate, and bring together researchers in the fields of differential and difference equations. All areas of differential & difference equations will be represented with special emphasis on applications. It will be mathematically enriching and socially exciting event. List of registered participants consists of 169 persons from 45 countries. The five-day scientific program runs from May 18 (Monday) till May 22, 2015 (Friday). It consists of invited lectures (plenary lectures and invited lectures in sections) and contributed talks in the following areas: Ordinary differential equations, Partial differential equations, Numerical methods and applications, other topics

Mechanical specializations of insect ears

In this chapter some of the mechanical specializations that insects have evolved to carry out acoustic sensory tasks are reviewed. Although it is easy to perceive insect hearing organs as simplistic compared to other animals, the mechanisms involved can be complex. This chapter therefore acts as an introduction to the complexities of some insect hearing systems, as viewed from a mechanical perspective. The chapter provides some of the background knowledge readers require to investigate the subject in greater depth, while acknowledging that this subject is an active, developing, and broad area of research. Following a brief background section on the physics of sound as applied to the insect ear, the mechanical function of several insect hearing organs is discussed in relation to the different acoustic parameters that different insect species need to evaluate, such as frequency, origin, and amplitude. A further section then follows to discuss the mechanical basis of active hearing, whereby energy is added to the hearing system to condition its acoustic response, again using available examples. Finally, the chapter concludes with a discussion on the current state-of-the-art in this active research area, and makes some suggestions as to where the future may lead insect hearing mechanism researchers

Discrete Time Systems

Discrete-Time Systems comprehend an important and broad research field. The consolidation of digital-based computational means in the present, pushes a technological tool into the field with a tremendous impact in areas like Control, Signal Processing, Communications, System Modelling and related Applications. This book attempts to give a scope in the wide area of Discrete-Time Systems. Their contents are grouped conveniently in sections according to significant areas, namely Filtering, Fixed and Adaptive Control Systems, Stability Problems and Miscellaneous Applications. We think that the contribution of the book enlarges the field of the Discrete-Time Systems with signification in the present state-of-the-art. Despite the vertiginous advance in the field, we also believe that the topics described here allow us also to look through some main tendencies in the next years in the research area