Early pioneers to reversible computation

Reversible computing is one of the most intensively developing research areas nowadays. We present a survey of less known or forgotten papers to show that a transfer of ideas between different disciplines is possible

Teachers' and fourth graders' questions during a problem-solving lesson

Peer reviewe

Combinatorial and Additive Number Theory Problem Sessions: '09--'19

These notes are a summary of the problem session discussions at various CANT (Combinatorial and Additive Number Theory Conferences). Currently they include all years from 2009 through 2019 (inclusive); the goal is to supplement this file each year. These additions will include the problem session notes from that year, and occasionally discussions on progress on previous problems. If you are interested in pursuing any of these problems and want additional information as to progress, please email the author. See http://www.theoryofnumbers.com/ for the conference homepage.Comment: Version 3.4, 58 pages, 2 figures added 2019 problems on 5/31/2019, fixed a few issues from some presenters 6/29/201

Adaptations of neutrality tests

Most of the genetic variation observed within a biological species is generally thought to be evolutionary “neutral” in the sense that it is irrelevant for an individuum whether its genome contains one particular variant or another. Evolutionary biologists, and in the case of the human species anthropologists and medical scientists as well, are by contrast interested in variants which do influence on an individual’s survival and/or its ability to reproduce. Population geneticists try to find such variants by purely statistical methods in the form of tests on neutrality or shortly neutrality tests. In this thesis four publications are reprinted and discussed which are concerned with modifications of existing neutrality tests. Three of them deal with a class of tests relying on the so-called site frequency spectrum. It was shown previously that some of these tests, originally designed on models of constant population size, can be adapted to allow for changes in population size. This is generalized in the first publication to all tests of similar structure. Another aspect of these tests is that they are ignorant with respect to which variant in a sample might evolve non-neutrally. If instead a particular variant is suspected a priori, the tests have to allow for this information by conditioning on the existence of a variant with the observed frequency. The second and third article introduce the concept of a conditional frequency spectrum and derive its first resp. second moments which are necessary for an appropriate extension of the above-mentioned class of tests. The fourth article presents an algorithmic improvement of a neutrality test of a different kind. Here, primarily computational speed was of concern, in order to bear comparison with competing software. Solely applications on human data are presented, which is available in unrivalled abundance, owing to several large-scale genotyping and sequencing projects. The applicability of neutrality tests, however, is not confined to any particular species

Wigner quantization and Lie superalgebra representations

In quantum mechanics, physical observables are represented by operators on a certain Hilbert space. The question of how such operators commute, has been a matter of discussion. In the standard perspective, the operators corresponding to the position and momentum of a system are assumed to satisfy the canonical commutation relations. It is known that these relations imply that the Hamilton and Heisenberg equations of motion are compatible as operator equations. However, Wigner showed that the inverse statement is not true. Therefore, it is a much weaker constraint to impose the compatibility of the equations of motion. For any physical system, this results in a set of compatibility conditions, which form the core of Wigner quantization. The key to finding operators that are subject to the compatibility conditions is provided by Lie superalgebras and their representations. Lie superalgebras can be defined as algebras generated by odd elements satisfying particular superbracket relations. Using these defining relations, Lie superalgebra generators can be found that obey the compatibility conditions. The Lie superalgebra elements act as operators on a vector space if we consider Lie superalgebra representations. Various physical systems are investigated in this thesis in the context of Wigner quantization. For each of these systems solutions are found in terms of Lie superalgebra generators, after which specific representations are examined. In such representations, the focus lies on determining particular physical properties of the system. Most of the studied systems are harmonic oscillator models. First, we examine a set-up of coupled harmonic oscillators, for which the interaction is represented by an interaction matrix. Then we focus on the angular momentum content of a $3N$-dimensional harmonic oscillator. Finally, our attention goes to two one-dimensional systems, namely the free particle and the Berry-Keating-Connes Hamiltonian. The latter of these Hamiltonians is notorious for its possible connection with the Riemann hypothesis. All of the aforementioned Hamiltonians have been extensively investigated in the context of canonical quantization, so that our results can be compared to the well-known canonical case

Effects of Repulsive Coupling in Ensembles of Excitable Elements

Die vorliegende Arbeit behandelt die kollektive Dynamik identischer Klasse-I-anregbarer Elemente. Diese können im Rahmen der nichtlinearen Dynamik als Systeme nahe einer Sattel-Knoten-Bifurkation auf einem invarianten Kreis beschrieben werden. Der Fokus der Arbeit liegt auf dem Studium aktiver Rotatoren als Prototypen solcher Elemente. In Teil eins der Arbeit besprechen wir das klassische Modell abstoßend gekoppelter aktiver Rotatoren von Shinomoto und Kuramoto und generalisieren es indem wir höhere Fourier-Moden in der internen Dynamik der Rotatoren berücksichtigen. Wir besprechen außerdem die mathematischen Methoden die wir zur Untersuchung des Aktive-Rotatoren-Modells verwenden. In Teil zwei untersuchen wir Existenz und Stabilität periodischer Zwei-Cluster-Lösungen für generalisierte aktive Rotatoren und beweisen anschließend die Existenz eines Kontinuums periodischer Lösungen für eine Klasse Watanabe-Strogatz-integrabler Systeme zu denen insbesondere das klassische Aktive-Rotatoren-Modell gehört und zeigen dass (i) das Kontinuum eine normal-anziehende invariante Mannigfaltigkeit bildet und (ii) eine der auftretenden periodischen Lösungen Splay-State-Dynamik besitzt. Danach entwickeln wir mit Hilfe der Averaging-Methode eine Störungstheorie für solche Systeme. Mit dieser können wir Rückschlüsse auf die asymptotische Dynamik des generalisierten Aktive-Rotatoren-Modells ziehen. Als Hauptergebnis stellen wir fest dass sowohl periodische Zwei-Cluster-Lösungen als auch Splay States robuste Lösungen für das Aktive-Rotatoren-Modell darstellen. Wir untersuchen außerdem einen "Stabilitätstransfer" zwischen diesen Lösungen durch sogenannte Broken-Symmetry States. In Teil drei untersuchen wir Ensembles gekoppelter Morris-Lecar-Neuronen und stellen fest, dass deren asymptotische Dynamik der der aktiven Rotatoren vergleichbar ist was nahelegt dass die Ergebnisse aus Teil zwei ein qualitatives Bild für solch kompliziertere und realistischere Neuronenmodelle liefern.We study the collective dynamics of class I excitable elements, which can be described within the theory of nonlinear dynamics as systems close to a saddle-node bifurcation on an invariant circle. The focus of the thesis lies on the study of active rotators as a prototype for such elements. In part one of the thesis, we motivate the classic model of repulsively coupled active rotators by Shinomoto and Kuramoto and generalize it by considering higher-order Fourier modes in the on-site dynamics of the rotators. We also discuss the mathematical methods which our work relies on, in particular the concept of Watanabe-Strogatz (WS) integrability which allows to describe systems of identical angular variables in terms of Möbius transformations. In part two, we investigate the existence and stability of periodic two-cluster states for generalized active rotators and prove the existence of a continuum of periodic orbits for a class of WS-integrable systems which includes, in particular, the classic active rotator model. We show that (i) this continuum constitutes a normally attracting invariant manifold and that (ii) one of the solutions yields splay state dynamics. We then develop a perturbation theory for such systems, based on the averaging method. By this approach, we can deduce the asymptotic dynamics of the generalized active rotator model. As a main result, we find that periodic two-cluster states and splay states are robust periodic solutions for systems of identical active rotators. We also investigate a 'transfer of stability' between these solutions by means of so-called broken-symmetry states. In part three, we study ensembles of higher-dimensional class I excitable elements in the form of Morris-Lecar neurons and find the asymptotic dynamics of such systems to be similar to those of active rotators, which suggests that our results from part two yield a suitable qualitative description for more complicated and realistic neural models

Abstract Algebra: Theory and Applications

Tom Judson\u27s Abstract Algebra: Theory and Applications is an open source textbook designed to teach the principles and theory of abstract algebra to college juniors and seniors in a rigorous manner. Its strengths include a wide range of exercises, both computational and theoretical, plus many nontrivial applications. Rob Beezer has contributed complementary material using the open source system, Sage.An HTML version on the PreText platform is available here. The first half of the book presents group theory, through the Sylow theorems, with enough material for a semester-long course. The second-half is suitable for a second semester and presents rings, integral domains, Boolean algebras, vector spaces, and fields, concluding with Galois Theory.https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/ebooks/1022/thumbnail.jp