Complex oscillations with multiple timescales - Application to neuronal dynamics

The results gathered in this thesis deal with multiple time scale dynamical systems near non-hyperbolic points, giving rise to canard-type solutions, in systems of dimension 2, 3 and 4. Bifurcation theory and numerical continuation methods adapted for such systems are used to analyse canard cycles as well as canard-induced complex oscillations in three-dimensional systems. Two families of such complex oscillations are considered: mixed-mode oscillations (MMOs) in systems with two slow variables, and bursting oscillations in systems with two fast variables. In the last chapter, we present recent results on systems with two slow and two fast variables, where both MMO-type dynamics and bursting-type dynamics can arise and where complex oscillations are also organised by canard solutions. The main application area that we consider here is that of neuroscience, more precisely low-dimensional point models of neurons displaying both sub-threshold and spiking behaviour. We focus on analysing how canard objects allow to control the oscillatory patterns observed in these neuron models, in particular the crossings of excitability thresholds

McKean-Vlasov limits, propagation of chaos and long-time behavior of some mean field interacting particle systems

In this thesis we study mean field interacting particle systems and their McKean-Vlasov limiting processes, in particular we focus on three different interaction mechanisms, mainly emerging from biological modelling. The first type of interaction is given by the so called simultaneous jumps. We consider a system of interacting jump-diffusion processes that interact by means of the discontinuous component: each particle performs a main jump and it simultaneously induces in all the other particles a simultaneous jump whose amplitude is rescaled with the size of the system. This peculiar interaction is motivated by recent neuroscience models and here we depict a general framework for this type of processes. We focus on the well-posedness of the McKean-Vlasov limits of these particle systems under different assumptions on the coefficients and we prove a pathwise propagation of chaos result. The second interaction we consider is an asymmetric one. We describe a system of biased random walks on the positive integers, reflected at zero, where each particle may perform a leftward jump with a rate proportional to the fraction of particles which are strictly at its left. We study the critical interaction strength able to ensure ergodicity to this system, that would be transient in absence of interaction. We compare this model with existing models of diffusions interacting through their CDF and we highlight their differences, mainly caused by the presence of clusters of particles in the discrete model. The third interaction we account for is based on a dynamical version of the generalized Curie-Weiss model. We modify a Langevin dynamics for this model with a dissipative evolution of the interaction component, breaking the reversibility of the system. We prove that, in the mean field limit, this gives rise to stable limit cycles, explaining self-sustained periodic behaviors. In particular, we build a flexible model in which a suitable change in the interaction function can result in a system which, in certain regimes of parameters, displays coexistence of stable periodic orbits

Nonlinear resonance and excitability in interconnected systems

Engineering design amounts to develop components and interconnect them to obtain a desired behaviour. While in the context of equilibrium dynamics there is a well-developed theory that can account for robustness and optimality in this process, we still lack a corresponding methodology for nonequilibrium dynamics and in particular oscillatory behaviours. With the aim of fostering such a theory, this thesis studies two basic interconnections in the contexts of nonlinear resonance and excitability, two phenomena with the potential of encompassing a large number of applications. The first interconnection is considered in the context of vibration absorption. It corresponds to coupling two Duffing oscillators, the prototypical example of nonlinear resonator. Of primary interest is the frequency response of the system, which quantifies the behaviour in presence of harmonic forces. The analysis focuses on how isolated families of solutions appear and merge with a main one. Using singularity theory it is possible to organise these solutions in the space of parameters and delimit their presence through numerical methods. The second interconnection studied in this dissertation appears in the context of excitable circuits. Combining a fast excitable system and a slower oscillatory system that share a similar structure naturally leads to bursting. The resulting system has a slow-fast structure that can be leveraged in the analysis. The first step of this analysis is a novel slow-fast model of bistability between a rest state and a spiking attractor. Following this, the analysis moves to the complete interconnection, and in particular on how it can generate different patterns of bursting activity

Advances in Fundamental Physics

This Special Issue celebrates the opening of a new section of the journal Foundation: Physical Sciences. Theoretical and experimental studies related to various areas of fundamental physics are presented in this Special Issue. The published papers are related to the following topics: dark matter, electron impact excitation, second flavor of hydrogen atoms, quantum antenna, molecular hydrogen, molecular hydrogen ion, wave pulses, Brans-Dicke theory, hydrogen Rydberg atom, high-frequency laser field, relativistic mean field formalism, nonlocal continuum field theories, parallel universe, charge exchange, van der Waals broadening, greenhouse effect, strange and unipolar electromagnetic pulses, quasicrystals, Wilhelm-Weber’s electromagnetic force law, axions, photoluminescence, neutron stars, gravitational waves, diatomic molecular spectroscopy, information geometric measures of complexity. Among 21 papers published in this Special Issue, there are 5 reviews and 16 original research papers

The years of high econometrics: A short history of the generation that reinvented economic

This book is an essay in biography and its subject matter is the collective effort of that brilliant generation of economists who aspired to transform economics into a rigorous science. The powerful econometric movement took shape in the 1930s, the years of high theory – the concept that Shackle used to describe the period of the inception of the Keynesian revolution, a period that cannot be thoroughly understood unless both movements are contrasted. In a sense, both the Keynesian revolution and the econometric revolution shared the same motivation: to extend the empirical capacity of economics, broadening its analytical scope and strengthening its capacity for designing a control policy. As the story unfurls, it becomes obvious that the young econometricians with Keynesian leanings were more radically engaged in such a task than the Cambridge circle itself, and this was the profound reason for a great deal of the harsh criticism and disappointment that they faced. Furthermore, the acceptance of the epistemological primacy of a very peculiar type of simple mathematical formalism contributed to the marginalisation of some of the major theoretical alternatives developed in the first half of the century. Evidence shows that the endorsement of the urgent political agenda for action against unemployment and the dangers of war were instrumental in determining the victory of a specific mathematical drive, and that the econometric programme as it came to be conceived in these incipient years was shaped by this movement. As a consequence of its impact, econometrics became a tool for the reconstruction of neoclassical economics, which sought to be redescribed in the language of mathematical formalism and statistical inference and estimation, and simultaneously responsible for the decay of heterodox alternatives elsewhere. In that sense, modern economics was a tributary of that success.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mathematics meets physics: A contribution to their interaction in the 19th and the first half of the 20th century

Es gibt wohl kaum Wissenschaftsgebiete, in denen die wechselseitige Beeinflussung stärker ist als zwischen Mathematik und Physik. Eine wichtige Frage ist dabei die nach der konkreten Ausgestaltung dieser Wechselbeziehungen, etwa an einer Universität, oder die nach prägenden Merkmalen in der Entwicklung dieser Beziehungen in einem historischen Zeitabschnitt. Im Rahmen eines mehrjährigen Akademieprojekts wurden diese Beziehungen an den Universitäten in Leipzig, Halle und Jena für den Zeitraum vom Beginn des 19. bis zur Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts untersucht und in fünf Bänden dargestellt. Der erste dieser Bände erschien in den Abhandlungen der Sächsischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, die nachfolgenden als eigenständige Reihe unter dem Titel “Studien zur Entwicklung von Mathematik und Physik in ihren Wechselwirkungen“. Ein weiterer und abschließender Band dieser Reihe (der vorliegende) beinhaltet die Beiträge einer wissenschaftshistorischen Fachtagung im Jahr 2010, die das Thema in einem internationalen Kontext einbettet. Der vorliegende Band enthält die Beiträge der Tagung “Mathematics meets physics. A contribution to their interaction in the 19th and the first half of the 20th century”, die vom 22. bis 25. März 2010 in Leipzig stattfand. Die Konferenzbeiträge bestätigen die große Variabilität in der Gestaltung der Wechselbeziehungen zwischen Mathematik und Physik. In ihnen werden u.a. verschiedene Entwicklungsprozesse im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert (zur elektromagnetischen Feldtheorie, zur Quantenmechanik, zur Quantenfeldtheorie, zur Relativitätstheorie) aus unterschiedlichen Perspektiven analysiert. Weitere Beiträge stellen allgemeinere Fragestellungen der Entwicklung der Wechselbeziehungen in den Mittelpunkt und tragen zur Frage einer möglichen Unterscheidung unterschiedlicher Entwicklungsstufen im den Wechselverhältnis von Mathematik und Physik bei. Insgesamt ist einzuschätzen: Zum einen dokumentieren die in den Beiträgen vorgelegten Ergebnisse den Wert und die Notwendigkeit von Detailuntersuchungen, um die Entwicklung der Wechselbeziehungen zwischen Mathematik und Physik in ihrer Vielfalt und mit der nötigen Präzision zu erfassen, zum anderen lassen sie in ihrer Gesamtheit noch zu beantwortende Forschungsfragen erkennen.:Vorwort Karl-Heinz Schlote, Martina Schneider: Introduction Jesper Lützen: Examples and Reflections on the Interplay between Mathematics and Physics in the 19th and 20th Century Juraj Šebesta: Mathematics as one of the basic Pillars of physical Theory: a historical and epistemological Survey Karl-Heinz Schlote, Martina Schneider: The Interrelation between Mathematics and Physics at the Universities Jena, Halle-Wittenberg and Leipzig – a Comparison Karin Reich: Der erste Professor für Theoretische Physik an der Universität Hamburg: Wilhelm Lenz Jim Ritter: Geometry as Physics: Oswald Veblen and the Princeton School Erhard Scholz: Mathematische Physik bei Hermann Weyl – zwischen „Hegelscher Physik“ und „symbolischer Konstruktion der Wirklichkeit“ Scott Walter: Henri Poincaré, theoretical Physics, and Relativity Theory in Paris Reinhard Siegmund-Schultze: Indeterminismus vor der Quantenmechanik: Richard von Mises’ wahrscheinlichkeitstheoretischer Purismus in der Theorie physikalischer Prozesse Christoph Lehner: Mathematical Foundations and physical Visions: Pascual Jordan and the Field Theory Program Jan Lacki: From Matrices to Hilbert Spaces: The Interplay of Physics and Mathematics in the Rise of Quantum Mechanics Helge Kragh: Mathematics, Relativity, and Quantum Wave Equations Klaus-Heinrich Peters: Mathematische und phänomenologische Strenge: Distributionen in der Quantenmechanik und -feldtheorie Arianna Borrelli: Angular Momentum between Physics and Mathematics Friedrich Steinle: Die Entstehung der Feldtheorie: ein ungewöhnlicher Fall der Wechselwirkung von Physik und Mathematik? Vortragsprogramm Liste der Autoren Personenverzeichni