Only thickness is essential in the Thick Level Set approach

Regularized damage formulations have become increasingly popular in the last decades for dealing with problems inMechanics suffering from spurious mesh sensitivity induced by strain softening [1]. In short, the idea underlying almost all such models is that of using some extended constitutive equations in which a length scale parameter brings to the macro level information about material microstructure. Classical regularized constitutive relationships are formulated via gradient or averaging operators. They provide globally smoothed solutions by enforcing a greater regularity either on strains or internal variables that are no longer defined at the quadrature point level but are established at a larger scale, i.e. the scale of the structural model. The same concepts are present into the so-called Thick Level Set (TLS) approach to quasi-brittle fracture [2], whereby progressive damage that takes place in a region of finite thickness is defined as an explicit function of the distance to the undamaged portion of the domain under consideration. Within this framework one possible way to follow the evolution of damage in the structure amounts to continuously tracking the position of the moving layer where the transition between the damaged material and the undamaged one occurs. In the original implementation of the model [2] this was achieved based on distance functions and level sets, which basically amounts to solve the eikonal equation. In the present contribution the eikonal-based approach to the TLS modeling is abandoned in favor of an implicit representation of the damage field and tools of convex analysis [3]. This allows to drop out the level sets from the formulation and to achieve a greater flexibility in the implementation of the model that is recast in the format of a non-local Generalized Standard Model in which the damage field is subject to convex constraints. Numerical results for representative test cases will be presented to demonstrate the capabilities of the proposed approach

Automata theory in nominal sets

We study languages over infinite alphabets equipped with some structure that can be tested by recognizing automata. We develop a framework for studying such alphabets and the ensuing automata theory, where the key role is played by an automorphism group of the alphabet. In the process, we generalize nominal sets due to Gabbay and Pitts

Fourier-Stieltjes algebras of locally compact groupoids

This paper gives a first step toward extending the theory of Fourier-Stieltjes algebras from groups to groupoids. If G is a locally compact (second countable) groupoid, we show that B(G), the linear span of the Borel positive definite functions on G, is a Banach algebra when represented as an algebra of completely bounded maps on a C^*-algebra associated with G. This necessarily involves identifying equivalent elements of B(G). An example shows that the linear span of the continuous positive definite functions need not be complete. For groups, B(G) is isometric to the Banach space dual of C^*(G). For groupoids, the best analog of that fact is to be found in a representation of B(G) as a Banach space of completely bounded maps from a C^*-algebra associated with G to a C^*-algebra associated with the equivalence relation induced by G. This paper adds weight to the clues in the earlier study of Fourier-Stieltjes algebras that there is a much more general kind of duality for Banach algebras waiting to be explored.Comment: 34 page

Disjoint-union partial algebras

Disjoint union is a partial binary operation returning the union of two sets if they are disjoint and undefined otherwise. A disjoint-union partial algebra of sets is a collection of sets closed under disjoint unions, whenever they are defined. We provide a recursive first-order axiomatisation of the class of partial algebras isomorphic to a disjoint-union partial algebra of sets but prove that no finite axiomatisation exists. We do the same for other signatures including one or both of disjoint union and subset complement, another partial binary operation we define. Domain-disjoint union is a partial binary operation on partial functions, returning the union if the arguments have disjoint domains and undefined otherwise. For each signature including one or both of domain-disjoint union and subset complement and optionally including composition, we consider the class of partial algebras isomorphic to a collection of partial functions closed under the operations. Again the classes prove to be axiomatisable, but not finitely axiomatisable, in first-order logic. We define the notion of pairwise combinability. For each of the previously considered signatures, we examine the class isomorphic to a partial algebra of sets/partial functions under an isomorphism mapping arbitrary suprema of pairwise combinable sets to the corresponding disjoint unions. We prove that for each case the class is not closed under elementary equivalence. However, when intersection is added to any of the signatures considered, the isomorphism class of the partial algebras of sets is finitely axiomatisable and in each case we give such an axiomatisation.Comment: 30 page

Quantising on a category

We review the problem of finding a general framework within which one can construct quantum theories of non-standard models for space, or space-time. The starting point is the observation that entities of this type can typically be regarded as objects in a category whose arrows are structure-preserving maps. This motivates investigating the general problem of quantising a system whose `configuration space' (or history-theory analogue) is the set of objects \Ob\Q in a category \Q. We develop a scheme based on constructing an analogue of the group that is used in the canonical quantisation of a system whose configuration space is a manifold $Q\simeq G/H$, where $G$ and $H$ are Lie groups. In particular, we choose as the analogue of $G$ the monoid of `arrow fields' on \Q. Physically, this means that an arrow between two objects in the category is viewed as an analogue of momentum. After finding the `category quantisation monoid', we show how suitable representations can be constructed using a bundle (or, more precisely, presheaf) of Hilbert spaces over \Ob\Q. For the example of a category of finite sets, we construct an explicit representation structure of this type.Comment: To appear in a volume dedicated to the memory of James Cushin