Introduction

Introduction to genericity in the nominal, verbal and sentential domain

Singular Continuation: Generating Piece-wise Linear Approximations to Pareto Sets via Global Analysis

We propose a strategy for approximating Pareto optimal sets based on the global analysis framework proposed by Smale (Dynamical systems, New York, 1973, pp. 531-544). The method highlights and exploits the underlying manifold structure of the Pareto sets, approximating Pareto optima by means of simplicial complexes. The method distinguishes the hierarchy between singular set, Pareto critical set and stable Pareto critical set, and can handle the problem of superposition of local Pareto fronts, occurring in the general nonconvex case. Furthermore, a quadratic convergence result in a suitable set-wise sense is proven and tested in a number of numerical examples.Comment: 29 pages, 12 figure

Advanced flow-based type systems for object-oriented languages

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Introduction

International audienceThis introductory chapter is organized into three parts. The first part focuses on the syntactic structure and compositional interpretation of determiner phrases, and frames the ontological issues related to reference to kinds in this context. It addresses a series of ontological issues relevant to the analysis of natural language: in order to account for linguistic data, must we postulate the existence of kinds, viewed as a type of entities, distinguished from particulars or tokens? What is the relationship between kinds and sets of entities, between kinds and properties, between kinds and sets of properties? The second part is comprised of three sections which are dedicated respectively to the stage-level/individual-level distinction, to the contribution of unboundedness and plurality, and to the dispositional reading of generic sentences. The questions addressed in this part pertain to the relationship between genericity, habituality, abilities, and dispositions. The third part examines the type of generic sentences, opposing analytic vs synthetic judgments, and raises the question of the notion of normality. It comprises two sections. The first section addresses the issue of the linguistic manifestation of the analytic/synthetic distinction and investigates the sources of the available interpretations for indefinite generic sentences, bare plurals, and definite plural generics. The second section discusses the notion of normality, comparing the view of normality as a statistical fact and the view of normality as a normative one

Homotopy properties of horizontal loop spaces and applications to closed sub-Riemannian geodesics

Given a manifold $M$ and a proper sub-bundle $\Delta\subset TM$, we study homotopy properties of the horizontal base-point free loop space $\Lambda$, i.e. the space of absolutely continuous maps $\gamma:S^1\to M$ whose velocities are constrained to $\Delta$ (for example: legendrian knots in a contact manifold). A key technical ingredient for our study is the proof that the base-point map $F:\Lambda \to M$ (the map associating to every loop its base-point) is a Hurewicz fibration for the $W^{1,2}$ topology on $\Lambda$. Using this result we show that, even if the space $\Lambda$ might have deep singularities (for example: constant loops form a singular manifold homeomorphic to $M$), its homotopy can be controlled nicely. In particular we prove that $\Lambda$ (with the $W^{1,2}$ topology) has the homotopy type of a CW-complex, that its inclusion in the standard base-point free loop space (i.e. the space of loops with no non-holonomic constraint) is a homotopy equivalence, and consequently its homotopy groups can be computed as $\pi_k(\Lambda)\simeq \pi_k(M) \ltimes \pi_{k+1}(M)$ for all $k\geq 0.$ These topological results are applied, in the second part of the paper, to the problem of the existence of closed sub-riemannian geodesics. In the general case we prove that if $(M, \Delta)$ is a compact sub-riemannian manifold, each non trivial homotopy class in $\pi_1(M)$ can be represented by a closed sub-riemannian geodesic. In the contact case, we prove a min-max result generalizing the celebrated Lyusternik-Fet theorem: if $(M, \Delta)$ is a compact, contact manifold, then every sub-riemannian metric on $\Delta$ carries at least one closed sub-riemannian geodesic. This result is based on a combination of the above topological results with a delicate study of the Palais-Smale condition in the vicinity of abnormal loops (singular points of $\Lambda$).Comment: 25 pages. Final version to appear in the Transactions of the American Math. Society, Series

Dynamic Assignment of Scoped Memory Regions in the Translation of Java to Real-Time Java

Advances in middleware, operating systems, and popular, general-purpose languages have brought the ideal of reasonably-bound execution time closer to developers who need such assurances for real-time and embedded systems applications. Extensions to the Java libraries and virtual machine have been proposed in a real-time Java standard, which provides for specification of release times, execution costs, and deadlines for a restricted class of threads. To use such features, the programmer is required to use unwieldy code constructs to create region-like areas of storage, associate them with execution scopes, and allocate objects from them. Further, the developer must ensure that they do not violate strict inter-region reference rules. Unfortunately, it is difficult to determine manually how to map object instantiations to execution scopes. Moreover, if ordinary Java code is modified to effect instantiations in scopes, the resulting code is difficult to read, maintain, and reuse. We present a dynamic approach to determining proper placement of objects within scope-bounded regions, and we employ a procedure that utilizes aspect-oriented programming to instrument the original program, realizing the program’s scoped memory concerns in a modular fashion. Using this approach, Java programs can be converted into region-aware Java programs automatically

Modals, Contextual Parameters, and the Modal Uniformity Hypothesis

There is a common assumption in the semantics of modal auxiliaries in natural language; in utterances of MOD φ , where MOD is a modal and φ is the prejacent, context determines the particular flavor of modality expressed by the modal. Such is the standard contextualist semantics of Kratzer and related proposals. This winds up being a problem, because there is a significant class of modals which have constraints on the admissible modal flavor that are not traceable to context. For example, in MUST φ , subsentential properties of φ, like the aspectual class of the predicate in the prejacent, can affect the flavor of MUST. By encoding the above assumption into the semantics, such contextualist accounts fail to be able to explain, much less to predict, this pattern. Worse yet, attempts to exploit the resources of the theory in service of an explanation run afoul of important commitments of the view, like the hypothesis that modals have a uniform semantics. Given these circumstances, these data might seem like a justification for dispensing with the uniformity hypothesis. The present paper lays out the above problem in detail. Against the pessimistic view, I argue that the the contextualist account can in fact explain and predict these patterns while preserving the uniformity hypothesis. This requires adopting an amendment to the semantics of modals based on the work of Valentine Hacquard. Aside from maintaining the contextualist paradigm and preserving uniformity, the proposal also clarifies the role of context in the interpretation of modals. As it will turn out, the role of context ought to be circumscribed in its flavor-determining role for modals

Towards an aspect weaving BPEL engine

This position paper proposes the use of dynamic aspects and the visitor design pattern to obtain a highly configurable and extensible BPEL engine. Using these two techniques, the core of this infrastructural software can be customised to meet new requirements and add features such as debugging, execution monitoring, or changing to another Web Service selection policy. Additionally, it can easily be extended to cope with customer-specific BPEL extensions. We propose the use of dynamic aspects not only on the engine itself but also on the workflow in order to tackle the problems of Web Service hot deployment and hot fixes to long running processes. In this way, composing aWeb Service "on-the-fly" means weaving its choreography interface into the workflow

Bare plurals

This contribution offers a detailed and in-depth analysis of the syntactic distribution and semantic interpretation of determinerless nouns (so-called "bare plurals") in a variety of languages, providing the reader with a critical discussion of the main theoretical approaches to this topic. It contains a careful discussion of the empirical and theoretical issues involved by any analysis of bare nouns, a detailed treatment of the so-called "kind-level" interpretation of bare nouns, a critical discussion of their indefinite reading, and some insights into the internal syntax of bare plurals. A number of open issues and topics for future research are also formulate