Control and Synchronization of Neuron Ensembles

Synchronization of oscillations is a phenomenon prevalent in natural, social, and engineering systems. Controlling synchronization of oscillating systems is motivated by a wide range of applications from neurological treatment of Parkinson's disease to the design of neurocomputers. In this article, we study the control of an ensemble of uncoupled neuron oscillators described by phase models. We examine controllability of such a neuron ensemble for various phase models and, furthermore, study the related optimal control problems. In particular, by employing Pontryagin's maximum principle, we analytically derive optimal controls for spiking single- and two-neuron systems, and analyze the applicability of the latter to an ensemble system. Finally, we present a robust computational method for optimal control of spiking neurons based on pseudospectral approximations. The methodology developed here is universal to the control of general nonlinear phase oscillators.Comment: 29 pages, 6 figure

Nonlinear waves in Newton's cradle and the discrete p-Schroedinger equation

We study nonlinear waves in Newton's cradle, a classical mechanical system consisting of a chain of beads attached to linear pendula and interacting nonlinearly via Hertz's contact forces. We formally derive a spatially discrete modulation equation, for small amplitude nonlinear waves consisting of slow modulations of time-periodic linear oscillations. The fully-nonlinear and unilateral interactions between beads yield a nonstandard modulation equation that we call the discrete p-Schroedinger (DpS) equation. It consists of a spatial discretization of a generalized Schroedinger equation with p-Laplacian, with fractional p>2 depending on the exponent of Hertz's contact force. We show that the DpS equation admits explicit periodic travelling wave solutions, and numerically find a plethora of standing wave solutions given by the orbits of a discrete map, in particular spatially localized breather solutions. Using a modified Lyapunov-Schmidt technique, we prove the existence of exact periodic travelling waves in the chain of beads, close to the small amplitude modulated waves given by the DpS equation. Using numerical simulations, we show that the DpS equation captures several other important features of the dynamics in the weakly nonlinear regime, namely modulational instabilities, the existence of static and travelling breathers, and repulsive or attractive interactions of these localized structures

Disturbing Implications of a Cosmological Constant

In this paper we consider the implications of a cosmological constant for the evolution of the universe, under a set of assumptions motivated by the holographic and horizon complementarity principles. We discuss the ``causal patch" description of spacetime required by this framework, and present some simple examples of cosmologies described this way. We argue that these assumptions inevitably lead to very deep paradoxes, which seem to require major revisions of our usual assumptions.Comment: 26 pages, 7 figures v2: references added v3: reference adde

Magnetic operations: a little fuzzy physics?

We examine the behaviour of charged particles in homogeneous, constant and/or oscillating magnetic fields in the non-relativistic approximation. A special role of the geometric center of the particle trajectory is elucidated. In quantum case it becomes a 'fuzzy point' with non-commuting coordinates, an element of non-commutative geometry which enters into the traditional control problems. We show that its application extends beyond the usually considered time independent magnetic fields of the quantum Hall effect. Some simple cases of magnetic control by oscillating fields lead to the stability maps differing from the traditional Strutt diagram.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figure

Integrable turbulence generated from modulational instability of cnoidal waves

We study numerically the nonlinear stage of modulational instability (MI) of cnoidal waves, in the framework of the focusing one-dimensional Nonlinear Schrodinger (NLS) equation. Cnoidal waves are the exact periodic solutions of the NLS equation and can be represented as a lattice of overlapping solitons. MI of these lattices lead to development of "integrable turbulence" [Zakharov V.E., Stud. Appl. Math. 122, 219-234 (2009)]. We study the major characteristics of the turbulence for dn-branch of cnoidal waves and demonstrate how these characteristics depend on the degree of "overlapping" between the solitons within the cnoidal wave. Integrable turbulence, that develops from MI of dn-branch of cnoidal waves, asymptotically approaches to it's stationary state in oscillatory way. During this process kinetic and potential energies oscillate around their asymptotic values. The amplitudes of these oscillations decay with time as t^{-a}, 1<a<1.5, the phases contain nonlinear phase shift decaying as t^{-1/2}, and the frequency of the oscillations is equal to the double maximal growth rate of the MI, s=2g_{max}. In the asymptotic stationary state the ratio of potential to kinetic energy is equal to -2. The asymptotic PDF of wave amplitudes is close to Rayleigh distribution for cnoidal waves with strong overlapping, and is significantly non-Rayleigh one for cnoidal waves with weak overlapping of solitons. In the latter case the dynamics of the system reduces to two-soliton collisions, which occur with exponentially small rate and provide up to two-fold increase in amplitude compared with the original cnoidal wave.Comment: 36 pages, 25 figure

Euclid's theorem on the infinitude of primes: a historical survey of its proofs (300 B.C.--2017) and another new proof

In this article, we provide a comprehensive historical survey of 183 different proofs of famous Euclid's theorem on the infinitude of prime numbers. The author is trying to collect almost all the known proofs on infinitude of primes, including some proofs that can be easily obtained as consequences of some known problems or divisibility properties. Furthermore, here are listed numerous elementary proofs of the infinitude of primes in different arithmetic progressions. All the references concerning the proofs of Euclid's theorem that use similar methods and ideas are exposed subsequently. Namely, presented proofs are divided into 8 subsections of Section 2 in dependence of the methods that are used in them. {\bf Related new 14 proofs (2012-2017) are given in the last subsection of Section 2.} In the next section, we survey mainly elementary proofs of the infinitude of primes in different arithmetic progressions. Presented proofs are special cases of Dirichlet's theorem. In Section 4, we give a new simple "Euclidean's proof" of the infinitude of primes.Comment: 70 pages. In this extended third version of the article, 14 new proofs of the infnitude of primes are added (2012-2017

A Mathematical Tumor Model with Immune Resistance and Drug Therapy: An Optimal Control Approach

We present a competition model of cancer tumor growth that includes both the immune system response and drug therapy. This is a four-population model that includes tumor cells, host cells, immune cells, and drug interaction. We analyze the stability of the drug-free equilibria with respect to the immune response in order to look for target basins of attraction. One of our goals was to simulate qualitatively the asynchronous tumor-drug interaction known as “Jeffs phenomenon.” The model we develop is successful in generating this asynchronous response behavior. Our other goal was to identify treatment protocols that could improve standard pulsed chemotherapy regimens. Using optimal control theory with constraints and numerical simulations, we obtain new therapy protocols that we then compare with traditional pulsed periodic treatment. The optimal control generated therapies produce larger oscillations in the tumor population over time. However, by the end of the treatment period, total tumor size is smaller than that achieved through traditional pulsed therapy, and the normal cell population suffers nearly no oscillations