A Combined Preconditioning Strategy for Nonsymmetric Systems

We present and analyze a class of nonsymmetric preconditioners within a normal (weighted least-squares) matrix form for use in GMRES to solve nonsymmetric matrix problems that typically arise in finite element discretizations. An example of the additive Schwarz method applied to nonsymmetric but definite matrices is presented for which the abstract assumptions are verified. A variable preconditioner, combining the original nonsymmetric one and a weighted least-squares version of it, is shown to be convergent and provides a viable strategy for using nonsymmetric preconditioners in practice. Numerical results are included to assess the theory and the performance of the proposed preconditioners.Comment: 26 pages, 3 figure

Wind Power in China: Has China Greenwashed the Global Energy Sector?

Due to years of serving as the world’s manufacturing hub, and appropriately developing a global reputation of being environmentally-unfriendly, China has since sought to rejuvenate its image by becoming an international leader in the realm of wind power. However, if one were to pull back the curtain on China’s wind energy program,they would find that the Chinese Communist Party may be intentionally putting on a facade. By reporting the number of wind turbines constructed nationally, but not the number of turbines actually generating electricity, China has hoodwinked the worldwide energy sector and general public. The idle wind turbines cost China not only valuable energy, but also roughly $2 Billion annually in forgone revenue. In order to achieve wind success, China must deal first with its most significant bottleneck: an outdated and inefficient energy grid infrastructure. By choosing to build wind turbines before constructing a Smart Grid to support their energy transmission, China has shot itself in the foot environmentally, geopolitically, and economically. This thesis exposes an important defect in China’s energy system and will be of use to all with interests in business ethics, the environment, engineering, and economists alike

The Dramaturgy of a Maritime Metaphor: Marcus Rediker's Influence on Naomi Wallace's One Flea Spare

Within the dramaturgy of One Flea Spare by playwright Naomi Wallace, one historical source illuminates the story more than the others: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by Marcus Rediker. By tracing the parallels between Wallace's drama and Rediker's history, a historical paradigm surfaces in Wallace's work just as a dramatic paradigm surfaces in the work of Rediker. Accordingly, this thesis asks: how does the exploration of Rediker's maritime history of the early eighteenth-century Anglo-Atlantic world from a seaman's perspective suggest a dramatic paradigm for Wallace's play? After considering how Rediker centralizes conflict between the seaman and the captain, this study then focuses on the parallel situation found within One Flea Spare in order to provide a productive analysis of analogous scenarios. This thesis also argues that the class-conscious work of Naomi Wallace and Marcus Rediker uses history and metaphor to contribute to a common dramaturgy