242 research outputs found
Smooth Approximation of Lipschitz functions on Riemannian manifolds
We show that for every Lipschitz function defined on a separable
Riemannian manifold (possibly of infinite dimension), for every continuous
, and for every positive number , there exists
a smooth Lipschitz function such that
for every and
. Consequently, every separable
Riemannian manifold is uniformly bumpable. We also present some applications of
this result, such as a general version for separable Riemannian manifolds of
Deville-Godefroy-Zizler's smooth variational principle.Comment: 10 page
Hamilton Jacobi Bellman equations in infinite dimensions with quadratic and superquadratic Hamiltonian
We consider Hamilton Jacobi Bellman equations in an inifinite dimensional
Hilbert space, with quadratic (respectively superquadratic) hamiltonian and
with continuous (respectively lipschitz continuous) final conditions. This
allows to study stochastic optimal control problems for suitable controlled
Ornstein Uhlenbeck process with unbounded control processes
A simple mean field model for social interactions: dynamics, fluctuations, criticality
We study the dynamics of a spin-flip model with a mean field interaction. The
system is non reversible, spacially inhomogeneous, and it is designed to model
social interactions. We obtain the limiting behavior of the empirical averages
in the limit of infinitely many interacting individuals, and show that phase
transition occurs. Then, after having obtained the dynamics of normal
fluctuations around this limit, we analize long time fluctuations for critical
values of the parameters. We show that random inhomogeneities produce critical
fluctuations at a shorter time scale compared to the homogeneous system.Comment: 37 pages, 2 figure
A Semi-Lagrangian scheme for a modified version of the Hughes model for pedestrian flow
In this paper we present a Semi-Lagrangian scheme for a regularized version
of the Hughes model for pedestrian flow. Hughes originally proposed a coupled
nonlinear PDE system describing the evolution of a large pedestrian group
trying to exit a domain as fast as possible. The original model corresponds to
a system of a conservation law for the pedestrian density and an Eikonal
equation to determine the weighted distance to the exit. We consider this model
in presence of small diffusion and discuss the numerical analysis of the
proposed Semi-Lagrangian scheme. Furthermore we illustrate the effect of small
diffusion on the exit time with various numerical experiments
Congested traffic equilibria and degenerate anisotropic PDEs
Congested traffic problems on very dense networks lead, at the limit, to minimization problems posed on measures on curves as shown in Baillon and Carlier (Netw. Heterogenous Media 7: 219--241, 2012). Here, we go one step further by showing that these problems can be reformulated in terms of the minimization of an integral functional over a set of vector fields with prescribed divergence. We prove a Sobolev regularity result for their minimizers despite the fact that the Euler-Lagrange equation of the dual is highly degenerate and anisotropic. This somehow extends the analysis of Brasco et al. (J. Math. Pures Appl. 93: 652--671, 2010) to the anisotropic case
The puzzling reliability of the Force Concept Inventory
The Force Concept Inventory (FCI) has influenced the development of many research-based pedagogies. However, no data exists on the FCIâs internal consistency or test-retest reliability. The FCI was administered twice to one hundred students during the first week of classes in an electricity and magnetism course with no review of mechanics between test administrations. High KuderâRichardson reliability coefficient values, which estimate the average correlation of scores obtained on all possible halves of the test, suggest strong internal consistency. However, 31% of the responses changed from test to retest, suggesting weak reliability for individual questions. A chi-square analysis shows that change in responses was neither consistent nor completely random. The puzzling conclusion is that although individual FCI responses are not reliable, the FCI total score is highly reliable
Quantum Smoluchowski equation: Escape from a metastable state
We develop a quantum Smoluchowski equation in terms of a true probability
distribution function to describe quantum Brownian motion in configuration
space in large friction limit at arbitrary temperature and derive the rate of
barrier crossing and tunneling within an unified scheme. The present treatment
is independent of path integral formalism and is based on canonical
quantization procedure.Comment: 10 pages, To appear in the Proceedings of Statphys - Kolkata I
Assessing the efficiency of mother-to-child HIV prevention in low- and middle-income countries using data envelopment analysis
AIDS is one of the most significant health care problems worldwide. Due to the difficulty and costs involved in treating HIV, preventing infection is of paramount
importance in controlling the AIDS epidemic. The main purpose of this paper is to explore the potential of using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to establish international
comparisons on the efficiency of implementation of HIV prevention programmes. To do this we use data from 52 low- and middle-income countries regarding
the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
Our results indicate that there is a remarkable variation in the efficiency of prevention services across nations,
suggesting that a better use of resources could lead to more and improved services, and ultimately, prevent the infection of thousands of children. These results also
demonstrate the potential strategic role of DEA for the efficient and effective planning of scarce resources to fight the epidemic
A hierarchy of heuristic-based models of crowd dynamics
International audienceWe derive a hierarchy of kinetic and macroscopic models from a noisy variant of the heuristic behavioral Individual-Based Model of Moussaid et al, PNAS 2011, where the pedestrians are supposed to have constant speeds. This IBM supposes that the pedestrians seek the best compromise between navigation towards their target and collisions avoidance. We first propose a kinetic model for the probability distribution function of the pedestrians. Then, we derive fluid models and propose three different closure relations. The first two closures assume that the velocity distribution functions are either a Dirac delta or a von Mises-Fisher distribution respectively. The third closure results from a hydrodynamic limit associated to a Local Thermodynamical Equilibrium. We develop an analogy between this equilibrium and Nash equilibia in a game theoretic framework. In each case, we discuss the features of the models and their suitability for practical use
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