On the Fixed-Point Structure of Scalar Fields

In a recent Letter (K.Halpern and K.Huang, Phys. Rev. Lett. 74 (1995) 3526), certain properties of the Local Potential Approximation (LPA) to the Wilson renormalization group were uncovered, which led the authors to conclude that $D>2$ dimensional scalar field theories endowed with {\sl non-polynomial} interactions allow for a continuum of renormalization group fixed points, and that around the Gaussian fixed point, asymptotically free interactions exist. If true, this could herald very important new physics, particularly for the Higgs sector of the Standard Model. Continuing work in support of these ideas, has motivated us to point out that we previously studied the same properties and showed that they lead to very different conclusions. Indeed, in as much as the statements in hep-th/9406199 are correct, they point to some deep and beautiful facts about the LPA and its generalisations, but however no new physics.Comment: Typos corrected. A Comment - to be published in Phys. Rev. Lett. 1 page, 1 eps figure, uses LaTeX, RevTex and eps

Visible evidence

By observing students at Leeds Metropolitan University, Katherine Everest, Debbie Morris and colleagues were able to provide library spaces for the way they actually work, not the way we think they ought to work

Robustness of controllers designed using Galerkin type approximations

One of the difficulties in designing controllers for infinite-dimensional systems arises from attempting to calculate a state for the system. It is shown that Galerkin type approximations can be used to design controllers which will perform as designed when implemented on the original infinite-dimensional system. No assumptions, other than those typically employed in numerical analysis, are made on the approximating scheme

Convergence of controllers designed using state space methods

The convergence of finite dimensional controllers for infinite dimensional systems designed using approximations is examined. Stable coprime factorization theory is used to show that under the standard assumptions of uniform stabilizability/detectability, the controllers stabilize the original system for large enough model order. The controllers converge uniformly to an infinite dimensional controller, as does the closed loop response

Modeling an elastic beam with piezoelectric patches by including magnetic effects

Models for piezoelectric beams using Euler-Bernoulli small displacement theory predict the dynamics of slender beams at the low frequency accurately but are insufficient for beams vibrating at high frequencies or beams with low length-to-width aspect ratios. A more thorough model that includes the effects of rotational inertia and shear strain, Mindlin-Timoshenko small displacement theory, is needed to predict the dynamics more accurately for these cases. Moreover, existing models ignore the magnetic effects since the magnetic effects are relatively small. However, it was shown recently \cite{O-M1} that these effects can substantially change the controllability and stabilizability properties of even a single piezoelectric beam. In this paper, we use a variational approach to derive models that include magnetic effects for an elastic beam with two piezoelectric patches actuated by different voltage sources. Both Euler-Bernoulli and Mindlin-Timoshenko small displacement theories are considered. Due to the magnetic effects, the equations are quite different from the standard equations.Comment: 3 figures. 2014 American Control Conference Proceeding