Compact Finite Differences and Cubic Splines

In this paper I uncover and explain---using contour integrals and residues---a connection between cubic splines and a popular compact finite difference formula. The connection is that on a uniform mesh the simplest Pad\'e scheme for generating fourth-order accurate compact finite differences gives \textsl{exactly} the derivatives at the interior nodes needed to guarantee twice-continuous differentiability for cubic splines. %I found this connection surprising, because the two problems being solved are different. I also introduce an apparently new spline-like interpolant that I call a compact cubic interpolant; this is similar to one introduced in 1972 by Swartz and Varga, but has higher order accuracy at the edges. I argue that for mildly nonuniform meshes the compact cubic approach offers some potential advantages, and even for uniform meshes offers a simple way to treat the edge conditions, relieving the user of the burden of deciding to use one of the three standard options: free (natural), complete (clamped), or "not-a-knot" conditions. Finally, I establish that the matrices defining the compact cubic splines (equivalently, the fourth-order compact finite difference formul\ae) are positive definite, and in fact totally nonnegative, if all mesh widths are the same sign.Comment: Revised and corrected version. 25 pages, 4 figures; keywords: compact finite differences; cubic splines; barycentric form; compact cubic splines; contour integral methods; totally nonnegative matrice

On the SPRification of linear descriptor systems via output feedback

We consider input-output systems in descriptor form and ask when such systems can be rendered SPR (strictly positive real) via output feedback. Time and frequency domain conditions are given to determine when and how this is possible. In addition, a synthesis procedure for controller design is also derived. Together, the results provide a complete answer to when a linear descriptor system can be made SPR via output feedback, and give a recipe for design of the feedback controller when it exists. Simple examples are given to illustrate our results and to demonstrate their efficacy.Comment: Submitted to IEEE Transactions on Automatic Contro

Optimal Solution of Linear Ordinary Differential Equations by Conjugate Gradient Method

Solving initial value problems and boundary value problems of Linear Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs) plays an important role in many applications. There are various numerical methods and solvers to obtain approximate solutions represented by points. However, few work about optimal solution to minimize the residual can be found in the literatures. In this paper, we first use Hermit cubic spline interpolation at mesh points to represent the solution, then we define the residual error as the square of the L2 norm of the residual obtained by substituting the interpolation solution back to ODEs. Thus, solving ODEs is reduced to an optimization problem in curtain solution space which can be solved by conjugate gradient method with taking advantages of sparsity of the corresponding matrix. The examples of IVP and BVP in the paper show that this method can find a solution with smaller global error without additional mesh points.Comment: 9 pages,6 figure

Narayana, Mandelbrot, and A New Kind of Companion Matrix

We demonstrate a new kind of companion matrix, for polynomials of the form $c(\lambda) = \lambda a(\lambda)b(\lambda) + c_0$ where upper Hessenberg companions are known for the polynomials $a(\lambda)$ and $b(\lambda)$. This construction can generate companion matrices with smaller entries than the Fiedler or Frobenius forms. This generalizes Piers Lawrence's Mandelbrot companion matrix. We motivate the construction by use of Narayana-Mandelbrot polynomials, which are also new to this paper

Differentiation Matrices for Univariate Polynomials

We collect here elementary properties of differentiation matrices for univariate polynomials expressed in various bases, including orthogonal polynomial bases and non-degree-graded bases such as Bernstein bases and Lagrange \& Hermite interpolational bases.Comment: 14 pages, two figure

Minimal height companion matrices for Euclid polynomials

We define Euclid polynomials $E_{k+1}(\lambda) = E_{k}(\lambda)\left(E_{k}(\lambda) - 1\right) + 1$ and $E_{1}(\lambda) = \lambda + 1$ in analogy to Euclid numbers $e_k = E_{k}(1)$. We show how to construct companion matrices $\mathbb{E}_k$, so $E_k(\lambda) = \operatorname{det}\left(\lambda\mathbf{I} - \mathbb{E}_{k}\right)$, of height 1 (and thus of minimal height over all integer companion matrices for $E_{k}(\lambda)$). We prove various properties of these objects, and give experimental confirmation of some unproved properties.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure

Stability tests for a class of switched descriptor systems with non-homogenous indices

In this paper we derive stability conditions for a switched system where switching occurs between linear descriptor systems of different indices. In particular, our results can be used to analyse the stability of the important case when switching between a standard system and an index one descriptor system, and systems where switching occurs between an index one and and an index two descriptor system. Examples are given to illustrate the use of our results.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Pure tone modes for a 5:3 elliptic drum

The paper exhibits several standing modes of a 5:3 elliptic drum computed using Mathieu functions. To match the boundary conditions, I used Newton's method on the appropriate modified Mathieu equation using the Squire-Trapp formula for computing derivatives. I tabulate the requisite values of the parameter $q$ for these low-frequency modes.Comment: 12 pages; 56 figurs; two table

On the stability and convergence of a class of consensus systems with a nonlinear input

We consider a class of consensus systems driven by a nonlinear input. Such systems arise in a class of IoT applications. Our objective in this paper is to determine conditions under which a certain partially distributed system converges to a Lur'e-like scalar system, and to provide a rigorous proof of its stability. Conditions are derived for the non-uniform convergence and stability of such a system and an example is given of a speed advisory system where such a system arises in real engineering practice.Comment: This paper has been accepted by Automatica as a brief paper. Final version to appear soo

Symbolic-Numeric Integration of Rational Functions

We consider the problem of symbolic-numeric integration of symbolic functions, focusing on rational functions. Using a hybrid method allows the stable yet efficient computation of symbolic antiderivatives while avoiding issues of ill-conditioning to which numerical methods are susceptible. We propose two alternative methods for exact input that compute the rational part of the integral using Hermite reduction and then compute the transcendental part two different ways using a combination of exact integration and efficient numerical computation of roots. The symbolic computation is done within BPAS, or Basic Polynomial Algebra Subprograms, which is a highly optimized environment for polynomial computation on parallel architectures, while the numerical computation is done using the highly optimized multiprecision rootfinding package MPSolve. We show that both methods are forward and backward stable in a structured sense and away from singularities tolerance proportionality is achieved by adjusting the precision of the rootfinding tasks.Comment: 25 pages, 4 figures; added a footnote and page number