11,141 research outputs found

    The Hopf bifurcation for nonlinear semigroups

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    Several authors, have shown by perturbation techniques that the Hopf theorem on the development of periodic stable solutions is valid for the Navier-Stokes equations; in particular, solutions near the stable periodic ones remain defined and smooth for all t ≥ 0 . The principal difficulty is that the Hopf theorem deals with flows of smooth vector fields on finite-dimensional spaces, whereas the Navier-Stokes equations define a flow (or evolution operator) for a nonlinear partial differential operator (actually it is a nonlocal operator). The aim of this note is to outline a method for overcoming this difficulty which is entirely different in appearance from the perturbation approach. The method depends on invariant manifold theory plus certain smoothness properties of the flow which actually hold for the Navier-Stokes flow

    A formula for the solution of the Navier-Stokes equation based on a method of Chorin

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    Recently, A. Chorin has found a numerical scheme for solving the Navier-Stokes equations which has the pleasing feature of not breaking down at high Reynolds numbers R . The purpose of this announcement is to present a formula which is designed to establish the convergence of Chorin's time step iteration procedure, assuming that the relevant equations (heat equation and Euler's equations) are solved exactly at each step

    Gauge Theory for Finite-Dimensional Dynamical Systems

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    Gauge theory is a well-established concept in quantum physics, electrodynamics, and cosmology. This theory has recently proliferated into new areas, such as mechanics and astrodynamics. In this paper, we discuss a few applications of gauge theory in finite-dimensional dynamical systems with implications to numerical integration of differential equations. We distinguish between rescriptive and descriptive gauge symmetry. Rescriptive gauge symmetry is, in essence, re-scaling of the independent variable, while descriptive gauge symmetry is a Yang-Mills-like transformation of the velocity vector field, adapted to finite-dimensional systems. We show that a simple gauge transformation of multiple harmonic oscillators driven by chaotic processes can render an apparently "disordered" flow into a regular dynamical process, and that there exists a remarkable connection between gauge transformations and reduction theory of ordinary differential equations. Throughout the discussion, we demonstrate the main ideas by considering examples from diverse engineering and scientific fields, including quantum mechanics, chemistry, rigid-body dynamics and information theory

    Generalized Hamiltonian mechanics

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    Our purpose is to generalize Hamiltonian mechanics t the case in which the energy function (Hamiltonian), H , is a distribution (generalized function) in the sense of Schwartz. We follow the same general program as in the smooth case. Familiarity with the smooth case is helpful, although we have striven to make the exposition self-contained, starting from calculus on manifold

    Discrete Routh Reduction

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    This paper develops the theory of abelian Routh reduction for discrete mechanical systems and applies it to the variational integration of mechanical systems with abelian symmetry. The reduction of variational Runge-Kutta discretizations is considered, as well as the extent to which symmetry reduction and discretization commute. These reduced methods allow the direct simulation of dynamical features such as relative equilibria and relative periodic orbits that can be obscured or difficult to identify in the unreduced dynamics. The methods are demonstrated for the dynamics of an Earth orbiting satellite with a non-spherical J2J_2 correction, as well as the double spherical pendulum. The J2J_2 problem is interesting because in the unreduced picture, geometric phases inherent in the model and those due to numerical discretization can be hard to distinguish, but this issue does not appear in the reduced algorithm, where one can directly observe interesting dynamical structures in the reduced phase space (the cotangent bundle of shape space), in which the geometric phases have been removed. The main feature of the double spherical pendulum example is that it has a nontrivial magnetic term in its reduced symplectic form. Our method is still efficient as it can directly handle the essential non-canonical nature of the symplectic structure. In contrast, a traditional symplectic method for canonical systems could require repeated coordinate changes if one is evoking Darboux' theorem to transform the symplectic structure into canonical form, thereby incurring additional computational cost. Our method allows one to design reduced symplectic integrators in a natural way, despite the noncanonical nature of the symplectic structure.Comment: 24 pages, 7 figures, numerous minor improvements, references added, fixed typo

    Routh reduction and the class of magnetic Lagrangian systems

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    In this paper, some new aspects related to Routh reduction of Lagrangian systems with symmetry are discussed. The main result of this paper is the introduction of a new concept of transformation that is applicable to systems obtained after Routh reduction of Lagrangian systems with symmetry, so-called magnetic Lagrangian systems. We use these transformations in order to show that, under suitable conditions, the reduction with respect to a (full) semi-direct product group is equivalent to the reduction with respect to an Abelian normal subgroup. The results in this paper are closely related to the more general theory of Routh reduction by stages.Comment: 23 page

    Service delivery for people with hereditary spastic paraparesis living in the South West of England.

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    PURPOSE: Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP) is an inherited nervous system disorder characterized by development of leg weakness, spasms and stiffness. While generally acknowledged that health and social care services can minimise symptoms and improve quality of life, there is a lack of research exploring this from the perspective of people affected by HSP. This qualitative study explored the users and providers experience of using rural services. METHOD: Focus groups and interviews were undertaken of people with HSP (n = 14), carers (n = 6) and professionals (n = 12), to describe their experience of service provision and to suggest improvements for care. These were taped, transcribed and analysed. RESULTS: Four themes emerged: (1) Diagnosis, symptoms and finding support; (2) Therapy, treatment and the delivery of care; (3) Managing the disease together; and (4) The way forward. CONCLUSIONS: Rehabilitation and support for self-management is valued by those affected with HSP throughout the disease trajectory from diagnosis onwards. Key to this is the development of a partnership approach which includes carers. Single point, well-informed, gatekeepers may enhance the coordination and delivery of care in rural areas. These findings underline current guidance promoting a holistic approach for people with neurological conditions

    Symplectic reduction and topology for applications in classical molecular dynamics

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    This paper aims to introduce readers with backgrounds in classical molecular dynamics to some ideas in geometric mechanics that may be useful. This is done through some simple but specific examples: (i) the separation of the rotational and internal energies in an arbitrarily floppy N-body system and (ii) the reduction of the phase space accompanying the change from the laboratory coordinate system to the center of mass coordinate system relevant to molecular collision dynamics. For the case of two-body molecular systems constrained to a plane, symplectic reduction is employed to demonstrate explicitly the separation of translational, rotational, and internal energies and the corresponding reductions of the phase space describing the dynamics for Hamiltonian systems with symmetry. Further, by examining the topology of the energy-momentum map, a unified treatment is presented of the reduction results for the description of (i) the classical dynamics of rotating and vibrating diatomic molecules, which correspond to bound trajectories and (ii) the classical dynamics of atom–atom collisions, which correspond to scattering trajectories. This provides a framework for the treatment of the dynamics of larger N-body systems, including the dynamics of larger rotating and vibrating polyatomic molecular systems and the dynamics of molecule–molecule collisions

    Stress tensors, Riemannian metrics and the alternative descriptions in elasticity

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