Optimal Estimates for the Electric Field in Two-Dimensions

The purpose of this paper is to set out optimal gradient estimates for solutions to the isotropic conductivity problem in the presence of adjacent conductivity inclusions as the distance between the inclusions goes to zero and their conductivities degenerate. This difficult question arises in the study of composite media. Frequently in composites, the inclusions are very closely spaced and may even touch. It is quite important from a practical point of view to know whether the electric field (the gradient of the potential) can be arbitrarily large as the inclusions get closer to each other or to the boundary of the background medium. In this paper, we establish both upper and lower bounds on the electric field in the case where two circular conductivity inclusions are very close but not touching. We also obtain such bounds when a circular inclusion is very close to the boundary of a circular domain which contains the inclusion. The novelty of these estimates, which improve and make complete our earlier results published in Math. Ann., is that they give an optimal information about the blow-up of the electric field as the conductivities of the inclusions degenerate.Comment: 26 page

Mathematical analysis of plasmonic nanoparticles: the scalar case

Localized surface plasmons are charge density oscillations confined to metallic nanoparticles. Excitation of localized surface plasmons by an electromagnetic field at an incident wavelength where resonance occurs results in a strong light scattering and an enhancement of the local electromagnetic fields. This paper is devoted to the mathematical modeling of plasmonic nanoparticles. Its aim is threefold: (i) to mathematically define the notion of plasmonic resonance and to analyze the shift and broadening of the plasmon resonance with changes in size and shape of the nanoparticles; (ii) to study the scattering and absorption enhancements by plasmon resonant nanoparticles and express them in terms of the polarization tensor of the nanoparticle. Optimal bounds on the enhancement factors are also derived; (iii) to show, by analyzing the imaginary part of the Green function, that one can achieve super-resolution and super-focusing using plasmonic nanoparticles. For simplicity, the Helmholtz equation is used to model electromagnetic wave propagation

On the spectrum of a waveguide with periodic cracks

The spectral problem on a periodic domain with cracks is studied. An asymptotic form of dispersion relations is calculated under assumption that the opening of the cracks is small

The essential spectrum of the Neumann–Poincaré operator on a domain with corners

Exploiting the homogeneous structure of a wedge in the complex plane, we compute the spectrum of the anti-linear Ahlfors-Beurling transform acting on the associated Bergman space. Consequently, the similarity equivalence between the Ahlfors--Beurling transform and the Neumann-Poincare operator provides the spectrum of the latter integral operator on a wedge. A localization technique and conformal mapping lead to the first complete description of the essential spectrum of the Neumann-Poincare operator on a planar domain with corners, with respect to the energy norm of the associated harmonic field

Enhancement of near-cloaking. Part II: the Helmholtz equation

The aim of this paper is to extend the method of improving cloaking structures in the conductivity to scattering problems. We construct very effective near-cloaking structures for the scattering problem at a fixed frequency. These new structures are, before using the transformation optics, layered structures and are designed so that their first scattering coefficients vanish. Inside the cloaking region, any target has near-zero scattering cross section for a band of frequencies. We analytically show that our new construction significantly enhances the cloaking effect for the Helmholtz equation.Comment: 16pages, 12 fugure

Modeling active electrolocation in weakly electric fish

In this paper, we provide a mathematical model for the electrolocation in weakly electric fishes. We first investigate the forward complex conductivity problem and derive the approximate boundary conditions on the skin of the fish. Then we provide a dipole approximation for small targets away from the fish. Based on this approximation, we obtain a non-iterative location search algorithm using multi-frequency measurements. We present numerical experiments to illustrate the performance and the stability of the proposed multi-frequency location search algorithm. Finally, in the case of disk- and ellipse-shaped targets, we provide a method to reconstruct separately the conductivity, the permittivity, and the size of the targets from multi-frequency measurements.Comment: 37 pages, 11 figure

Qatar’s Educational Reform: The Experiences and Perceptions of Principals, Teachers and Parents

This study describes the implications of the massive Qatari educational reform, Education For a New Era (EFNE), from the perspectives of teachers, principals, and parents provides insight into these stakeholders perceptions regarding how EFNE has impacted teaching and learning and the new challenges they face. This qualitative study uses open-ended questionnaires, focus groups and interviews. Survey data is collected from 18 Independent Schools including 17 principals, 413 teachers and 565 parents and interviews with 17 principals, 26 teachers and 50 parents. Findings describe the effects, impact, the challenges and the advantages and disadvantages of EFNE on these stakeholders.Qatar Foundation’s National Priorities Research Program Grant No. 4205503

Local Analysis of Inverse Problems: H\"{o}lder Stability and Iterative Reconstruction

We consider a class of inverse problems defined by a nonlinear map from parameter or model functions to the data. We assume that solutions exist. The space of model functions is a Banach space which is smooth and uniformly convex; however, the data space can be an arbitrary Banach space. We study sequences of parameter functions generated by a nonlinear Landweber iteration and conditions under which these strongly converge, locally, to the solutions within an appropriate distance. We express the conditions for convergence in terms of H\"{o}lder stability of the inverse maps, which ties naturally to the analysis of inverse problems

Robust edge modes in dislocated systems of subwavelength resonators

Robustly manipulating waves on subwavelength scales can be achieved by, first, designing a structure with a subwavelength band gap and, second, introducing a defect so that eigenfrequencies fall within the band gap. Such frequencies are well known to correspond to localized modes. We study a one-dimensional array of subwavelength resonators, prove that there is a subwavelength band gap, and show that by introducing a dislocation we can place localized modes at any point within the band gap. We complement this analysis by studying the stability properties of the corresponding finite array of resonators, demonstrating the value of being able to customize the position of eigenvalues within the band ga