High Performance Computing With A Conservative Spectral Boltzmann Solver

We present new results building on the conservative deterministic spectral method for the space inhomogeneous Boltzmann equation developed by Gamba and Tharkabhushaman. This approach is a two-step process that acts on the weak form of the Boltzmann equation, and uses the machinery of the Fourier transform to reformulate the collisional integral into a weighted convolution in Fourier space. A constrained optimization problem is solved to preserve the mass, momentum, and energy of the resulting distribution. We extend this method to second order accuracy in space and time, and explore how to leverage the structure of the collisional formulation for high performance computing environments. The locality in space of the collisional term provides a straightforward memory decomposition, and we perform some initial scaling tests on high performance computing resources. We also use the improved computational power of this method to investigate a boundary-layer generated shock problem that cannot be described by classical hydrodynamics.Mathematic

Conservative Deterministic Spectral Boltzmann Solver Near The Grazing Collisions Limit

We present new results building on the conservative deterministic spectral method for the space homogeneous Boltzmann equation developed by Gamba and Tharkabhushaman. This approach is a two-step process that acts on the weak form of the Boltzmann equation, and uses the machinery of the Fourier transform to reformulate the collisional integral into a weighted convolution in Fourier space. A constrained optimization problem is solved to preserve the mass, momentum, and energy of the resulting distribution. Within this framework we have extended the formulation to the case of more general case of collision operators with anisotropic scattering mechanisms, which requires a new formulation of the convolution weights. We also derive the grazing collisions limit for the method, and show that it is consistent with the Fokker-Planck-Landau equations as the grazing collisions parameter goes to zero.Mathematic

A Fast Conservative Spectral Solver For The Nonlinear Boltzmann Collision Operator

We present a conservative spectral method for the fully nonlinear Boltzmann collision operator based on the weighted convolution structure in Fourier space developed by Gamba and Tharkabhushnanam.. This method can simulate a broad class of collisions, including both elastic and inelastic collisions as well as angularly dependent cross sections in which grazing collisions play a major role. The extension presented in this paper consists of factorizing the convolution weight on quadrature points by exploiting the symmetric nature of the particle interaction law, which reduces the computational cost and memory requirements of the method to O(M(2)N(4)logN) from the O(N-6) complexity of the original spectral method, where N is the number of velocity grid points in each velocity dimension and M is the number of quadrature points in the factorization, which can be taken to be much smaller than N. We present preliminary numerical results.Mathematic

Continuous matrix product state tomography of quantum transport experiments

In recent years, a close connection between the description of open quantum systems, the input-output formalism of quantum optics, and continuous matrix product states in quantum field theory has been established. So far, however, this connection has not been extended to the condensed-matter context. In this work, we substantially develop further and apply a machinery of continuous matrix product states (cMPS) to perform tomography of transport experiments. We first present an extension of the tomographic possibilities of cMPS by showing that reconstruction schemes do not need to be based on low-order correlation functions only, but also on low-order counting probabilities. We show that fermionic quantum transport settings can be formulated within the cMPS framework. This allows us to present a reconstruction scheme based on the measurement of low-order correlation functions that provides access to quantities that are not directly measurable with present technology. Emblematic examples are high-order correlations functions and waiting times distributions (WTD). The latter are of particular interest since they offer insights into short-time scale physics. We demonstrate the functioning of the method with actual data, opening up the way to accessing WTD within the quantum regime.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure

An investigation of the instructional management behaviors of principals in mid-sized public high schools in Iowa

The major purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of superintendents, principals, and teachers regarding the instructional management behaviors of principals in mid-sized public high schools in Iowa when applied to 10 job functions of instructional management behavior. The study utilized the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS) instrument, developed by Dr. Philip J. Hallinger, to assess perceptions of instructional management behaviors of principals. A total of 165 individual assessments were included in the analysis. Completed survey instruments were received from 55 superintendents, 55 high school principals, and 55 high school teachers in mid-sized pubic high schools in Iowa. Data collected were analyzed using the Pearson correlation analysis to determine relationships among the perceptions of the three sub-groups. In addition, the data were paired as follows: superintendents\u27 perceptions/principals\u27 self-perceptions, principals\u27 self-perceptions/teachers\u27 perceptions, and superintendents\u27 perceptions/teachers\u27 perceptions. A paired t test design was utilized to analyze the data in each pairing at the.05 level of significance for each of the 10 job functions of instructional management behavior included in the PIMRS instrument. Significant relationships were identified between superintendents\u27 and principals\u27 perceptions on 4 of the 10 job functions of instructional management behavior. Significant relationships were also identified between superintendents\u27 and teachers\u27 perceptions on 5 of the 10 job functions. No significant relationships were observed, however, between principals\u27 and teachers\u27 perceptions. Although the data revealed that superintendents, principals, and teachers generally perceive principals as demonstrating specific instructional management behaviors within the 10 job functions included in the PIMRS instrument, significant differences were evident between superintendents\u27 and principals\u27 perceptions on 1 of the 10 job functions, while significant differences were evident between principals\u27 and teachers\u27 perceptions on 6 of the 10 job functions. Significant differences were also noted on the same six job functions in a comparison of superintendents\u27 and teachers\u27 perceptions of principals\u27 instructional management behaviors

From Kansas to Queensland: Global learning in preservice elementary teacher education

Communication of information between groups of humans has been extended through out history progressing from smoke signals, drum beats, message couriers, post, telegraph, telephone and now the ICT. The time between the utterance of a message and the reception of that message has progressively decreased. We are now able to communicate relatively cheaply, simultaneously sharing and responding to ideas and thoughts on a scale never previously possible. Although the technology exists to make possible easy access to people in all parts of the world, we still lack understandings of the aspirations and sensitivities of other cultures with whom we can communicate. This project supported pre-service elementary teachers in two countries – Australia and the United States – to engage in collaborative learning through Internet communications. The purpose of the project was to develop greater understanding of other’s cultures, and practices in teaching elementary students. Students attending an Australian preservice primary science methods course were matched with a cohort of undergraduate preservice elementary student teachers from a university in the United States studying an integrated mathematics science methods course. Over a six-week period the students engaged in the computer-mediated communication and were encouraged to learn about mutual cultural practices and primary/elementary science education in both countries. The outcomes demonstrated that students involved in the project benefited from an array of different and enriching learning experiences. Students benefited through enhanced understanding of the teaching of science and an appreciation of the common problems confronting science education in both countries. However, there was little engagement in debate or discussion of individual differences and the cultural context of each other’s country even when opportunities presented themselves. Nevertheless, the on-line tasks provided the pre-service teachers with the experience and confidence to engage their own students in similar global learning initiatives when they become teachers

\u3ci\u3eLeucanthiza Dircella\u3c/i\u3e (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae): A Leafminer of Leatherwood, \u3ci\u3eDirca Palustris\u3c/i\u3e

Leatherwood, Dirca palustris (Thymelaeaceae), is an understory shrub ranging throughout most of the eastern and central United States and adjacent Canada. During 1997-1999, we conducted studies to identify and assess the impact of a leafminer that was causing significant damage to leather- wood plants in eastern Gogebic County, Michigan. Leucanthiza dircella was identified as the only insect responsible for the leaf mining activity on leatherwood. In northern Michigan, L. dircella completed one generation per year. Adult moths were captured on yellow sticky panels suspended from leatherwood branches. In 1997 and 1998, most adults were captured during the first sampling period of each year: 6-12 June 1997 and 3-19 May 199B. In 1999, no moths were collected during 5-29 April but adults were collected between 30 April and 22 June 1999. In 1999, initiation of adult flight coincided with D. palustris leaf flush. In 1997, leaf mines were very noticeable by 30 June. The mean number of live L. dircella larvae per mine was 3.5 on 17 July 1997 and then decreased as the season progressed, with most larvae having exited the mines by late August to pupate in the soil. In late August 1997, the mean surface area of a single leaf was 17.8 cm2 and the mean surface area of a single mine was 5.9 cm2. At the end of the 1997 growing sea­son, 31% of the leatherwood leaves contained L. dircella mines, and 11% of the total leaf surface area had been mined. In 1999, only 8% of the leaves in the study area contained L. dircella mines. No leatherwood mortality was evident as a result of L. dircella leaf mining. Seven species of hymenopteran parasitoids were reared from L. dircella larvae, including one braconid in the genus Pholetesor and six eulophids in the genera Chrysocharis, Closterocerus, Pnigalio, and Sympiesis. Three coleopterans that were commonly observed on leatherwood plants during all years included: Glyptina brunnea (Chrysomelidae), Phyllobius oblongus (Curculionidae) and Polydrusus sericeus (Curculionidae)

Quantifying uncertainty in pest risk maps and assessments : adopting a risk-averse decision maker’s perspective

Pest risk maps are important decision support tools when devising strategies to minimize introductions of invasive organisms and mitigate their impacts. When possible management responses to an invader include costly or socially sensitive activities, decision-makers tend to follow a more certain (i.e., risk-averse) course of action. We presented a new mapping technique that assesses pest invasion risk from the perspective of a risk-averse decision maker. We demonstrated the method by evaluating the likelihood that an invasive forest pest will be transported to one of the U.S. states or Canadian provinces in infested firewood by visitors to U.S. federal campgrounds. We tested the impact of the risk aversion assumption using distributions of plausible pest arrival scenarios generated with a geographically explicit model developed from data documenting camper travel across the study area. Next, we prioritized regions of high and low pest arrival risk via application of two stochastic ordering techniques that employed, respectively, first- and second-degree stochastic dominance rules, the latter of which incorporated the notion of risk aversion. We then identified regions in the study area where the pest risk value changed considerably after incorporating risk aversion. While both methods identified similar areas of highest and lowest risk, they differed in how they demarcated moderate-risk areas. In general, the second-order stochastic dominance method assigned lower risk rankings to moderate-risk areas. Overall, this new method offers a better strategy to deal with the uncertainty typically associated with risk assessments and provides a tractable way to incorporate decisionmaking preferences into final risk estimates, and thus helps to better align these estimates with particular decision-making scenarios about a pest organism of concern. Incorporation of risk aversion also helps prioritize the set of locations to target for inspections and outreach activities, which can be costly. Our results are especially important and useful given the huge number of camping trips that occur each year in the United States and Canada

Quantifying uncertainty in pest risk maps and assessments : adopting a risk-averse decision maker’s perspective

Pest risk maps are important decision support tools when devising strategies to minimize introductions of invasive organisms and mitigate their impacts. When possible management responses to an invader include costly or socially sensitive activities, decision-makers tend to follow a more certain (i.e., risk-averse) course of action. We presented a new mapping technique that assesses pest invasion risk from the perspective of a risk-averse decision maker. We demonstrated the method by evaluating the likelihood that an invasive forest pest will be transported to one of the U.S. states or Canadian provinces in infested firewood by visitors to U.S. federal campgrounds. We tested the impact of the risk aversion assumption using distributions of plausible pest arrival scenarios generated with a geographically explicit model developed from data documenting camper travel across the study area. Next, we prioritized regions of high and low pest arrival risk via application of two stochastic ordering techniques that employed, respectively, first- and second-degree stochastic dominance rules, the latter of which incorporated the notion of risk aversion. We then identified regions in the study area where the pest risk value changed considerably after incorporating risk aversion. While both methods identified similar areas of highest and lowest risk, they differed in how they demarcated moderate-risk areas. In general, the second-order stochastic dominance method assigned lower risk rankings to moderate-risk areas. Overall, this new method offers a better strategy to deal with the uncertainty typically associated with risk assessments and provides a tractable way to incorporate decisionmaking preferences into final risk estimates, and thus helps to better align these estimates with particular decision-making scenarios about a pest organism of concern. Incorporation of risk aversion also helps prioritize the set of locations to target for inspections and outreach activities, which can be costly. Our results are especially important and useful given the huge number of camping trips that occur each year in the United States and Canada