Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Skeleton Structures And Origami Design, John C. Bowers

Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation we study problems related to polygonal skeleton structures that have applications to computational origami. The two main structures studied are the straight skeleton of a simple polygon (and its generalizations to planar straight line graphs) and the universal molecule of a Lang polygon. This work builds on results completed jointly with my advisor Ileana Streinu. Skeleton structures are used in many computational geometry algorithms. Examples include the medial axis, which has applications including shape analysis, optical character recognition, and surface reconstruction; and the Voronoi diagram, which has a wide array of applications including geographic information systems …

Obstruction Criteria For Modular Deformation Problems, Jeffrey Hatley Jr

Doctoral Dissertations

For a cuspidal newform f of weight k at least 3 and a prime p of the associated number field K_f, the deformation problem for its associated mod p Galois representation is unobstructed for all primes outside some finite set. Previous results gave an explicit bound on this finite set for f of squarefree level; we modify this bound and remove the squarefree hypothesis. We also show that if the p-adic deformation problem for f is unobstructed, then f is not congruent mod p to a newform of lower level.

Geometry Of Scales, Kyle Stephen Austin

Doctoral Dissertations

The geometry of coverings has widely been used throughout mathematics and it has recently been a promising tool for resolving longstanding problems in topological rigidity such as the Novikov conjecture and Gromov's positive scalar curvature conjecture. We discuss rigidity conjectures and how large scale geometry is being applied in order to resolve them for important cases.

Not only is small scale and large scale geometry very applicable to understanding global geometry of objects, but it is an interesting topic in its own right. The first chapter of this paper is devoted to building a framework for small scale geometry alongside …

The Congruence-Based Zero-Divisor Graph, Elizabeth Fowler Lewis

Doctoral Dissertations

Let R be a commutative ring with nonzero identity and ~ a multiplicative congruence relation on R. Then, R/~ is a semigroup with multiplication [x][y] = [xy], where [x] is the congruence class of an element x of R. We define the congruence-based zero-divisor graph of R ito be the simple graph with vertices the nonzero zero-divisors of R/~ and with an edge between distinct vertices [x] and [y] if and only if [x][y] = [0]. Examples include the usual …

Sensitivity Of Mixed Models To Computational Algorithms Of Time Series Data, Gunaime Nevine

Doctoral Dissertations

Statistical analysis is influenced by implementation of the algorithms used to execute the computations associated with various statistical techniques. Over many years; very important criteria for model comparison has been studied and examined, and two algorithms on a single dataset have been performed numerous times. The goal of this research is not comparing two or more models on one dataset, but comparing models with numerical algorithms that have been used to solve them on the same dataset.

In this research, different models have been broadly applied in modeling and their contrasting which are affected by the numerical algorithms in different …

Combinatorics Of Equivariant Cohomology: Flags And Regular Nilpotent Hessenberg Varieties, Elizabeth J. Drellich

Doctoral Dissertations

The field of Schubert Calculus deals with computations in the cohomology rings of certain algebraic varieties, including flag varieties and Schubert varieties. In the equivariant setting, GKM theory turns multiplication in the cohomology ring of certain varieties into a combinatorial computation. This dissertation uses combinatorial tools, including Billey’s formula, to do Schubert calculus computations in several varieties. First we address do computations in the equivariant cohomology of full and partial flag varieties, the classical spaces in Schubert calculus. We then do computations in the equivariant cohomology of a family of non-classical spaces: regular nilpotent Hessenberg varieties. The final chapter gives …

Discrete Analogues Of Some Classical Special Functions, Thomas Joseph Cuchta

Doctoral Dissertations

"Analogues of special functions on time scales are studied with special focus on the time scale 𝕋 = hℤ. Functions investigated in particular include complex monomials, new trigonometric functions, Gaussian bell, Hermite and Laguerre polynomials, Bessel functions, and hypergeometric series"--Abstract, page iii.

Small Sample Umpu Equivalence Testing Based On Saddlepoint Approximations, Renren Zhao

Doctoral Dissertations

"In the first section, we consider small sample equivalence tests for exponentiality. Statistical inference in this setting is particularly challenging since equivalence testing procedures typically require a much larger sample size, in comparison to classical "difference tests", to perform well. We make use of Butler's marginal likelihood for the shape parameter of a gamma distribution in our development of equivalence tests for exponentiality. We consider two procedures using the principle of confidence interval inclusion, four Bayesian methods, and the uniformly most powerful unbiased (UMPU) test where a saddlepoint approximation to the intractable distribution of a canonical sufficient statistic is used. …

On Testing Common Indices For Several Multi-Index Models: A Link-Free Approach, Xuejing Liu

Doctoral Dissertations

"To avoid the curse of dimensionality, and to help us better understand the structure of the high dimensional data, methods for dimension reduction are clearly called for. The common linear dimension reduction techniques for single population include principal component analysis (PCA) which is unsupervised in regression and supervised Partial Least Squares (PLS). Modern sufficient dimension reduction techniques, like the ones we consider, constitute a form of supervised linear dimension reduction which outperform PCA and PLS without the underlying model assumptions.

In practice, we often deal with situations where the same variables are being measured on objects from different groups, and …

Volterra Difference Equations, Nasrin Sultana

Doctoral Dissertations

"This dissertation consists of five papers in which discrete Volterra equations of different types and orders are studied and results regarding the behavior of their solutions are established. The first paper presents some fundamental results about subexponential sequences. It also illustrates the subexponential solutions of scalar linear Volterra sum-difference equations are asymptotically stable. The exact value of the rate of convergence of asymptotically stable solutions is found by determining the asymptotic behavior of the transient renewal equations. The study of subexponential solutions is also continued in the second and third articles. The second paper investigates the same equation using the …

Small Sample Saddlepoint Confidence Intervals In Epidemiology, Pasan Manuranga Edirisinghe

Doctoral Dissertations

"In section 1, we develop a novel method of confidence interval construction for directly standardized rates. These intervals involve saddlepoint approximations to the intractable distribution of a weighted sum of Poisson random variables and the determination of hypothetical Poisson mean values for each of the age groups. Simulation studies show that, in terms of coverage probability and length, the saddlepoint confidence interval (SP) outperforms four competing confidence intervals obtained from the moment matching (M8), gamma-based (G1,G4) and ABC bootstrap (ABC) methods.

In section 2, we first consider Brillinger's classical model for a vital rate estimate with a random denominator. We …

Essays On Unit Root Testing In Time Series, Xiao Zhong

Doctoral Dissertations

"Unit root tests are frequently employed by applied time series analysts to determine if the underlying model that generates an empirical process has a component that can be well-described by a random walk. More specifically, when the time series can be modeled using an autoregressive moving average (ARMA) process, such tests aim to determine if the autoregressive (AR) polynomial has one or more unit roots. The effect of economic shocks do not diminish with time when there is one or more unit roots in the AR polynomial, whereas the contribution of shocks decay geometrically when all the roots are outside …