Applied Mathematics Commons^™

Comic Books That Teach Mathematics, Bruce Kessler

Mathematics Faculty Publications

During the 2008--2009 academic year, the author embarked on an extremely non-standard curriculum path: developing comic books with embedded mathematics appropriate for 3rd through 6th grade students. With the help of an education professor to measure impact, an elementary-school principal, and talented undergraduate illustrators, this project came to fruition and the comics were implemented in elementary classrooms at Cumberland Trace Elementary in the Warren County School System in Bowling Green, Kentucky. This manuscript gives the history of this idea, the difficulties of developing the content of the comics and getting them illustrated, and the implementation plan in the school.

My Trig Book, Bruce Kessler

Mathematics Faculty Publications

This is the MATH 117 Trigonometry text developed by Dr. Bruce Kessler for the Gatton Academy of Math and Science at Western Kentucky University for the Academy sections of the course. The text has also been used in two online course offerings.

Thermocapillary Effects In Driven Dewetting And Self-Assembly Of Pulsed Laser-Irradiated Metallic Films, Agegnehu Atena, Mikhail Khenner

Mathematics Faculty Publications

In this paper the lubrication-type dynamical model is developed of a molten, pulsed laser-irradiated metallic film. The heat transfer problem that incorporates the absorbed heat from a single beam or interfering beams is solved analytically. Using this temperature field, we derive the 3D long-wave evolution PDE for the film height. To get insights into dynamics of dewetting, we study the 2D version of the evolution equation by means of a linear stability analysis and by numerical simulations. The stabilizing and destabilizing effects of various system parameters, such as the peak laser beam intensity, the film optical thickness, the Biot and …

My Trig Book, Bruce Kessler

Mathematics Faculty Publications

This is the MATH 117 Trigonometry text developed by Dr. Bruce Kessler for the Gatton Academy of Math and Science at Western Kentucky University for the Math and Science sections of the course. The text has also been used in two online course offerings.

Poisson Structures Of Equations Associated With Groups Of Diffeomorphisms, Rossen Ivanov

Conference papers

A class of equations describing the geodesic flow for a right-invariant metric on the group of diffeomorphisms of Rn is reviewed from the viewpoint of their Lie-Poisson structures. A subclass of these equations is analogous to the Euler equations in hydrodynamics (for n = 3), preserving the volume element of the domain of fluid flow. An example in n = 1 dimension is the Camassa-Holm equation, which is a geodesic flow equation on the group of diffeomorphisms, preserving the H1 metric.

Two Component Integrable Systems Modelling Shallow Water Waves, Rossen Ivanov

Conference papers

Our aim is to describe the derivation of shallow water model equations for the constant vorticity case and to demonstrate how these equations can be related to two integrable systems: a two component integrable generalization of the Camassa-Holm equation and the Kaup - Boussinesq system.

Stability Of Traveling Waves In Thin Liquid Films Driven By Gravity And Surfactant, Ellen Peterson, Michael Shearer, Thomas P. Witelski, Rachel Levy

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

A thin layer of fluid flowing down a solid planar surface has a free surface height described by a nonlinear PDE derived via the lubrication approximation from the Navier Stokes equations. For thin films, surface tension plays an important role both in providing a significant driving force and in smoothing the free surface. Surfactant molecules on the free surface tend to reduce surface tension, setting up gradients that modify the shape of the free surface. In earlier work [12, 13J a traveling wave was found in which the free surface undergoes three sharp transitions, or internal layers, and the surfactant …

Confidence Wagering During Mathematics And Science Testing., Brady Jack, Chia-Ju Liu, Hoan-Lin Chiu, James Shymansky

Educator Preparation & Leadership Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

The Beauty Of Mathematics And The Mathematics Of Beauty: Continued Fractions And The Golden Ratio, Jessica Tush

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

This project begins with a look at the history of simple continued fractions and how we have arrived where we are today. We then move through a study of simple continued fractions, beginning first with rational numbers and moving to irrational numbers. Continuing further in the pursuit of joining mathematics and art, we define the specific continued fraction that gives rise to the Fibonacci sequence and the Golden Ratio~ (phi, pronounced 'Jai"). These two notions form a direct link to art and the properties that we hope to examine. I have taken an analytic approach to showing that the Golden …

Singular Points Of Real Quartic And Quintic Curves, David A. Weinberg, Nicholas J. Willis

Faculty Publications - Department of Mathematics

There are thirteen types of singular points for irreducible real quartic curves and seventeen types of singular points for reducible real quartic curves. This classification is originally due to D. A. Gudkov. There are nine types of singular points for irreducible complex quartic curves and ten types of singular points for reducible complex quartic curves. There are 42 types of real singular points for irreducible real quintic curves and 49 types of real singular points for irreducible real quintic curves. The classification of real singular points for irreducible real quintic curves is originally due to Golubina and Tai. There are …

A Direct Solution Of The Robin Inverse Problem, Weifu Fang, Suxing Zeng

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications

We present a direct, linear boundary integral equation method for the inverse problem of recovering the Robin coefficient from a single partial boundary measurement of the solution to the Laplace equation.

Rules And Insights: Connecting The Mathematical And Linguistic Abilities Of C.S. Lewis, Kim Regnier Jongerius

ACMS Journal 2008-2009

While most biographical works on C.S. Lewis give passing reference to Lewis' problems with elementary mathematics, few have made an attempt at diagnosing the difficulty or exploring its impact on his writing. A careful study of family correspondence, however, makes it clear that his learning difficulties were not with mathematics alone and suggests connections between attitudes toward and abilities in both mathematics and language. This paper will make these connections clear and will illustrate their ties to Lewis' effective mathematical references.

Computing Prime Harmonic Sums, Eric Bach, Dominic Klyve, Jonathan P. Sorenson

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

We discuss a method for computing Σ �≤� 1/�, using time about �2/3 and space about �1/3. It is based on the Meissel-Lehmer algorithm for computing the prime-counting function �(�), which was adapted and improved by Lagarias, Miller, and Odlyzko. We used this algorithm to determine the first point at which the prime harmonic sum first crosses.

A Note On The Positive Solutions Of An Inhomogeneous Elliptic Equation On Rn, Yinbin Deng, Yi Li, Fen Yang

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications

This paper is contributed to the elliptic equation

(0.1) Δu+K(|x|)up+μf(|x|)=0,

where p>1, x∈Rn, n⩾3, and μ⩾0 is a constant. We study the structure of positive radial solutions of (0.1) and obtain the uniqueness of solution decaying faster than r−m at ∞ if μ is small enough under some assumptions on K and f, where m is the slow decay rate.

Periodic Traveling Waves In Sirs Endemic Models, Tong Li, Yi Li, Herbert W. Hethcote

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications

Mathematical models are used to determine if infection wave fronts could occur by traveling geographically in a loop around a region or continent. These infection wave fronts arise by Hopf bifurcation for some spatial models for infectious disease transmission with distributed-contacts. Periodic traveling waves are shown to exist for the spatial analog of the SIRS endemic model, in which the temporary immunity is described by a delay, but they do not exist in a similar spatial SIRS endemic model without a delay. Specifically, we found that the ratio of the delay ω in the recovered class and the average infectious …

Algorithms Related To Subgroups Of The Modular Group, Constantin Cristian Caranica

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Classifying subgroups of the modular group PSL_2{Z} is a fundamental problem with applications to modular forms, in addition to its group-theoretic interest. While a lot of research has been done on the congruence subgroups of PSL_2{Z}, very little is known about noncongruence subgroups. The purpose of this thesis is to find and characterize small-index noncongruence subgroups of the modular group PSL_2{Z}. We use the concept of Farey symbol to describe the subgroups of PSL_2{Z}. The first part contains results concerning the geometry of subgroups of PSL_2{Z}. The second part describes a graph-theoretical approach to finding all subgroups of a given …

The Structure Of 4-Separations In 4-Connected Matroids, Jeremy M. Aikin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Oxley, Semple and Whittle described a tree decomposition for a 3-connected matroid M that displays, up to a natural equivalence, all non-trivial 3-separations of M. Crossing 3-separations gave rise to fundamental structures known as flowers. In this dissertation, we define generalized flower structure called a k-flower, with no assumptions on the connectivity of M. We completely classify k-flowers in terms of the local connectivity between pairs of petals. Specializing to the case of 4-connected matroids, we give a new notion of equivalence of 4-separations that we show will be needed to describe a tree decomposition for 4-connected matroids. Finally, we …

White Noise Methods For Anticipating Stochastic Differential Equations, Julius Esunge

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on linear stochastic differential equations of anticipating type. Owing to the lack of a theory of differentiation for random processes, the said differential equations are appropriately understood and studied as anticipating stochastic integral equations. The unfolding work considers equations in which anticipation arises either from the initial condition or the integrand. In this regard, the techniques of white noise analysis are applied to such equations. In particular, by using the Hitsuda-Skorokhod integral which nicely extends the It integral to anticipating integrands, we then apply the S-transform from white noise analysis to study this new equation.

Function Spaces, Wavelets And Representation Theory, Jens Gerlach Christensen

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation is concerned with the interplay between the theory of Banach spaces and representations of groups. The wavelet transform has proven to be a useful tool in characterizing and constructing Banach spaces, and we investigate a generalization of an already known technique due to H.G. Feichtinger and K. Gröchenig. This generalization is presented in Chapter 3, and in Chapters 4 and 5 we present examples of spaces which can be described using the theory. The first example clears up a question regarding a wavelet characterization of Bergman spaces related to a non-integrable representation. The second example is a wavelet …

Unavoidable Minors In Graphs And Matroids, Carolyn Barlow Chun

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

It is well known that every sufficiently large connected graph G has either a vertex of high degree or a long path. If we require G to be more highly connected, then we ensure the presence of more highly structured minors. In particular, for all positive integers k, every 2-connected graph G has a series minor isomorphic to a k-edge cycle or K_{2,k}. In 1993, Oxley, Oporowski, and Thomas extended this result to 3- and internally 4-connected graphs identifying all unavoidable series minors of these classes. Loosely speaking, a series minor allows for arbitrary edge deletions but only allows edges …

Intermediate-Complexity Biological Modeling Framework For Nutrient Cycling In Lakes Based On Physical Structure, Michael Clay Rigley

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Mathematical models for the change in concentration of total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) in mountain lakes are developed based on the dynamics of coupled, well-mixed containers. Each includes a stratified lake structure without the complexity of a full fluid model. A lake is divided into a suite of compartments based on physical structure: warm upper layer (epilimnion), cold inflow and insertion layer (metalimnion), cold lower layer (hypolimnion), and a warm shallow shelf. With the compartments as the framework and literature values for uptake rates, death rates, half-saturation constants, and sinking rates, systems of equations are written for three models. The first …

Heritability Of Cognition Subscales In The Cache County Memory Study Cohort And Methods For Estimating Heritability, Colette Kelly Childs

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The rapid improvement of genotyping technology holds the promise of better understanding the genetic causes of complex disease. While traits of interest often include the presence or absence of disease, there is growing interest in intermediate phenotypes (or so-called endophenotypes) that may yield more information about disease onset or course. In particular, changes over time with respect to an investigative ordinal measure often contain significant predictive power, and rate-of-change phenotypes are becoming important in their own right when studying genetic association. Initial steps in assessing the potential genetic determinants of a continuous trait often involve estimating the degree of the …

Two Component Integrable Systems Modelling Shallow Water Waves: The Constant Vorticity Case, Rossen Ivanov

Articles

In this contribution we describe the role of several two-component integrable systems in the classical problem of shallow water waves. The starting point in our derivation is the Euler equation for an incompressible fluid, the equation of mass conservation, the simplest bottom and surface conditions and the constant vorticity condition. The approximate model equations are generated by introduction of suitable scalings and by truncating asymptotic expansions of the quantities to appropriate order. The so obtained equations can be related to three different integrable systems: a two component generalization of the Camassa-Holm equation, the Zakharov-Ito system and the Kaup-Boussinesq system. The …

Multi-Objective Network Reliability Optimization Using Evolutionary Algorithms, Franciso Oswaldo Aguirre

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This work presents a new multiple objective evolutionary algorithm to solve three well known network reliability allocation problems considering different conflicting objectives to be optimized simultaneously. The new algorithm is applied in the design of a telecommunication network that is formed for several stations or nodes interconnected by telecommunication links or paths. The problem presented in this work involves finding which links to activate in order to obtain connectivity in the nodes. The number of nodes that need to be connected depends of the case that is being evaluated. The three network reliability problems considered are: all-terminal, k-terminal, and two-terminal. …

Characterization Of Compactly Supported Renable Splines With Integer Matrix, Tian-Xiao He, Yujing Guana

Scholarship

Let M be an integer matrix with absolute values of all its eigenvalues being greater than 1. We give a characterization of compactly supported M-refinable splines f and the conditions that the shifts of f form a Riesz basis.

Converging Flow Between Coaxial Cones, O. Hall, A. D. Gilbert, C. P. Hills

Articles

Fluid flow governed by the Navier-Stokes equation is considered in a domain bounded by two cones with the same axis. In the first, 'non-parallel' case, the two cones have the same apex and different angles θ = α and β in spherical polar coordinates (r, θ, φ). In the second, 'parallel' case, the two cones have the same opening angle α, parallel walls separated by a gap h and apices separated by a distance h/sinα. Flows are driven by a source Q at the origin, the apex of the lower cone in the parallel case. The Stokes solution for the …

Nonaxisymmetric Stokes Flow Between Concentric Cones, O. Hall, C. P. Hills, A. D. Gilbert

Articles

We study the fully three-dimensional Stokes flow within a geometry consisting of two infinite cones with coincident apices. The Stokes approximation is valid near the apex and we consider the dominant flow features as it is approached. The cones are assumed to be stationary and the flow to be driven by an arbitrary far-field disturbance. We express the flow quantities in terms of eigenfunction expansions and allow for the first time for nonaxisymmetric flow regimes through an azimuthal wave number. The eigenvalue problem is solved numerically for successive wave numbers. Both real and complex sequences of eigenvalues are found, their …

Equations Of The Camassa-Holm Hierarchy, Rossen Ivanov

Articles

The squared eigenfunctions of the spectral problem associated with the CamassaHolm (CH) equation represent a complete basis of functions, which helps to describe the inverse scattering transform for the CH hierarchy as a generalized Fourier transform (GFT). All the fundamental properties of the CH equation, such as the integrals of motion, the description of the equations of the whole hierarchy, and their Hamiltonian structures, can be naturally expressed using the completeness relation and the recursion operator, whose eigenfunctions are the squared solutions. Using the GFT, we explicitly describe some members of the CH hierarchy, including integrable deformations for the CH …

Generalised Fourier Transform And Perturbations To Soliton Equations, Georgi Grahovski, Rossen Ivanov

Articles

A brief survey of the theory of soliton perturbations is presented. The focus is on the usefulness of the so-called Generalised Fourier Transform (GFT). This is a method that involves expansions over the complete basis of “squared solutions” of the spectral problem, associated to the soliton equation. The Inverse Scattering Transform for the corresponding hierarchy of soliton equations can be viewed as a GFT where the expansions of the solutions have generalised Fourier coefficients given by the scattering data. The GFT provides a natural setting for the analysis of small perturbations to an integrable equation: starting from a purely soliton …

Phase Transitions In Materials With Thermal Memory: The Case Of Unequal Conductivities, John Murrough Golden

Articles

A model for thermally induced phase transitions in materials with thermal memory was recently proposed, where the equations determining heatflow were assumed to be the same in both phases. In this work, the model is generalized to the case of phase dependent heatflow relations. The temperature (or coldness) gradient is decomposed into two parts, each zero on one phase and equal to the temperature (or coldness) gradient on the other. However, they vary smoothly over the transition zone. These are treated as separate independent quantities in the derivation of field equations from thermodynamics. Heat flux is given by an integral …