Mathematics Commons^™

The Existence Of Solutions For A Nonlinear, Fractional Self-Adjoint Difference Equation, Kevin Ahrendt

Department of Mathematics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In this work we will explore a fractional self-adjoint difference equation which involves a Caputo fractional difference. In particular, we will develop a Cauchy function for initial value problems and Green's functions for several different types of boundary value problems. We will use the properties of those Green's functions and the Contraction Mapping Theorem to find sufficient conditions for when a nonlinear boundary value problem has a unique solution. We will also investigate the existence of nonnegative solutions for a nonlinear self-adjoint difference that have particular long run behavior.

Adviser: Allan Peterson

Pythagorean Approximations For Lego: Merging Educational Robot Construction With Programming And Data Analysis, Ronald I. Greenberg

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Abstract. This paper can be used in two ways. It can provide reference information for incorporating diagonal elements (for bracing or gear meshing) in educational robots built from standard LEGO kits. Alternatively, it can be used as the basis for an assignment for high school or college students to recreate this information; in the process, students will exercise skills in both computer programming and data analysis. Using the paper in the second way can be an excellent integrative experience to add to an existing course; for example, the Exploring Computer Science high school curriculum concludes with the units “Introduction to …

Motor Preparation Rather Than Decision-Making Differentiates Parkinson’S Disease Patients With And Without Freezing Of Gait, John Butler, Conor Fearon, Isabelle Killane, Saskia M. Waechter, Richard B. Reilly, Timothy Lynch

Articles

Objective: Freezing of gait (FOG) is a brief, episodic phenomenon affecting over half of people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and leads to significant morbidity. The pathophysiology of FOG remains poorly understood but is associated with deficits in cognitive function and motor preparation.

Method: We studied 20 people with PD (10 with FOG, 10 without FOG) and performed a timed response target detection task while electroencephalographic data were acquired. We analysed the data to detect and examine cortical markers of cognitive decision making (P3b or centroparietal positivity, CPP) and motor readiness potential. We analysed current source density (CSD) to increase spatial …

Volatility Analysis Of Us Equity And Federal Funds Markets Through The Recent Financial Crisis And Recovery Periods, Based On Release Of Fomc Meeting Statements And Minutes, Hanxiao Yue

Student Theses and Dissertations

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is the principal maker of monetary policy in the United States. The main instrument of monetary policy is the target federal funds rate, which is de facto the base interest rate of the US economy. The FOMC meets around eight times a year to discuss the economic outlook and decide on this metric. Throughout most of its history, the Fed has been opaque about how it decides on monetary policy, but in recent years it has adopted a more transparent disclosure policy. For each FOMC meeting, it currently releases a brief statement immediately after …

Qualitative Modeling Of Chaotic Logical Circuits And Walking Droplets: A Dynamical Systems Approach, Aminur Rahman

Dissertations

Logical circuits and wave-particle duality have been studied for most of the 20th century. During the current century scientists have been thinking differently about these well-studied systems. Specifically, there has been great interest in chaotic logical circuits and hydrodynamic quantum analogs.

Traditional logical circuits are designed with minimal uncertainty. While this is straightforward to achieve with electronic logic, other logic families such as fluidic, chemical, and biological, naturally exhibit uncertainties due to their inherent nonlinearity. In recent years, engineers have been designing electronic logical systems via chaotic circuits. While traditional boolean circuits have easily determined outputs, which renders dynamical models …

Generalized Thomas-Fermi Equations As The Lampariello Class Of Emden-Fowler Equations, Haret C. Rosu, S.C. Mancas

Publications

A one-parameter family of Emden-Fowler equations defined by Lampariello’s parameter p which, upon using Thomas-Fermi boundary conditions, turns into a set of generalized Thomas-Fermi equations comprising the standard Thomas-Fermi equation for p = 1 is studied in this paper. The entire family is shown to be non integrable by reduction to the corresponding Abel equations whose invariants do not satisfy a known integrability condition. We also discuss the equivalent dynamical system of equations for the standard Thomas-Fermi equation and perform its phase-plane analysis. The results of the latter analysis are similar for the whole class.

New Bounds For The K-Out-Of-N Type Probabilities And Their Applications, Ahmed M. Binmahfoudh

Theses and Dissertations

The contribution of the shape information of the underlying distribution in probability bounding problem is investigated and an efficient linear programming based bounding methodology, which takes advantage of the advanced optimization techniques, probability theory, and the state-of-the-art tools, to obtain robust and efficiently computable bounds for the probabilities that at least k and exactly k-out-of-n events occur is developed. The k-out-of-n type probability bounding problem is formulated as linear programs under the assumption that the probability distribution is unimodal. The dual feasible bases structures of the relaxed versions of linear programs involved are fully described. The bounds for the probability …

Making And Breaking Mathematical Sense (Book Review), Calvin Jongsma

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Reviewed Title: Making and Breaking Mathematical Sense by Roi Wagner. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2017. 236 pp. ISBN: 9780691171715.

Modeling In Finance And Insurance With Levy-It'o Driven Dynamic Processes Under Semi Markov-Type Switching Regimes And Time Domains, Patrick Armand Assonken Tonfack

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mathematical and statistical modeling have been at the forefront of many significant advances in many disciplines in both the academic and industry sectors. From behavioral sciences to hard core quantum mechanics in physics, mathematical modeling has made a compelling argument for its usefulness and its necessity in advancing the current state of knowledge in the 21rst century. In Finance and Insurance in particular, stochastic modeling has proven to be an effective approach in accomplishing a vast array of tasks: risk management, leveraging of investments, prediction, hedging, pricing, insurance, and so on. However, the magnitude of the damage incurred in recent …

Mathematical Justice?, Valorie L. Zonnefeld

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"I’d like to suggest the possibility of guiding students toward more just ways of seeing and being in the world in mathematics class."

Posting about human flourishing through mathematical study­­­­­­­­ from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

http://inallthings.org/mathematical-justice/

Polygons, Pillars And Pavilions: Discovering Connections Between Geometry And Architecture, Sean Patrick Madden

Journal of Catholic Education

Crowning the second semester of geometry, taught within a Catholic middle school, the author's students explored connections between the geometry of regular polygons and architecture of local buildings. They went on to explore how these principles apply famous buildings around the world such as the monuments of Washington, D.C. and the elliptical piazza of Saint Peter's Basilica at Vatican City within Rome, Italy.

Shift-Symmetric Configurations In Two-Dimensional Cellular Automata: Irreversibility, Insolvability, And Enumeration, Peter Banda, John S. Caughman Iv, Martin Cenek, Christof Teuscher

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

The search for symmetry as an unusual yet profoundly appealing phenomenon, and the origin of regular, repeating configuration patterns have been for a long time a central focus of complexity science, and physics.

Here, we introduce group-theoretic concepts to identify and enumerate the symmetric inputs, which result in irreversible system behaviors with undesired effects on many computational tasks. The concept of so-called configuration shift-symmetry is applied on two-dimensional cellular automata as an ideal model of computation. The results show the universal insolvability of “non-symmetric” tasks regardless of the transition function. By using a compact enumeration formula and bounding the number …

Power Means Of Matrices, Jose Franco

Mathematics Colloquium Series

In this talk we will study the different ways the power means of positive numbers can be extended to means of positive definite matrices. Then, we will analyze the properties these means satisfy. Among these properties, we will be interested in analytic properties such as monotonicity and convexity. Using these results, we will compare the power means with other interpolations between the Arithmetic-Geometric-Harmonic means.

Linear Extremal Problems In The Hardy Space HP For 0 < P < 1, Robert Christopher Connelly

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, we consider linear extremal problems in the H^p spaces. For many of these extremal problems, a unique solution can be guaranteed. We will examine some of the classical examples of extremal problems in these spaces. With this framework in place we will then consider a particular problem which does not always have a unique solution.

Schreier Graphs Of Thompson's Group T, Allen Pennington

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Thompson’s groups F, T, and V represent crucial examples of groups in geometric group theory that bridge it with other areas of mathematics such as logic, computer science, analysis, and geometry. One of the ways to study these groups is by understanding the geometric meaning of their actions. In this thesis we deal with Thompson’s group T that acts naturally on the unit circle S¹, that is identified with the segment [0, 1] with the end points glued together. The main result of this work is the explicit construction of the Schreier graph of T with …

Lies, Statistics, Mathematics And The Truth, Nathan L. Tintle

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Recognizing a key distinction between mathematics and statistics is helpful in understanding how we know if a statement is true."

Posting about deductive and inductive reasoning­­­­­­­­ from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/lies-statistics-mathematics-and-the-truth/

Mass Action In Two-Sex Population Models: Encounters, Mating Encounters And The Associated Numerical Correction, Katherine Snyder, Brynja R. Kohler, Luis F. Gordillo

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications

Ideal gas models are a paradigm used in Biology for the phenomenological modelling of encounters between individuals of different types. These models have been used to approximate encounter rates given densities, velocities and distance within which an encounter certainly occurs. When using mass action in two-sex populations, however, it is necessary to recognize the difference between encounters and mating encounters. While the former refers in general to the (possibly simultaneous) collisions between particles, the latter represents pair formation that will produce offspring. The classical formulation of the law of mass action does not account this difference. In this short paper, …

Classification Of Rectifying Space-Like Submanifolds In Pseudo-Euclidean Spaces, Bang Yen Chan, Yun Myung Oh

Faculty Publications

The notions of rectifying subspaces and of rectifying submanifolds were introduced in [B.-Y. Chen, Int. Electron. J. Geom 9 (2016), no. 2, 1–8]. More precisely, a submanifold in a Euclidean m-space Em is called a rectifying submanifold if its position vector field always lies in its rectifying subspace. Several fundamental properties and classification of rectifying submanifolds in Euclidean space were obtained in [B.-Y. Chen, op. cit.]. In this present article, we extend the results in [B.-Y. Chen, op. cit.] to rectifying space- like submanifolds in a pseudo-Euclidean space with arbitrary codimension. In particular, we completely classify all rectifying space-like submanifolds …

Mathematical Beauty, Mike Janssen

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"With all the brokenness in the world, is the study of the mathematical aspects of Creation worthwhile?"

Posting about ­­­­­­­­the beauty of mathematics from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/mathematical-beauty/

Algorithmically Complex Residually Finite Groups, Olga Kharlampovich, Alexei Myanikov, Mark Sapir

Publications and Research

We construct the first examples of algorithmically complex finitely presented residually finite groups and the first examples of finitely presented residually finite groups with arbitrarily large (recursive) Dehn functions, and arbitrarily large depth functions. The groups are solvable of class 3.

Best Sandbox, Tom Clark

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Mathematics ought to be for everyone, not just for mathematicians, scientists, and engineers. Mathematics is not only about application; it is part of the created world."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­learning about math through creative play from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/the-best-sandbox/

Applications Of The Heine And Bauer-Muir Transformations To Rogers-Ramanujan Type Continued Fractions, Jongsil Lee, James Mclaughlin, Jaebum Sohn

Mathematics Faculty Publications

In this paper we show that various continued fractions for the quotient of general Ramanujan functions G(aq, b, λq)/G(a, b, λ) may be derived from each other via Bauer-Muir transformations. The separate convergence of numerators and denominators play a key part in showing that the continued fractions and their Bauer-Muir transformations converge to the same limit. We also show that these continued fractions may be derived from either Heine’s continued fraction for a ratio of 2φ1 functions, or other similar continued fraction expansions of ratios of 2φ1 functions. Further, by employing essentially the same methods, a new continued fraction for …

Computational Algorithms For Improved Representation Of The Model Error Covariance In Weak-Constraint 4d-Var, Jeremy A. Shaw

Dissertations and Theses

Four-dimensional variational data assimilation (4D-Var) provides an estimate to the state of a dynamical system through the minimization of a cost functional that measures the distance to a prior state (background) estimate and observations over a time window. The analysis fit to each information input component is determined by the specification of the error covariance matrices in the data assimilation system (DAS). Weak-constraint 4D-Var (w4D-Var) provides a theoretical framework to account for modeling errors in the analysis scheme. In addition to the specification of the background error covariance matrix, the w4D-Var formulation requires information on the model error statistics and …

Superdegenerate Hypoelliptic Differential Operators., Denis Bell

Showcase of Faculty Scholarly & Creative Activity

A proof of a Hormander theorem applicable to sum of squares operators with degeneracies of exponential order.

Application Of Inverse Problems In Imaging, Xiaoyue Luo

Post-Grant Reports

In this project, we studied how to enhance image quality by denoising and deblurring a given image mathematically. We compared some existing state-of-the-art methods for image denoising and deblurring. We implemented the algorithms numerically using Matlab.

We studied the possibility of combining statistical analysis with the traditional image restoration methods including using wavelets and framelets and we derived some encouraging preliminary results.

My research student Alleta Maier gave a sequence of talks on the project including the Pacific Northwest Mathematical Association of America conference at Oregon State University in April, 2016; Linfield College Taylor Series in March, 2016, and Linfield …

Sexual Dimorphism In Digit Ratios Derived From Dorsal Digit Length Among Adults And Children, Sanjay Kumar, Martin Voracek, Maharaj Singh

Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science Faculty Research and Publications

Sexual dimorphism in ventrally measured digit ratios (2D:4D and other) has been related to prenatal sex-hormone levels. In the present series of three studies, we measured all digit lengths (excluding the thumb) on the dorsal, rather than the ventral, side of left and right hands and investigated the sexual dimorphism in digit ratios in three independent samples, two of them comprising adults (Study I, N = 104; Study II, N = 154), and one further, comprising kindergarten children (Study III, N = 64). Results show that men have lower digit-ratio values compared to women in digit ratios that include digit …

Session A-3: Three-Act Math Tasks, Lindsey Herlehy

Professional Learning Day

Participants will engage in a Three-Act Math task highlighting the application of properties of geometrical figures. Developed by Dan Meyer, an innovative and highly regarded mathematics instructor, Three-Act Math tasks utilize pedagogical skills that elicit student curiosity, collaboration and questioning. By posing a mathematical problem through active storytelling, this instructional approach redefines real-world mathematics and clarifies the role that a student plays in the learning process. Participants will be given multiple resources where they can access Three-Act Math tasks appropriate for upper elementary grades through Algebra and Geometry courses.

Hurwitz Number Fields, David P. Roberts

Mathematics Publications

The canonical covering maps from Hurwitz varieties to configuration varieties are important in algebraic geometry. The scheme-theoretic fiber above a rational point is commonly connected, in which case it is the spectrum of a Hurwitz number field. We study many examples of such maps and their fibers, finding number fields whose existence contradicts standard mass heuristics.

3d Printing For Mathematics Education, Cecile M. Piret

TechTalks

3D printing is particularly well-suited for teaching concepts of mathematics. We (Drs. Piret and Ellis) have started using 3D printers in a calculus 3 classroom. Our goals are to analyze the impact of the printers on students' understanding and motivation towards calculus, and to further incorporate this new technology in our teaching of mathematics. In this talk, we will show a few examples of projects that were presented to the students in our classes, and we will try to motivate you to also use the printers in your classrooms.

Why Linear Interpolation?, Andrzej Pownuk, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Linear interpolation is the computationally simplest of all possible interpolation techniques. Interestingly, it works reasonably well in many practical situations, even in situations when the corresponding computational models are rather complex. In this paper, we explain this empirical fact by showing that linear interpolation is the only interpolation procedure that satisfies several reasonable properties such as consistency and scale-invariance.