Other Mathematics Commons^™

Strategies And Algorithms Of Sudoku, Callie Weaver

Mathematics Senior Capstone Papers

This paper discusses different strategies for the game of Sudoku and how those strategies relate to other problem solving techniques while also attempting to use those other techniques in a way that improves the strategies for Sudoku. This includes a thorough analysis of the general algorithm and an algorithm that is formed by the Occupancy Theorem and Preemptive Sets. This paper also compares these algorithms that directly relate to Sudoku with algorithms to similar combinatorial problems such as the Traveling Salesman problem and more. With the study of game theory becoming more popular, these strategies have also been shown to …

Folding Mathematics: A Mathematical Approach To Origami, Zachary Davis

Mathematics Senior Capstone Papers

From constructing a midpoint on a line to observing specific divisions of a plane, the art form of Origami borrows many mathematical tools in order to create complex, and often symmetrical, patterns in a paper medium known as a fold. For this project, the traditional fold known as the Origami Crane/Swan will be thoroughly examined as it contains the unique property to lie completely flat when complete. This phenomenon occurs because the vertices holding the fold together are not all considered to be flat folds. The different types of vertices interacting with each other create a natural locking mechanism within …

Pisano Periods: A Comparison Study, Katherine Willrich

Mathematics Senior Capstone Papers

The Pisano period, denoted π(n), is the period during which the Fibonacci sequence repeats after reducing the original sequence modulo n. More generally, one can similarly define Pisano periods for any linear recurrence sequence; in this paper we compare the Pisano periods of certain linear recurrence sequences with the Pisano periods of the Fibonacci sequence. We first construct recurrence sequences, defining the initial values as integers from 2 to 1000 and second values as 1. This paper discusses how the constructed sequences are related to the matrix M = [(first row) 1 1 (second row) 1 0] reduced modulo n. …

Mathematical Analysis Of The Duck Migration To Louisiana, Brandon Garcia

Mathematics Senior Capstone Papers

The purpose of this project is to research the relationship between duck migration and weather patterns, more specifically trying to determine if the rainfall and temperature in a given year affects the migration patterns of ducks. Duck hunters and conservation- ists alike have observed an overall decrease in the duck population in Louisiana over the past 70 years. Though some years have seen an increase, the population has not recovered to the level from the 1950s. These observations have led to many questions about what have happened to the ducks or where have the ducks gone. Using differ- ent forms …

The Riemann Curvature Tensor, Jennifer Cox

Mathematics Senior Capstone Papers

A tensor is a mathematical object that has applications in areas including physics, psychology, and artificial intelligence. The Riemann curvature tensor is a tool used to describe the curvature of n-dimensional spaces such as Riemannian manifolds in the field of differential geometry. The Riemann tensor plays an important role in the theories of general relativity and gravity as well as the curvature of spacetime. This paper will provide an overview of tensors and tensor operations. In particular, properties of the Riemann tensor will be examined. Calculations of the Riemann tensor for several two and three dimensional surfaces such as that …

Personality & How Sound Affects Moods, Joe Pham

Mathematics Senior Capstone Papers

This research seeks to determine the personality and relationship between current moods of individuals at Louisiana Tech University by conducting a sound test of a can opening with a pre and post mood assessment, Brief Mood Introspection Scale (BMIS). The real question is “Can a sound test change mood?” Using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), the study is intended to examine the relationship between the pre and post (BMIS). The results indicate that there is a statistically significant relationship between both BMIS assessments. To determine if the data is significant, we must show the analysis of both BMIS and its …

Semiclassically Modeling Hydrogen At Rydberg States Immersed In Electromagnetic Fields, Jaron Williams

Mathematics Senior Capstone Papers

Originally, closed-orbit theory was developed in order to analyze oscillations in the near ionization threshold (Rydberg) densities of states for atoms in strong external electric and magnetic fields. Oscillations in the density of states were ascribed to classical orbits that began and ended near the atom. In essence, observed outgoing waves following the classical path return and interfere with original outgoing waves, giving rise to oscillations. Elastic scattering from one closed orbit to another gives additional oscillations in the cross-section. This study examines how quantum theory can be properly used in combination with classical orbit theory in order to study …

A Complete Characterization Of Near Outer-Planar Graphs, Tanya Allen Lueder Genannt Luehr

Doctoral Dissertations

A graph is outer-planar (OP) if it has a plane embedding in which all of the vertices lie on the boundary of the outer face. A graph is near outer-planar (NOP) if it is edgeless or has an edge whose deletion results in an outer-planar graph. An edge of a non outer-planar graph whose removal results in an outer-planar graph is a vulnerable edge. This dissertation focuses on near outer-planar (NOP) graphs. We describe the class of all such graphs in terms of a finite list of excluded graphs, in a manner similar to the well-known Kuratowski Theorem for planar …

An Improved Imaging Method For Extended Targets, Sui Zhang

Doctoral Dissertations

The dissertation presents an improved method for the inverse scattering problem to obtain better numerical results. There are two main methods for solving the inverse problem: the direct imaging method and the iterative method. For the direct imaging method, we introduce the MUSIC (MUltiple SIgnal Classification) algorithm, the multi-tone method and the linear sampling method with different boundary conditions in different cases, which are the smooth case, the one corner case, and the multiple corners case. The dissertation introduces the relations between the far field data and the near field data.

When we use direct imaging methods for solving inverse …

Embedding Oriented Graphs In Books, Stacey R. Mcadams

Doctoral Dissertations

A book consists of a line L in [special characters omitted]3, called the spine, and a collection of half planes, called pages, whose common boundary is L. A k-book is book with k pages. A k-page book embedding is a continuous one-to-one mapping of a graph G into a book such that the vertices are mapped into L and the edges are each mapped to either the spine or a particular page, such that no two edges cross in any page. Each page contains a planar subgraph of G. The book thickness, denoted bt( …

Generalized Finite-Difference Time-Domain Schemes For Solving Nonlinear Schrödinger Equations, Frederick Ira Moxley Iii

Doctoral Dissertations

The nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLSE) is one of the most widely applicable equations in physical science, and characterizes nonlinear dispersive waves, optics, water waves, and the dynamics of molecules. The NLSE satisfies many mathematical conservation laws. Moreover, due to the nonlinearity, the NLSE often requires a numerical solution, which also satisfies the conservation laws. Some of the more popular numerical methods for solving the NLSE include the finite difference, finite element, and spectral methods such as the pseudospectral, split-step with Fourier transform, and integrating factor coupled with a Fourier transform. With regard to the finite difference and finite element methods, …

Results In Lattices, Ortholattices, And Graphs, Jianning Su

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation contains two parts: lattice theory and graph theory. In the lattice theory part, we have two main subjects. First, the class of all distributive lattices is one of the most familiar classes of lattices. We introduce "π-versions" of five familiar equivalent conditions for distributivity by applying the various conditions to 3-element antichains only. We prove that they are inequivalent concepts, and characterize them via exclusion systems. A lattice L satisfies D0π, if a ✶ (b ✶ c) ≤ (a ✶ b) ✶ c for all 3-element antichains { a, b, c}. We consider …

A Multigrid Method For Elliptic Grid Generation Using Compact Schemes, Balaji S. Iyangar

Doctoral Dissertations

Traditional iterative methods are stalling numerical processes, in which the error has relatively small changes from one iteration to the next. Multigrid methods overcome the limitations of iterative methods and are computationally efficient. Convergence of iterative methods for elliptic partial differential equations is extremely slow. In particular, the convergence of the non-linear elliptic Poisson grid generation equations used for elliptic grid generation is very slow. Multigrid methods are fast converging methods when applied to elliptic partial differential equations. In this dissertation, a non-linear multigrid algorithm is used to accelerate the convergence of the non-linear elliptic Poisson grid generation method. The …

Cramer-Rao Bound And Optimal Amplitude Estimator Of Superimposed Sinusoidal Signals With Unknown Frequencies, Shaohui Jia

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation addresses optimally estimating the amplitudes of superimposed sinusoidal signals with unknown frequencies. The Cramer-Rao Bound of estimating the amplitudes in white Gaussian noise is given, and the maximum likelihood estimator of the amplitudes in this case is shown to be asymptotically efficient at high signal to noise ratio but finite sample size. Applying the theoretical results to signal resolutions, it is shown that the optimal resolution of multiple signals using a finite sample is given by the maximum likelihood estimator of the amplitudes of signals.