The asymptotic expansion for a spectral function of the Laplacian operator, involving geometrical properties of the domain, is demonstrated by direct calculation for the case of a doubly-connected region in the form of a narrow annular membrane. By utilizing a known formula for the zeros of the eigenvalue equation containing Bessel functions, the area, total perimeter and connectivity are all extracted explicitly.

In two-dimensional bow-like flows past a semi-infinite body, one must in general expect a free-surface discontinuity, in the form of a splash or spray jet. However, there is numerical evidence that special body shapes do exist for which this splash is absent. In this study, we first establish conditions on the geometry of the bow in order that it should be splash-free at zero gravity, by solving the mathematical problem exactly. We then obtain solutions for finite non-zero gravity, by solving a non-linear integral equation numerically. A class of splashless body geometries with a downward directed segment at the extreme of the bow, to which the free surface attaches tangentially, is demonstrated in detail.

In this paper, a function involving the divided difference of the psi function is proved to be completely monotonic, a class of inequalities involving sums is found, and an equivalent relation between complete monotonicity and one of the class of inequalities is established.

Ordinary difference equations (OΔE's), mostly of order two and three, are derived for the trigonometric, Jacobian elliptic, and hyperbolic functions. The results are used to derive partial difference equations (PΔE's) for simple solutions of the wave equation and three nonlinear evolutionary partial differential equations.

A generalized integral equation formulation and a systematic numerical solution procedure are presented for a class of boundary value problems governed by a general second-order differential equation of elliptic type. Diverse numerical examples include problems of plane-wave scattering, three-dimensional fluid flow, and plane heat transfer for a body with a moving flame boundary. The last example employs certain representation functions useful to increase solution effectiveness in problems with an isolated integrable singularity.

In this paper, we exploit a new series summation and convergence improvement technique (that is, Drazin and Tourigny [5]), in order to study the steady flow of a viscous incompressible fluid both in a porous pipe with moving walls and an exponentially diverging asymmetrical channel. The solutions are expanded into Taylor series with respect to the corresponding Reynolds number. Using the D-T method, the bifurcation and the internal flow separation studies are performed.

We consider an optimization problem in which the function being minimized is the sum of the integral functional and the full variation of control. For this problem, we prove the existence theorem, a necessary condition in an integral form and a local necessary condition in the case of monotonic controls.

The Hill equation is a fundamental expression in chemical i kinetics relating velocity of response to concentration. It is known that the Hill equation is parameter identifiable in the sense that perfect data yield a unique set of defining parameters. However not all sigmoidal curves can be well fit by Hill curves. In particular the lower part of the curve can't be too shallow and the upper part can't be too steep. In this paper an exact mathematical criterion is derived to describe the degree of shallowness allowed.

When material is undergoing an exothermic chemical reaction which is sustained by the diffusion of a reactant, the steady-state regime is governed by a coupled pair of nonlinear elliptic partial differential equations with linear boundary conditions. In this paper we consider questions of existence of solutions to these equations. It is shown that, with the exception of the special case in which the mass-transfer is uninhibited on the boundary, a solution always exists, whereas in this special case a solution exists only for sufficiently low values of the exothermicity. Bounds are established for the solutions and the occurrence of minimal and maximal solutions is shown for some cases. Finally the behaviour of the solution set with respect to one of the parameters is studied.

We consider the phase-locked solutions of the differential equation governing planar motion of a weakly damped pendulum driven by horizontal, periodic forcing of the pivot with maximum acceleration εg and dimensionless frequency ω. Analytical solutions for symmetric oscillations at smaller values of ε are continued into numerical solutions at larger values of ε. A wide range of stable oscillatory solutions is described, including motion that is symmetric or asymmetric, downward or inverted, and at periods equal to the forcing period T ≡ 2π/ω or integral multiples thereof. Stable running oscillations with mean angular velocity pω/q, where p and q are integers, are investigated also. Stability boundaries are calculated for swinging oscillations of period T, 2T and 4T; 3T and 6T; and for running oscillations with mean angular velocity ω. The period-doubling cascades typically culminate in nearly periodic motion followed by chaotic motion or some independent periodic motion.

An analysis is made of the Daley-Kendall and Maki-Thompson rumour models starting from general initial proportions of ignorants, spreaders and stiflers in the population. We investigate as a function of the initial conditions the composition of the final population when the rumour has run its course.

Coplanar forced oscillations of a mechanical system such as a seismometer or a fluid in a tank are modelled by the coplanar motion of periodically forced, weakly damped pendulum. We consider the phase-locked solutions of the differential equation governing planar motion of a weakly damped pendulum driven by a periodic torque. Sinusoidal approximations previously obtained for downward and inverted oscillations at small values of the dimensionless driving amplitude ε are continued into numerical solutions at larger values of ε. Resonance curves and stability boundaries are presented for downward and inverted oscillations of periods T, 2T, and 4T, where T(≡ 2π/ω) is the dimensionless forcing period. The symmetry-breaking, period-doubling sequences of oscillatory motion are found to occur in bands on the (ω, ε) plane, with the amplitudes of stable oscillations in one band differing by multiples of about π from those in the other bands, a structure similar to that of energy levels in wave mechanics. The sinusoidal approximations for symmetric T-periodic oscillations prove to be surprisingly accurate at the larger values of ε, the banded structure being related to the periodicity of the J0 Bessel function.

The paper revisits characterizations of strong stability and strong regularity of KarushKuhn-Tucker solutions of nonlinear programs with twice differentiable data. We give a unified framework to handle both concepts simultaneously.

The unsteady axisymmetric withdrawal from a fluid with a free surface through a point sink is considered. Results both with and without surface tension are included and placed in context with previous work. The results indicate that there are two critical values of withdrawal rate at which the surface is drawn directly into the outlet, one after flow initiation and the other after the flow has been established. It is shown that the larger of these values corresponds to the point at which steady solutions no longer exist.

Based on the theory of difference equations, we derive necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of eigenvalues and inverses of Toeplitz matrices with five different diagonals. In the course of derivations, we are also able to derive computational formulas for the eigenvalues, eigenvectors and inverses of these matrices. A number of explicit formulas are computed for illustration and verification.

This paper deals with the convergence aspect of diffusive delay Lotka-Volterra systems with infinite delays. It is well known that such a system has a globally asymptotically stable steady state if the negative feedbacks of the intraspecific competitions are dominant and instantaneous. It is shown here that such a globally asymptotically stable steady state continues to exist even if the instantaneous assumption is removed, provided that solutions of the system are eventually uniformly bounded and the delays involved in the intraspecific competitions are small. This work generalises several recent related ones.

An N-map Iterated Fuzzy Set System (IFZS), introduced in [4] and to be denoted as (w, Φ), is a system of N contraction maps wi: X → X over a compact metric space (X, d), with associated “grey level” maps øi: [0, 1] → [0, 1]. Associated with an IFZS (w, Φ) is a fixed point u ∈ f*(X), the class of normalized fuzzy sets on X, u: X → [0, 1]. We are concerned with the continuity properties of u with respect to changes in the wi, and the φi. Establishing continuity for the fixed points of IFZS is more complicated than for traditional Iterated Function Systems (IFS) with probabilities since a composition of functions is involved. Continuity at each specific attractor u may be established over a suitably restricted domain of φi maps. Two applications are (i) animation of images and (ii) the inverse problem of fractal construction.

The flexibacters are a form of gliding bacteria which are often found on the surfaces of solid bodies in fresh and salt water. An individual organism lacks motility in the bulk aqueous phase but glides over a solid surface with its rod-like body aligned with and nearly touching the surface. It has been suggested that this gliding motion in Flexibacter strain BH3 may be caused by waves moving down the outer surface of the rod-shaped cell [2]. This paper is concerned with the fluid mechanical aspects of this form of propulsion.

Formulae for the velocity of the organism and for the power dissipation are obtained by using a lubrication theory analysis in the small gap between the bacterium and the wall. It is found that for any progressive waveform there is an optimum distance from the wall at which the flexibacter may maximize its speed for a given power output. Assuming that the flexibacter sits at this optimum distance and taking the waveform to be sinusoidal we calculate the power required for the flexibacter to move at the maximum observed speed. It is found that this power requirement represents only a small fraction of the power available to the cell.

A theorem is derived for the hydrodynanuc image of an axially symmetric slow viscous (Stokes) flow in a sphere which is impermeable and free of shear stress. A second theorem establishes a sense in which such a flow past an arbitrary rigid surface or shear-free sphere becomes, on inversion in an arbitrary sphere with its centre on the axis of symmetry, a flow past the rigid or shear-free inverse of that surface or sphere.

The theorems are used to simplify the proofs of a number of known results for images of point singularities in plane and spherical rigid and free boundaries, and for a pair of bubbles rising steadily in line in a viscous fluid. They also give for the first time accurate numerical solutions for the velocities of each of a larger number of spherical bubbles rising quasi-steadily in line. These enable one to assess the accuracy of simple approximations to those velocities.

In this paper we consider the MAP/G/1 queueing system with infinite capacity. In analysis, we use the supplementary variable method to derive the double transform of the queue length and the remaining service time of the customer in service (if any) in the steady state. As will be shown in this paper, our method is very simple and elegant. As a one-dimensional marginal transform of the double transform, we obtain the generating function of the queue length in the system for the MAP/G/1 queue, which is consistent with the known result.