Observer-Based Controller Design for Systems on Manifolds in Euclidean Space

A method of designing observers and observer-based tracking controllers is proposed for nonlinear systems on manifolds via embedding into Euclidean space and transversal stabilization. Given a system on a manifold, we first embed the manifold and the system into Euclidean space and extend the system dynamics to the ambient Euclidean space in such a way that the manifold becomes an invariant attractor of the extended system, thus securing the transversal stability of the manifold in the extended dynamics. After the embedding, we design state observers and observer-based controllers for the extended system in one single global coordinate system in the ambient Euclidean space, and then restrict them to the original state-space manifold to produce observers and observer-based controllers for the original system on the manifold. This procedure has the merit that any existing control method that has been developed in Euclidean space can be applied globally to systems defined on nonlinear manifolds, thus making nonlinear controller design on manifolds easier. The detail of the method is demonstrated on the fully actuated rigid body system.Comment: SICE Annual Conference, Nara, Japan, September, 201

Why quarks cannot be fundamental particles

Many reasons why quarks should be considered composite particles are found in the book Preons by D'Souza and Kalman. One reason not found in the book is that all the quarks except for the u quark decay. The electron and the electron neutrino do not decay. A model of fundamental particles based upon the weak charge is presented.Comment: 3 pages - PDF file. to be published Proceedings of the 6th International Conference Hyperons, Charm and Beauty Hadron

Foreign Direct Investment in Times of Global Economic Crisis: Spotlight on New Europe

This paper examines the potential impact of the economic crisis, which started in 2008, on the dynamics global foreign direct investment, especially in the new member states of the European Union. The global economic crisis that hit the world in 2008 has forced scholars and policy makers alike to rethink their approaches to the global economy, in particular to financial markets (including stock exchanges and portfolio investment). It can be hypothesised that the crisis has been particularly devastating because it has resulted from the coincidence of three factors: a cyclical downturn in the world economy; a structural change that hit certain industries which used to be star performers in the global economy (especially the automotive industry); and the collapse of the previous model of the financial industry based on excesses. This paper asks how this crisis affects foreign direct investment flows, with special attention being paid to the question of which locations are set to lose the least and which ones are set to lose the most. In this respect, particular attention is paid to the activities of subsidiaries of multinational enterprises. These subsidiaries can follow different scenarios as a response to the global economic turmoil, including a reorganization of their production systems, and a reduction or closure of activities that are deemed to be less necessary for the continuation of activities. Finally, the paper examines the policy implications of the crisis. It challenges the view that rising economic nationalism (in the form of protecting one location against locations in other countries) would be the right answer to the problems created by corporate restructurings.foreign direct investment, credit crunch, foreign subsidiaries, Europe

HSkip+: A Self-Stabilizing Overlay Network for Nodes with Heterogeneous Bandwidths

In this paper we present and analyze HSkip+, a self-stabilizing overlay network for nodes with arbitrary heterogeneous bandwidths. HSkip+ has the same topology as the Skip+ graph proposed by Jacob et al. [PODC 2009] but its self-stabilization mechanism significantly outperforms the self-stabilization mechanism proposed for Skip+. Also, the nodes are now ordered according to their bandwidths and not according to their identifiers. Various other solutions have already been proposed for overlay networks with heterogeneous bandwidths, but they are not self-stabilizing. In addition to HSkip+ being self-stabilizing, its performance is on par with the best previous bounds on the time and work for joining or leaving a network of peers of logarithmic diameter and degree and arbitrary bandwidths. Also, the dilation and congestion for routing messages is on par with the best previous bounds for such networks, so that HSkip+ combines the advantages of both worlds. Our theoretical investigations are backed by simulations demonstrating that HSkip+ is indeed performing much better than Skip+ and working correctly under high churn rates.Comment: This is a long version of a paper published by IEEE in the Proceedings of the 14-th IEEE International Conference on Peer-to-Peer Computin