Probabilistic aspects of critical growth-fragmentation equations

The self-similar growth-fragmentation equation describes the evolution of a medium in which particles grow and divide as time proceeds, with the growth and splitting of each particle depending only upon its size. The critical case of the equation, in which the growth and division rates balance one another, was considered by Doumic and Escobedo in the homogeneous case where the rates do not depend on the particle size. Here, we study the general self-similar case, using a probabilistic approach based on L\'evy processes and positive self-similar Markov processes which also permits us to analyse quite general splitting rates. Whereas existence and uniqueness of the solution are rather easy to establish in the homogeneous case, the equation in the non-homogeneous case has some surprising features. In particular, using the fact that certain self-similar Markov processes can enter $(0,\infty)$ continuously from either $0$ or $\infty$, we exhibit unexpected spontaneous generation of mass in the solutions.Comment: 28 pages. v2 adds an expository section 6 and fixes some error

Development of a synthetic aperture radar design approach for wide-swath implementation

The first phase of a study program to develop an advanced synthetic aperture radar design concept is presented. Attributes of particular importance for the system design include wide swath coverage, reduced power requirements, and versatility in the selection of frequency, polarization and incident angle. The multiple beam configuration provides imaging at a nearly constant angle of incidence and offers the potential of realizing a wide range of the attributes desired for an orbital imaging radar for Earth resources applications

A New Class of Cellular Automata for Reaction-Diffusion Systems

We introduce a new class of cellular automata to model reaction-diffusion systems in a quantitatively correct way. The construction of the CA from the reaction-diffusion equation relies on a moving average procedure to implement diffusion, and a probabilistic table-lookup for the reactive part. The applicability of the new CA is demonstrated using the Ginzburg-Landau equation.Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX 3.0 , 3 Figures 214972 bytes tar, compressed, uuencode

Multiscale Mixing Efficiencies for Steady Sources

Multiscale mixing efficiencies for passive scalar advection are defined in terms of the suppression of variance weighted at various length scales. We consider scalars maintained by temporally steady but spatially inhomogeneous sources, stirred by statistically homogeneous and isotropic incompressible flows including fully developed turbulence. The mixing efficiencies are rigorously bounded in terms of the Peclet number and specific quantitative features of the source. Scaling exponents for the bounds at high Peclet number depend on the spectrum of length scales in the source, indicating that molecular diffusion plays a more important quantitative role than that implied by classical eddy diffusion theories.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure. RevTex4 format with psfrag macros. Final versio

Output-Feedback Control of Nonlinear Systems using Control Contraction Metrics and Convex Optimization

Control contraction metrics (CCMs) are a new approach to nonlinear control design based on contraction theory. The resulting design problems are expressed as pointwise linear matrix inequalities and are and well-suited to solution via convex optimization. In this paper, we extend the theory on CCMs by showing that a pair of "dual" observer and controller problems can be solved using pointwise linear matrix inequalities, and that when a solution exists a separation principle holds. That is, a stabilizing output-feedback controller can be found. The procedure is demonstrated using a benchmark problem of nonlinear control: the Moore-Greitzer jet engine compressor model.Comment: Conference submissio