The Haifa 2000 Workshop on "Inherently Parallel Algorithms for Feasibility and Optimization and their Applications" brought together top scientists in this area. The objective of the Workshop was to discuss, analyze and compare the latest developments in this fast growing field of applied mathematics and to identify topics of research which are of special interest for industrial applications and for further theoretical study.

Inherently parallel algorithms, that is, computational methods which are, by their mathematical nature, parallel, have been studied in various contexts for more than fifty years. However, it was only during the last decade that they have mostly proved their practical usefulness because new generations of computers made their implementation possible in order to solve complex feasibility and optimization problems involving huge amounts of data via parallel processing. These led to an accumulation of computational experience and theoretical information and opened new and challenging questions concerning the behavior of inherently parallel algorithms for feasibility and optimization, their convergence in new environments and in circumstances in which they were not considered before their stability and reliability. Several research groups all over the world focused on these questions and it was the general feeling among scientists involved in this effort that the time has come to survey the latest progress and convey a perspective for further development and concerted scientific investigations. Thus, the editors of this volume, with the support of the Israeli Academy for Sciences and Humanities, took the initiative of organizing a Workshop intended to bring together the leading scientists in the field. The current volume is the Proceedings of the Workshop representing the discussions, debates and communications that took place. Having all that information collected in a single book will provide mathematicians and engineers interested in the theoretical and practical aspects of the inherently parallel algorithms for feasibility and optimization with a tool for determining when, where and which algorithms in this class are fit for solving specific problems, how reliable they are, how they behave and how efficient they were in previous applications. Such a tool will allow software creators to choose ways of better implementing these methods by learning from existing experience.

This book offers a comprehensive overview of thermodynamics. It is divided into four parts, the first of which equips readers with a deeper understanding of the fundamental principles of thermodynamics of equilibrium states and of their evolution. The second part applies these principles to a series of generalized situations, presenting applications that are of interest both in their own right and in terms of demonstrating how thermodynamics, as a theory of principle, relates to different fields. In turn, the third part focuses on non-equilibrium configurations and the dynamics of natural processes. It discusses both discontinuous and continuous systems, highlighting the interference among non-equilibrium processes, and the nature of stationary states and of fluctuations in isolated systems. Lastly, part four introduces the relation between physics and information theory, which constitutes a new frontier in fundamental research. The book includes step-by-step exercises, with solutions, to help readers to gain a fuller understanding of the subjects, and also features a series of appendices providing useful mathematical formulae. Reflecting the content of modern university courses on thermodynamics, it is a valuable resource for students and young scientists in the fields of physics, chemistry, and engineering.

This book provides an interdisciplinary approach to complexity, combining ideas from areas like complex networks, cellular automata, multi-agent systems, self-organization and game theory. The first part of the book provides an extensive introduction to these areas, while the second explores a range of research scenarios. Lastly, the book presents CellNet, a software framework that offers a hands-on approach to the scenarios described throughout the book. In light of the introductory chapters, the research chapters, and the CellNet simulating framework, this book can be used to teach undergraduate and master's students in disciplines like artificial intelligence, computer science, applied mathematics, economics and engineering. Moreover, the book will be particularly interesting for Ph.D. and postdoctoral researchers seeking a general perspective on how to design and create their own models.

The papers contained in this volume were originally presented at the 2015 International Conference on Complex Systems in Business, Administration, Science and Engineering. Included are the latest works of practitioners from a variety of disciplines who have developed new approaches for resolving complex issues that cannot be formulated using conventional, mathematical or software models.Complex Systems occur in an infinite variety of problems, not only in the realm of physical sciences and engineering, but also in such diverse fields as economics, the environment, humanities, and social and political sciences.The papers in the book cover such topics as: Complex ecological systems; Complexity science and urban developments; Complex energy systems; Complex issues in biological and medical sciences; Extreme events: natural and human made disasters; Climate change; Complexity of the internet-based global market; Complex business processes; Supply chain complexity; Transportation complexity; Logistics complexity; Closed and open systems; Attractions and chaotic systems; Complex adaptive software; Complexity of big data; Management of complexity; Global economy as a complex system; Complexity in social systems; Complex political systems; Administrations as complex systems; Complexity in engineering; Complexity and environment; Complexity and evolution; Complexity in linguistics, literature and arts.

This book presents 29 invited articles written by participants of the International Workshop on Operator Theory and its Applications held in Chemnitz in 2017. The contributions include both expository essays and original research papers illustrating the diversity and beauty of insights gained by applying operator theory to concrete problems. The topics range from control theory, frame theory, Toeplitz and singular integral operators, Schroedinger, Dirac, and Kortweg-de Vries operators, Fourier integral operator zeta-functions, C*-algebras and Hilbert C*-modules to questions from harmonic analysis, Monte Carlo integration, Fibonacci Hamiltonians, and many more. The book offers researchers in operator theory open problems from applications that might stimulate their work and shows those from various applied fields, such as physics, engineering, or numerical mathematics how to use the potential of operator theory to tackle interesting practical problems.

This book provides a comprehensive review of complex networks from three different domains, presents novel methods for analyzing them, and highlights applications with accompanying case studies. Special emphasis is placed on three specific kinds of complex networks of high technological and scientific importance: software networks extracted from the source code of computer programs, ontology networks describing semantic web ontologies, and co-authorship networks reflecting collaboration in science. The book is primarily intended for researchers, teachers and students interested in complex networks and network data analysis. However, it will also be valuable for researchers dealing with software engineering, ontology engineering and scientometrics, as it demonstrates how complex network analysis can be used to address important research issues in these three disciplines.

In this volume, author Tim Gorichanaz seeks to re-frame the discussion of information engagement through the lens of information experience, an exciting emerging area within information science. Unlike traditional information behavior research, which is limited to how people need, seek, and search for information, information experience looks at how people understand, use, and are shaped by information. In this way, information experience connects with other human-centered areas of information research and design, including information literacy and human-computer interaction. Split into three parts, Information Experience in Theory and Design presents a multifaceted investigation of information experience, centered around the themes of understanding, self, and meaning. Part One (Understanding) explores the link between information, understanding and questioning; how moral change arises from information; and how to design for understanding. Part Two (Self) explores the concept of the human self as information; the links between information, identity and society; and how to design for self-care. Finally, Part Three (Meaning) explores the connection between information and meaning; how meaning and craft contribute to the good life; and how to design for meaning. Offering a rigorous theoretical foundation for information experience and insights for design, Gorichanaz brings together research from across the information field as well as philosophy. For researchers or students in any area of the information field, from librarianship to human-computer interaction, this is an exciting new text investigating a fascinating new field of study.

Recent developments in model-predictive control promise remarkable opportunities for designing multi-input, multi-output control systems and improving the control of single-input, single-output systems. This volume provides a definitive survey of the latest model-predictive control methods available to engineers and scientists today. The initial set of chapters present various methods for managing uncertainty in systems, including stochastic model-predictive control. With the advent of affordable and fast computation, control engineers now need to think about using "computationally intensive controls," so the second part of this book addresses the solution of optimization problems in "real" time for model-predictive control. The theory and applications of control theory often influence each other, so the last section of Handbook of Model Predictive Control rounds out the book with representative applications to automobiles, healthcare, robotics, and finance. The chapters in this volume will be useful to working engineers, scientists, and mathematicians, as well as students and faculty interested in the progression of control theory. Future developments in MPC will no doubt build from concepts demonstrated in this book and anyone with an interest in MPC will find fruitful information and suggestions for additional reading.

This book is a tribute to Julian Francis Miller's ideas and achievements in computer science, evolutionary algorithms and genetic programming, electronics, unconventional computing, artificial chemistry and theoretical biology. Leading international experts in computing inspired by nature offer their insights into the principles of information processing and optimisation in simulated and experimental living, physical and chemical substrates. Miller invented Cartesian Genetic Programming (CGP) in 1999, from a representation of electronic circuits he devised with Thomson a few years earlier. The book presents a number of CGP's wide applications, including multi-step ahead forecasting, solving artificial neural networks dogma, approximate computing, medical informatics, control engineering, evolvable hardware, and multi-objective evolutionary optimisations. The book addresses in depth the technique of 'Evolution in Materio', a term coined by Miller and Downing, using a range of examples of experimental prototypes of computing in disordered ensembles of graphene nanotubes, slime mould, plants, and reaction diffusion chemical systems. Advances in sub-symbolic artificial chemistries, artificial bio-inspired development, code evolution with genetic programming, and using Reed-Muller expansions in the synthesis of Boolean quantum circuits add a unique flavour to the content. The book is a pleasure to explore for readers from all walks of life, from undergraduate students to university professors, from mathematicians, computer scientists and engineers to chemists and biologists.

This book reports on the EU-funded 7th Framework project, Go4Hybrid (Grey Area Mitigation for Hybrid RANS-LES Methods). It presents new findings concerning the accuracy and reliability of current hybrid RANS-LES methods. It describes improved formulations of both non-zonal and embedded hybrid strategies, together with their validation in a broad range of flow cases, and highlighting some key industrial applications. The book provides students, researchers and professionals in the field of applied computational fluid dynamics with a timely, practice-oriented reference guide.

As management theory is critical to understanding decision-making and formal leadership in organizations, comprehension of their creation, structure, and application greatly benefits and furthers the development of management systems. Cybernetics and Systems Theory in Management: Tools, Views, and Advancements provides new models and insights into how to develop, test, and apply more effective decision-making and ethical practices in an organizational setting. This critical mass of sought after knowledge with expert international contributions presents a cornerstone publication inspiring new directions of research and theory building.

This book contains the proceedings of the Seventh National Conference of the Italian Systems Society. The title, Systemics of Incompleteness and Quasi-Systems, aims to underline the need for Systemics and Systems Science to deal with the concepts of incompleteness and quasiness. Classical models of Systemics are intended to represent comprehensive aspects of phenomena and processes. They consider the phenomena in their temporal and spatial completeness. In these cases, possible incompleteness in the modelling is assumed to have a provisional or practical nature, which is still under study, and because there is no theoretical reason why the modelling cannot be complete. In principle, this is a matter of non-complex phenomena, to be considered using the concepts of the First Systemics. When dealing with emergence, there are phenomena which must be modelled by systems having multiple models, depending on the aspects being taken into consideration. Here, incompleteness in the modelling is intrinsic, theoretically relating changes in properties, structures, and status of system. Rather than consider the same system parametrically changing over time, we consider sequences of systems coherently. We consider contexts and processes for which modelling is incomplete, being related to only some properties, as well as those for which such modelling is theoretically incomplete-as in the case of processes of emergence and for approaches considered by the Second Systemics. In this regard, we consider here the generic concept of quasi explicating such incompleteness. The concept of quasi is used in various disciplines including quasi-crystals, quasi-particles, quasi-electric fields, and quasi-periodicity. In general, the concept of quasiness for systems concerns their continuous structural changes which are always meta-stable, waiting for events to collapse over other configurations and possible forms of stability; whose equivalence depends on the type of phenomenon under study. Interest in the concept of quasiness is not related to its meaning of rough approximation, but because it indicates an incompleteness which is structurally sufficient to accommodate processes of emergence and sustain coherence or generate new, equivalent or non-equivalent, levels. The conference was devoted to identifying, discussing and understanding possible interrelationships of theoretical disciplinary improvements, recognised as having prospective fundamental roles for a new Quasi-Systemics. The latter should be able to deal with problems related to complexity in more general and realistic ways, when a system is not always a system and not always the same system. In this context, the inter-disciplinarity should consist, for instance, of a constructionist, incomplete, non-ideological, multiple, contradiction-tolerant, Systemics, always in progress, and in its turn, emergent.

This book reflects the latest developments in variable structure systems (VSS) and sliding mode control (SMC), highlighting advances in various branches of the VSS/SMC field, e.g., from conventional SMC to high-order SMC, from the continuous-time domain to the discrete-time domain, from theories to applications, etc. The book consists of three parts and 16 chapters: in the first part, new VSS/SMC algorithms are proposed and their properties are analyzed, while the second focuses on the use of VSS/SMC techniques to solve a variety of control problems; the third part examines the applications of VSS/SMC to real-time systems. The book introduces postgraduates and researchers to the state-of-the-art in VSS/SMC field, including the theory, methodology, and applications. Relative academic disciplines include Automation, Mathematics, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Instrument Science and Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Computer Science and Technology, Transportation Engineering, Energy and Power Engineering, etc.

Most physical systems lose or gain stability through bifurcation behavior. This book explains a series of experimentally found bifurcation phenomena by means of the methods of static bifurcation theory.

This book concisely presents a broad range of models and theories on social systems. Because of the huge spectrum of topics involving social systems, various issues related to Mathematics, Statistics, Teaching, Social Science, and Economics are discussed. In an effort to introduce the subject to a wider audience, this volume, part of the series "Studies in Systems, Decision and Control", equally addresses the needs of mathematicians, statisticians, sociologists and philosophers. The studies examined here are divided into four parts. The first part, "Perusing the Minds Behind Scientific Discoveries", traces the winding path of Syamal K. Sen and Ravi P. Agarwal's scholarship throughout history, and most importantly, the thought processes that allowed each of them to master their subject. The second part covers "Theories in Social Systems" and the third discusses "Models in Social Systems", while the fourth and final part is dedicated to "Mathematical Methods in the Social Sciences". Given its breadth of coverage, the book will offer inquisitive readers a valuable point of departure for exploring these rich, vast, and ever-expanding fields of knowledge.

This self-contained book presents a framework for solving a general class of linear systems with coefficients being continuous functions of parameters varying within prescribed intervals. It also provides a comprehensive overview of the theory related to solving parametric interval linear systems and the basic properties of parametric interval matrices. In particular, it develops several new algorithms delivering sharp rigorous bounds for the solutions of such systems with full mathematical rigor. The framework employs the arithmetic of revised affine forms that enables the readers to handle dependent data. The book is intended not only for researchers interested in developing rigorous methods of numerical linear algebra, but also for engineers dealing with problems involving uncertain data. The theory discussed is also useful in various other fields of numerical analysis, in computer graphics, economics, computational geometry, computer-aided design, computer-assisted proofs, computer graphics, control theory, solving constraint satisfaction problems, and global optimization.

This monograph presents new theories and methods for fixed-time cooperative control of multi-agent systems. Fundamental concepts of fixed-time stability and stabilization are introduced with insightful understanding. This book presents solutions for several problems of fixed-time cooperative control using systematic design methods. The book compares fixed-time cooperative control with asymptotic cooperative control, demonstrating how the former can achieve better closed-loop performance and disturbance rejection properties. It also discusses the differences from finite-time control, and shows how fixed-time cooperative control can produce the faster rate of convergence and provide an explicit estimate of the settling time independent of initial conditions. This monograph presents multiple applications of fixed-time control schemes, including to distributed optimization of multi-agent systems, making it useful to students, researchers and engineers alike.

This volume collects ten surveys on the modeling, simulation, and applications of active particles using methods ranging from mathematical kinetic theory to nonequilibrium statistical mechanics. The contributing authors are leading experts working in this challenging field, and each of their chapters provides a review of the most recent results in their areas and looks ahead to future research directions. The approaches to studying active matter are presented here from many different perspectives, such as individual-based models, evolutionary games, Brownian motion, and continuum theories, as well as various combinations of these. Applications covered include biological network formation and network theory; opinion formation and social systems; control theory of sparse systems; theory and applications of mean field games; population learning; dynamics of flocking systems; vehicular traffic flow; and stochastic particles and mean field approximation. Mathematicians and other members of the scientific community interested in active matter and its many applications will find this volume to be a timely, authoritative, and valuable resource.

The book focuses on system dependability modeling and calculation, considering the impact of s-dependency and uncertainty. The best suited approaches for practical system dependability modeling and calculation, (1) the minimal cut approach, (2) the Markov process approach, and (3) the Markov minimal cut approach as a combination of (1) and (2) are described in detail and applied to several examples. The stringently used Boolean logic during the whole development process of the approaches is the key for the combination of the approaches on a common basis. For large and complex systems, efficient approximation approaches, e.g. the probable Markov path approach, have been developed, which can take into account s-dependencies be-tween components of complex system structures. A comprehensive analysis of aleatory uncertainty (due to randomness) and epistemic uncertainty (due to lack of knowledge), and their combination, developed on the basis of basic reliability indices and evaluated with the Monte Carlo simulation method, has been carried out. The uncertainty impact on system dependability is investigated and discussed using several examples with different levels of difficulty. The applications cover a wide variety of large and complex (real-world) systems. Actual state-of-the-art definitions of terms of the IEC 60050-192:2015 standard, as well as the dependability indices, are used uniformly in all six chapters of the book.

This book focuses on modelling and simulation, control and optimization, signal processing, and forecasting in selected nonlinear dynamical systems, presenting both literature reviews and novel concepts. It develops analytical or numerical approaches, which are simple to use, robust, stable, flexible and universally applicable to the analysis of complex nonlinear dynamical systems. As such it addresses key challenges are addressed, e.g. efficient handling of time-varying dynamics, efficient design, faster numerical computations, robustness, stability and convergence of algorithms. The book provides a series of contributions discussing either the design or analysis of complex systems in sciences and engineering, and the concepts developed involve nonlinear dynamics, synchronization, optimization, machine learning, and forecasting. Both theoretical and practical aspects of diverse areas are investigated, specifically neurocomputing, transportation engineering, theoretical electrical engineering, signal processing, communications engineering, and computational intelligence. It is a valuable resource for students and researchers interested in nonlinear dynamics and synchronization with applications in selected areas.

After critiquing chaos, catastrophe, and complexity theories, showing their limitations in the contemporary era, Rich furthers the development of crisis theory and applies the crisis theory approach to biological and social evolution. Treating evolution in the context of crisis theory, he shows that as evolution is both genetic and social, social evolution is an extension of biological evolution. As physical evolution results from problem solving, social evolution develops from the solving of historically significant problems, bringing about, for instance, the post-World War II era of knowledge. In this context, Rich discusses the problems of our era, with an emphasis on the paradox of industrialization and its consequences for wealthy and poor nations alike. The paradox of industrialization is approached in terms of crisis theory and resolved.

This book presents up-to-date research developments and novel methodologies on semi-Markovian jump systems (S-MJS). It presents solutions to a series of problems with new approaches for the control and filtering of S-MJS, including stability analysis, sliding mode control, dynamic output feedback control, robust filter design, and fault detection. A set of newly developed techniques such as piecewise analysis method, positively invariant set approach, event-triggered method, and cone complementary linearization approaches are presented. Control and Filtering for Semi-Markovian Jump Systems is a comprehensive reference for researcher and practitioners working in control engineering, system sciences and applied mathematics, and is also a useful source of information for senior undergraduates and graduates in these areas. The readers will benefit from some new concepts, new models and new methodologies with practical significance in control engineering and signal processing.

This book deals with a combination of two main problems for the first time. They are saturation on control and on the rate (or increment) of the control, and the solution of unsymmetrical saturation on the control by LMIs. It treats linear systems in state space form, in both the continuous- and discrete-time domains. Necessary and sufficient conditions are derived for autonomous linear systems with constrained state increment or rate, such that the system evolves respecting incremental or rate constraints if any. A pole assignment technique is then used to solve the problem, giving stabilizing state feedback controllers that respect non-symmetrical constraints on control alone or on both control and its increment or rate. Illustrative examples show the application of these methods on academic examples or on such real plant models as the double integrator system. This problem is then extended to various others including: systems with constraints and perturbations; singular systems with constrained control; systems with unsymmetrical saturations; saturated systems with delay, and 2-D systems with saturations. The solutions obtained are of two types: necessary and sufficient conditions solved with linear programming techniques; and sufficient conditions under LMIs. A new approach extends existing techniques for dealing with symmetrical saturations to take direct account of unsymmetrical saturations into account with LMIs. This tool enables the authors to obtain new results on continuous- and discrete-time systems. The book uses illustrative examples and figures and provides many comparisons with existing results. Systems theoreticians interested in multidimensional systems and practitioners working with saturated and constrained controllers will find the research and background presented in Saturated Control of Linear Systems to be of considerable interest in helping them overcome problems with their plant and in stimulating further research.

The proceedings of the 2017 Symposium on Chaos, Complexity and Leadership illuminate current research results and academic work from the fields of physics, mathematics, education, economics, as well as management and social sciences. The text explores chaotic and complex systems, as well as chaos and complexity theory in view of their applicability to management and leadership. This proceedings explores non-linearity as well as data-modelling and simulation in order to uncover new approaches and perspectives. Effort will not be spared in bringing theory into practice while exploring leadership and management-laden concepts. This book will cover the analysis of different chaotic developments from different fields within the concepts of chaos and complexity theory. Researchers and students in the field will find answers to questions surrounding these intertwined and compelling fields.

Remote control tuning encourages a form of interactive television using a technology already available in 80 percent of American households. Editors Walker and Bellamy have compiled the first book of state-of-the-art research on a topic of growing interest to media researchers, practitioners, and students. Chapter authors combine survey measurements with recorded observations of viewing behavior, an analysis of the program sources accessed during "grazing," experimental studies of remote control use, and historical and critical analyses. Specific topics include: the history of the remote control device, gender differences in its use, family communication and parental control of the device, remote controls and selective exposure to media messages, the impact of remote controls on programming and promotion, remote controls and critical perspective on television, and future technologies. This volume is rooted in social scientific research, but theoretically and methodologically broad in scope.