Stochastic Models in Geosystems


Book Description

This IMA Volume in Mathematics and its Applications STOCHASTIC MODELS IN GEOSYSTEMS is based on the proceedings of a workshop with the same title and was an integral part of the 1993-94 IMA program on "Emerging Applications of Probability." We would like to thank Stanislav A. Molchanov and Wojbor A. Woyczynski for their hard work in organizing this meeting and in edit ing the proceedings. We also take this opportunity to thank the National Science Foundation, the Office of N aval Research, the Army Research Of fice, and the National Security Agency, whose financial support made this workshop possible. A vner Friedman Willard Miller, Jr. v PREFACE A workshop on Stochastic Models in Geosystems was held during the week of May 16, 1994 at the Institute for Mathematics and Its Applica tions at the University of Minnesota. It was part of the Special Year on Emerging Applications of Prob ability program put together by an organiz ing committee chaired by J. Michael Steele. The invited speakers represented a broad interdisciplinary spectrum including mathematics, statistics, physics, geophysics, astrophysics, atmo spheric physics, fluid mechanics, seismology, and oceanography. The com mon underlying theme was stochastic modeling of geophysical phenomena and papers appearing in this volume reflect a number of research directions that are currently pursued in these areas.




Stochastic Climate Models


Book Description

A collection of articles written by mathematicians and physicists, designed to describe the state of the art in climate models with stochastic input. Mathematicians will benefit from a survey of simple models, while physicists will encounter mathematically relevant techniques at work.




Stochastic Modelling in Physical Oceanography


Book Description

The study of the ocean is almost as old as the history of mankind itself. When the first seafarers set out in their primitive ships they had to understand, as best they could, tides and currents, eddies and vortices, for lack of understanding often led to loss of live. These primitive oceanographers were, of course, primarily statisticians. They collected what empirical data they could, and passed it down, ini tially by word of mouth, to their descendants. Data collection continued throughout the millenia, and although data bases became larger, more re liable, and better codified, it was not really until surprisingly recently that mankind began to try to understand the physics behind these data, and, shortly afterwards, to attempt to model it. The basic modelling tool of physical oceanography is, today, the partial differential equation. Somehow, we all 'know" that if only we could find the right set of equations, with the right initial and boundary conditions, then we could solve the mysteries of ocean dynamics once and for all.




Mathematics in Industrial Problems


Book Description

This is the tenth volume in the series "Mathematics in Industrial Prob lems. " The motivation for these volumes is to foster interaction between Industry and Mathematics at the "grass roots level;" that is, at the level of specific problems. These problems come from Industry: they arise from models developed by the industrial scientists in ventures directed at the manufacture of new or improved products. At the same time, these prob lems have the potential for mathematical challenge and novelty. To identify such problems, I have visited industries and had discussions with their scientists. Some of the scientists have subsequently presented their problems in the IMA Seminar on Industrial Problems. The book is based on the seminar presentations and on questions raised in subse quent discussions. Each chapter is devoted to one of the talks and is self contained. The chapters usually provide references to the mathematical literature and a list of open problems which are of interest to the industrial scientists. For some problems a partial solution is indicated briefly. The last chapter of the book contains a short description of solutions to some of the problems raised in the previous volume, as well as references to papers in which such solutions have been published. The speakers in the Seminar on Industrial Problems have given us at the IMA hours of delight and discovery.




The Mathematics of Information Coding, Extraction and Distribution


Book Description

High performance computing consumes and generates vast amounts of data, and the storage, retrieval, and transmission of this data are major obstacles to effective use of computing power. Challenges inherent in all of these operations are security, speed, reliability, authentication and reproducibility. This workshop focused on a wide variety of technical results aimed at meeting these challenges. Topics ranging from the mathematics of coding theory to the practicalities of copyright preservation for Internet resources drew spirited discussion and interaction among experts in diverse but related fields. We hope this volume contributes to continuing this dialogue.




Fractals in Multimedia


Book Description

This IMA Volume in Mathematics and its Applications FRACTALS IN MULTIMEDIA is a result of a very successful three-day minisymposium on the same title. The event was an integral part of the IMA annual program on Mathemat ics in Multimedia, 2000-2001. We would like to thank Michael F. Barnsley (Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne), Di etmar Saupe (Institut fUr Informatik, UniversiUit Leipzig), and Edward R. Vrscay (Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Waterloo) for their excellent work as organizers of the meeting and for editing the proceedings. We take this opportunity to thank the National Science Foundation for their support of the IMA. Series Editors Douglas N. Arnold, Director of the IMA Fadil Santosa, Deputy Director of the IMA v PREFACE This volume grew out of a meeting on Fractals in Multimedia held at the IMA in January 2001. The meeting was an exciting and intense one, focused on fractal image compression, analysis, and synthesis, iterated function systems and fractals in education. The central concerns of the meeting were to establish within these areas where we are now and to develop a vision for the future.




Computational Radiology and Imaging


Book Description

The articles collected in this volume are based on lectures given at the IMA Workshop, "Computational Radiology and Imaging: Therapy and Diagnostics", March 17-21, 1997. Introductory articles by the editors have been added. The focus is on inverse problems involving electromagnetic radiation and particle beams, with applications to X-ray tomography, nuclear medicine, near-infrared imaging, microwave imaging, electron microscopy, and radiation therapy planning. Mathematical and computational tools and models which play important roles in this volume include the X-ray transform and other integral transforms, the linear Boltzmann equation and, for near-infrared imaging, its diffusion approximation, iterative methods for large linear and non-linear least-squares problems, iterative methods for linear feasibility problems, and optimization methods. The volume is intended not only for mathematical scientists and engineers working on these and related problems, but also for non-specialists. It contains much introductory expository material, and a large number of references. Many unsolved computational and mathematical problems of substantial practical importance are pointed out.







Algorithms for Parallel Processing


Book Description

This IMA Volume in Mathematics and its Applications ALGORITHMS FOR PARALLEL PROCESSING is based on the proceedings of a workshop that was an integral part of the 1996-97 IMA program on "MATHEMATICS IN HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING. " The workshop brought together algorithm developers from theory, combinatorics, and scientific computing. The topics ranged over models, linear algebra, sorting, randomization, and graph algorithms and their analysis. We thank Michael T. Heath of University of lllinois at Urbana (Com puter Science), Abhiram Ranade of the Indian Institute of Technology (Computer Science and Engineering), and Robert S. Schreiber of Hewlett Packard Laboratories for their excellent work in organizing the workshop and editing the proceedings. We also take this opportunity to thank the National Science Founda tion (NSF) and the Army Research Office (ARO), whose financial support made the workshop possible. A vner Friedman Robert Gulliver v PREFACE The Workshop on Algorithms for Parallel Processing was held at the IMA September 16 - 20, 1996; it was the first workshop of the IMA year dedicated to the mathematics of high performance computing. The work shop organizers were Abhiram Ranade of The Indian Institute of Tech nology, Bombay, Michael Heath of the University of Illinois, and Robert Schreiber of Hewlett Packard Laboratories. Our idea was to bring together researchers who do innovative, exciting, parallel algorithms research on a wide range of topics, and by sharing insights, problems, tools, and methods to learn something of value from one another.




Mathematics of Multiscale Materials


Book Description

The 1995-1996 program at the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications was devoted to mathematical methods in material science, and was attended by materials scientists, physicists, geologists, chemists engineers, and mathematicians. This volume contains chapters which emerged from four of the workshops, focusing on disordered materials; interfaces and thin films; mechanical response of materials from angstroms to meters; and phase transformation, composite materials and microstructure. The scales treated in these workshops ranged from the atomic to the macroscopic, the microstructures from ordered to random, and the treatments from "purely" theoretical to highly applied. Taken together, these results form a compelling and broad account of many aspects of the science of multi-scale materials, and will hopefully inspire research across the self-imposed barriers of twentieth century science.




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