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Now showing 1 - 10 of 257
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    Auditory cortex modelled as a dynamical network of oscillators: Understanding event-related fields and their adaptation
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2021) Hajizadeh, Aida; Matysiak, Artur; Wolfrum, Matthias; May, Patrick J. C.
    Adaptation, the reduction of neuronal responses by repetitive stimulation, is a ubiquitous feature of auditory cortex (AC). It is not clear what causes adaptation, but short-term synaptic depression (STSD) is a potential candidate for the underlying mechanism. We examined this hypothesis via a computational model based on AC anatomy, which includes serially connected core, belt, and parabelt areas. The model replicates the event-related field (ERF) of the magnetoencephalogram as well as ERF adaptation. The model dynamics are described by excitatory and inhibitory state variables of cell populations, with the excitatory connections modulated by STSD. We analysed the system dynamics by linearizing the firing rates and solving the STSD equation using time-scale separation. This allows for characterization of AC dynamics as a superposition of damped harmonic oscillators, so-called normal modes. We show that repetition suppression of the N1m is due to a mixture of causes, with stimulus repetition modifying both the amplitudes and the frequencies of the normal modes. In this view, adaptation results from a complete reorganization of AC dynamics rather than a reduction of activity in discrete sources. Further, both the network structure and the balance between excitation and inhibition contribute significantly to the rate with which AC recovers from adaptation. This lifetime of adaptation is longer in the belt and parabelt than in the core area, despite the time constants of STSD being spatially constant. Finally, we critically evaluate the use of a single exponential function to describe recovery from adaptation.
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    Quantum symmetry
    (Oberwolfach : Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach gGmbH, 2020) Caspers, Martijn
    The symmetry of objects plays a crucial role in many branches of mathematics and physics. It allowed, for example, the early prediction of the existence of new small particles. “Quantum symmetry” concerns a generalized notion of symmetry. It is an abstract way of characterizing the symmetry of a much richer class of mathematical and physical objects. In this snapshot we explain how quantum symmetry emerges as matrix symmetries using a famous example: Mermin’s magic square. It shows that quantum symmetries can solve problems that lie beyond the reach of classical symmetries, showing that quantum symmetries play a central role in modern mathematics.
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    Determinacy versus indeterminacy
    (Oberwolfach : Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach gGmbH, 2020) Berg, Christian
    Can a continuous function on an interval be uniquely determined if we know all the integrals of the function against the natural powers of the variable? Following Weierstrass and Stieltjes, we show that the answer is yes if the interval is finite, and no if the interval is infinite.
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    Weak-strong uniqueness for energy-reaction-diffusion systems
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2021) Hopf, Katharina
    We establish weak-strong uniqueness and stability properties of renormalised solutions to a class of energy-reaction-diffusion systems, which genuinely feature cross-diffusion effects. The systems considered are motivated by thermodynamically consistent models, and their formal entropy structure allows us to use as a key tool a suitably adjusted relative entropy method. Weak-strong uniqueness is obtained for general entropy-dissipating reactions without growth restrictions, and certain models with a non-integrable diffusive flux. The results also apply to a class of (isoenergetic) reaction-cross-diffusion systems.
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    Numerical analysis for nematic electrolytes
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2020) Baňas, L'ubomír; Lasarzik, Robert; Prohl, Andreas
    We consider a system of nonlinear PDEs modeling nematic electrolytes, and construct a dissipative solution with the help of its implementable, structure-inheriting space-time discretization. Computational studies are performed to study the mutual effects of electric, elastic, and viscous effects onto the molecules in a nematic electrolyte.
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    Fast reaction limits via $Gamma$-convergence of the flux rate functional
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2020) Peletier, Mark A.; Renger, D. R. Michiel
    We study the convergence of a sequence of evolution equations for measures supported on the nodes of a graph. The evolution equations themselves can be interpreted as the forward Kolmogorov equations of Markov jump processes, or equivalently as the equations for the concentrations in a network of linear reactions. The jump rates or reaction rates are divided in two classes; `slow' rates are constant, and `fast' rates are scaled as 1/∈, and we prove the convergence in the fast-reaction limit ∈ → 0. We establish a Γ-convergence result for the rate functional in terms of both the concentration at each node and the flux over each edge (the level-2.5 rate function). The limiting system is again described by a functional, and characterizes both fast and slow fluxes in the system. This method of proof has three advantages. First, no condition of detailed balance is required. Secondly, the formulation in terms of concentration and flux leads to a short and simple proof of the Γ-convergence; the price to pay is a more involved compactness proof. Finally, the method of proof deals with approximate solutions, for which the functional is not zero but small, without any changes.
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    High order discretization methods for spatial-dependent epidemic models
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2021) Takács, Bálint; Hadjimichael, Yiannis
    In this paper, an SIR model with spatial dependence is studied and results regarding its stability and numerical approximation are presented. We consider a generalization of the original Kermack and McKendrick model in which the size of the populations differs in space. The use of local spatial dependence yields a system of integro-differential equations. The uniqueness and qualitative properties of the continuous model are analyzed. Furthermore, different choices of spatial and temporal discretizations are employed, and step-size restrictions for population conservation, positivity, and monotonicity preservation of the discrete model are investigated. We provide sufficient conditions under which high order numerical schemes preserve the discrete properties of the model. Computational experiments verify the convergence and accuracy of the numerical methods.
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    On the existence of weak solutions in the context of multidimensional incompressible fluid dynamics
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2021) Lasarzik, Robert
    We define the concept of energy-variational solutions for the Navier--Stokes and Euler equations. This concept is shown to be equivalent to weak solutions with energy conservation. Via a standard Galerkin discretization, we prove the existence of energy-variational solutions and thus weak solutions in any space dimension for the Navier--Stokes equations. In the limit of vanishing viscosity the same assertions are deduced for the incompressible Euler system. Via the selection criterion of maximal dissipation we deduce well-posedness for these equations.
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    Analysis of a quasi-variational contact problem arising in thermoelasticity
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2020) Alphonse, Amal; Rautenberg, Carlos N.; Rodrigues, José Francisco
    We formulate and study two mathematical models of a thermoforming process involving a membrane and a mould as implicit obstacle problems. In particular, the membrane-mould coupling is determined by the thermal displacement of the mould that depends in turn on the membrane through the contact region. The two models considered are a stationary (or elliptic) model and an evolutionary (or quasistatic) one. For the first model, we prove the existence of weak solutions by solving an elliptic quasi-variational inequality coupled to elliptic equations. By exploring the fine properties of the variation of the contact set under non-degenerate data, we give sufficient conditions for the existence of regular solutions, and under certain contraction conditions, also a uniqueness result. We apply these results to a series of semi-discretised problems that arise as approximations of regular solutions for the evolutionary or quasistatic problem. Here, under certain conditions, we are able to prove existence for the evolutionary problem and for a special case, also the uniqueness of time-dependent solutions.
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    Global existence analysis of energy-reaction-diffusion systems
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2021) Fischer, Julian; Hopf, Katharina; Kniely, Michael; Mielke, Alexander
    We establish global-in-time existence results for thermodynamically consistent reaction-(cross-)diffusion systems coupled to an equation describing heat transfer. Our main interest is to model species-dependent diffusivities, while at the same time ensuring thermodynamic consistency. A key difficulty of the non-isothermal case lies in the intrinsic presence of cross-diffusion type phenomena like the Soret and the Dufour effect: due to the temperature/energy dependence of the thermodynamic equilibria, a nonvanishing temperature gradient may drive a concentration flux even in a situation with constant concentrations; likewise, a nonvanishing concentration gradient may drive a heat flux even in a case of spatially constant temperature. We use time discretisation and regularisation techniques and derive a priori estimates based on a suitable entropy and the associated entropy production. Renormalised solutions are used in cases where non-integrable diffusion fluxes or reaction terms appear.