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We have developed a middleware framework for workgroup environments that can support distributed software development and a variety of other application domains requiring document management and change management for distributed projects. The framework enables hypermedia-based integration of arbitrary legacy and new information resources available via a range of protocols, not necessarily known in advance to us as the general framework developers nor even to the environment instance designers. The repositories in which such information resides may be dispersed across the Internet and/or an organizational intranet. The framework also permits a range of client models for user and tool interaction, and applies an extensible suite of collaboration services, including but not limited to multi-participant workflow and coordination, to their information retrievals and updates. That is, the framework is interposed between clients, services and repositories - thus "middleware". We explain how our framework makes it easy to realize a comprehensive collection of workgroup and workflow features we culled from a requirements survey conducted by NASA.
In recent years several computational systems and techniques fortheorem proving by analogy have been developed. The obvious prac-tical question, however, as to whether and when to use analogy hasbeen neglected badly in these developments. This paper addresses thisquestion, identifies situations where analogy is useful, and discussesthe merits of theorem proving by analogy in these situations. Theresults can be generalized to other domains.
Given a finite set of points in the plane and a forbidden region R, we want to find a point X not an element of int(R), such that the weighted sum to all given points is minimized. This location problem is a variant of the well-known Weber Problem, where we measure the distance by polyhedral gauges and allow each of the weights to be positive or negative. The unit ball of a polyhedral gauge may be any convex polyhedron containing the origin. This large class of distance functions allows very general (practical) settings - such as asymmetry - to be modeled. Each given point is allowed to have its own gauge and the forbidden region R enables us to include negative information in the model. Additionally the use of negative and positive weights allows to include the level of attraction or dislikeness of a new facility. Polynomial algorithms and structural properties for this global optimization problem (d.c. objective function and a non-convex feasible set) based on combinatorial and geometrical methods are presented.
A multiscale method is introduced using spherical (vector) wavelets for the computation of the earth's magnetic field within source regions of ionospheric and magnetospheric currents. The considerations are essentially based on two geomathematical keystones, namely (i) the Mie representation of solenoidal vector fields in terms of toroidal and poloidal parts and (ii) the Helmholtz decomposition of spherical (tangential) vector fields. Vector wavelets are shown to provide adequate tools for multiscale geomagnetic modelling in form of a multiresolution analysis, thereby completely circumventing the numerical obstacles caused by vector spherical harmonics. The applicability and efficiency of the multiresolution technique is tested with real satellite data.
The mathematical modelling of problems in science and engineering leads often to partial differential equations in time and space with boundary and initial conditions.The boundary value problems can be written as extremal problems(principle of minimal potential energy), as variational equations (principle of virtual power) or as classical boundary value problems.There are connections concerning existence and uniqueness results between these formulations, which will be investigated using the powerful tools of functional analysis.The first part of the lecture is devoted to the analysis of linear elliptic boundary value problems given in a variational form.The second part deals with the numerical approximation of the solutions of the variational problems.Galerkin methods as FEM and BEM are the main tools. The h-version will be discussed, and an error analysis will be done.Examples, especially from the elasticity theory, demonstrate the methods.
Value Preserving Strategies and a General Framework for Local Approaches to Optimal Portfolios
(1999)
We present some new general results on the existence and form of value preserving portfolio strategies in a general semimartingale setting. The concept of value preservation will be derived via a mean-variance argument. It will also be embedded into a framework for local approaches to the problem of portfolio optimisation.
Rules are an important knowledge representation formalism in constructive problem solving. On the other hand, object orientation is an essential key technology for maintaining large knowledge bases as well as software applications. Trying to take advantage of the benefits of both paradigms, we integrated Prolog and Smalltalk to build a common base architecture for problem solving. This approach has proven to be useful in the development of two knowledge-based systems for planning and configuration design (CAPlan and Idax). Both applications use Prolog as an efficient computational source for the evaluation of knowledge represented as rules.
We present the adaptation process in a CBR application for decision support in the domain of industrial supervision. Our approach uses explanations to approximate relations between a problem description and its solution, and the adaptation process is guided by these explanations (a more detailed presentation has been done in [4]).
The paper explores the role of artificial intelligence techniques in the development of an enhanced software project management tool, which takes account of the emerging requirement for support systems to address the increasing trend towards distributed multi-platform software development projects. In addressing these aims this research devised a novel architecture and framework for use as the basis of an intelligent assistance system for use by software project managers, in the planning and managing of a software project. This paper also describes the construction of a prototype system to implement this architecture and the results of a series of user trials on this prototype system.
Requirements engineering (RE) is a necessary part of the software development process, as it helps customers and designers identify necessary system requirements. If these stakeholders are separated by distance, we argue that a distributed groupware environment supporting a cooperative requirements engineering process must be supplied that allows them to negotiate software requirements. Such a groupware environment must support aspects of joint work relevant to requirements negotiation: synchronous and asynchronous collaboration, telepresence, and teledata. It should also add explicit support for a structured RE process, which includes the team's ability to discuss multiple perspectives during requirements acquisition and traceability. We chose the TeamWave software platform as an environment that supplied the basic collaboration capabilities, and tailored it to fit the specific needs of RE.
To prove difficult theorems in a mathematical field requires substantial know-ledge of that field. In this paper a frame-based knowledge representation formalismis presented, which supports a conceptual representation and to a large extent guar-antees the consistency of the built-up knowledge bases. We define a semantics ofthe representation by giving a translation into the underlaying logic.
We tested the GYROSTAR ENV-05S. This device is a sensor for angular velocity. There- fore the orientation must be calculated by integration of the angular velocity over time. The devices output is a voltage proportional to the angular velocity and relative to a reference. The test where done to find out under which conditions it is possible to use this device for estimation of orientation.
This paper addresses two modi of analogical reasoning. Thefirst modus is based on the explicit representation of the justificationfor the analogical inference. The second modus is based on the repre-sentation of typical instances by concept structures. The two kinds ofanalogical inferences rely on different forms of relevance knowledge thatcause non-monotonicity. While the uncertainty and non-monotonicity ofanalogical inferences is not questioned, a semantic characterization ofanalogical reasoning has not been given yet. We introduce a minimalmodel semantics for analogical inference with typical instances.
In the paper we discuss the transition from kinetic theory to macroscopic fluid equations, where the macroscopic equations are defined as aymptotic limits of a kinetic equation. This relation can be used to derive computationally efficient domain decomposition schemes for the simulaion of rarefied gas flows close to the continuum limit. Moreover, we present some basic ideas for the derivation of kinetic induced numerical schemes for macroscopic equations, namely kinetic schemes for general conservation laws as well as Lattice-Boltzmann methods for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations.
In order to improve the quality of software systems and to set up a more effective process for their development, many attempts have been made in the field of software engineering. Reuse of existing knowledge is seen as a promising way to solve the outstanding problems in this field. In previous work we have integrated the design pattern concept with the formal design language SDL, resulting in a certain kind of pattern formalization. For the domain of communication systems we have also developed a pool of SDL patterns with an accompanying process model for pattern application. In this paper we present an extension that combines the SDL pattern approach with the experience base concept. This extension supports a systematic method for empirical evaluation and continuous improvement of the SDL pattern approach. Thereby the experience base serves as a repository necessary for effective reuse of the captured knowledge. A comprehensive usage scenario is described which shows the advantages of the combined approach. To demonstrate its feasibility, first results of a research case study are given.
This paper focuses on the issues involved when multiple mobile agents interact in multiagent systems. The application is an intelligent agent market place, where buyer and seller agents cooperate and compete to process sales transactions for their owners. The market place manager acts as afacilitator by giving necessary information to agents and managing communication between agents, and also as a mediator by proposing solutions to agents or stopping them to get into infinite loops bargaining back and forth.The buyer and seller agents range from using hardcoded logic to rule-based inferencing in their negotiation strategies. However these agents must support some communication skills using KQML or FIPA-ACL.So in contrast with other approaches to multiagent negotiation, we introduce an explicit mediator (market place manager) into the negotiation, and we propose a negotiation strategy based on dependence theory [1] implemented by our best buyers and best sellers.
In this paper we are interested in an algebraic specification language that (1) allowsfor sufficient expessiveness, (2) admits a well-defined semantics, and (3) allows for formalproofs. To that end we study clausal specifications over built-in algebras. To keep thingssimple, we consider built-in algebras only that are given as the initial model of a Hornclause specification. On top of this Horn clause specification new operators are (partially)defined by positive/negative conditional equations. In the first part of the paper wedefine three types of semantics for such a hierarchical specification: model-theoretic,operational, and rewrite-based semantics. We show that all these semantics coincide,provided some restrictions are met. We associate a distinguished algebra A spec to ahierachical specification spec. This algebra is initial in the class of all models of spec.In the second part of the paper we study how to prove a theorem (a clause) valid in thedistinguished algebra A spec . We first present an abstract framework for inductive theoremprovers. Then we instantiate this framework for proving inductive validity. Finally wegive some examples to show how concrete proofs are carried out.This report was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, SFB 314 (D4-Projekt)
This paper shows how a new approach to theorem provingby analogy is applicable to real maths problems. This approach worksat the level of proof-plans and employs reformulation that goes beyondsymbol mapping. The Heine-Borel theorem is a widely known result inmathematics. It is usually stated in R 1 and similar versions are also truein R 2 , in topology, and metric spaces. Its analogical transfer was proposedas a challenge example and could not be solved by previous approachesto theorem proving by analogy. We use a proof-plan of the Heine-Boreltheorem in R 1 as a guide in automatically producing a proof-plan of theHeine-Borel theorem in R 2 by analogy-driven proof-plan construction.
This paper is concerned with numerical algorithms for the bipolar quantum drift diffusion model. For the thermal equilibrium case a quasi-gradient method minimizing the energy functional is introduced and strong convergence is proven. The computation of current - voltage characteristics is performed by means of an extended emph{Gummel - iteration}. It is shown that the involved fixed point mapping is a contraction for small applied voltages. In this case the model equations are uniquely solvable and convergence of the proposed iteration scheme follows. Numerical simulations of a one dimensional resonant tunneling diode are presented. The computed current - voltage characteristics are in good qualitative agreement with experimental measurements. The appearance of negative differential resistances is verified for the first time in a Quantum Drift Diffusion model.
Continuous and discrete superselection rules induced by the interaction with the environment are investigated for a class of exactly soluble Hamiltonian models. The environment is given by a Boson field. Stable superselection sectors can only emerge if the low frequences dominate and the ground state of the Boson field disappears due to infrared divergence. The models allow uniform estimates of all transition matrix elements between different superselection sectors.
The thermal equilibrium state of a bipolar, isothermal quantum fluid confined to a bounded domain \(\Omega\subset I\!\!R^d,d=1,2\) or \( d=3\) is the minimizer of the total energy \({\mathcal E}_{\epsilon\lambda}\); \({\mathcal E}_{\epsilon\lambda}\) involves the squares of the scaled Planck's constant \(\epsilon\) and the scaled minimal Debye length \(\lambda\). In applications one frequently has \(\lambda^2\ll 1\). In these cases the zero-space-charge approximation is rigorously justified. As \(\lambda \to 0 \), the particle densities converge to the minimizer of a limiting quantum zero-space-charge functional exactly in those cases where the doping profile satisfies some compatibility conditions. Under natural additional assumptions on the internal energies one gets an differential-algebraic system for the limiting \((\lambda=0)\) particle densities, namely the quantum zero-space-charge model. The analysis of the subsequent limit \(\epsilon \to 0\) exhibits the importance of quantum gaps. The semiclassical zero-space-charge model is, for small \(\epsilon\), a reasonable approximation of the quantum model if and only if the quantum gap vanishes. The simultaneous limit \(\epsilon =\lambda \to 0\) is analyzed.
Most automated theorem provers suffer from the problem that theycan produce proofs only in formalisms difficult to understand even forexperienced mathematicians. Efforts have been made to transformsuch machine generated proofs into natural deduction (ND) proofs.Although the single steps are now easy to understand, the entire proofis usually at a low level of abstraction, containing too many tedioussteps. Therefore, it is not adequate as input to natural language gen-eration systems.To overcome these problems, we propose a new intermediate rep-resentation, called ND style proofs at the assertion level . After illus-trating the notion intuitively, we show that the assertion level stepscan be justified by domain-specific inference rules, and that these rulescan be represented compactly in a tree structure. Finally, we describea procedure which substantially shortens ND proofs by abstractingthem to the assertion level, and report our experience with furthertransformation into natural language.
We present an empirical study of mathematical proofs by diagonalization, the aim istheir mechanization based on proof planning techniques. We show that these proofs canbe constructed according to a strategy that (i) finds an indexing relation, (ii) constructsa diagonal element, and (iii) makes the implicit contradiction of the diagonal elementexplicit. Moreover we suggest how diagonal elements can be represented.
Trigonometric invariants are defined for each Weyl group orbit on the root lattice. They are real and periodic on the coroot lattice. Their polynomial algebra is spanned by a basis which is calculated by means of an algorithm. The invariants of the basis can be used as coordinates in any cell of the coroot space and lead to an exactly solvable model of Sutherland type. We apply this construction to the \(F_4\) case.
In this report we present a case study of employing goal-oriented heuristics whenproving equational theorems with the (unfailing) Knut-Bendix completion proce-dure. The theorems are taken from the domain of lattice ordered groups. It will bedemonstrated that goal-oriented (heuristic) criteria for selecting the next critical paircan in many cases significantly reduce the search effort and hence increase per-formance of the proving system considerably. The heuristic, goalADoriented criteriaare on the one hand based on so-called "measures" measuring occurrences andnesting of function symbols, and on the other hand based on matching subterms.We also deal with the property of goal-oriented heuristics to be particularly helpfulin certain stages of a proof. This fact can be addressed by using them in a frame-work for distributed (equational) theorem proving, namely the "teamwork-method".
Orderings on polynomial interpretations of operators represent a powerful technique for proving thetermination of rewriting systems. One of the main problems of polynomial orderings concerns thechoice of the right interpretation for a given rewriting system. It is very difficult to develop techniquesfor solving this problem. Here, we present three new heuristic approaches: (i) guidelines for dealingwith special classes of rewriting systems, (ii) an algorithm for choosing appropriate special polynomialsas well as (iii) an extension of the original polynomial ordering which supports the generation ofsuitable interpretations. All these heuristics will be applied to examples in order to illustrate theirpractical relevance.
Tangent measure distributions are a natural tool to describe the local geometry of arbitrary measures of any dimension. We show that for every measure on a Euclidean space and every s, at almost every point, all s-dimensional tangent measure distributions define statistically self-similar random measures. Consequently, the local geometry of general measures is not different from the local geometry of self-similar sets. We illustrate the strength of this result by showing how it can be used to improve recently proved relations between ordinary and average densities.
We transform a user-friendly formulation of aproblem to a machine-friendly one exploiting the variabilityof first-order logic to express facts. The usefulness of tacticsto improve the presentation is shown with several examples.In particular it is shown how tactical and resolution theoremproving can be combined.
We report results of the switching properties of Stoner-like magnetic particles subject to short magnetic field pulses, obtained by numerical investigations. We discuss the switching properties as a function of the external field pulse strength and direction, the pulse length and the pulse shape. For field pulses long compared to the ferromagnetic resonance precession time the switching behavior is governed by the magnetic damping term, whereas in the limit of short field pulses the switching properties are dominated by the details of the precession of the magnetic moment. In the latter case, by choosing the right field pulse parameters, the magnetic damping term is of minor importance and ultrafast switching can be achieved. Switching can be obtained in an enlarged angular range of the direction of the applied field compared to the case of long pulses.
A growing share of all software development project work is being done by geographically distributed teams. To satisfy shorter product design cycles, expert team members for a development project may need to be r ecruited globally. Yet to avoid extensive travelling or r eplacement costs, distributed project work is preferred. Current-generation software engineering tools and ass ociated systems, processes, and methods were for the most part developed to be used within a single enterprise. Major innovations have lately been introduced to enable groupware applications on the Internet to support global collaboration. However, their deployment for distributed software projects requires further research. In partic ular, groupware methods must seamlessly be integrated with project and product management systems to make them attractive for industry. In this position paper we outline the major challenges concerning distributed (virtual) software projects. Based on our experiences with software process modeling and enactment environments, we then propose approaches to solve those challenges.
Abstract: Spontaneous emission and Lamb shift of atoms in absorbing dielectrics are discussed. A Green's-function approach is used based on the multipolar interaction Hamiltonian of a collection of atomic dipoles with the quantised radiation field. The rate of decay and level shifts are determined by the retarded Green's-function of the interacting electric displacement field, which is calculated from a Dyson equation describing multiple scattering. The positions of the atomic dipoles forming the dielectrics are assumed to be uncorrelated and a continuum approximation is used. The associated unphysical interactions between different atoms at the same location is eliminated by removing the point-interaction term from the free-space Green's-function (local field correction). For the case of an atom in a purely dispersive medium the spontaneous emission rate is altered by the well-known Lorentz local-field factor. In the presence of absorption a result different from previously suggested expressions is found and nearest-neighbour interactions are shown to be important.
We report on the observation of spin wave quantization in square arrays of micron size circular magnetic Ni80Fe20 dots by means of Brillouin light scattering spectroscopy. For a large wavevector interval several discrete, dispersionless modes with a frequency splitting of up to 2.5 GHz were observed. The modes are identified as magnetostatic surface spin waves laterally quantized due to in- plane confinement in each single dot. The frequencies of the lowest observed modes decrease with increasing distance between the dots, thus indicating an essential dynamic magnetic dipole interaction between the dots with small interdot distances.
An experimental study of spin wave quantization in arrays of micron size magnetic Ni80Fe20 islands (dots and wires) by means of Brillouin light scattering spectroscopy is reported. Dipolar-dominated spin wave modes laterally quantized in a single island with quantized wavevector values determined by the size of the island are studied. In the case of wires the frequencies of the modes and the transferred wavevector interval, where each mode is observed, are calculated. The results of the calculations are in a good agreement with the experimental data. In the case of circular dots the frequencies of the lowest observed modes decrease with increasing distance between the dots, thus indicating an essential dynamic magnetic dipole interaction between the dots with small interdot distances.
A non-trivial real-time requirement obeying a pattern that can be foundin various instantiations in the application domain building automation, and which is therefore called generic, is investigated in detail. Starting point is a description of a real-time problem in natural language augmented by a diagram, in a style often found in requirements documents. Step by step, this description is made more precise and finally transformed into a surprisingly concise formal specification, written in real-time temporal logic with customized operators. Wereason why this formal specification precisely captures the original description- as far as this is feasible due to the lack of precision of natural language.
A new advanced space- and time-resolved Brillouin light scattering technique is used to study diffraction of two-dimensional beams and pulses of dipolar spin waves excited by strip-line antennas in tangentially magnetized garnet films. The technique is an effective tool for investigations of two-dimensional spin wave propagation with high spatial and temporal resolution. Nonlinear effects such as stationary and nonstationary self-focusing are investigated in detail. It is shown, that nonlinear diffraction of a stationary backward volume magnetostatic wave (BVMSW) beam, having a finite transverse aperture, leads to selffocusing of the beam at one spatial point. Diffraction of a finite-duration (non-stationary) BVMSW pulse leads to space-time self-focusing and formation of a strongly localized two-dimensional wave packet (spin wave bullet).
Starting from the uniqueness question for mixtures of distributions this review centers around the question under which formally weaker assumptions one can prove the existence of SPLIFs, in other words perfect statistics and tests. We mention a couple of positive and negative results which complement the basic contribution of David Blackwell in 1980. Typically the answers depend on the choice of the set theoretic axioms and on the particular concepts of measurability.
We consider three applications of impulse control in financial mathematics, a cash management problem, optimal control of an exchange rate, and portfolio optimisation under transaction costs. We sketch the different ways of solving these problems with the help of quasi-variational inequalities. Further, some viscosity solution results are presented.
In line location problems the objective is to find a straight line which minimizes the sum of distances, or the maximum distance, respectively to a given set of existing facilities in the plane. These problems have well solved. In this paper we deal with restricted line location problems, i.e. we have given a set in the plane where the line is not allowed to pass through. With the help of a geometric duality we solve such problems for the vertical distance and then extend these results to block norms and some of them even to arbitrary norms. For all norms we give a finite candidate set for the optimal line.
The development of software products has become a highly cooperative and distributed activity involving working groups at geographically distinct places. These groups show an increasing mobility and a very flexible organizational structure. Process methodology and technology have to take such evolutions into account. A possible direction for the emergence of new process technology and methodology is to take benefit from recent advances within multiagent systems engineering : innovative methodologies for adaptable and autonomous architectures; they exhibit interesting features to support distributed software processes.
We compare different notions of differentiability of a measure along a vector field on a locally convex space. We consider in the L2-space of a differ entiable measure the analoga of the classical concepts of gradient, divergence and Laplacian (which coincides with the OrnsteinUhlenbeck operator in the Gaussian case). We use these operators for the extension of the basic results of Malliavin and Stroock on the smoothness of finite dimensional image measures under certain nonsmooth mappings to the case of non-Gaussian measures. The proof of this extension is quite direct and does not use any Chaos-decomposition. Finally, the role of this Laplacian in the procedure of quantization of anharmonic oscillators is discussed.
SmallSync, an internet event synchronizer, is intended to provide a monitoring and visualization methodology for permitting simultaneous analysis and control of multiple remote processes on the web. The current SmallSync includes: (1) a mechanism to multicast web window-based commands, message passing events and process execution events among processes; (2) an event synchronizer to allow concurrent execution of some functions on multiple machines; (3) a means to report when these events cause errors in the processes; and (4) ad hoc visualization of process states using existing visualizers.
Patdex is an expert system which carries out case-based reasoning for the fault diagnosis of complex machines. It is integrated in the Moltke workbench for technical diagnosis, which was developed at the university of Kaiserslautern over the past years, Moltke contains other parts as well, in particular a model-based approach; in Patdex where essentially the heuristic features are located. The use of cases also plays an important role for knowledge acquisition. In this paper we describe Patdex from a principal point of view and embed its main concepts into a theoretical framework.