Adaptive and Multilevel Metaheuristics
This volume presents recent advances in the area of adaptativeness in metaheuristic optimization, including up-to-date reviews of hyperheuristics and self-adaptation in evolutionary algorithms, as well as cutting edge works on adaptive, self-adaptive and multilevel metaheuristics, with application to both combinatorial and continuous optimization.
Accreditation and Evaluation in the European Higher Education Area
This volume presents a rich account of the development of accreditation and evaluation in 20 European countries. The authors are leaders in the field and they have cooperated in this effort by writing richly different, often deep and insightful analyses of the situation in their country. The two editors have added a synopsis detailing the main trends, and sketching commonalities as well as contrasts in the developments across Europe. The book shows how accreditation is becoming a main mechanism in the steering of higher education all over Europe. The book is unique in its analysis of forces driving towards the spread of different models of accreditation in the emerging European Higher Education area. Readers will obtain an up-to-date picture of the state of affairs of accreditation in the framework of evaluation activities in Europe.
Absolute Stability of Nonlinear Control Systems
Following the recent developments in the field of absolute stability, Professor Xiaoxin Liao, in conjunction with Professor Pei Yu, has created a second edition of his seminal work on the subject. Liao begins with an introduction to the Lurie problem and the Lurie control system, before moving on to the simple algebraic sufficient conditions for the absolute stability of autonomous and non-autonomous ODE systems, as well as several special classes of Lurie-type systems. The focus of the book then shifts toward the new results and research that have appeared in the decade since the first edition was published. This includes nonlinear control systems with multiple controls, interval control systems, time-delay and neutral Lurie control systems, systems described by functional differential equations, the absolute stability for neural networks, as well as applications to chaos control and chaos synchronization.
A Software-Defined GPS and Galileo Receiver : A Single-Frequency Approach
Satellite navigation receivers are used to receive, process, and decode space-based navigation signals, such as those provided by the GPS constellation of satellites. There is an increasing need for a unified open platform that will enable enhanced receiver development and design, as well as cost-effective testing procedures for various applications. This book provide hands-on exploration of new technologies in this rapidly growing field. One of the unique features of the work is the interactive approach used, giving readers the ability to construct their own Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) receivers. To construct such a reconfigurable receiver with a wide range of applications, the authors discuss receiver architecture based on software-defined radio (SDR) techniques. The presentation unfolds in a systematic, user-friendly style and goes from the basics to cutting-edge research.
A Practical Introduction to PSL
Practical Introduction to PSL is primarily targeted to hardware designers and verification engineers who plan to use PSL. This book is also of interest to students of temporal logic. The formal semantics of PSL are included as an appendix, and bibliographical notes include pointers to some of the main theoretical works.
A First Course in Modular Forms
This book introduces the theory of modular forms with an eye toward the Modularity Theorem: All rational elliptic curves arise from modular forms. The topics covered include • elliptic curves as complex tori and as algebraic curves, • modular curves as Riemann surfaces and as algebraic curves, • Hecke operators and Atkin–Lehner theory, • Hecke eigenforms and their arithmetic properties, • the Jacobians of modular curves and the Abelian varieties associated to Hecke eigenforms, • elliptic and modular curves modulo p and the Eichler–Shimura Relation, • the Galois representations associated to elliptic curves and to Hecke eigenforms. As it presents these ideas, the book states the Modularity Theorem in various forms, relating them to each other and touching on their applications to number theory.
A First Course in Harmonic Analysis
This book is a primer in harmonic analysis using an elementary approach. Its first aim is to provide an introduction to Fourier analysis, leading up to the Poisson Summation Formula. Secondly, it makes the reader aware of the fact that both, the Fourier series and the Fourier transform, are special cases of a more general theory arising in the context of locally compact abelian groups. The third goal of this book is to introduce the reader to the techniques used in harmonic analysis of noncommutative groups. There are two new chapters in this new edition. One on distributions will complete the set of real variable methods introduced in the first part. The other on the Heisenberg Group provides an example of a group that is neither compact nor abelian, yet is simple enough to easily deduce the Plancherel Theorem.
A Course in Derivative Securities : Introduction to Theory and Computation
This book aims at a middle ground between the introductory books on derivative securities and those that provide advanced mathematical treatments. It is written for mathematically capable students who have not necessarily had prior exposure to probability theory, stochastic calculus, or computer programming. It provides derivations of pricing and hedging formulas (using the probabilistic change of numeraire technique) for standard options, exchange options, options on forwards and futures, quanto options, exotic options, caps, floors and swaptions, as well as VBA code implementing the formulas. It also contains an introduction to Monte Carlo, binomial models, and finite-difference methods.
A Course in Credibility Theory and its Applications
It covers the subject of Credibility Theory extensively and includes most aspects of this topic from the simplest case to the most general dynamic model. The first four chapters contain plenty of material The book therefore treats explicitly the tasks which the actuary encounters in his daily work such as estimation of loss ratios, claim frequencies and claim sizes. The models are worked out in detail (including the estimation of structural parameters) so that they can immediately be applied in practice. Most exercises are based on real insurance data and real situations from practice and many of them have the characteristics of a case study. The extension to practical problems arising from the general area of finance is often quite straightforward. This book deserves a place on the bookshelf of every actuary and mathematician who works, teaches or does research in the area of insurance and finance.for a first course on Credibility.
A Concise Introduction to Mathematical Logic
This book is unique in that it is more concise than most others; the material is treated in a streamlined fashion. This allows the lecturer to select the material for a one-semester course on a topic more easily. These initial chapters cover just the material for an introductory course on mathematical logic combined with the necessary material from set theory. Chapter 3 is partly of a descriptive nature, providing a view towards decision problems, automated theorem proving, non-standard models and related subjects. The other chapters contain material on logic programming for computer scientists, model theory, recursion theory, Gödel's Incompleteness Theorems, and applications of mathematical logic. Philosophical and foundational problems of mathematics are discussed where appropriate.
A Biomass Future for the North American Great Plains : Toward Sustainable Land Use and Mitigation of Greenhouse Warming
The Great Plains of North America is a major global breadbasket but its agriculture is stressed by drought, heat spells, damaging winds, soil erosion and declining ground water resources. This book explores the possibility that the ecology and economy of the Plains region (and similar regions) would benefit from the introduction of perennial biomass crops. Biomass production and processing on the Plains (possibly aided by genetic engineering) would partially restore a perennial vegetative cover and create new employment opportunities. Biomass also offers a means of reducing fossil fuel use, providing fuel to local power plants and a feedstock for production of cellulosic ethanol, a gasoline substitute. Interest in biofuels is growing rapidly in public, political and business circles with rising fossil fuel prices and because of a growing recognition of the need for energy independence in petroleum importing countries.
A Basic Course on Probability Theory
The book develops the necessary background in probability theory underlying diverse treatments of stochastic processes and their wide-ranging applications. Theorems from analysis and measure theory used in the main text are provided in comprehensive appendices, along with their proofs, for ease of reference.
40 Puzzles and Problems in Probability and Mathematical Statistics
"40 Puzzles and Problems in Probability and Mathematical Statistics" is intended to teach the reader to think probabilistically by solving challenging, non-standard probability problems. The motivation for this clearly written collection lies in the belief that challenging problems help to develop, and to sharpen, our probabilistic intuition much better than plain-style deductions from abstract concepts. The selected problems fall into two broad categories. Problems related to probability theory come first, followed by problems related to the application of probability to the field of mathematical statistics. All problems seek to convey a non-standard aspect or an approach which is not immediately obvious.
3D-Position Tracking and Control for All-Terrain Robots
Rough terrain robotics is a fast evolving field of research and a lot of effort is deployed towards enabling a greater level of autonomy for outdoor vehicles. This book demonstrates how the accuracy of 3D position tracking can be improved by considering rover locomotion in rough terrain as a holistic problem. In this work, a mechanical structure allowing smooth motion across obstacles with limited wheel slip is used. In particular, it enables the use of odometry and inertial sensors to improve the position estimation in rough terrain. A method for computing 3D motion increments based on the wheel encoders and chassis state sensors is developed. The algorithm runs online and can be adapted to any kind of passive wheeled rover. Finally, sensor fusion using 3D-Odometry, inertial sensors and visual motion estimation based on stereovision is presented. The experimental results demonstrate how each sensor contributes to increase the accuracy and robustness of the 3D position estimation.
3D-groundwater modeling with PMWIN : A simulation system for modeling groundwater flow and transport processes
Along with a companion full-version software (PMWIN), this text offers an integrated simulation system. PMWIN comes with a professional graphical user-interface, supported models and programs and several other useful modeling tools. The graphical user-interface allows one to create and simulate models.














