This paper presents a conformal mapping solution of Laplace's equation in the two dimensional region exterior to two rectangular plates or electrodes at different potentials. Plates with finite and semi-infinite lengths are considered separately and particular emphasis is placed upon the case when the separation between the plates is small. The key results of the paper are expressions for the integral of the square of the normal field along the mid-line between the plates. This integral is of importance in certain gaseous conductor experiments that are sufficiently accurate for a consideration of end effects to be necessary. For small gaps, the dominant end correction to the integral is linear with the gap width. It is also shown that, for small gaps, the simplified (semi-infinite) geometry gives essentially the same value for the integral as the full (finite plate length) geometry.

Variable structure systems with sliding modes have been widely discussed and used in many different fields of applications. The precise behaviour at a switching surface is complicated because there the system is non-analytic. The damped simple harmonic oscillator with a nonlinear variable structure is discretised and analysed in detail, revealing the occurrence and structure of pseudo-sliding modes which give insight to the corresponding sliding modes for the continuous system. Necessary and sufficient conditions are obtained and the analysis illustrated with graphs from numerical solutions.

This paper concerns with analytical integration of trivariate polynomials over linear polyhedra in Euclidean three-dimensional space. The volume integration of trivariate polynomials over linear polyhedra is computed as sum of surface integrals in R3 on application of the well known Gauss's divergence theorem and by using triangulation of the linear polyhedral boundary. The surface integrals in R3 over an arbitrary triangle are connected to surface integrals of bivariate polynomials in R2. The surface integrals in R2 over a simple polygon or over an arbitrary triangle are computed by two different approaches. The first algorithm is obtained by transforming the surface integrals in R2 into a sum of line integrals in a one-parameter space, while the second algorithm is obtained by transforming the surface integrals in R2 over an arbitrary triangle into a parametric double integral over a unit triangle. It is shown that the volume integration of trivariate polynomials over linear polyhedra can be obtained as a sum of surface integrals of bivariate polynomials in R2. The computation of surface integrals is proposed in the beginning of this paper and these are contained in Lemmas 1–6. These algorithms (Lemmas 1–6) and the theorem on volume integration are then followed by an example for which the detailed computational scheme has been explained. The symbolic integration formulas presented in this paper may lead to an easy and systematic incorporation of global properties of solid objects, for example, the volume, centre of mass, moments of inertia etc., required in engineering design processes.

The one-dimensional, non-linear theory of pulse propagation in large arteries is examined in the light of the analogy which exists with gas dynamics. Numerical evidence for the existence of shock-waves in current one-dimensional blood-flow models is presented. Some methods of suppressing shock-wave development in these models are indicated.

Multiple integrals in ten or twenty variables are often needed by atomic, molecular and nuclear physicists, because of the large number of degrees of freedom in the quantum systems with which they must deal. In statistics too there is often a need to evaluate integrals with many degrees of freedom. It is in mathematical finance, however, that the most striking examples are seen, with claims of integrals being evaluated during recent years with many hundreds of variables.

Some comparison theorems and oscillation criteria are established for the neutral difference equation

as well as for certain neutral difference equations with coefficients of arbitrary sign. Neutral difference equations with mixed arguments are also considered.

The expressions for elliptic integrals, elliptic functions and theta functions given in standard reference books are slowly convergent as the parameter m approaches unity, and in the limit do not converge. In this paper we use Jacobi's imaginary transformation to obtain alternative expressions which converge most rapidly in the limit as m → 1. With the freedom to use the traditional formulae for m ≤ ½ and those obtained here for m ≥ ½, extraordinarily rapidly-convergent methods may be used for all values of m; no more than three terms of any series need be used to ensure eight-figure accuracy.

We show that the position vector of any 3-space curve lying on a sphere satisfies a third-order linear (vector) differential equation whose coefficients involve a single arbitrary function A(s). By making various identifications of A(s), we are led to nonlinear identities for a number of higher transcendental functions: Bessel functions, Horn functions, generalized hypergeometric functions, etc. These can be considered natural geometrical generalizations of sin2t + cos2t = 1. We conclude with some applications to the theory of splines.

This paper deals with the complete constitutive relations of elastoplastic deformation process theory, based on llyushin's postulate of isotropy and hypotheses of local determinancy and complanarity in plastic stage with complex loading. The formulation of the boundary value problem is given and existence and uniqueness theorems are considered.

The interaction of a surface wave of angular frequency ω with a deeply submerged, vertical open-mouthed, circular duct of radius a is considered. The resulting boundary- value problem is solved by the Wiener-Hopf technique. The pressure-amplification factor (the ratio of the complex amplitude of the pressure in the depths of the duct to that of the incident wave in the plane of the mouth) is determined in closed form as a function of the dimensionless wave number K = ω2a/g.

Optimal strategies are obtained for two-player games with an alternating staek doubling option. A complete two-parameter analysis is provided for games that must end within two moves, and a recursive procedure then enables a solution for games of any number of moves. Examples are given of relevance to extureme end games in backgammon.

Finite difference schemes for some two point boundary value problems are analysed. It is found that for schemes defined on nonuniform grids, the order of the local truncation error does not fully reflect the rate of convergence of the numerical approximation obtained. Numerical results are presented that indicate that this is also the case for higher dimensional problems.

A sphere theorem for non-axisymmetric Stokes flow of a viscous fluid of viscosity μe past a fluid sphere of viscosity μi is stated and proved. The existing sphere theorems in Stokes flow follow as special cases from the present theorem. It is observed that the expression for drag on the fluid sphere is a linear combination of rigid and shear-free drags.

The properties of static spherically symmetric black holes, which carry electric and magnetic charges, and which are coupled to the dilaton in the presence of a cosmological constant, A, are reviewed.

The behaviour of duopolists is considered within a framework that allows for flexibility of the adopted strategy against the rival. In a difficult external climate, a firm may concentrate on its own profit, whereas in a more favourable external climate, it may adopt a more aggressive attitude towards the rival. The strategy considered in this paper permits this flexible approach. The market functions are kept general to allow the widest interpretation of the results.