Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 57-59).

Thesis (M. S.)--Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009. / Committee Chair: Tannenbaum, Allen; Committee Member: Barnes, Christopher F.; Committee Member: Niethammer, Marc; Committee Member: Shamma, Jeff; Committee Member: Vela, Patricio.

Geodesic Tractography Segmentation is the two component approach presented in this thesis for the analysis of imagery in oriented domains, with emphasis on the application to diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imagery (DW-MRI). The computeraided analysis of DW-MRI data presents a new set of problems and opportunities for the application of mathematical and computer vision techniques. The goal is to develop a set of tools that enable clinicians to better understand DW-MRI data and ultimately shed new light on biological processes. This thesis presents a few techniques and tools which may be used to automatically find and segment major neural fiber bundles from DW-MRI data. For each technique, we provide a brief overview of the advantages and limitations of our approach relative to other available approaches. / Acknowledgements page removed per author's request, 01/06/2014.

Let M be a possibly non compact smooth manifold. We study genericity in the C^k topology (3<=k<=+infty) of nondegeneracy properties of semi-Riemannian geodesic flows on M. Namely, we prove a new version of the Bumpy Metric Theorem for a such M and also genericity of metrics that do not possess any degenerate geodesics satisfying suitable endpoints conditions. This extends results of Biliotti, Javaloyes and Piccione for geodesics with fixed endpoints to the case where endpoints lie on a compact submanifold P of MxM that satisfies an admissibility condition. Immediate consequences are generic non conjugacy between two points and non focality between a point and a submanifold (or also between two submanifolds). / Seja M uma variedade suave possivelmente não compacta. Estuda-se a genericidade na topologia C^k (3<=k<=+infty) de propriedades de não degenerescência de fluxos geodésicos semi-Riemannianos em M. A saber, provase uma nova versão do Teorema de Métricas Bumpy para uma tal M e também a genericidade de métricas que não possuem geodésicas degeneradas cujos pontos finais satisfazem certas condições. Isso estende resultados anteriores de Biliotti, Javaloyes and Piccione para geodésicas com extremos fixos para o caso onde os extremos variam em uma subvariedade compacta P de M ×M que satisfaz uma condição de admissibilidade. Consequências imediatas são genericidade de não conjugação entre dois pontos e não focalidade entre um ponto e uma subvariedade (ou também entre duas subvariedades).

[pt] Neste trabalho provamos que o fluxo geodésico de uma variedade Finsler de dimensão n compacta, sem pontos conjugados e que é uma variedade de visibilidade uniforme é transitivo. Para isso, introduzimos versões Finsler dos conceitos de hiperbolicidade de Gromov e visibilidade de Eberlein e estudamos suas consequências. Como aplicação da transitividade, provamos que superfícies Finsler k-básicas compactas de gênero maior que um, sem pontos conjugados e com fibrados de Green contínuos são Riemannianas. / [en] In this work we prove that the geodesic flow of a compact, n-dimensional Finsler manifold without conjugate points and which is an uniform visibility manifold is transitive. For this, we introduce Finsler versions of Gromov s hyperbolicity and Eberlein s visibility concepts and study its consequences. As an application of the transitivity, we prove that compact, k-basic Finsler surfaces without conjugate points, with genus greater than one and with continuous Green bundles are Riemannian.

Let M be a possibly non compact smooth manifold. We study genericity in the C^k topology (3<=k<=+infty) of nondegeneracy properties of semi-Riemannian geodesic flows on M. Namely, we prove a new version of the Bumpy Metric Theorem for a such M and also genericity of metrics that do not possess any degenerate geodesics satisfying suitable endpoints conditions. This extends results of Biliotti, Javaloyes and Piccione for geodesics with fixed endpoints to the case where endpoints lie on a compact submanifold P of MxM that satisfies an admissibility condition. Immediate consequences are generic non conjugacy between two points and non focality between a point and a submanifold (or also between two submanifolds). / Seja M uma variedade suave possivelmente não compacta. Estuda-se a genericidade na topologia C^k (3<=k<=+infty) de propriedades de não degenerescência de fluxos geodésicos semi-Riemannianos em M. A saber, provase uma nova versão do Teorema de Métricas Bumpy para uma tal M e também a genericidade de métricas que não possuem geodésicas degeneradas cujos pontos finais satisfazem certas condições. Isso estende resultados anteriores de Biliotti, Javaloyes and Piccione para geodésicas com extremos fixos para o caso onde os extremos variam em uma subvariedade compacta P de M ×M que satisfaz uma condição de admissibilidade. Consequências imediatas são genericidade de não conjugação entre dois pontos e não focalidade entre um ponto e uma subvariedade (ou também entre duas subvariedades).

Le travail de cette thèse a pour objet les interactions entre deux approches d'étude des équations différentielles: la théorie des modèles des corps différentiellement clos d'une part et l'étude dynamique des équations différentielles réelles d'autre part. Dans le premier chapitre, on présente un formalisme d'algèbre différentielle, en termes de D-schémas à la Buium au-dessus du corps des nombres réels (muni de la dérivation triviale), qui permet de rendre compte de ces deux approches d'étude en même temps. Le résultat principal est un critère d'orthogonalité aux constantes pour le type générique d'une D-variétés réelle absolument irréductible, basé sur la dynamique topologique de son flot réel analytique associé. Le deuxième chapitre est consacré aux équations différentielles algébriques décrivant le flot géodésique de variétés algébriques réelles munies de 2-formes symétriques non-dégénérées. A l'aide du critère précédent, on démontre un théorème d'orthogonalité aux constantes "en courbure strictement négative'', s'appuyant sur les résultats d'Anosov et de ses successeurs concernant la dynamique topologique - la propriété de mélange topologique faible - du flot géodésique d'une variété riemannienne compacte à courbure strictement négative. En dimension 2, on conjecture en fait une description plus précise - son type générique est minimal de prégéométrie triviale - de la structure associée aux équations différentielles géodésiques unitaires. On présente, dans le troisième chapitre, des motivations et des résultats partiels concernant cette conjecture. / This thesis is dedicated to studying the interactions between two different approaches regarding differential equations: the model-theory of differentially closed fields on the one side and the dynamical analysis of real differential equations, on the other side. In the first chapter, we present a formalism from differential algebra, in terms of D-varieties à la Buium over the field of real numbers (endowed with the trivial derivation), that allows one to realise both approaches at the same time. The main result is a criterion of orthogonality to the constants, based on the topological dynamic of its associated real analytic flow. The second chapter is dedicated to the algebraic differential equations describing the (unitary) geodesic flow of a real algebraic variety endowed with an algebraic, non-degenerated symmetric 2-form. Using the previous criterion, we prove a theorem of orthogonality to the constants "in negative curvature'', that relies on the results of Anosov and of his followers, regarding the topological dynamic - the weakly mixing topological property - for the geodesic flow of a compact Riemannian manifold with negative curvature. In dimension 2, we conjecture a more precise description - its generic type is minimal and has a trivial pregeometry- for the structure associated to the unitary geodesic equation. In the third chapter, we present some motivations and partial results on this conjecture.

Cette thèse est divisée en trois parties. Dans la première partie, nous commençons par décrire des résultats très connus en théorie du contrôle géométrique tels que le théorème de Chow-Rashevsky, la condition de rang de Kalman, l'application Entrée-Sortie et le test linéaire. De plus, nous définissons et nous étudions brièvement la contrôlabilité locale au voisinage d'un contrôle de référence au premier et au second ordre. Dans la deuxième partie, nous donnons une preuve élémentaire du lemme de Franks linéaire pour les flots géodésiques qui utilise des techniques basiques de théorie du contrôle géométrique. Dans la dernière partie, étant donnée une variété Riemanienne compacte, nous prouvons un lemme de Franks uniforme au second ordre pour les flots géodésiques et on applique le résultat à la théorie de la persistance. Dans cette partie, nous introduisons avec plus de détails les notions de contrôlabilité locale au premier et au second ordre. En effet, nous donnons un résultat de contrôlabilité au second ordre dont la preuve est longue et technique. / This thesis is devided into three parts. In the first part we begin by describing some well known results in geometric control theory such as the Chow Rashevsky Theorem, the Kalman rank condition, the End-Point Mapping and the linear test. Moreover, we define and study briefly local controllability around a reference control at first and second order. In the second part we provide an elementary proof of the Franks lemma for geodesic flows using basic tools of geometric control theory. In the last part, given a compact Riemannian manifold, we prove a uniform Franks' lemma at second order for geodesic flows and apply the result in persistence theory. In this part we introduce with more details notions of local controllability at first and second order. In fact, we provide a second order controllability result whose proof is long and technical.