Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of New South Wales, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references and index. Also available online.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--McMaster University, 2003. / Advisor: Ian Hambleton. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 109-112). Also available via World Wide Web.

<p>Smith theory provides powerful tools for understanding the geometry of singular sets of group actions on spheres. In this thesis, tools from Smith theory and spectral sequences are brought together to study the singular sets of elementary abelian groups acting locally linearly on S4. It is shown that the singular sets of such actions are homeomorphic to the singular sets of linear actions. A short review of the literature on group actions on S4 is included.</p> / Master of Science (MSc)

<p>Let $p>5$ be a prime and $X_0$ a simply-connected $4$-manifold with boundary the Poincar\'e homology sphere $\Sigma(2,3,5)$ and even negative-definite intersection form $Q_=\text_8$ . We obtain restrictions on extending a free $\bZ/p$-action on $\Sigma(2,3,5)$ to a smooth, homologically-trivial action on $X_0$ with isolated fixed points. It is shown that for $p=7$ there is no such smooth extension. As a corollary, we obtain that there does not exist a smooth, homologically-trivial $\bZ/7$-equivariant splitting of $\#^8 S^2 \times S^2=E_8 \cup_ \overline$ with isolated fixed points. The approach is to study the equivariant version of Donaldson-Floer instanton-one moduli spaces for $4$-manifolds with cylindrical ends. These are $L^2$-finite anti-self dual connections which asymptotically limit to the trivial product connection.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

In this dissertation we explore the question of existence of a property of group actions on C*-algebras known as the tracial Rokhlin property. We prove existence of the property in a very general setting as well as specialise the question to specific situations of interest. For every countable discrete elementary amenable group G, we show that there always exists a G-action ω with the tracial Rokhlin property on any unital simple nuclear tracially approximately divisible C*-algebra A. For the ω we construct, we show that if A is unital simple and Z-stable with rational tracial rank at most one and G belongs to the class of countable discrete groups generated by finite and abelian groups under increasing unions and subgroups, then the crossed product A 􏰃ω G is also unital simple and Z-stable with rational tracial rank at most one. We also specialise the question to UHF algebras. We show that for any countable discrete maximally almost periodic group G and any UHF algebra A, there exists a strongly outer product type action α of G on A. We also show the existence of countable discrete almost abelian group actions with the "pointwise" Rokhlin property on the universal UHF algebra. Consequently we get many examples of unital separable simple nuclear C*-algebras with tracial rank zero and a unique tracial state appearing as crossed products.

In this thesis we study actions of countable groups on measure spaces underthe assumption that the dynamics are non-singular, with particular reference topointwise ergodic theorems and their relationship to the critical dimensions ofthe action.

Diffeological and differential spaces are generalisations of smooth structures on manifolds. We show that the “intersection” of these two categories is isomorphic to Frölicher spaces, another generalisation of smooth structures. We then give examples of such spaces, as well as examples of diffeological and differential spaces that do not fall into this category. We apply the theory of diffeological spaces to differential forms on a geometric quotient of a compact Lie group. We show that the subcomplex of basic forms is isomorphic to the complex of diffeological forms on the geometric quotient. We apply this to symplectic quotients coming from a regular value of the momentum map, and show that diffeological forms on this quotient are isomorphic as a complex to Sjamaar differential forms. We also compare diffeological forms to those on orbifolds, and show that they are isomorphic complexes as well. We apply the theory of differential spaces to subcartesian spaces equipped with families of vector fields. We use this theory to show that smooth stratified spaces form a full subcategory of subcartesian spaces equipped with families of vector fields. We give families of vector fields that induce the orbit-type stratifications induced by a Lie group action, as well as the orbit-type stratifications induced by a Hamiltonian group action.

Diffeological and differential spaces are generalisations of smooth structures on manifolds. We show that the “intersection” of these two categories is isomorphic to Frölicher spaces, another generalisation of smooth structures. We then give examples of such spaces, as well as examples of diffeological and differential spaces that do not fall into this category. We apply the theory of diffeological spaces to differential forms on a geometric quotient of a compact Lie group. We show that the subcomplex of basic forms is isomorphic to the complex of diffeological forms on the geometric quotient. We apply this to symplectic quotients coming from a regular value of the momentum map, and show that diffeological forms on this quotient are isomorphic as a complex to Sjamaar differential forms. We also compare diffeological forms to those on orbifolds, and show that they are isomorphic complexes as well. We apply the theory of differential spaces to subcartesian spaces equipped with families of vector fields. We use this theory to show that smooth stratified spaces form a full subcategory of subcartesian spaces equipped with families of vector fields. We give families of vector fields that induce the orbit-type stratifications induced by a Lie group action, as well as the orbit-type stratifications induced by a Hamiltonian group action.

Covariance assignment theory, introduced in the late 1980s, provided the only means to directly control the steady-state error properties of a linear system subject to Gaussian white noise and parameter uncertainty. This theory, however, does not extend to control of the transient uncertainties and to date there exist no practical engineering solutions to the problem of directly and optimally controlling the uncertainty in a linear system from one Gaussian distribution to another. In this thesis I design a dual-mode Receding Horizon Controller (RHC) that takes a controllable, deterministic linear system from an arbitrary initial covariance to near a desired stationary covariance in finite time. The RHC solves a sequence of free-time Optimal Control Problems (OCP) that directly controls the fundamental solution matrices of the linear system; each problem is a right-invariant OCP on the matrix Lie group GLn of invertible matrices. A terminal constraint ensures that each OCP takes the system to the desired covariance. I show that, by reducing the Hamiltonian system of each OCP from T?GLn to gln? x GLn, the transversality condition corresponding to the terminal constraint simplifies the two-point Boundary Value Problem (BVP) to a single unknown in the initial or final value of the costate in gln?. These results are applied in the design of a dual-mode RHC. The first mode repeatedly solves the OCPs until the optimal time for the system to reach the de- sired covariance is less than the RHC update time. This triggers the second mode, which applies covariance assignment theory to stabilize the system near the desired covariance. The dual-mode controller is illustrated on a planar system. The BVPs are solved using an indirect shooting method that numerically integrates the fundamental solutions on R4 using an adaptive Runge-Kutta method. I contend that extension of the results of this thesis to higher-dimensional systems using either in- direct or direct methods will require numerical integrators that account for the Lie group structure. I conclude with some remarks on the possible extension of a classic result called Lie?s method of reduction to receding horizon control.

viii, 107 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / This dissertation consists of two related parts. In the first portion we use the tracial Rokhlin property for actions of a finite group G on stably finite simple unital C *-algebras containing enough projections. The main results of this part of the dissertation are as follows. Let A be a stably finite simple unital C *-algebra and suppose a is an action of a finite group G with the tracial Rokhlin property. Suppose A has real rank zero, stable rank one, and suppose the order on projections over A is determined by traces. Then the crossed product algebra C * ( G, A, à à ±) also has these three properties. In the second portion of the dissertation we introduce an analogue of the tracial Rokhlin property for C *-algebras which may not have any nontrivial projections called the projection free tracial Rokhlin property . Using this we show that under certain conditions if A is an infinite dimensional simple unital C *-algebra with stable rank one and à à ± is an action of a finite group G with the projection free tracial Rokhlin property, then C * ( G, A, à à ±) also has stable rank one. / Adviser: Phillips, N. Christopher