The three dimensional Monte Carlo radiation transport model McArtim is extended to account for the simulation of the propagation of polarized radiation and the inelastic rotational Raman scattering which is the cause of the so called Ring effect. From the achieved and now sufficient precision of the calculated Ring effect new opportunities in optical absorption spectroscopy arise. In the calculation the method of importance sampling (IS) is applied. Thereby one obtains from an ensemble of Monte Carlo photon trajectories an intensity accounting for the elastic aerosol particle-, Cabannes- and the inelastic rotational Raman scattering (RRS) and simultaneously an intensity, for which Rayleigh scattering is treated as an elastic scattering process. By combining both intensities one obtains the so called filling-in (FI, which quantifies the filling-in of Fraunhofer lines) as a measure for the strength of the Ring effect with the same relative precision as the intensities. The validation of the polarized radiometric quantities and the Ring effect is made by comparison with partially published results of other radiation transport models. Furthermore the concept of discretisation of the optical domain into grid cells is extended by making grid cells arbitrarily joining into so called clusters, i.e. grid cell aggregates. Therewith the program is able to calculate derivatives of radiometrically or spectroscopically accessible quantities, namely the intensities at certain locations in the atmospheric radiation field and the light path integrals of trace gas concentrations associated thereto, i.e. the product of the DOAS (differential optical absorption spectroscopy) method, with respect to optical properties of aerosols and gases in connected spatial regions. The first and second order derivatives are validated through so called self-consistency tests. These derivatives allow the inversion of three dimensional tracegas and aerosol concentration profiles and pave the way down to 3D optical scattered light tomography. If such tomographic inversion scheme is based solely on spectral intensitites the available second order derivatives allows the consideration of the curvature in the cost function and therefore allows implementation of efficient optimisation algorithms. The influence of the instrument function on the spectra is analysed in order to mathematically assess the potential of DOAS to a sufficient degree. It turns out that the detailed knowledge of the instrument function is required for an advanced spectral analysis. Concludingly the mathematical separability of narrow band signatures of absorption and the Ring effect from the relatively broad band influence of the elastic scattering processes on the spectra is demonstrated which corresponds exactly to the DOAS principle. In that procedure the differential signal is obtained by approximately 4 orders of magnitude faster then by the separate modelling with and without narrow band structures. Thereby the fusion of the separated steps DOAS spectral analysis and subsequent radiation transport modeling becomes computationally feasible.

Les secousses sismiques sont des catastrophes naturelles, affectant la croûte terrestre, qui peuvent avoir des effets destructeurs majeurs dans les zones urbanisées. Même si des méthodes précises de calcul d’ouvrages en situation sismique existent, il est nécessaire de disposer de méthodes adaptées aux ingénieries mises en oeuvre. L’évolution de la réglementation parasismique (Eurocode 8 et annexes nationales) et du zonage sismique en France fait évoluer de manière significative la nécessité de prise en compte de l’action sismique dans la conception des bâtiments. Dans un calcul sismique, il est indispensable de prendre en compte des effets de la torsion qui peuvent conduire à des conséquences graves, en termes de dommages affectant les ouvrages de génie civil. Le présent travail expose une démarche incluant différents niveaux d'approches pour prendre en compte ce phénomène. Les structures particulièrement visées par ce travail sont les ossatures dites souples et plus spécifiquement les constructions en bois. Une étude paramétrique est menée avec une méthode de combinaison multidimensionnelle pour analyser l'influence de différentes configurations de contreventement sur la sensibilité de l'ouvrage aux phénomènes de torsion. Cette étape est basée sur l’adaptation pour des structures en bois, dans le contexte des Eurocodes (torsion structurale et torsion accidentelle), d’une méthode néozélandaise développée par Priestley et Paulay initialement proposée pour des bâtiments en béton armé. L’étude du comportement des bâtiments en bois en situation sismique s’inscrit dans une approche utilisant la méthode de linéarisation équivalente par coefficient de comportement. L’action sismique peut ainsi être modélisée par des forces statiques équivalentes qui sont ensuite transmises aux éléments structuraux verticaux par des diaphragmes horizontaux. Ce travail permet de définir des distributions d’efforts sismiques sur chaque contreventement avec la prise en compte de la torsion à partir d’une cartographie d’implantation des contreventements et des masses. Cette méthode originale de prise en compte de la torsion est mise en application et l’ensemble des résultats obtenus conduit à la réalisation d’une base de données conséquente sur les effets de la torsion, pour une situation sismique, dans le cas d’un dimensionnement en capacité, avec contreventements ductiles à comportement linéarisé par coefficient de comportement et diaphragmes horizontaux rigides. Après mise en application de cette méthode, une approche numérique du comportement de structures génériques est conduite afin d’illustrer les effets de différents niveaux de simplification inhérents à la méthode originale mise en place. Dans cette étape, les calculs utilisent la méthode des éléments finis en s’appuyant sur le logiciel Cast3m. Les calculs dynamiques sont réalisés sur la base de comportements linéaires ou linéarisés afin d’analyser les effets de différentes méthodes de calcul proposées par l’Eurocode 8, partie 1. Les calculs menés dans cette phase permettent notamment de valider des conditions d’application de méthodes simplifiées pour des structures en bois, et d’approcher les effets de la torsion sur ces structures avec différents degrés de précision. / The earthquakes are natural disasters affecting the earth's crust, which can have major destructive effects in urban areas. We have a set of scientific, technical and conception knowledge which allow to « build earthquake-resistant », but these methods must be adapted to simple buildings. The development of earthquake-resistant regulations (Eurocode 8 and national annexes) and seismic zoning of France evolve significantly to the need for taking into account the seismic action in the building design. In seismic design, it is essential to take into account the torsion effects that can lead to serious consequences in terms of damage to civil engineering structures. This research work presents a process including different levels of approach to take into account the effect of the torsion. The structures particularly targeted by this work are the so-called soft frames and more specifically the timber buildings. After a course of bibliographic elements related to the timber structures and the structures of current buildings subjected to seismic situations, a parametric study is taken with a method for multi-dimensional combination in order to analyze the influence of different bracing configurations on the sensitivity of the structure to the torsion phenomena. This first stage is based on the adaptation for timber structures, in the context of Eurocodes (structural torsion and accidental torsion), of a New Zealand method developed by Paulay and Priestley originally proposed for reinforced concrete buildings. The study of the behavior of timber buildings in seismic situation is part of an approach using the equivalent linearization method by a behavior coefficient. So the seismic action can be modeled by equivalent static forces which are then transmitted to the vertical structural elements by horizontal diaphragms. The objective of this work is to define the distribution of seismic forces on each brace with the inclusion of torsion from cartography of bracing and masses implantation. This original method, taking into account the torsion effect, is implemented and all the results lead to the creation of a rich database, for a seismic situation, in the case of design capacity, with ductile bracing and linearized behavior through the behavior factors and rigid horizontal diaphragms. This database can be used to simplify the approach of the torsional effects of the current timber buildings. It can also be used as a reference for the analysis of the influence of the semi rigid diaphragms or the actual non-linearity of bracing. After implementation of this method, a numerical approach considering the behavior of generic structures is conducted to illustrate the effects of different levels of simplification inherent to the implemented original method. In this step, the calculations use the finite element method (software Cast3M). The dynamic analysis is made on the basis of linear or linearized behavior to evaluate the effects of different calculation methods proposed by Eurocode 8, Part 1. The calculations done in this phase allow mainly to validate the applicability of simplified methods for timber structures, and to predict the torsional effects on these structures with different degrees of precision.

Cette étude porte sur le calcul numérique du champ acoustique rayonné par des écoulements subsoniques turbulents présentant des inhomogénéités de température. Des méthodes hybrides sont développées grâce à un développement de Janzen-Rayleigh des équations de Navier-Stokes. L'écoulement est résolu par un calcul quasi incompressible puis les perturbations acoustiques sont propagées selon deux méthodes : les équations d'Euler linéarisées (EEL) et l'approximation à faible nombre de Mach perturbée(PLMNA). Les méthodes sont validées sur des cas simples puis appliquées à une couche de mélange isotherme et anisotherme en développement spatial. / This study focuses on the numerical calculation of the acoustic field radiated by subsonic turbulent flows with temperature inhomogeneities. Hybrid methods are developed through a Rayleigh-Janzen expansion of the Navier-Stokes equations. The flow is solved in a quasi-incompressible way then the acoustic disturbances are propagated by two methods : the linearized Euler's equations (EEL) and the perturbed low Mach number approximation (PLMNA). The methods are validated on simple cases and then applied to an isothermal and non isothermal spatially evolving mixing layer.

The microstructure of concrete contains random features over a wide range of length scales in which each length scale possess a new random composite. The influence of individual material constituents at different scales and their mutual interactions are responsible for the formation of fracture process zone (FPZ). The presence of the FPZ and the various toughening mechanism occurring in it, influences the fatigue and fracture behavior of concrete which also gets influenced by the geometry, spacial distribution and material properties of individual material constituents and their mutual interactions. Hence, in order to study the influence of interfacial transition zone, microcrack and aggregate bridging on the fracture and fatigue behavior of concrete, a multiscale analysis becomes necessary. This study aims at developing a linearized model which helps in understanding the fracture and fatigue behavior of cementitious materials by considering the predominant fracture process zone (FPZ) mechanisms such as microcracking and aggregate bridging. This is achieved by quantifying the critical microcrack length and the bridging resistance offered by the aggregates. Further, the moment carrying capacity of a cracked concrete beam is determined by considering the effect of aggregate bridging. A modified stress intensity factor (SIF) is derived based on linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) approach by considering the material behavior at different scales through a multiscale approach. The model predicts the entire crack growth curve for plain concrete by considering these process zone mechanisms. Furthermore, the fracture and fatigue response of concrete is studied through the development of analytical models which include the properties of the mix constituents using the multiscale based SIF. The effect of the interfacial transition zone, microcracks and resistance offered through aggregate bridging on the resistance to crack initiation and propagation are studied. A fatigue crack growth law is proposed using the concepts of dimensional analysis and self-similarity. Through sensitivity analyses, the influence of different parameters on the overall fracture and fatigue behavior are studied. In addition, studies related to concrete-concrete bi-material interfaces are conducted in order to understand the influence of repair materials on the service life of damaged concrete structures when subjected to fatigue loading. An analytical model is proposed in this study to predict the crack growth curve using the concepts of dimensional analysis and self-similarity in conjunction with the human population growth model. It is seen that a repair done with a patch having similar elastic properties as those of the parent concrete will have a larger fatigue life.

The three dimensional Monte Carlo radiation transport model McArtim is extended to account for the simulation of the propagation of polarized radiation and the inelastic rotational Raman scattering which is the cause of the so called Ring effect. From the achieved and now sufficient precision of the calculated Ring effect new opportunities in optical absorption spectroscopy arise. In the calculation the method of importance sampling (IS) is applied. Thereby one obtains from an ensemble of Monte Carlo photon trajectories an intensity accounting for the elastic aerosol particle-, Cabannes- and the inelastic rotational Raman scattering (RRS) and simultaneously an intensity, for which Rayleigh scattering is treated as an elastic scattering process. By combining both intensities one obtains the so called filling-in (FI, which quantifies the filling-in of Fraunhofer lines) as a measure for the strength of the Ring effect with the same relative precision as the intensities. The validation of the polarized radiometric quantities and the Ring effect is made by comparison with partially published results of other radiation transport models. Furthermore the concept of discretisation of the optical domain into grid cells is extended by making grid cells arbitrarily joining into so called clusters, i.e. grid cell aggregates. Therewith the program is able to calculate derivatives of radiometrically or spectroscopically accessible quantities, namely the intensities at certain locations in the atmospheric radiation field and the light path integrals of trace gas concentrations associated thereto, i.e. the product of the DOAS (differential optical absorption spectroscopy) method, with respect to optical properties of aerosols and gases in connected spatial regions. The first and second order derivatives are validated through so called self-consistency tests. These derivatives allow the inversion of three dimensional tracegas and aerosol concentration profiles and pave the way down to 3D optical scattered light tomography. If such tomographic inversion scheme is based solely on spectral intensitites the available second order derivatives allows the consideration of the curvature in the cost function and therefore allows implementation of efficient optimisation algorithms. The influence of the instrument function on the spectra is analysed in order to mathematically assess the potential of DOAS to a sufficient degree. It turns out that the detailed knowledge of the instrument function is required for an advanced spectral analysis. Concludingly the mathematical separability of narrow band signatures of absorption and the Ring effect from the relatively broad band influence of the elastic scattering processes on the spectra is demonstrated which corresponds exactly to the DOAS principle. In that procedure the differential signal is obtained by approximately 4 orders of magnitude faster then by the separate modelling with and without narrow band structures. Thereby the fusion of the separated steps DOAS spectral analysis and subsequent radiation transport modeling becomes computationally feasible.:1.1. Radiation Transport Modeling and Atmospheric State Inversion 1.2. Vector RTE Solution Methods 1.3. Scope of the Thesis 1.4. Outline of the Thesis 2.1. General Structure 2.1.1. Chemical Composition of the Gas Phase 2.1.2. The Troposphere, Temperature and Pressure Vertical Structure 2.1.3. The Stratosphere 2.2. Aerosols and Clouds 2.2.1. Classification and Morphology 2.2.2. Water Related Particle Growth and Shrinking Processes 2.2.3. Size Spectra and Modes 3.1. Electromagnetic Waves 3.1.1. Maxwell\''s Equations 3.1.2. Measurement of Electromagnetic Waves 3.1.3. Polarization State of EM Waves 3.1.4. Stokes Vectors 3.2. Scattering and Absorption of EM Waves by Molecules and Particles 3.2.1. General Description of Scattering and Coordinate Systems 3.2.2. Molecular Scattering 3.2.3. Molecular Absorption Processes and Electronic Molecular States 3.2.4. Scattering On Spherical Particles - Mie Theory 3.3. Mathematical Description of Radiation Transport 3.3.1. Radiance and Irradiance 3.3.2. Absorption, Scattering and Extinction Coefficients 3.3.3. Optical Thickness and Transmission 3.3.4. Scattering 3.3.5. Incident (Ir)Radiance 3.3.6. The Black Surface Single Scattering Approximation 3.3.7. Radiative Transfer Equations 4.1. General Monte Carlo Methods 4.1.1. Numerical Integration 4.1.2. Importance Sampling and Zero Variance Estimates 4.1.3. Optimal Sampling 4.1.4. Sampling from Arbitrary Distributions 4.2. Path Generation or Collision Density Estimation 4.2.1. Discretization of the Optical Domain into Cells and Clusters 4.2.2. RTE Integral Form 4.2.3. Formal Solution of the IRTE 4.2.4. Overview on Monte Carlo RTE Solution Algorithms 4.2.5. Crude Monte Carlo 4.2.6. Sequential Importance Sampling (SIS) or Path Generation 4.3. Importance Sampling in Monte Carlo SIS Radiative Transfer 4.3.1. Weights for Alternate Kernels 4.3.2. Weights in the Calculation of RTE Functional Estimates 4.3.3. Application of IS to Mie Phase Functions Scatter Angle Sampling 5.1. Radiances, Intensities and the Reciprocity Theorem 5.1.1. Scalar Radiance Estimates 5.1.2. Backward Monte Carlo Scalar Radiance 5.1.3. Vector Radiances 5.2. Radiance Derivatives 5.2.1. Variables for Radiance Derivatives 5.3. Validation of Functionals 5.3.1. Validation of Vector Radiances 5.3.2. Validation of Radiance Derivatives 6.1. A Simply Structured Instrument Forward Model 6.2. Pure Atmospheric Spectra and Absorption 6.2.1. Direct Light Spectra 6.2.2. Scattered Sun Light Spectra 6.3. (D)OAS from the Perspective of Radiative Transfer Modeling 6.3.1. (Rest) Signatures of Weakly Absorbing Gases 6.3.2. Spectroscopic Measurements and Standard DOAS 6.4. DOAS Analysis Summary 6.4.1. DSCD Retrieval 6.4.2. Inversion 7.1. RRS-Modified RTE 7.1.1. RRS Cross Sections for Scattering out and into a Wavelength 7.1.2. Modification of the RTE Loss and Source Terms 7.2. Intensity Estimates Considering Rotational Raman Scattering 7.2.1. RRS in the Path Sampling Procedure 7.2.2. Adjoint RRS Correction Weights 7.2.3. Local Estimates of Intensities with RRS 7.2.4. Intensity Estimates 7.3. Ring Spectra 7.3.1. Elastic Biasing of the Local Estimates 7.3.2. Cumulative Weights and Local Estimates 7.3.3. Test of the Elastic Biasing 7.4. Validation 7.4.1. Comparison to an Analytic Single Scattering Code 7.4.2. Single Scattering Model Including Rotational Raman Scattering 7.4.3. Multiple Scattering Model Comparison 7.4.4. Comparison with A Measurement 7.4.5. Validation of Approximate Methods For Ring Effect Modeling 7.5. Summary and Discussion 8.1. Status and Summary 8.1.1. Ring-Effect and Absorption Corrected Radiances 8.1.2. Derivatives of Radiometric Quantities Accessible Through Spectroscopy 8.1.3. Polarization 8.1.4. Time Integrated Sensitivities for 3D UV/vis/NIR Remote Sensing 8.2. Outlook A.1. Zero Variance Estimates A.2. Free Path Length Sampling in a Homogeneous Medium A.3. Cumulative Differential Scatter Cross Sections A.3.1. Cardanic formulas A.3.2. Rayleigh and Raman Phase Functions A.3.3. Henyey-Greenstein Model A.3.4. Legendre Polynomial Phase Function Model A.3.5. Table Methods A.4. Greens Function in the Derivation of the IRTE A.5. Source Code For Stokes Vector Transformation Plot B.1. 1st Order Derivatives B.2. 2nd Order Derivatives B.3. Hessian of Integrals Depending on Many Variables C.1. Slit Function f Derivatives C.2. Signal Sn Derivatives C.3. Chi Square Spline Fitting C.3.1. Constrained Non-Linear Least Square Problem C.3.2. Spline Fitting C.3.3. Jacobians and Hessian

Es wird gezeigt, dass ein Satz über die Abbildung spektraler Lücken, welcher exponentielle Dichotomie charakterisiert, für eine allgemeine Klasse (SH) von semilinearen hyperbolischen Systemen von partiellen Differentialgleichungen in einem Banach-Raum X von stetigen Funktionen gilt. Dies beantwortet ein Schlüsselproblem für die Existenz und Glattheit invarianter Mannigfaltigkeiten semilinearer hyperbolischer Systeme. Unter natürlichen Annahmen an die Nichtlinearitäten wird gezeigt, dass schwache Lösungen von (SH) einen glatten Halbfluß im Raum X bilden. Für Linearisierungen werden hochfrequente Abschätzungen für Spektren sowie Resolventen unter Verwendung von reduzierten (block)diagonal Systemen hergestellt. Darauf aufbauend wird der Abbildungssatz für spektrale Lücken im kleinen Raum X bewiesen: Eine offene spektrale Lücke des Generators wird exponentiell auf eine offene spektrale Lücke der Halbruppe abgebildet und umgekehrt. Es folgt, dass ein Phänomen wie im Gegenbeispiel von Renardy nicht auftreten kann. Unter Verwendung der allgemeinen Theorie implizieren die Ergebnisse die Existenz von glatten Zentrumsmannigfaltigkeiten für (SH). Die Ergebnisse werden auf traveling wave Modelle für die Dynamik von Halbleiter Lasern angewandt. Für diese werden Moden Approximationen (Systeme von gewöhnlichen Differentialgleichungen, welche die Dynamik auf gewissen Zentrumsmannigfaltigkeiten approximativ beschreiben) hergeleitet und gerechtfertigt, die generische Bifurkation von modulierten Wellen aus rotierenden Wellen wird gezeigt. Globale Existenz und glatte Abhängigkeit von nichtautonomen traveling wave Modellen werden betrachtet, außerdem werden Moden Approximationen für solche nichtautonomen Modelle rigoros hergeleitet. Insbesondere arbeitet die Theorie für die Stabilitäts- und Bifurkationsanalyse von Turing Modellen mit korellierter Zufallsbewegung. Ferner beinhaltet die Klasse (SH) neutrale und retardierte funktionale Differentialgleichungen. / A spectral gap mapping theorem, which characterizes exponential dichotomy, is proven for a general class of semilinear hyperbolic systems of PDEs in a Banach space X of continuous functions. This resolves a key problem on existence and smoothness of invariant manifolds for semilinear hyperbolic systems. It is shown that weak solutions to (SH) form a smooth semiflow in X under natural conditions on the nonlinearities. For linearizations high frequency estimates of spectra and resolvents in terms of reduced diagonal and blockdiagonal systems are given. Using these estimates a spectral gap mapping theorem in the small Banach space X is proven: An open spectral gap of the generator is mapped exponentially to an open spectral gap of the semigroup and vice versa. Hence, a phenomenon like in Renardy''s counterexample cannot appear for linearizations of (SH). By the general theory the results imply existence of smooth center manifolds for (SH). Moreoever, the results are applied to traveling wave models of semiconductor laser dynamics. For such models mode approximations (ODE systems which approximately describe the dynamics on center manifolds) are derived and justified, and generic bifurcations of modulated waves from rotating waves are shown. Global existence and smooth dependence of nonautonomous traveling wave models with more general solutions, which possess jumps, are considered, and mode approximations are derived for such nonautonomous models. In particular the theory applies to stability and bifurcation analysis for Turing models with correlated random walk. Moreover, the class (SH) includes neutral and retarded functional differential equations.

Dans cette thèse, nous étudions l’équation parabolique non linéaire ∂ t u = ∆u + a |x|⎺⥾ |u|ᵅ u, t > 0, x ∈ Rᴺ \ {0}, N ≥ 1, ⍺ ∈ R, α > 0, 0 < Ƴ < min(2,N) et avec une donnée initiale u(0) = φ. On établit l’existence et l’unicité locale dans Lq(Rᴺ) et dans Cₒ(Rᴺ). En particulier, la valeur q = N ⍺/(2 − γ) joue un rôle critique. Pour ⍺ > (2 − γ)/N, on montre l’existence de solutions auto-similaires globales avec données initiales φ(x) = ω(x) |x|−(2−γ)/⍺, où ω ∈ L∞(Rᴺ) homogène de degré 0 et ||ω||∞ est suffisamment petite. Nous montrons ainsi que si φ(x)∼ω(x) |x| ⎺(²⎺⥾)/⍺ pour |x| grande, alors la solution est globale et asymptotique dans L∞(Rᴺ) à une solution auto-similaire de l’équation non linéaire. Tandis que si φ(x)∼ω(x) |x| (x)|x|−σ pour des |x| grandes avec (2 − γ)/⍺ < σ < N, alors la solution est globale, mais elle est asymptotique dans L∞(Rᴺ) à eᵗ∆(ω(x) |x|−σ). L’équation avec un potentiel plus général, ∂ t u = ∆u + V(x) |u|ᵅ u, V(x) |x |⥾ ∈ L∞(Rᴺ), est également étudiée. En particulier, pour des données initiales φ(x)∼ω(x) |x| ⎺(²⎺⥾)/⍺, |x| grande, nous montrons que le comportement à grand temps est linéaire si V est à support compact au voisinage de l’origine, alors qu’il est non linéaire si V est à support compact au voisinage de l’infini. Nous étudions également le système non linéaire ∂ t u = ∆u + a |x|⎺⥾ |v|ᴾ⎺¹v, ∂ t v = ∆v + b |x|⎺ ᴾ |u|q⎺¹ u, t > 0, x ∈ Rᴺ \ {0}, N ≥ 1, a,b ∈ R, 0 < y < min(2,N)? 0 < p < min(2,N), p,q > 1. Sous des conditions sur les paramètres p, q, γ et ρ nous montrons l’existence et l’unicité de solutions globales avec données initiales petites par rapport à certaines normes. En particulier, on montre l’existence de solutions auto-similaires avec donnée initiale Φ = (φ₁, φ₂), où φ₁, φ₂ sont des données initiales homogènes. Nous montrons également que certaines solutions globales sont asymptotiquement auto-similaires. Comme deuxième objectif, nous considérons l’équation de la chaleur non linéaire ut = ∆u + |u|ᴾ⎺¹u - |u| q⎺¹u, avec t ≥ 0 et x ∈ Ω, la boule unité de Rᴺ, N ≥ 3, avec des conditions aux limites de Dirichlet. Soit h une solution stationnaire à symétrie radiale avec changement de signe de (E). On montre que la solution de (E) avec donnée initiale λh explose en temps fini si |λ − 1| > 0 est suffisamment petit et si 1 < q < p < Ps = N+2/N−2 et p suffisamment proche de Ps. Ceci prouve que l’ensemble des données initiales pour lesquelles la solution est globale n’est pas étoilé au voisinage de 0. / In this thesis, we study the nonlinear parabolic equation ∂ t u = ∆u + a |x|⎺⥾ |u|ᵅ u, t > 0, x ∈ Rᴺ \ {0}, N ≥ 1, ⍺ ∈ R, α > 0, 0 < Ƴ < min(2,N) and with initial value u(0) = φ. We establish local well-posedness in Lq(Rᴺ) and in Cₒ(Rᴺ). In particular, the value q = N ⍺/(2 − γ) plays a critical role.For ⍺ > (2 − γ)/N, we show the existence of global self-similar solutions with initial values φ(x) = ω(x) |x|−(2−γ)/⍺, where ω ∈ L∞(Rᴺ) is homogeneous of degree 0 and ||ω||∞ is sufficiently small. We then prove that if φ(x)∼ω(x) |x| ⎺(²⎺⥾)/⍺ for |x| large, then the solution is global and is asymptotic in the L∞-norm to a self-similar solution of the nonlinear equation. While if φ(x)∼ω(x) |x| (x)|x|−σ for |x| large with (2 − γ)/α < σ < N, then the solution is global but is asymptotic in the L∞-norm toe t(ω(x) |x|−σ). The equation with more general potential, ∂ t u = ∆u + V(x) |u|ᵅ u, V(x) |x |⥾ ∈ L∞(Rᴺ), is also studied. In particular, for initial data φ(x)∼ω(x) |x| ⎺(²⎺⥾)/⍺, |x| large , we show that the large time behavior is linear if V is compactly supported near the origin, while it is nonlinear if V is compactly supported near infinity. we study also the nonlinear parabolic system ∂ t u = ∆u + a |x|⎺⥾ |v|ᴾ⎺¹v, ∂ t v = ∆v + b |x|⎺ ᴾ |u|q⎺¹ u, t > 0, x ∈ Rᴺ \ {0}, N ≥ 1, a,b ∈ R, 0 < y < min(2,N)? 0 < p < min(2,N), p,q > 1. Under conditions on the parameters p, q, γ and ρ we show the existence and uniqueness of global solutions for initial values small with respect of some norms. In particular, we show the existence of self-similar solutions with initial value Φ = (φ₁, φ₂), where φ₁, φ₂ are homogeneous initial data. We also prove that some global solutions are asymptotic for large time to self-similar solutions. As a second objective we consider the nonlinear heat equation ut = ∆u + |u|ᴾ⎺¹u - |u| q⎺¹u, where t ≥ 0 and x ∈ Ω, the unit ball of Rᴺ, N ≥ 3, with Dirichlet boundary conditions. Let h be a radially symmetric, sign-changing stationary solution of (E). We prove that the solution of (E) with initial value λ h blows up in finite time if |λ − 1| > 0 is sufficiently small and if 1 < q < p < Ps = N+2/N−2 and p sufficiently close to Ps. This proves that the set of initial data for which the solution is global is not star-shaped around 0.

Exploiting signal sparsity has recently received considerable attention in a variety of areas including signal and image processing, compressive sensing, machine learning and so on. Many of these applications involve optimization models that are regularized by certain sparsity-promoting metrics. Two most popular regularizers are based on the l1 norm that approximates sparsity of vectorized signals and the total variation (TV) norm that serves as a measure of gradient sparsity of an image. Nevertheless, the l1 and TV terms are merely two representative measures of sparsity. To explore the matter of sparsity further, in this thesis we investigate relaxations of the regularizers to nonconvex terms such as lp and TVp "norms" with 0 <= p < 1. The contributions of the thesis are two-fold. First, several methods to approach globally optimal solutions of related nonconvex problems for improved signal/image reconstruction quality have been proposed. Most algorithms studied in the thesis fall into the category of iterative reweighting schemes for which nonconvex problems are reduced to a series of convex sub-problems. In this regard, the second main contribution of this thesis has to do with complexity improvement of the l1/TV-regularized methodology for which accelerated algorithms are developed. Along with these investigations, new techniques are proposed to address practical implementation issues. These include the development of an lp-related solver that is easily parallelizable, and a matrix-based analysis that facilitates implementation for TV-related optimizations. Computer simulations are presented to demonstrate merits of the proposed models and algorithms as well as their applications for solving general linear inverse problems in the area of signal and image denoising, signal sparse representation, compressive sensing, and compressive imaging. / Graduate

In this paper, we study ill-posedness concepts of nonlinear and linear inverse problems in a Hilbert space setting. We define local ill-posedness of a nonlinear operator equation $F(x) = y_0$ in a solution point $x_0$ and the interplay between the nonlinear problem and its linearization using the Frechet derivative $F\acent(x_0)$ . To find an appropriate ill-posedness concept for the linarized equation we define intrinsic ill-posedness for linear operator equations $Ax = y$ and compare this approach with the ill-posedness definitions due to Hadamard and Nashed.

In this thesis I hope to provide a clear and concise introduction to Feigenbaum scaling accessible to undergraduate students. This is accompanied by a description of how to obtain numerical results by various means. A more intricate approach drawing from renormalization theory as well as a short consideration of some of the topological properties will also be presented. I was furthermore trying to put great emphasis on diagrams throughout the text to make the contents more comprehensible and intuitive.