The Maxwell equations of electromagnetism form the foundation of classical electromagnetism, and are of interest to mathematicians, physicists, and engineers alike. The first part of this thesis concerns boundary value problems for the anisotropic Maxwell equations in Lipschitz domains. In this case, the material parameters that arise in the Maxwell system are matrix valued functions. Using methods from functional analysis, global in time solutions to initial boundary value problems with general nonzero boundary data and nonzero current density are obtained, only assuming the material parameters are bounded and measurable. This problem is motivated by an electromagnetic inverse problem, similar to the classical Calder\'on inverse problem in Electrical Impedance Tomography. The second part of this thesis deals with materials having negative refractive index. Materials which possess a negative refractive index were postulated by Veselago in 1968, and since 2001 physicists were able to construct these materials in the laboratory. The research on the behavior of these materials, called metamaterials, has been extremely active in recent years. We study here refraction problems in the setting of Negative Refractive Index Materials (NIMs). In particular, it is shown how to obtain weak solutions (defined similarly to Brenier solutions for the Monge-Amp\`ere equation) to these problems, both in the near and the far field. The far field problem can be treated using Optimal Transport techniques; as such, a fully nonlinear PDE of Monge-Amp\`ere type arises here. / Mathematics

Cette thèse s’intéresse à la modélisation magnétohydrodynamique des écoulements de fluides conducteurs d’électricité multi-échelles en mettant l’emphase sur deux applications particulières de la physique solaire: la modélisation des mécanismes des variations de l’irradiance via la simulation de la dynamo globale et la reconnexion magnétique. Les variations de l’irradiance sur les périodes des jours, des mois et du cycle solaire de 11 ans sont très bien expliquées par le passage des régions actives à la surface du Soleil. Cependant, l’origine ultime des variations se déroulant sur les périodes décadales et multi-décadales demeure un sujet controversé. En particulier, une certaine école de pensée affirme qu’une partie de ces variations à long-terme doit provenir d’une modulation de la structure thermodynamique globale de l’étoile, et que les seuls effets de surface sont incapables d’expliquer la totalité des fluctuations. Nous présentons une simulation globale de la convection solaire produisant un cycle magnétique similaire en plusieurs aspects à celui du Soleil, dans laquelle le flux thermique convectif varie en phase avec l’ ́energie magnétique. La corrélation positive entre le flux convectif et l’énergie magnétique supporte donc l’idée qu’une modulation de la structure thermodynamique puisse contribuer aux variations à long-terme de l’irradiance. Nous analysons cette simulation dans le but d’identifier le mécanisme physique responsable de la corrélation en question et pour prédire de potentiels effets observationnels résultant de la modulation structurelle. La reconnexion magnétique est au coeur du mécanisme de plusieurs phénomènes de la physique solaire dont les éruptions et les éjections de masse, et pourrait expliquer les températures extrêmes caractérisant la couronne. Une correction aux trajectoires du schéma semi-Lagrangien classique est présentée, qui est basée sur la solution à une équation aux dérivées partielles nonlinéaire du second ordre: l’équation de Monge-Ampère. Celle-ci prévient l’intersection des trajectoires et assure la stabilité numérique des simulations de reconnexion magnétique pour un cas de magnéto-fluide relaxant vers un état d’équilibre. / This thesis concentrates on magnetohydrodynamical modeling of multiscale conducting fluids with emphasis on two particular applications of solar physics: the modeling of solar irradiance mechanisms via the numerical simulation of the global dynamo and of magnetic reconnection. Irradiance variations on the time scales of days, months, and of the 11 yr solar cycle are very well described by changes in the surface coverage by active regions. However, the ultimate origin of the long-term decadal and multi-decadal variations is still a matter of debate. In particular, one school of thought argues that a global modulation of the solar thermodynamic structure by magnetic activity is required to account for part of the long-term variations, in addition to pure surface effects. We hereby present a global simulation of solar convection producing solar-like magnetic cycles, in which the convective heat flux varies in phase with magnetic energy. We analyze the simulation to uncover the physical mechanism causing the positive correlation and to predict potential observational signatures resulting from the flux modulation. Magnetic reconnection is central to many solar physics phenomena including flares and coronal mass ejections, and could also provide an explanation for the extreme temperatures (T ∼ 106K) that charaterize the coronna. A trajectory correction to the classical semi-Lagrangian scheme is presented, which is based on the solution to a second-order nonlinear partial differential equation: the Monge-Amp`ere equation. Using the correction prevents the intersection of fluid trajectories and assures the physical realizability of magnetic reconnection simulations for the case of a magneto- fluid relaxing toward an equilibrium state.

TITLE: Fostering of spatial imagination of students using three projections - different approaches in Czech and Danish Education SUMMARY: This master thesis is focused on description of different conception of teaching geometry in chosen czech and danish mathematics textbooks and on the possibilities of fostering the spatial imagination at elementary school. On example of one particular class from an elementary school in Prague, we will take an inside view of the advantages and disadvantages of using three projection in mathematics education and its influence on development of spatial imagination. In this class, a diagnostic interview was taken to determine the level of spatial imagination development and in order to find out, how these children can work with three projections. KEY WORDS: pupils of primary school age, spatial imagination, three projections, conceptions of geometry teaching

[pt] O presente trabalho propõe técnicas numéricas para a síntese de antenas refletoras que utilizando seções de cônicas ou superfícies quádricas confocais. Para tal, utilizando os princípios da Óptica Geométrica, foram desenvolvidos algoritmos capazes de sintetizar as superfícies refletoras desejadas. São analisadas duas geometrias distintas: a antena duplo-refletora com cobertura omnidirecional e a antena refletora offset com um único refletor. No primeiro problema, é apresentado um método alternativo para a síntese geométrica de antenas duplo-refletoras com cobertura omnidirecional e diagrama de radiação arbitrário no plano de elevação. O subrefletor é um corpo de revolução gerado por uma única seção cônica e o refletor principal modelado é gerado por uma série de seções cônicas locais sequencialmente concatenadas. Para ilustrar o método, duas configurações axialmente simétrica são sintetizadas para proporcionar diagramas de radiação uniforme ou cossecante ao quadrado no plano de elevação. Os resultados são validados por uma técnica híbrida baseada em Casamento de Modos e o Método de Momentos. No segundo problema, é investigado um procedimento numérico alternativo para a síntese geométrica de antenas refletoras offset com diagrama de radiação arbitrário na região de campo distante. O método usa superfícies quádricas confocais com eixos deslocados para representar localmente a superfície modelada. Nesta abordagem, um operador não linear deve ser resolvido como um problema de contorno. Para ilustrar o método, são apresentadas antenas modeladas para prover diagrama de radiação Gaussiano em contornos de cobertura circular, elíptico e super-elíptico. / [en] This work proposes numerical techniques for synthesis of reflector antennas, using conic sections or confocal quadric surfaces. Under Geometrical Optics principles, algorithms to shape desired reflective surfaces have been developed. Two different geometries have been considered: omnidirectional dual-reflector antenna and single offset reflector antennas. In the first problem, it was presented an alternative method for synthesis of omnidirectional dual-reflector antennas with an arbitrary radiation pattern in elevation plane. The body-of-revolution subreflector is generated by a single conic section, while the shaped main reflector is generated by a series of local conic sections, sequentially consecutively concatenated. In order to illustrate the method, omnidirectional axisdisplaced ellipse (OADE) and Cassegrain (OADC) configurations are synthesized to provide uniform or cosecant squared radiation pattern in the elevation plane. The GO shaping results are validated by a hybrid technique based on Mode Matching and Method of Moments. In the second problem, an alternative numerical procedure was investigated for the geometrical synthesis of offset reflector antennas with an arbitrary radiation pattern in the far-field region, according to geometrical optics. The method uses local axis-displaced confocal quadric surfaces to describe the shaped reflector. In this approach, a nonlinear operator must be solved as a boundary value problem. To illustrate the method, we have chosen several offset configurations with circular, elliptical and super-elliptical contour coverage and Gaussian power density. The results were validated by the physical optics approximation.

Ce travail de thèse s'intéresse à la résolution d'équations de Monge-Ampère complexes et à ses applications sur certains types de variétés non compactes. Ce mémoire décrit plus précisément deux situations distinctes dans lesquelles on résout des équations de Monge-Ampère, avant de tirer les conséquences de ces résolutions. Dans une première partie, on travaille sur le complémentaire d'un diviseur à croisements normaux dans une variété kählérienne compacte. On fixe sur le complémentaire du diviseur une classe de métriques kählériennes à singularités cusp le long du diviseur. Pour construire des géodésiques entre métriques de cette classe, on résout une équation de Monge-Ampère homogène, sur le produit de notre ouvert de Zariski par une surface de Riemann à bord. On applique cette construction à un résultat d'unicité de métriques à courbure scalaire constante dans la classe considérée ; on résout encore pour cela une équation de Monge-Ampère avec second membre sur le complémentaire du diviseur. On exhibe enfin des obstructions topologiques à l'existence de métriques à courbure scalaire constante au sein des classes de métriques kählériennes singulières envisagées. La seconde partie du mémoire traite d'une construction analytique d'instantons gravitationnels ALF, ou variétés complètes de dimension 4, hyperkählériennes, à croissance cubique du volume. On donne la construction d'instantons diédraux ; on considère plus exactement des résolutions de singularités kleiniennes diédrales. Le traitement d'une équation de Monge-Ampère, donné pour des variétés kählériennes ALF assez générales, nous permet sur nos exemples de corriger un prototype simple pour obtenir la métrique hyperkählérienne recherchée.

This thesis is divided into two parts. The first part deals with theNevanlinna-Pick interpolation problem, a problem which occursnaturally in several applications such as robust control, signalprocessing and circuit theory. We consider the problem of shaping andapproximating solutions to the Nevanlinna-Pick problem in a systematicway. In the second part, we study distance measures between powerspectra for spectral estimation. We postulate a situation where wewant to quantify robustness based on a finite set of covariances, andthis leads naturally to considering the weak*-topology. Severalweak*-continuous metrics are proposed and studied in this context.In the first paper we consider the correspondence between weighted entropyfunctionals and minimizing interpolants in order to find appropriateinterpolants for, e.g., control synthesis. There are two basic issues that weaddress: we first characterize admissible shapes of minimizers bystudying the corresponding inverse problem, and then we developeffective ways of shaping minimizers via suitable choices of weights.These results are used in order to systematize feedback controlsynthesis to obtain frequency dependent robustness bounds with aconstraint on the controller degree.The second paper studies contractive interpolants obtained as minimizersof a weighted entropy functional and analyzes the role of weights andinterpolation conditions as design parameters for shaping theinterpolants. We first show that, if, for a sequence of interpolants,the values of the corresponding entropy gains converge to theoptimum, then the interpolants converge in H_2, but not necessarily inH-infinity. This result is then used to describe the asymptoticbehaviour of the interpolant as an interpolation point approaches theboundary of the domain of analyticity.A quite comprehensive theory of analytic interpolation with degreeconstraint, dealing with rational analytic interpolants with an apriori bound, has been developed in recent years. In the third paper,we consider the limit case when this bound is removed, and only stableinterpolants with a prescribed maximum degree are sought. This leadsto weighted H_2 minimization, where the interpolants areparameterized by the weights. The inverse problem of determining theweight given a desired interpolant profile is considered, and arational approximation procedure based on the theory is proposed. Thisprovides a tool for tuning the solution for attaining designspecifications. The purpose of the fourth paper is to study the topology and develop metricsthat allow for localization of power spectra, based on second-orderstatistics. We show that the appropriate topology is theweak*-topology and give several examples on how to construct suchmetrics. This allows us to quantify uncertainty of spectra in anatural way and to calculate a priori bounds on spectral uncertainty,based on second-order statistics. Finally, we study identification ofspectral densities and relate this to the trade-off between resolutionand variance of spectral estimates.In the fifth paper, we present an axiomatic framework for seekingdistances between power spectra. The axioms requirethat the sought metric respects the effects of additive andmultiplicative noise in reducing our ability to discriminate spectra.They also require continuity of statistical quantities withrespect to perturbations measured in the metric. We then present aparticular metric which abides by these requirements. The metric isbased on the Monge-Kantorovich transportation problem and iscontrasted to an earlier Riemannian metric based on theminimum-variance prediction geometry of the underlying time-series. Itis also being compared with the more traditional Itakura-Saitodistance measure, as well as the aforementioned prediction metric, ontwo representative examples. / QC 20100817

In this thesis we prove several results on the structure of solutions to optimal transportation problems. The second chapter represents joint work with Robert McCann and Micah Warren; the main result is that, under a non-degeneracy condition on the cost function, the optimal is concentrated on a $n$-dimensional Lipschitz submanifold of the product space. As a consequence, we provide a simple, new proof that the optimal map satisfies a Jacobian equation almost everywhere. In the third chapter, we prove an analogous result for the multi-marginal optimal transportation problem; in this context, the dimension of the support of the solution depends on the signatures of a $2^{m-1}$ vertex convex polytope of semi-Riemannian metrics on the product space, induce by the cost function. In the fourth chapter, we identify sufficient conditions under which the solution to the multi-marginal problem is concentrated on the graph of a function over one of the marginals. In the fifth chapter, we investigate the regularity of the optimal map when the dimensions of the two spaces fail to coincide. We prove that a regularity theory can be developed only for very special cost functions, in which case a quotient construction can be used to reduce the problem to an optimal transport problem between spaces of equal dimension. The final chapter applies the results of chapter 5 to the principal-agent problem in mathematical economics when the space of types and the space of available goods differ. When the dimension of the space of types exceeds the dimension of the space of goods, we show if the problem can be formulated as a maximization over a convex set, a quotient procedure can reduce the problem to one where the two dimensions coincide. Analogous conditions are investigated when the dimension of the space of goods exceeds that of the space of types.

In this thesis we prove several results on the structure of solutions to optimal transportation problems. The second chapter represents joint work with Robert McCann and Micah Warren; the main result is that, under a non-degeneracy condition on the cost function, the optimal is concentrated on a $n$-dimensional Lipschitz submanifold of the product space. As a consequence, we provide a simple, new proof that the optimal map satisfies a Jacobian equation almost everywhere. In the third chapter, we prove an analogous result for the multi-marginal optimal transportation problem; in this context, the dimension of the support of the solution depends on the signatures of a $2^{m-1}$ vertex convex polytope of semi-Riemannian metrics on the product space, induce by the cost function. In the fourth chapter, we identify sufficient conditions under which the solution to the multi-marginal problem is concentrated on the graph of a function over one of the marginals. In the fifth chapter, we investigate the regularity of the optimal map when the dimensions of the two spaces fail to coincide. We prove that a regularity theory can be developed only for very special cost functions, in which case a quotient construction can be used to reduce the problem to an optimal transport problem between spaces of equal dimension. The final chapter applies the results of chapter 5 to the principal-agent problem in mathematical economics when the space of types and the space of available goods differ. When the dimension of the space of types exceeds the dimension of the space of goods, we show if the problem can be formulated as a maximization over a convex set, a quotient procedure can reduce the problem to one where the two dimensions coincide. Analogous conditions are investigated when the dimension of the space of goods exceeds that of the space of types.

Mon travail de thèse consiste à comprendre une géométrie introduite par Cartan en 1933 \cite{Cartan1933}. \textit{La géométrie de Finsler} présente de nombreuses analogies avec cette théorie. Nous avons étudié les grandes lignes de cette géométrie. Le point de départ de Cartan qui est analogue à celui qui conduit à la géométrie finslerienne, est d'imaginer l'espace comme étant un lieu ''d'éléments de contact'', un élément étant la donnée d'un point $M\in\mathcal{M}^n$ et d'un hyperplan $H$ passant par ce point et orienté dans l'espace tangent $T_M\mathcal{M}^n$. Nous avons ainsi défini \textit{la géométrie de Cartan fondée sur la notion d'aire} dans un premier temps, je me suis intéressé à la notion d'orthogonalité dans cette géométrie. La méthode de Cartan pour étudier le problème d'équivalence est un outil puissant qui est implicitement décrit dans cette géométrie. Nous avons ensuite appliqué cette méthode aux équations de Monge-Ampère (cas elliptique), en s'inspirant des travaux de R. Bryant, D. Grossmann et P. Griffiths. Plusieurs faits ne sont pas encore suffisamment clairs pour disposer d'un dictionnaire évident entre ces travaux et celui donné par Cartan.

La dysfonction ventriculaire gauche reste sous-diagnostiquée en pratique clinique actuelle car les paramètres conventionnels d’échographie ne sont pas suffisamment sensibles pour détecter des modifications fines de la fonction cardiaque. L’introduction récente de l’échocardiographie de suivi des marqueurs acoustiques (speckle tracking echocardiography) a permis par ses capacités descriptives de la mécanique cardiaque, de revisiter la contraction cardiaque et, de ce fait, de proposer une nouvelle approche échographique de l’évaluation de la fonction ventriculaire gauche.<p><p>A travers trois études, nous avons montré que l’analyse des indices de déformation permet d’objectiver des modifications de fonction ventriculaire gauche indétectables en échocardiographie conventionnelle dans des situations complexes à fraction d’éjection conservée, en dépit de l’augmentation modérée de la fréquence cardiaque qui leur est associée. Les situations que nous avons étudiées sont les suivantes :l’adaptation physiologique à l’hypoxie au niveau de la mer et en altitude, et les situations pathologiques que sont le syndrome de mal d’altitude chronique, et la cardiomyopathie associée à l’ataxie de Friedreich.<p><p>L’intégration de nos résultats et des informations disponibles dans la littérature permet de suggérer que l’utilisation de toutes les ressources offertes par l’échocardiographie de suivi des marqueurs acoustiques permet d’améliorer l’évaluation de la fonction cardiaque au-delà de la fraction d’éjection, en offrant une meilleure identification de situations pathologiques mais également une meilleure compréhension de situations physiologiques et pathologiques. <p><p>L’utilisation généralisée des indices de déformation pour l’évaluation de la fonction ventriculaire gauche en pratique clinique connaît néanmoins d’importantes limitations que nous abordons dans la discussion de ce travail. Au terme d’investigations complémentaires et de standardisation de la technique, l’incorporation d’un algorithme d’évaluation échographique de la fonction cardiaque à FEVG conservée combinant les paramètres échographiques conventionnels et les indices de déformation pourra être évalué de façon prospective pour sa translation en pratique clinique, avec pour finalité la proposition d’une définition mieux adaptée de l’insuffisance cardiaque à FEVG conservée.<p> / Doctorat en Sciences médicales / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished