This thesis investigates the average consensus of multi-agent systems with linear dynamics whose interconnections are modelled by balanced digraphs with matrix- weights. The thesis first introduces the notion of balanced digraphs and mirror graphs for matrix weights. Then it proves that the matrix-weight-balanced con- sensus controller is indeed globally asymptotically stable. The Lyapunov stability analysis exploits the properties of the mirror graph of a balanced digraph. Further, the necessary and sufficient condition for the system to achieve average consensus is shown to be positive definiteness of the matrix weights of its balanced digraph. Simulations with robots in SIMULINK verify that positive definite matrix weights on balanced graphs are indeed necessary and sufficient for average consensus. Fi- nally formation control of a multi-robot system is shown to be an application of the matrix-weight-balanced consensus algorithm using real time simulation of Clearpath Ridgeback robots in Gazebo and ROS. / Graduate

Nous donnons une condition nécessaire et suffisante pour que les coefficients de Taylor à l'origine de séries en plusieurs variables $q_i({mathbf z})=z_iexp(G_i({mathbf z})/F({mathbf z}))$ soient entiers, avec ${mathbf z}=(z_1,dots,z_d)$ et où $F({mathbf z})$ et $G_i({mathbf z})+log(z_i)F({mathbf z})$, $i=1,dots,d$, sont des solutions particulières de certains $A$-systèmes d'équations différentielles linéaires. Ce critère est basé sur les propriétés analytiques de l'application de Landau (classiquement associée aux suites de quotients de factorielles de formes linéaires). Pour démontrer ce critère, nous généralisons entre autres une version en plusieurs variables d'un théorème de Dwork concernant les congruences formelles entre séries formelles, démontrée par Krattenthaler et Rivoal dans og Multivariate $p$-adic formal congruences and integrality of Taylor coefficients of mirror maps fg [arXiv:0804.3049v3, math.NT]. Ce critère en plusieurs variables implique l'intégralité des coefficients de Taylor de nouvelles applications miroir d'une seule variable dans og Tables of Calabi--Yau equations fg [arXiv:math/0507430v2, math.AG] de Almkvist, van Enckevort, van Straten et Zudilin. Dans le cas particulier d'une variable, nous affinons notre critère et démontrons l'intégralité des coefficients de Taylor de racines d'applications miroir. Cela nous permet de démontrer une conjecture de Zhou énoncée dans og Integrality properties of variations of Mahler measures fg [arXiv:1006.2428v1 math.AG]. / We give a necessary and sufficient condition for the integrality of the Taylor coefficients at the origin of formal power series $q_i({mathbf z})=z_iexp(G_i({mathbf z})/F({mathbf z}))$, with ${mathbf z}=(z_1,dots,z_d)$ and where $F({mathbf z})$ and $G_i({mathbf z})+log(z_i)F({mathbf z})$, $i=1,dots,d$ are particular solutions of some $A$-systems of differential equations. This criterion is based on the analytical properties of Landau's function (which is classically associated to the sequences of factorial ratios). One of the techniques used to prove this criterion is a generalization of a version of a theorem of Dwork on the formal congruences between formal series, proved by Krattenthaler and Rivoal in og Multivariate $p$-adic formal congruences and integrality of Taylor coefficients of mirror maps fg [arXiv:0804.3049v3, math.NT]. This criterion involves the integrality of the Taylor coefficients of new univariate mirror maps listed in og Tables of Calabi--Yau equations fg [arXiv:math/0507430v2, math.AG] by Almkvist, van Enckevort, van Straten and Zudilin. In the particular case of one variable, we refine our criterion and demonstrate the integrality of the Taylor coefficients of roots of mirror maps. This allows us to prove a conjecture stated by Zhou in og Integrality properties of variations of Mahler measures fg [arXiv:1006.2428v1 math.AG]. STAR Date de soutenance : 6 septembre 2011 Thèse sur travaux: non

O objetivo desta dissertação é propor uma visão afirmativa dos narradores-protagonistas dos romances do escritor João Gilberto Noll, oferecendo um contraponto à crítica que, ao inserir esses narradores-protagonistas na tendência niilista contemporânea de apagamento diante do outro e do mundo, os classifica como fracos. A partir da análise dos romances Hotel Atlântico (1986), Harmada (1993), A céu aberto (1996), Berkeley em Bellagio (2002), Lorde (2004) e Acenos e afagos (2008), caracterizaremos o sujeito nolliano como um sujeito forte, que chamaremos aqui de sujeito dionisíaco. Este sujeito prescinde de uma identidade fixa e bem delimitada e, portanto, dispensa quaisquer tipos de espelhos da consciência, da identificação, da idealização. Em vez de atribuir-se a si mesmo uma subjetividade ou um rosto, este sujeito se reconhece na sua existência mais primordial: o seu corpo indomável, que, diferente do corpo/imagem da lógica do esteticismo generalizado, reforça o caráter múltiplo e instável do sujeito, lembrando que ele é regido não pela sua vontade própria, mas sim pela dinâmica da vontade de potência. Apesar de remeter sempre ao corpo, a literatura de Noll se revela um convite, tanto aos seus narradores-personagens quanto ao leitor, para uma experiência metafísica / In this dissertation I would like to propose a new affirmative treatment of novelist João Gilberto Nolls narrator-protagonists, taking issue with current literary criticism that would have them belong to a contemporary nihilistic trend, classifying them as weaklings who succumb when faced with the Other, or with the world. Based on an analysis of the novels Hotel Atlântico (1986), Harmada (1993), A céu aberto (1996), Berkeley em Bellagio (2002), Lorde (2004) and Acenos e afagos (2008), Nolls protagonists emerge as strong characters best described as dionysian subjects. Nolls narrator-protagonists relinquish a well defined, fixed identity and consequently renounce all mirrors the mirror of consciousness, identification, or even idealization. Instead of attributing themselves a subjectivity or a face, Nolls protagonists recognize in themselves a level of existence that is primordial: their indomitable body, one that differs from the body/image and a rationale of generalized aesthetics. They reinforce the multiple and unstable character of the subject, one that is moved not by its own volition, but by its will to power. Although the body appears as a recurrent theme in his writings, Nolls novels invite both their narrator-protagonists and the readers to take part in a metaphysical experience

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:46:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Anita Jovelina Brito de Jesus.pdf: 439227 bytes, checksum: b7b942786fcbdfd1ec54d0bbdff277d9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-02-22 / Fundo Mackenzie de Pesquisa / The following paper is aimed to verify how the double and the matter of the identity are treated in the novel Páscoa Feliz, by José Rodrigues Miguéis. From researches about the double, studied by Otto Rank, from a research to enlighten the concept in this subject in several areas, developed by Carla Cunha to the E-Dicionário de Termos Literários by Carlos Ceia, and also from the theories from Bakhtin around the position of the individual as well as from the R. D. Laing s theories about the divided self, this paper will survey the construction process of the main character Renato Lima and his double. It also aims to assay how an individual, who cannot recognize himself/herself as part of a society, gets divided and complicates the process of being part of an environment, what leads them to develop a doubled personality. Also aiming to enlighten the aspect on how the character is developed, we will assay Bakhtin s ideas about the subject, as well as Todorov s ideas about the manifestation of the fantastic in the fictional text structure. The grotesque, the uncanny, and the mirror and its function in the symbolic field in the discourse and in the responsive behavior of the characters who interact with the protagonist will also be surveyed. / O presente trabalho procura verificar como o duplo e a questão da identidade são tratados na novela Páscoa Feliz, de José Rodrigues Miguéis. A partir de estudos sobre o duplo feitos por Otto Rank, de uma busca de esclarecimento do conceito no assunto em várias áreas, desenvolvida por Carla Cunha para o E-Dicionário de Termos Literários de Carlos Ceia, bem como das teorias de Bakhtin em torno da posição do sujeito e das teorias de R. D. Laing sobre a cisão da personalidade, será sondado o processo de construção da personagem Renato Lima e seu duplo. Procura também examinar como um sujeito, incapaz de reconhecer-se enquanto participante de uma sociedade, divide-se, o que lhe dificulta tornar-se um sujeito situado e leva-o a desenvolver uma personalidade dupla . No sentido de esclarecer esse aspecto de construção da personagem, serão examinadas as idéias de Bakhtin sobre o assunto, assim como os estudos de Todorov acerca da manifestação do fantástico na estrutura do texto ficcional. O grotesco, o estranho e o espelho e sua função na camada simbólica no discurso e no comportamento responsivo das personagens que interagem com o protagonista também serão sondados.

« À travers le monde-miroir de Harry Potter : littérature, langage et histoire » (« Through the Looking-glass World of Harry Potter : Literature, Language and History ») est une thèse qui propose d’analyser Harry Potter non pas comme un ouvrage à succès mais en tant que littérature à part entière. Les films, la marchandisation, le parc à thème et autres annexes aux œuvres sont donc mis de côté pour se concentrer sur le texte qui recèle un nombre important de joyaux littéraires. Notre but sera de démontrer que Harry Potter fait partie du canon littéraire et qu’il permet au lecteur de re-découvrir son propre monde.Quatre grands thèmes dans l’œuvre de J. K. Rowling sont mis en avant – le lien avec la littérature de jeunesse, l’intertextualité, le langage et l’Histoire – pour mieux étudier la qualité littéraire de Harry Potter. Notre problématique se centre sur la question de passage entre notre monde et le monde magique à travers la notion de langage. En effet le langage permet de créer un pont entre notre culture, notre littérature, nos mythes et notre histoire et le monde enchanté du livre. Cette transposition permet au lecteur de redécouvrir son propre monde à travers un habile jeu de miroirs dans le texte. En poursuivant sa lecture le lecteur est capable de passer à travers le miroir et de découvrir un univers à la fois merveilleux et terrible qui reflète et déforme le nôtre.Cette thèse se propose d'analyser la littérarité du texte tout en pointant les liens avec notre propre culture, que ce soit avec la réécriture des classiques anglophones pour adultes et enfants dans Harry Potter, ou la réécriture de notre Histoire. Ce travail a pour but de démontrer que Harry Potter est digne du canon de la littérature et qu'un examen poussé de l’œuvre permet d’apprécier et de découvrir cette saga à un niveau universitaire. / “ travers le monde-miroir de Harry Potter : littérature, langage et histoire » (« Through the Looking-glass World of Harry Potter : Literature, Language and History” is a thesis whose aim is to analyse J. K. Rowling’s set of magical novels through the lens of literature. We will focus on the text in order to uncover the literary gems which are hidden within the weft of the text. The aim of this thesis is to explain why Harry Potter can be considered as part of the literary canon and how the text creates a mirror-universe which enables the reader to rediscover his own world.In order to better analyse the literary qualities of the text four main themes are put forward in this thesis: the links with children’s literature, intertextuality, language and history. Our thesis question centres on the question of passage between our world and the magical one through the notion of language. Indeed, language enables bridges to be built between our culture, our literature, our myths and our history and the magical universe of the books. This transposition enables the reader to rediscover his own world thanks to a clever hall of mirrors effect. Through his reading process the reader is thus able to go through the looking-glass and discover a wonderful and terrifying world where the best and the worst of our society and history is represented.This thesis reveals how in-depth analyses of intertextuality, language and history display the literary qualities of Harry Potter and enable an academic reading of the text.

The Landau-Ginzburg (LG) B-Model is a significant feature of singularity theory and mirror symmetry. Krawitz in 2010, guided by work of Kaufmann, provided an explicit construction for the LG B-model when using diagonal symmetries of a quasihomogeneous, nondegenerate polynomial. In this thesis we discuss aspects of how to generalize the LG B-model construction to allow for nondiagonal symmetries of a polynomial, and hence nonabelian symmetry groups. The construction is generalized to the level of graded vector space and the multiplication developed up to an unknown factor. We present complete examples of nonabelian LG B-models for the polynomials x^2y + y^3, x^3y + y^4, and x^3 + y^3 + z^3 + w^2.

Thesis (M. A.) -- University of Limpopo, 2008 / Refer to the document

Adaptive optics work to reduce optical losses in the LIGO detectors, making them more sensitive to gravitational wave events. Mode-mismatch between the coupled optical cavities, caused by uncertainty in the radii of curvature and orientation of the interferometer optics, is one of the main sources of loss in Advanced LIGO. Thermal actuators are used to dynamically change the radius of curvature of certain interferometer optics, allowing mode mismatches to be reduced. Finely tunable astigmatic mirrors have the potential to be very useful in gravitational wave detectors for beam reflections at non-normal incidence, but have never been tested. These astigmatic composite mirrors are constructed by bonding a fused silica mirror to a non-axially-symmetric metal plate. When heated, the mirror is differentially distorted in the x- and y-directions due to its asymmetric design, resulting in an elliptical reflected beam profile. We model and test an initial mirror design, finding that it does, in fact, act as an astigmatic mirror. This finding opens a new avenue towards development of adaptive optics for current and next-generation gravitational wave detectors.

A process for micromachining of micro-mirror devices from silicon-on-insulator wafers was proposed and implemented. Test methods and force applicators for these devices were developed. Following successful fabrication of these devices, a novel process for fabrication of devices out of the plane of the silicon wafer was proposed, so that the devices could be actuated electrostatically. In particular, the process makes use of thick photoresist layers as a sacrificial mold into which an amorphous nickel-phosphorous alloy may be deposited. Ideal design of the electrostatically actuated micro-mirrors was investigated, and a final design was selected and modeled using FEA software, which found that serpentine-hinged devices require approximately 33% of the actuation force of their straight-beamed counterparts. An aqueous electroless plating solution composed of nickel acetate, sodium hypophosphite, citric acid, ammonium acetate, and Triton X-100 in was developed for use with the process, and bath operating parameters of 85°C and 4.5 pH were determined. However, this electroless solution failed to deposit in the presence of the photoresist. Several mechanisms proposed for deposition failure included leaching of organic solvents from the photoresist, oxidation of the nickel-titanium seed layer on which the deposition was intended to occur, and nonlinear diffusion of dissolved oxygen in the solution.

Paisagens Catóptricas: espelhos e aberrações em metrópoles investiga, por meio de ensaios visuais e considerações teóricas, alguns aspectos da força poética da cidade refletida nela mesma enquanto particularidade da paisagem. Nos ensaios visuais, elaborados a partir de registros fotográficos de superfícies reflexivas paulistanas ao longo de 2018, as imagens especulares transmutam- se em impressas por meio da cianotipia e do marrom Van Dyke - ambos decalques fotográficos monocromáticos. A conjugação das imagens opera uma cartografia traçada em derivas pela cidade na busca por espelhamentos insólitos, por aberrações sugestivas de nexos entre o imaginário e a catóptrica, sendo esta a parte da Óptica que estuda espelhos. O conjunto de imagens se inscreve na noção de paisagem como representação cultural informada pela pintura e delimita o campo para a discussão dos procedimentos adotados na confecção das próprias imagens. Os ensaios visuais também orientam as pesquisas sobre referências teóricas que relacionam o espelho à literatura e às artes visuais, repertório que retroage em benefício da invenção continuada das imagens, à medida que aguça o olhar artializador dirigido à cidade. São também apresentados parâmetros para a discussão das instâncias in visu e in situ do que aqui se define como paisagem catóptrica, ou seja, imagens especulares da cidade visíveis em superfícies reflexivas delimitadas da própria cidade. / Catoptric landscapes: mirrors and aberrations in metropolis investigates, through visual essays and theoretical considerations, some aspects of the poetic force of the city in-itself reflected as a particularity of the landscape. In these essays, constructed upon photographic records of São Paulo reflective surfaces throughout the year of 2018, the specular images transmute themselves into print images by means of cyanotype and of van Dyke brown - both monochromatic photographic decals. The images\' conjugation operates a cartography drawn in drifts around the city, pursuing some unusual mirroring and suggestive aberrations of nexus between the imaginary and the Catoptrica - herein the part of the Optics that studies mirrors. This set of images are under the notion of landscape as cultural representation informed by painting and bounds the field for the discussion of the adopted procedures in the making of the same images. The visual essays also guide the research on theoretical references that relate the mirror to literature and the visual arts, a repertoire that acts in the benefit of the continuous invention of the images by sharpening the artialising look towards the city. Some parameters are also presented, in a way to enable the discussion of the in visu and in situ instances of what herein is defined as catoptric landscape, that is, specular city images visible on delimited reflective surfaces of the city itself.