Cette thèse répond à une problématique de commande frontière d’une conduite acoustique dont l’actionnement est assuré par un réseau d’actionneurs/capteurs co-localisés constituant une peau active. Pour faire face au caractère intrinsèquement multiphysique de ce problème vibro-acoustique, nous avons choisi dans cette thèse d’employer une approche hamiltonienne à ports, approche structurée basée sur la représentation des échanges entre différents domaines énergétiques au sein d’un système et entre différents systèmes. Nous avons proposé une modélisation hamiltonienne à ports de l’équation d’onde interconnectée à la frontière au système d’actionnement distribué, correspondant à une formulation 2D du problème physique. Nous avons développé une méthode de discrétisation spatiale basée sur l’utilisation de différences finies sur plusieurs grilles en quinconce qui préserve la structure hamiltonienne à ports de l’équation d’onde. Cette méthode permet en outre d’interconnecter facilement le système discrétisé avec d’autres sous-systèmes, dans le but de mettre en place un actionnement par exemple. Son principal avantage sur d’autres méthodes préservatives de structure réside dans sa simplicité de mise en œuvre qui découle de l’utilisation de différences finies. Concernant la commande du système vibro-acoustique, nous avons proposé une méthode de synthèse de loi de commande distribuée pour les systèmes régis par deux lois de conservation en 1D. L’originalité de cette méthode réside en le fait qu’elle repose sur le calcul d’invariants structuraux (fonctions de Casimir) exploités afin de modifier la structure du système en boucle fermée. Les conditions d’application sur un système 2D sont étudiées et des résultats numériques valident les lois de commande synthétisées. / This thesis deals with the boundary control of an acoustic by a network of co-localised sensors/actuators which constitutes a smart skin. In order to cope with this multiphysical problem, we chose to place our study in the framework of port-Hamiltonian systems, a structured approach based on the representation of energy exchanges between different energy domains between different systems of subsystems. We proposed a port-Hamiltonian model of the wave equation interconnected through its boundary to the distributed actuation system, which corresponds to a 2D formulation of the physical problem. We developed a spatial discretization method based on the use of finite differences on several staggered grids that preserve the port-Hamiltonian structure of the wave equation. This method also permits to easily interconnect the discretized system with other subsystems, which is convenient for instance for control purposes. Its main advantage over other structure preserving methods is its simplicity of implementation which stems from the use of finite differences. In order to control the vibro-acoustic system, we proposed a control law synthesis method for systems governed by two conservation laws in 1D. The originality of this method lies in the fact that it relies on the computation of structural invariants (Casimir functions) exploited in order to modify the structure of the system in closed loop. The conditions of application of these laws on a 2D system are studied and numerical results validate the synthesized control laws.

L'objectif principal de la thèse est d'établir un modèle sous forme hamiltonienne à ports pour la dynamique du plasma dans les réacteurs de fusion de type tokamak, puis de démontrer le potentiel de cette approche pour aborder les problèmes d'intégration numérique et de commande non linéaire. Les bilans thermo-magnéto-hydrodynamiques, écrits sous forme hamiltonienne à ports à l'aide de structures Stokes-Dirac, conduisent à un modèle 3D “ multi-physique ” du plasma. Ensuite, un modèle 1D équivalent au modèle de diffusion résistive est obtenu en supposant les mêmes hypothèses d'équilibre quasi-statique et de symétries. Un schéma symplectique de réduction spatiale de ce modèle 1D qui préserve la structure du modèle et ses invariants est établi. Il ouvre la voie à des travaux ultérieurs de commande non linéaire fondés sur la structure géométrique d'interconnexion et les bilans du modèle. La commande IDA-PBC (Interconnection and Damping Assignment - Passivity Based Control) basée sur la passivité du modèle est d'abord synthétisée pour ce système en dimension finie. Finalement, une commande IDA-PBC associée avec la commande à la frontière est proposée pour le système en dimension infinie. Les controlleurs sont testés et validés avec les simulateurs des tokamak (METIS pour le Tore Supra de CEA/ Cadarache, et RAPTOR pour le TCV de l'EPFL Lausanne, Suisse). / The modelling and analysis of the plasma dynamics in tokamaks using the port-Hamiltonian approach is the main project purpose. Thermo-mMagnetohydrodynamics balances have been written in port-Hamiltonian form using Stokes-Dirac interconnection structures and 3D differential forms. A simplified 1D model for control has been derived using quasi-static and symmetry assumptions. It has been proved to be equivalent to a classical 1D control model: the resistive diffusion model for the poloidal magnetic flux. Then a geometric spatial integration scheme has been developped. It preserves both the symplecticity of the Dirac interconnection structure and physically conserved extensive quantities. This will allow coming works on energy-based approaches for the non linear control of the plasma dynamics.An Interconnection and Damping Assignment - Passivity Based Control (IDA-PBC) , the most general Port-Hamiltonian control, is chosen first to deal with the studied Tokamak system. It is based on a model made of the two coupled PDEs of resistive diffusion for the magnetic poloidal flux and of radial thermal diffusion. The used TMHD couplings are the Lorentz forces (with non-uniform resistivity) and the bootstrap current. The loop voltage at the plasma boundary, the total external current and the plasma heating power are considered as controller outputs. Due to the actuator constraints which imply to have a physically feasible current profile deposits, a feedforward control is used to ensure the compatibility with the actuator physical capability. Then, the IDA-PBC controllers, both finite-dimensional and infinite-dimensional, are designed to improve the system stabilization and convergence speed. The proposed works are validated against the simulation data obtained from the Tore-Supra WEST (CEA/Cadarache, France) test case and from RAPTOR code for the TCV real-time control system (CRPP/ EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland).

In this work we study the magnetic field modeling of realistic non-axisymmetric plasma equilibrium configurations and the heat flux patterns on the plasma facing components of tokamak divertor discharges. We start by establishing the relation between generic magnetic configurations and Hamiltonian dynamical systems. We apply the concept of magnetic helicity, used to establish topological bounds for the magnetic field lines in ideal plasmas, and to understand the self-consistency of reconnected magnetic surfaces in non-axisymmetric configurations. After this theoretical discussion, we present some results on magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium and the use of analytical solutions to the Grad-Shafranov equation for describing real tokamak discharges based on the experimental diagnostics and realistic boundary conditions. We also compare the equilibrium reconstruction of a DIII-D discharge obtained with a numerical reconstruction routine, developed as part of this research, and the EFIT code used by several tokamak laboratories around the world. The magnetic topology and plasma profiles obtained with our method are in considerable agreement with the numerical reconstruction performed with the other code. Then, we introduce a simplified description of the generic non-axisymmetric magnetic field created by known sources and implement it numerically for describing the magnetic field due to external coils in tokamak devices. After that, we use this routines to develop a numerical procedure to adjust a suitable set of non-linear parameters of internal filamentary currents, which are intended to model the plasma response based on the magnetic field measurements outside the plasma. Finally, these methods are used to model the magnetic field created by a slowly rotating plasma instability in a real DIII-D discharge. The plasma response modeling is based on the magnetic probe measurements and allow us to calculate the magnetic field in arbitrary locations near the plasma edge. Using this information we determine the non-axisymmetric plasma edge through the magnetic invariant manifolds routine developed during this work. The intersection of the calculated invariant manifold with the tokamak chamber agrees considerably well with the heat flux measurements for the same discharge at the divertor plates, indicating the development of a rotating manifold due to the internal asymmetric plasma currents, giving quantitative support to our simplified description of the magnetic field and the plasma edge definition through the invariant manifolds. / Neste trabalho estuda-se a modelagem do campo magnético em configurações realistas de plasmas em equilíbrio não-axissimétrico e o fluxo de calor nos componentes em contato com o plasma em descargas de tokamaks com desviadores poloidais. Começa-se estabelecendo a relação entre configurações magnéticas arbitrárias e sistemas dinâmicos Hamiltonianos. Então aplicamos o conceito de helicidade magnética, que é usado para estabelecer limitações topológicas sobre as linhas de campo magnético em plasmas ideais, assim como para compreender a auto-consistência das superfícies magnéticas reconectadas em configurações não-axissimétricas. Após esta discussão teórica, apresentam-se alguns resultados sobre o equilíbrio magnetohidrodinâmico e o uso de soluções analíticas à equação de Grad-Shafranov para descrever descargas reais em tokamaks, com base em diagnósticos experimentais e condições de contorno realistas. Também realiza-se uma comparação entre a reconstrução do equilíbrio de uma descarga do DIII-D, obtida mediante uma rotina numérica desenvolvida para esta pesquisa, com a obtida mediante o código EFIT, usado amplamente em diversos tokamaks. Após isso, apresenta-se uma descrição simplificada do campo magnético não-axissimétrico, criado por fontes determinadas, e a sua implementação para descrever o campo magnético devido às correntes externas em tokamaks. Então, usam-se estas rotinas para desenvolver um procedimento numérico que ajusta um conjunto adequado de parâmetros não-lineares de correntes filamentares internas, com as quais pretende-se modelar a resposta do plasma com base nas medidas de campo magnético fora do plasma. Finalmente, estes métodos são utilizados para modelar o campo magnético criado por uma instabilidade com rotação lenta numa descarga do DIII-D. Com base nas medidas das sondas magnéticas é possível modelar os campos criados em regiões arbitrárias próximas da borda do plasma. Usando esta informação é possível determinar a borda não-axissimétrica do plasma mediante as invariantes magnéticas calculadas com a utilização de uma rotina desenvolvida durante este trabalho. A intersecção da superfície invariante com a câmara do tokamak coincide satisfatoriamente com as medidas de fluxo de calor nas placas do divertor para a mesma descarga, indicando o desenvolvimento de uma variedade giratória criada pelas correntes de plasma não-axissimétricas, e sustentando quantitativamente a nossa descrição simplificada do campo magnético, assim como a definição da borda do plasma mediante as invariantes magnéticas.

Neste trabalho propomos uma abordagem Bayesiana não-paramétrica para a modelagem de dados com comportamento extremo. Tratamos o parâmetro de locação μ da distribuição generalizada de valor extremo como uma função aleatória e assumimos um processo Gaussiano para tal função (Rasmussem & Williams 2006). Esta situação leva à intratabilidade analítica da distribuição a posteriori de alta dimensão. Para lidar com este problema fazemos uso do método Hamiltoniano de Monte Carlo em variedade Riemanniana que permite a simulação de valores da distribuição a posteriori com forma complexa e estrutura de correlação incomum (Calderhead & Girolami 2011). Além disso, propomos um modelo de série temporal autoregressivo de ordem p, assumindo a distribuição generalizada de valor extremo para o ruído e determinamos a respectiva matriz de informação de Fisher. No decorrer de todo o trabalho, estudamos a qualidade do algoritmo em suas variantes através de simulações computacionais e apresentamos vários exemplos com dados reais e simulados. / In this work we propose a Bayesian nonparametric approach for modeling extreme value data. We treat the location parameter μ of the generalized extreme value distribution as a random function following a Gaussian process model (Rasmussem & Williams 2006). This configuration leads to no closed-form expressions for the highdimensional posterior distribution. To tackle this problem we use the Riemannian Manifold Hamiltonian Monte Carlo algorithm which allows samples from the posterior distribution with complex form and non-usual correlation structure (Calderhead & Girolami 2011). Moreover, we propose an autoregressive time series model assuming the generalized extreme value distribution for the noise and obtained its Fisher information matrix. Throughout this work we employ some computational simulation studies to assess the performance of the algorithm in its variants and show many examples with simulated and real data-sets.

Orientador: Francisco Odair Vieira de Paiva / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Matemática, Estatística e Computação Científica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-19T21:33:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Cardoso_JoseAndersonValenca_D.pdf: 1655484 bytes, checksum: 6e4f6872240f3317db759e94789f5d34 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Resumo: Neste trabalho consideramos uma classe de Sistemas Elípticos Hamiltonianos. Esta classe de sistemas surge como modelo natural em áreas como Física e Biologia. Estudamos casos que envolvem crescimento crítico, arbitrário e crítico perturbado e analisamos questões relacionadas a existência, multiplicidade e propriedades de soluções. Os resultados são obtidos com o uso de métodos variacionais, a exemplo dos teoremas de min-max, aliados as propriedades das funções com simetria radial e ao princípio de concentração de compacidade / Abstract: In this work, we consider a class of Hamiltonian Elliptic Systems. This class of systems arise as a natural model in many areas such as Physics and Biology. We studied cases involving critical growth, arbitrary growth and perturbed critical growth and we also investigated questions related to the existence, multiplicity and properties of solutions. The results are obtained by using a variational approach, for instance, min-max theorems, combined with properties of radially symmetric functions and the concentration-compactness principle / Doutorado / Matematica / Doutor em Matemática

In this thesis, we investigate the entanglement and magnetic properties of frustrated spin systems and correlated electronic properties of conjugated carbon systems. In chapter 1, we present different approaches to solve the time-independent, nonrelativistic Schr¨odinger equation for a many-body system. We start with the full non-relativistic Hamiltonian of a multi nuclear system to describe the Born - Oppenheimer approximation which allows the study of electronic Hamiltonian which treats nuclear positions parametrically. We then also describe ab initio techniques such as the Hartree-Fock Method and density functional theories. We then introduce model Hamiltonians for strongly correlated systems such as the Hubbard, Pariser-Parr-Pople and Heisenberg models, and show how they result from the noninteracting one-band tight-binding model. In chapter 2, we discuss various numerical techniques like the exact diagonalization methods and density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) method. We also discuss quantum entanglement and the success of DMRG which can be attributed to the area law of entanglement entropy. In chapter 3, we study here different regions in phase diagrams of the spin-1/2, spin-1 and spin-3/2 one-dimensional antiferromagnetic Heisenberg systems with nearest-neighbor (J1) and next-nearest-neighbor (J2) interactions and dimerization (d ). Frustration arises for specific relative signs of the interactions J1 and J2. In particular, we analyze the behavior of the bipartite entanglement entropy and fidelity at the gapless to gapped phase transitions and across the lines separating different phases in the J2−d plane. All the calculations in this work are based on exact diagonalizations of finite systems. In chapter 4, we study Heisenberg spin-1/2 and spin-1 chains with alternating ferromagnetic (JF 1 ) and antiferromagnetic (JA 1 ) nearest-neighbor interactions and a ferromagnetic next-nearest-neighbor interaction (JF 2 ). In this model frustration is present due to non-zero JF 2 . The model with site spin s behaves like a Haldane spin chain with site spin 2s in the limit of vanishing JF 2 and large JF 1 /JA 1 . We show that the exact ground state of the model can be found along a line in the parameter space. For fixed JF 1 , the phase diagram in the space of JA 1 −JF 2 is determined using numerical techniques complemented by analytical calculations. A number of quantities, including the structure factor, energy gap, entanglement entropy and zero temperature magnetization, are studied to understand the complete phase diagram. An interesting and potentially important feature of this model is that it can exhibit a macroscopic magnetization jump in the presence of a magnetic field; we study this using an effective Hamiltonian. In chapter 5, we study correlated electronic properties of zigzag and armchair fused naphthalenes and polyperylene systems in the presence of long-range electronelectron interactions. We find that the ground state of zigzag fused naphthalene system is a higher spin state, while the ground state of armchair fused naphthalene is a singlet. The spin gap of polyperylene is unusually small and the ground state is a singlet. Our calculations of optical gap and two-photon gap suggest that polyperylene should exhibit fluorescence. From the charge gap calculation, we predict that in zigzag fused naphthalene and polyperylene systems, excitons are weakly binding. Peierls type of distortion is negligible in zigzag fused naphthalene and polyperylene systems, however, in armchair fused naphthalene system, interior bonds have tendency to distort in low-lying excited states. In chapter 6, we study the ground state spin of the Heisenberg spin-1/2 nearestneighboring antiferromagnetic exchange models of systems with fused odd member rings. In particular, we compute the ground state spin of fused three and five membered rings as well as fused five membered rings. In the thermodynamic limit, the ground state of the fused three and five membered system is a higher spin state, while fused five membered system shows a singlet ground state, for all system sizes.

Microbes live in complex environments where competitive and cooperative interactions occur that dictate their success and the status of their environment. By furthering our understanding of the interactions between microbes, questions into the evolution of cooperation, disease virulence and biodiversity can be addressed. This will help develop strategies to overcome problems concerning disease, socioeconomics and conservation. We use an approach that combines evolutionary ecology theory with genetics and molecular biology to establish and develop model microbial ecological systems to examine feeding strategies, in what has been termed synthetic ecology. Using the model fungal plant pathogen system of rice blast disease, we generated less virulent gene deletion mutants to examine the sociality of feeding strategies during infection and test a nascent virulence reduction strategy based on competitive exclusion. We revealed that the success of the pathogen is unexpectedly enhanced in mixed strain infections containing the virulent wild-type strain with a less virulent gene deletion mutant of the metabolic enzyme invertase. Our finding is explained by interference between different social traits that occur during sucrose feeding. To test the generality of our result, gene deletion mutants of putative proteases were generated and characterised. We found that if virulence related genes acted ‘privately’, as predicted by social theory, the associated mutants would not make viable strains to use for this virulence reduction strategy by competitive exclusion. Our study then went on to study the fitness of digesting resources extracellularly, as many microbes do, given that this strategy is exposed to social exploitation by individuals who do not pay the metabolic costs. This was investigated by developing an experimental system with Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Though internalising digestion could suppress cheats, the relative fitness of opposing strategies was dependent upon the environmental and demographic conditions. Using this polymorphic system, the influence of competitors on the stability of cooperation, and the influence of cheats on the maintenance of diversity were assessed. To test the fitness of internal versus external digestion in a more natural setting, we generated an internally digesting strain of the rice blast fungus. In addition to suppressing cheats, the strain had enhanced fitness and virulence over the wild-type. We propose that this is caused by a shift in a trade-off between yield and rate. We show how a synthetic ecology approach can capture details of the biology underlying complex ecological processes, while having control over the factors that drive them, so that the underlying mechanisms can be teased apart.

Dans ce mémoire nous avons développé des méthodes de réduction des systèmes hamiltoniens à port en dimension finie et infinie qui préservent leur structure. Dans la première partie, nous avons défini une représentation des systèmes hamiltoniens à port avec contraintes sous la forme d'équations différentielles algébriques (DEA) de type de système descripteur. De cette forme nous avons déduit une réalisation équilibrée du système hamiltonien à port exprimée sous forme de système descripteur contenant les mêmes systèmes d'équations de contrainte. Dans la deuxième partie, nous avons défini une classe de problèmes de commande LQG tels que le contrôleur dynamique LQG est passif et admet une réalisation hamiltonien à port. Deux méthodes de synthèse de commande passive LQG sont proposées et une de ces méthodes LQG nous a permis de définir une réalisation équilibrée LQG. Puis nous avons appliqué la méthode de contrainte de l'effort pour réduire le système hamiltonien à port et obtenir une commande LQG passive d'ordre réduit. Ce contrôleur LQG admettant une réalisation hamiltonienne, la structure hamiltonienne est préservée pour le système en boucle fermée par interconnexion de systèmes hamiltoniens à port. Dans la troisième partie, nous avons généralisé les résultats précédents aux systèmes hamiltoniens à ports linéaires de dimension infinie. Pour cela nous avons considéré une classe de systèmes hamiltoniens à ports de dimension infinie dont l'opérateur d'entrée est borné et un problème de commande LQG passif. Sous des conditions de nucléarité de l'opérateur de Hankel lié au problème LQG, nous définissons une réalisation équilibrée LQG passive du système et une approximation en dimension finie. Le contrôleur LQG passif d'ordre réduit obtenu par cette approximation admet une réalisation hamiltonienne à port et par conséquent la structure hamiltonienne et la passivité sont préservées en boucle fermée / In this thesis we have developed different structure preserving reduction methods for finite and infinite dimensional port Hamiltonian systems by using a balanced model reduction approach. In the first part we have defined a descriptor representation of port Hamiltonian systems with constraints. The balanced realization of the descriptor system has been used for reducing the port Hamiltonian descriptor system and conserving explicitly the constraint equations. In the second part, conditions have been derived on the weighting matrices of the LQG control problem such that the dynamical LQG controller is passive and has a port Hamiltonian realization. Two passive LQG control design methods have been suggested and one of them allows us to define a LQG balanced realization. Based on this realization, the effort constraint method has been used to reduce the LQG balanced port Hamiltonian system and obtain a reduced order passive LQG controller. In this way the closed-loop system is derived from the interconnection of 2 port Hamiltonian systems, hence the Hamiltonian structure has been preserved. In the third part, the proceeding results have been extended to a class of infinite dimensional port Hamiltonian system with bounded input operator. A passive LQG control design method for infinite dimensional port Hamiltonian system has been derived as by Control by Interconnection (CbI). Based on the balanced realization associated with this passive LQG control design, a finite dimensional approximation has been achieved and a reduced order passive LQG controller has been derived. As a consequence, the system in closed-loop with this reduced order LQG controller again admits a port Hamiltonian structure and satisfies the passivity

Path integral approaches have been widely used for long in both quantum mechanics as well as statistical mechanics. In addition to being a tool for obtaining the probability distributions of interest(wave functions in the case of quantum mechanics),these methods are very instructive and offer great insights into the problem. In this thesis, path integrals are extensively employed to study some very interesting problems in both equilibrium and non-equilibrium statistical mechanics. In the non-equilibrium regime, we have studied, using a path integral approach, a very interesting class of anomalous diffusion, viz. the L´evy flights. In equilibrium statistical mechanics, we have evaluated the partition function for a class of molecules referred to as the hindered rotors which have a barrier for internal rotation. Also, we have evaluated the exact quantum statistical mechanical propagator for a harmonic potential with a time-dependent force constant, valid under certain conditions. Diffusion processes have attracted a great amount of scientific attention because of their presence in a wide range of phenomena. Brownian motion is the most widely known class of diffusion which is usually driven by thermal noise. However ,there are other classes of diffusion which cannot be classified as Brownian motion and therefore, fall under the category of Anomalous diffusion. As the name suggests, the properties of this class of diffusion are very different from those for usual Brownian motion. We are interested in a particular class of anomalous diffusion referred to as L´evy flights in which the step sizes taken by the particle during the random walk are obtained from what is known as a L´evy distribution. The diverging mean square displacement is a very typical feature for L´evy flights as opposed to a finite mean square displacement with a linear dependence on time in the case of Brownian motion. L´evy distributions are characterized by an index α where 0 <α ≤ 2. When α =2, the distribution becomes a Gaussian and when α=1, it reduces to a Cauchy/Lorentzian distribution. In the overdamped limit of friction, the probability density or the propagator associated with L´evy flights can be described by a position space fractional Fokker-Planck equation(FFPE)[1–3]. Jespersen et al. [4]have solved the FFPE in the Fourier domain to obtain the propagator for free L´evy flight(absence of an external potential) and L´evy flights in linear and harmonic potentials. We use a path integral technique to study L´evy flights. L´evy distributions rarely have a compact analytical expression in the position space. However, their Fourier transformations are rather simple and are given by e−D │p│α where D determines the width of the distribution. Due to the absence of a simple analytical expression, attempts in the past to study L´evy flights using path integrals in the position space [5, 6] have not been very successful. In our approach, we have tried to make use of the elegant representation of the L´evy distribution in the Fourier space and therefore, we write the propagator in terms of a two-dimensional path integral –one over paths in the position space(x)and the other over paths in the Fourier space(p). We shall refer to this space as the ‘phase space’. Such a representation is similar to the Hamiltonian path integral of quantum mechanics which was introduced by Garrod[7]. If we try to perform the path integral over Fourier variables first, then what remains is the usual position space path integral for L´evy flights which is rather difficult to solve. Instead, we perform the position space path integral first which results in expressions which are rather simple to handle. Using this approach, we have obtained the propagators for free L´evy flight and L´evy flights in linear and harmonic potentials in the over damped limit [8]. The results obtained by this method are in complete agreement with those obtained by Jesepersen et al. [4]. In addition to these results, we were also able to obtain the exact propagator for L´evy flights in a harmonic potential with a time-dependent force constant which has not been reported in the literature. Another interesting problem that we have considered in the over damped limit is to obtain the probability distribution for the area under the trajectory of a L´evy particle. The distributions, again, were obtained for free L´evy flight and for L´evy flights subjected to linear and harmonic potentials. In the harmonic potential, we have considered situations where the force constant is time-dependent as well as time-independent. Like in the case of the over damped limit, the probability distribution for L´evy flights in the under damped limit of friction can also be described using a fractional Fokker-Planck equation, although in the full phase space. However, this has not yet been solved for any general value of α to obtain the complete propagator in terms of both position and velocity. Using our path integral approach, the exact full phase space propagators have been obtained for all values of α for free L´evy flights as well as in the presence of linear and harmonic potentials[8]. The results that we obtain are all exact when the potential is at the most harmonic. If the potential is higher than harmonic, like the cubic potential, we have used a semi classical evaluation where, we extremize the action using an optimal path and further, account for fluctuations around this optimal path. Such potentials are very useful in describing the problem of escape of a particle over a barrier. The barrier crossing problem is very extensively studied for Brownian motion (Kramers problem) and the associated rate constant has been calculated in a variety of methods, including the path integral approach. We are interested in its L´evy analogue where we consider the escape of a particle driven by a L´evy noise over a barrier. On extremizing the action which depends both on phase space variables, we arrived at optimal paths in both the position space as well as the space of the conjugate variable, p. The paths form an infinite hierarchy of instant on paths, all of which have to be accounted for in order to obtain the correct rate constant. Care has to be taken while accounting for fluctuations around the optimal path since these fluctuations should be independent of the time-translational mode of the instant on paths. We arrived at an ‘orthogonalization’ scheme to perform the same. Our procedure is valid in the limit when the barrier height is large(or when the diffusion constant is very small), which would ensure that there is small but a steady flux of particles over the barrier even at very large times. Unlike the traditional Kramers rate expression, the rate constant for barrier crossing assisted by L´evy noise does not have an exponential dependence on the barrier height. The rate constant for wide range of α, other than for those very close to α = 2, are proportional to Dμ where, µ ≈ 1 and D is the diffusion constant. These observations are consistent with the simulation results obtained by Chechkin et al. [9]. In addition, our approach when applied to Brownian motion, gives the correct dependence on D. In equilibrium statistical mechanics we have considered two problems. In the first one, we have evaluated the imaginary time propagator for a harmonic oscillator with a time-dependent force constant(ω2(t))exactly, when ω2(t) is of the form λ2(t) - λ˙(t)where λ(t) is any arbitrary function of t. We have made use of Hamiltonian path integrals for this. The second problem that we considered was the evaluation of the partition function for hindered rotors. Hindered rotors are molecules which have a barrier for internal rotation. The molecule behaves like free rotor when the barrier is very small in comparison with the thermal energy, and when the barrier is very high compared to thermal energy, it behaves like a harmonic oscillator. Many methods have been developed in order to obtain the partition function for a hindered rotor. However, most of them are some what ad-hoc since they interpolate between free-rotor and the harmonic oscillator limits. We have obtained the approximate partition function by writing it as the trace of the density matrix and performing a harmonic approximation around each point of the potential[10]. The density matrix for a harmonic potential is in turn obtained from a path integral approach[11]. The results that we obtain using this method are very close to the exact results for the problem obtained numerically. Also, we have devised a proper method to take the indistinguishability of particles into account in internal rotation which becomes very crucial while calculating the partition function at low temperatures.

Le travail présenté dans cette thèse porte sur la modélisation et la commande d'un système thermodynamique non linéaire de dimension infinie, le réacteur tubulaire. Nous abordons le problème de commande sur ce système non linéaire en nous appuyant sur les propriétés thermodynamiques du procédé. Cette approche nécessite l'utilisation d'un modèle ayant comme variables d'état les variables extensives thermodynamiques classiques. Nous utilisons la fonction de disponibilité thermodynamique ainsi qu'une autre fonction déduite de la précédente, la disponibilité réduite, comme fonction de Lyapunov candidate pour résoudre le problème de stabilisation du réacteur autour d'un profil d'équilibre en utilisant comme commande distribuée la température de la double enveloppe. Des simulations illustrent ces résultats ainsi que l'efficacité des commandes en présence de perturbations. Nous nous intéressons aussi à la représentation hamiltonienne à port des systèmes irréversibles de dimension infinie. La structure de Stokes-Dirac pour un modèle réaction diffusion est obtenue en étendant les vecteurs de variables de flux et d'effort. Nous présentons cette démarche pour les équations du système réaction-diffusion en prenant premièrement l'énergie interne comme Hamiltonien puis deuxièmement l'opposé de l'entropie. Nous montrons dans les deux cas qu'en utilisant une extension des couples de variables effort-flux thermodynamiques classiques nous obtenons une structure de Stokes-Dirac. Enfin nous donnons quelques résultats aboutissant à une représentation pseudo hamiltonienne. Enfin nous abordons le problème de commande à la frontière. L'objectif est d'étudier l'existence de solutions associées à un modèle linéarisé de réacteur tubulaire complet commandé à la frontière / The main objective of this thesis consists to investigate the problem of modelling and control of a nonlinear parameter distributed thermodynamic system : the tubular reactor. We address the control problem of this non linear system relying on the thermodynamic properties of the process. This approach requires to use the classical extensive variables as the state variables. We use the thermodynamic availability as well as the reduced thermodynamic availability (this function is formed from some terms of the thermodynamic availabilty) as Lyapunov functions in order to asymptotically stabilize the tubular reactor aroud a steady profile. The distributed temperature of the jacket is the control variable. Some simulations illustrate these results as well as the eficiency of the control in presence of perturbations. Next we study the Port Hamiltonian representation of irreversible infinite dimensional systems. We propose a Stokes-Dirac structure of a reaction-diffusion system by means of the extension of the vectors of the flux and effort variables. We illustrate this approach on the example of the reaction-diffusion system. For this latter we use the internal energy as well as the opposite of the entropy to obtain Stokes-Dirac structures. We propose also a pseudo-Hamiltonian representation for the two Hamiltonians. Finally we tackle the boundary control problem. The objective is to study the existence of solutions associated to a linearized model of the tubular reactor controlled to the boundary