This thesis considers the utilization of an exhaustible resource in an oligopolistic market in which producers are assumed to behave noncooperatively. Within a game-theoretic framework, the amount of resource recovered by the industry is endogenized by allowing producers to undertake, prior to extraction, investment activities which alter the variable cost of resource recovery. The open-loop Cournot-Nash equilibrium is characterized in considerable detail, especially in the symmetric case in which property rights are identical across producers. In this case, it is shown that an increase in the number of producers in the industry (a) increases the ultimate amount: of resource recovered by the industry (b) increases the initial investment undertaken on each deposit (c) lowers the resource price, at least initially (d) raises the shadow price of the resource, initially (e) decreases the present value of industry profits, and (f) increases the present value of the total surplus generated in the Cournot-Nash equilibrium. When the property rights are asymmetric, it is shown that the output profile of the industry is inefficient from society's point of view: the same stream of resource output can be provided, in general, at lower investment cost and present value variable cost. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

This thesis presents a review of the theories currently being used to describe the structure of the liquid-vapor interface. The fluids considered are those consisting of "argon-like" molecules, which have radially symmetric potentials. "Wall effects" upon the interface are assumed to be negligible. The derivations of several theories have been recast into forms which depend upon a few common principles. The technique of functional differentiation is extensively used in this regard. This allows each theory to be identified with one of three different approaches: mean-field theory, integro-differential equations, or fluctuation theory. Good agreement is found between the results of theories within each class. The three approaches are shown to be different aspects of a single consistent model of the liquid-vapor interface. / Science, Faculty of / Physics and Astronomy, Department of / Graduate

This work has two major objectives: (1) To develop reliable, stable, easily-programmable and fast computational algorithms that would apply to process operation and design. (2) To determine the best algorithms for specific operations through comparative studies. The study covers the following areas: (1) Isothermal phase equilibria in up to four phases — one vapour, two liquid and one solid — with emphasis on vapour-liquid, liquid-liquid, liquid-solid and vapour-liquid-liquid systems. (2) Sensitivity analysis in vapour-liquid equilibria. (3) Saturation-point calculation methods. (4) Adiabatic vapour-liquid equilibria. (5) Conventional equilibrium-stage distillation-unit calculations. The study deals with multicomponent systems and, except where constrained by lack of information, all nonidealities are rigorously accounted for. The phase-equilibria studies embody both mass-balance and free-energy-minimization methods and some of the algorithms are, like the sensitivity-analysis study, based on geometric programming. Vector projection methods, for accelerating multivariate successive-substitution iteration, and a quadratic form of Wegstein's projection method have been developed and successfully applied. The saturation-points study includes three interpolation methods — regula falsi and quadratic interpolations and a dynamic form of Lagrange interpolation — a quasi-Newton formulation and the generally applied Newton and Richmond methods. The results favour the interpolation methods. For adiabatic-flash and distillation-unit calculations, algorithms employing two-dimensional Newton-Raphson, BP-partitioning and SR-partitioning methods have been developed. Methods for reducing equilibrium-ratio calculation to once per iteration per stage in the first two classes and for reducing enthalpy evaluation In the third class, have also been developed. For every problem-type, relevant algorithms have been applied to a wide class of systems and compared. However, the lack of data excluded any applications on solid-liquid-liquid-vapour equilibria and on wide-boiling distillation. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Chemical and Biological Engineering, Department of / Graduate

Solid-liquid phase equilibria studies were used to investigate possible compolllld formation in solutions of (i) para-xylene, (ii) mesitylene, and (iii) N,N-dimethyl-formamide (DMF) with mono- and di- halobenzenes that were selected to give a wide range of acceptor properties. Solid 1:1 intermolecular compounds were identified from solutions of p-C_6H_4F_2 with mesitylene, p-C_6H_4Br_2 with p-xylene, and p-C_6H_4Cl_2 with p-xylene. The results suggest that compound formation occurs because of favorable geometry rather than a charge transfer process. A vibrating tube densimeter was used to determine, with high precision, the densities and subsequently excess volumes of mixing of the n-hexane plus cyclohexane system. Temperature dependence of excess volume of mixing for the system was established. Thermodynamic calculations were also performed to determine activities of the components of the n-hexane + cyclohexane system.

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It is the position of this paper that the body plays a crucial role in the manifestation of cognition and motivation. Cognition is situationally specific and emergent from a natural, habitual functioning process that is based on the embodied needs to transact with the environment. That natural function is the well-known Disequilibrium-Equilibrium function ( D-E f ), and the denied affective [the precognitive] is the embodied needs, desires and interests that frame selective attention and are the catalyst for emerging cognitive action. This precognitive catalyst usually contributes more to motivation than cognition. Motivation also has a cognitive component. The Disequilibrium-Equilibrium function ( D-E f ) process is part of a larger holistic embodied transaction where "knowing" is a way of behaving. This larger embodied transaction is Dewey's "Transactional Realism." In this transaction "inquiry" is the tool of the goal "sense" [or equilibrium] and "knowledge" is the product of a transformed context. On an individual level this transformation is learning, enculturation and reflection. On a cultural level this transformation is consensual validation. / Master of Arts

Steepest Entropy Ascent Quantum Thermodynamics (SEAQT) is a novel theoretical framework unifying quantum mechanics and thermodynamics. This framework employs an equation of motion governed by the principle of steepest entropy ascent to determine the thermodynamic state evolution of modeled systems. The SEAQT framework has seen applied to multiple systems, including quantum and gas phase systems, in addition to solid-state material phenomena. A precise definition of entropy is crucial for the application of this framework. The SEAQT framework defines entropy in terms of an intrinsic property associated with the energy spectrum of a modeled system, namely degeneracy. The degeneracy, or density of states, is the number of unique system configurations for a given energy level. Calculating this quantity is often difficult, limiting many solid-state material studies to the few systems with analytical expressions which define the degeneracy. However, the use of the Replica Exchange Wang Landau (REWL) algorithm has alleviated these challenges. The REWL algorithm is a non-Markovian MC method capable of estimating the density of the state of any discretely described system. Employing the derived discrete energy spectrum and associated degeneracies, combined with the SEAQT equation of motion, has allowed for the investigation of previously indescribable systems. Detail of the complete methods are provided in this document, and the prediction of system kinetics are presented for capillary dynamics, protein folding, polymer brush conformal evolution, and ion sequestration using polymers. The results from each model are compared against experimental results for the thermodynamic paths of systems under varying system conditions are shown. Use of the combined framework has predicted (i) expected grain growth for ceramic and nanoscale metallic systems, (ii) expected conformal evolution of initial collapse of a simple polymer chain, (ii) equilibrium density profile evolution of a polymer brush, (iv) expected functional participation in sequestration of ions in a polar solvent. / Doctor of Philosophy / In this document, a novel computational method is presented for the modeling of various metallic, ceramic and polymeric materials. The computational framework and methodology presented does not model the mechanical evolution of material systems, instead it focuses on a holistic approach accounting for all possible formations, configurations, and associated energies. The basics of the presented frame have seen significant application to several systems of various length scales, though material applications were limited due to the necessity of applying derived analytical expressions from literature. This work expands the application of the method to arbitrary systems, removing prior limitations to simulate several previously indescribable systems. Significant benefits of the presented methods include rapid calculation of the system evolution under variable initial thermal conditions versus conventional models.

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