Inorganic materials have dominated electronic applications such as photovoltaic cells, thin film transistors (TFTs) and light emitting diodes (LEDs). However developments in the field of organic electronics over the past three decades have enabled the use of organic materials in these devices. While significant improvements have been made to improve their electronic properties there are several road blocks towards commercial application. One of the significant obstacles is the poor charge carrier mobility associated with organic semiconductors processed by well established printing methods. The goal of my research project is to improve the charge carrier mobility of solution cast films of acene semiconductors by partial halogenation and heteroatom substitution. Spin coated films of triisopropylsilylethynylated difluoropentacene exhibited higher hole mobility compared to TIPS pentacene due to contact induced nucleation of pentacene on perfluorobenzenethiol treated gold electrodes. The success of this project allowed me to further investigate the effect of degree of fluorination on the electronic properties of pentacene. A series of trialkylsilylethynylated tetrafluoro and octafluoropentacenes were synthesized and their performances in thin film transistors and solar cells were explored. Solar cells made from these materials using poly(3-hexylthiophene) as donor exhibited poor open circuit voltages (Voc) resulting in low power conversion efficiency (PCE). Better device performances were achieved using pentacenes having single halogen substituent. In order to improve the charge carrier mobility in TFTs soluble trialkylsilylethynylated hexacenes were explored. However these molecules exhibited a greater tendency to photo-dimerize in solution and solid state. Partial halogenation was used as a tool to improve the solution stability of reactive hexacene. The improved solution stability of partially halogenated hexacenes allowed me to successfully extend this approach to heptacene and nonacene. Finally a series of new trialkylsilylethynylated anthradiselenophenes were synthesized to improve molecular ordering in the solid state by increasing non-bonding Se – Se interaction. However single crystal x-ray diffraction studies revealed no such interaction between the acene chromophore resulting in poor device performance.

A study is carried out into fracture behavior of steel/steel laminates both experimentally and through finite element analysis (FEM). The laminates produced by hot pressing consisted of low carbon and medium carbon steels with two volume fractions / 0.41 and 0.81. Fracture toughness, JIC has been measured using partial unloading technique assuming a critical value of crack extension. The technique is initially applied to monolithic material and then to the laminates in crack divider orientation. Evaluation of fracture toughness of laminates indicates that there is a substantial improvement of JIC with increase in the volume fraction. The systems under study were also evaluated by FEM modeling with the use MARC package program. To evaluate JIC, the problem has been evaluated in several steps / first two-dimensional plane strain problem is considered. This is followed by three-dimensional case and then by an artificially layered system, all for monolithic materials. Values of JIC derived were close to one another in all cases. Following this verification, the method, as implemented in layered monolithic system, was applied to laminates. This has shown that JIC of laminates can be predicted using FEM analysis, including the delamination. Values of JIC varied in the same manner as the experiment verifying that fracture toughness in the current system increases with increase in volume fraction. It has been concluded that modeling as implemented in this work can be used for useful composite systems incorporating hard/brittle reinforcements both in crack divider and crack arrester orientation.

The thesis consist of three independent parts. In the first part, we investigate the height sequence of an element of a partially ordered set. Let $x$ be an element of the partially ordered set $P$. Then $h_i(x)$ is the number of linear extensions of $P$ in which $x$ is in the $i$th lowest position. The sequence ${h_i(x)}$ is called the height sequence of $x$ in $P$. Stanley proved in 1981 that the height sequence is log-concave, but no combinatorial proof has been found, and Stanley's proof does not reveal anything about the deeper structure of the height sequence. In this part of the thesis, we provide a combinatorial proof of a special case of Stanley's theorem. The proof of the inequality uses the Ahlswede--Daykin Four Functions Theorem. In the second part, we study two classes of segment orders introduced by Shahrokhi. Both classes are natural generalizations of interval containment orders and interval orders. We prove several properties of the classes, and inspired by the observation, that the classes seem to be very similar, we attempt to find out if they actually contain the same partially ordered sets. We prove that the question is equivalent to a stretchability question involving certain sets of pseudoline arrangements. We also prove several facts about continuous universal functions that would transfer segment orders of the first kind into segments orders of the second kind. In the third part, we consider the lattice whose elements are the subsets of ${1,2,ldots,n}$. Trotter and Felsner asked whether this subset lattice always contains a monotone Hamiltonian path. We make progress toward answering this question by constructing a path for all $n$ that satisfies the monotone properties and covers every set of size at most $3$. This portion of thesis represents joint work with David M.~Howard.

In this thesis, I have developed a range of theoretical and numerical techniques for modelling the behaviour of partially coherent optical systems and multi-mode detectors. The numerical simulations were carried out for the ultra-low-noise Transition Edge Sensors (TESs) being proposed for use on the SAFARI instrument on the cooled aperture infrared space telescope SPICA (34 - 210 μm). The optical behaviour of the SAFARI system is described in terms of the optical modes of the telescope, as distinct from the optical modes of the detector. The performance of the TESs were assessed in terms of signal power, background power and photon noise. To establish a method for precisely characterising and calibrating ultra-low-noise TESs, a cryogenic test system was designed and engineered to measure the optical efficiencies of the SAFARI TESs. The multi-mode, partially coherent illumination conditions of the measurement system were engineered to be precisely the same as those of the telescope. A major difference between the test system and the telescope’s optics is that the telescope will have focusing elements, but the test system was designed to avoid focusing elements in order to keep the optical path as clean as possible. The theoretical formalism and numerical models were adapted accordingly to address this difference. The numerical simulations show that the test system could provide near identical optical performance as that of the telescope system even though the focusing elements were absent. I also performed experimental measurements to investigate the optical efficiencies of the multi-mode TESs. The detectors worked exceedingly well in all respects with satisfactory optical efficiencies. In addition, it has been shown that the optical model provides a good description of the optical behaviour of the test system and detectors. Further modal analysis was developed to study losses in the multi-mode horns. The optical behaviour of the waveguide-mounted thin absorbing films in the far-infrared was modelled using a mode-matching method.

Neste trabalho nós estudamos os expoentes de Lyapunov de aplicações f : Td → Td homotópicas a uma aplicação Anosov linear e a continuidade absoluta de folheações. Nós mostramos para algumas classes de homotopia de aplicações que a soma dos expoentes de Lyapunov está limitado pela soma dos expoentes de Lyapunov da aplicação Anosov linear. Além disso, admitindo uma propriedade conhecida como densidade uniformemente limitada (UBD) nas folheações, mostramos uma igualdade entre a soma dos expoentes de Lyapunov de f e do Anosov linear. Também construímos um conjunto C1 aberto de difeomorfismos parcialmente hiperbólicos do toro T4, preservando volume, com folheação central bidimensional não compacta e não absolutamente contínua. Ainda construímos um exemplo parcialmente hiperbólico com folhas centrais bidimensionais, não compactas onde a desintegração do volume ao longo da folheação central não é nem Lebesgue nem atômica. / In this work we study the Lyapunov exponents of maps f : Td → Td homotopic to a linear Anosov map. We proof for some homotopic classes of maps which the sum of Lyapunov exponents is bounded by the sum of the Lyapunov exponents of the linear Anosov map. Moreover, by assuming a property known as uniformly bounded density (UBD) in the foliations, we show an equality between the sum of the Lyapunov exponents of f and the linear Anosov. We also construct an C1 open set of volume preserving partially hyperbolic diffeomorphisms with non compact two dimensional center foliation and non absolutely continuous. We still build an example of partially hyperbolic diffeomorphism with non compact bidimensional center leaves where the disintegration of volume along the center foliation is neither Lebesgue nor atomic.

Nesta tese, exploramos tomada de decisão com preferências parcialmente ordenadas: dadas duas ações, o indivíduo pode preferir uma ação a outra, julgá-las equivalentes, ou julgá-las incomparáveis. Tais preferências são originárias da incerteza sobre determinados estados do modelo de decisão e são reveladas pela imprecisão nos valores de probabilidade. Investigamos seis critérios de escolha de estratégias em problemas de decisão seqüenciais, representados por árvores de decisão e diagramas de influência, com probabilidades imprecisas: T-maximin, T-maximax, T-maximix, Dominação por Intervalos, Maximalidade e E-admissibilidade. Apresentamos novos algoritmos que geram estratégias para todos estes critérios. As principais contribuições deste trabalho estão na implementação dos algoritmos e na análise, sob o ponto de vista computacional, dos diversos critérios considerados como racionais em situações de incerteza representada por conjuntos de probabilidades. / In this thesis we explore situations where preferences are partially ordered: given two acts, the agent may prefer one to another, or nd them to be equivalent, or nd them to be incomparable. Such preferences stem from the uncertainty associated to some states of the decisions model and are revealed by imprecision in probability values. We investigate six criteria for strategy selection in decision trees and inuence diagrams with imprecise probabilities: -maximin, -maximax, -maximix, Interval Dominance, Maximality and E-admissibility. We present new algorithms that generate strategies for all these criteria. The main contributions of this work are twofold: the implementation of these algorithms and the analysis, under the computational point of view, of the criteria considered ratio- nal in uncertain situations represented by set of probabilities.

The widespread use of composite indices has often been motivated by their practicality to quantify qualitative data in an easy and intuitive way. At the same time, this approach has been challenged due to the subjective and partly ad hoc nature of computation, aggregation and weighting techniques as well as the handling of missing data. Partially ordered set (POSET) theory offers an alternative approach for summarizing qualitative data in terms of quantitative indices, which relies on a computation scheme that fully exploits the available information and does not require the subjective assignment of weights. The present paper makes the case for an increased use of POSET theory in the social sciences and provides a comparison of POSET indices and composite indices (from previous studies) measuring the 'stringency' of fiscal frameworks using data from the OECD Budget Practices and Procedures survey (2007/08). (authors' abstract) / Series: Department of Economics Working Paper Series

In this thesis we study the following dimensional parameters : boxicity, cubicity, threshold dimension and poset dimension. While the first three parameters are defined on graphs, poset dimension is defined on partially ordered sets (or posets). We only consider finite graphs and posets. In addition, we assume that the graphs are simple and undirected. Boxicity and Cubicity: A k-box (k-cube) is a Cartesian product of closed intervals(unit-intervals) [a1,b1]x…x [ak,bk]. The boxicity (cubicity) of a graph G,box (G) (cub(G)) is the minimum integer k such that every vertex in G is mapped to a k-box(k-cube) in the k-dimensional Euclidean space and two boxes(cubes) intersect if and only if their corresponding vertices are adjacent in G. Boxicity and cubicity can be considered as extensions of the concept of interval graphs and unit-interval graphs respectively. Threshold Dimension: A graph G is a threshold graph if there is a real number p and a weight function w: V→ R such that for any two vertices u,,v ε V(G),{ u, v }is an edge if and only if w(u)+w(v) ≥ p. The threshold dimension of a graph G is the minimum integer k such that there exist k threshold graphs Gi, i =1,2,...,k which satisfy E(G)= E(G1)U E(G2)U….UE(Gk). Poset Dimension: Let P = (S, P)be a poset where S is a finite non-empty set and P is a reflexive, anti-symmetric and transitive binary relation on S. P is a total order if every pair of elements in S is comparable in P. The dimension of P , denoted by dim(P )is the minimum integer k such that there exist k total orders on S, L1,...,Lk and for two distinct elements x,y ε S: x < y in P if and only if x < y in each Li,i ε ,{1. 2,...,k } All the four dimensional parameters that we have considered are very hard to compute. It is NP-complete to even determine if the boxicity of a graph is at most 2, if its cubicity is at most 3, if its threshold dimension is at most 3 and if the dimension of a poset is at most 3. Also it is hard to design an approximation algorithm within √n factor for computing the dimension of a poset. OurResults We state some of our main results: 1. Lower bounds for boxicity: We have developed two general methods based on certain vertex isoperimetric properties of graphs for deriving lower bounds. Application of these methods has led to some significant results. We mention a few of them here: ( a) Almost all graphs have boxicity Ω(n). (b) For a fixed k, boxicity of random k-regular graphs is Ω(k/log k). 2. Consider a poset P = (S,P) and let GP be its underlying comparability graph. We show that for any poset P, box(GP)/(χ(GP) - 1) ≤ dim(P) ≤ 2box (GP), where χ(GP) is the chromatic number of GP and χ(GP) = 1. Some important consequences of this result are: (a) It allows us to derive hitherto unknown upper bounds for poset dimension such as dim(P) ≤ 2tree-width (GP) + 4. (b) The boxicity of any graph with maximum degree Δ is O (Δlog2 Δ) which is an improvement over the best known upper bound of Δ2 +2. (c) There exist graphs with boxicity Ω(ΔlogΔ). This disproves a conjecture that the boxicity of a graph is O(Δ). (d)There exists no polynomial-time algorithm to approximate the boxicity of a bipartite graph on n vertices within a factor of O(n0.5−ε)for any ε > 0, unless NP = ZPP. 3.We show that every poset can be associated with a split graph such that the threshold dimension of the complement of the split graph is equal to the dimension of the poset. As a consequence we show that there exists no polynomial-time algorithm to approximate the threshold dimension of a split graph on n vertices with a factor of O(n0.5−ε)for any ε > 0, unless NP= ZPP. 4.We have given an upper bound for the cubicity of interval graphs. Claw number of a graph G, ψ(G) is the largest positive integer m such that K1,m is an induced subgraph of G. If G is an interval graph, we show that [log2 ψ(G)] ≤ cub(G) ≤ min([log2 α ], [log2 ψ(G)] +2), where α is the independence number of G. 5.We have improved upper bounds for the dimension of incidence posets and interval orders which are among the well-studied classes of posets.

La restauration statistique non-supervisée de signaux admet d'innombrables applications dans les domaines les plus divers comme économie, santé, traitement du signal, ... Un des problèmes de base, qui est au coeur de cette thèse, est d'estimer une séquence cachée (Xn)1:N à partir d'une séquence observée (Yn)1:N. Ces séquences sont considérées comme réalisations, respectivement, des processus (Xn)1:N et (Yn)1:N. Plusieurs techniques ont été développées pour résoudre ce problème. Le modèle parmi le plus répandu pour le traiter est le modèle dit "modèle de Markov caché" (MMC). Plusieurs extensions de ces modèles ont été proposées depuis 2000. Dans les modèles de Markov couples (MMCouples), le couple (X, Y) est markovien, ce qui implique que p(x|y) est également markovienne (alors que p(x) ne l'est plus nécessairement), ce qui permet les mêmes traitements que dans les MMC. Plus récemment (2002) les MMCouples ont été étendus aux "modèles de Markov triplet" (MMT), dans lesquels on introduit un processus auxiliaire U et suppose que le triplet T = (X, U, Y) est markovien. Là encore il est possible, dans un cadre plus général que celui des MMCouples, d'effectuer des traitements avec une complexité raisonnable. L'objectif de cette thèse est de proposer des nouvelles modélisations faisant partie des MMT et d'étudier leur pertinence et leur intérêt. Nous proposons deux types de nouveautés: (i) Lorsque la chaîne cachée est discrète et lorsque le couple (X, Y) n'est pas stationnaire, avec un nombre fini de "sauts" aléatoires dans les paramètres, l'utilisation récente des MMT dans lesquels les sauts sont modélisés par un processus discret U a donné des résultats très convaincants (Lanchantin, 2006). Notre première idée est d'utiliser cette démarche avec un processus U continu, qui modéliserait des non-stationnarités "continues" de(X, Y). Nous proposons des chaînes et des champs triplets et présentons quelques expériences. Les résultats obtenus dans la modélisation de la non-stationnarité continue semblent moins intéressants que dans le cas discret. Cependant, les nouveaux modèles peuvent présenter d'autres intérêts; en particulier, ils semblent plus efficaces que les modèles "chaînes de Markov cachées" classiques lorsque le bruit est corrélé; (ii) Soit un MMT T = (X, U, Y) tel que X et Y sont continu et U est discret fini. Nous sommes en présence du problème de filtrage, ou du lissage, avec des sauts aléatoires. Dans les modélisations classiques le couple caché (X, U) est markovien mais le couple (U, Y) ne l'est pas, ce qui est à l'origine de l'impossibilité des calculs exacts avec une complexité linéaire en temps. Il est alors nécessaire de faire appel à diverses méthodes approximatives, dont celles utilisant le filtrage particulaire sont parmi les plus utilisées. Dans des modèles MMT récents le couple caché (X, U) n'est pas nécessairement markovien, mais le couple (U, Y) l'est, ce qui permet des traitements exacts avec une complexité raisonnable (Pieczynski 2009). Notre deuxième idée est d'étendre ces derniers modèles aux triplets T = (X, U, Y) dans lesquels les couples (U, Y) sont "partiellement" de Markov. Un tel couple (U, Y) n'est pas de Markov mais U est de Markov conditionnellement àY. Nous obtenons un modèle T = (X, U, Y) plus général, qui n'est plus de Markov, dans lequel le filtrage et le lissage exacts sont possibles avec une complexité linéaire en temps. Quelques premières simulations montrent l'intérêt des nouvelles modélisations en lissage en présence des sauts. / Statistical unsupervised restoration of signal can be applied in many fields such as economy, health, signal processing, meteorology, finance, biology, reliability, transportation, environment, ... the main problem treated in this thesis is to estimate a hidden sequence (Xn)1:N based on an observed sequence (Yn)1:N. In Probabilistic treatment of the problem in these sequences are considered as accomplishments of respectively, process (Xn)1:N and (Yn)1:N. Several techniques based on statistical methods have been developed to solve this problem. The most common model known for this kind of problems is the “hidden Markov model”. In this model we assume that the hidden process X is Markovian and laws p(y|x) of Y are conditional on X are sufficiently simple so that the law p(x|y) is also Markovian, this property is necessary for treatment. Many Extensions of these models have been proposed since 2000. In Markov models couples (MMCouples), more general than the MMC, the pair (X,Y) is Markovian), implying that p(x|y) is also Markovian (when p(x) is not necessarily markovian), which allows the same treatment as in MMC. More recently (2002), were extended to MMCouples are extended to Markov models Triplet (MMT), in which we introduce an auxiliary process U and suppose that the triple T=(X,U,Y) is Markovian. It’s again possible, in a general case of MMCouples, to perform treatments with a reasonable complexity. The objective of this thesis is to propose new modeling of MMT and to investigate their relevance and interest. We offer two types of innovations: (i) When the hidden system is discrete and when the couple (X,Y) is not stationary with a finite number of random “jumps” in parameters, the recent use of MMT where the jumps are modelized by a discrete process U has been very convincing (Lanchantin, 2006). Our first idea is to use this approach with a continuous process U, which models non-steady "continuous" of (X,Y). We propose chains and triplet fields and present some experiments. The results obtained in the modeling of non-stationarity still seem less interesting that in the discrete case. However, new models may have other interests, in particular, they seem more efficient than “classic hidden Markov” when the noise is correlated; (ii) Considering an MMT T=(X,U,Y) such that X and Y are continuous and U is discrete finite. We are dealing with a problem of filtering, or smoothing, with random jumps. In classic modelling the hidden pair (X,U) is Markovian, but the pair (U,Y) is not, what is the cause of the impossibility of Exact calculations with time linear complexity. It is then necessary to use various approximate methods, including methods using particle filtering which are the most common. In recent models MMT the hidden pair (X,U) is not necessarily Markovian, but the pair (U,Y) is Markovian, which allows accurate treatment with a reasonable complexity (Pieczynski 2009). Our second idea is to extend these models to triplets T=(X,U,Y) where the pairs (U,Y) are "partially" Markovian. Such a pair (U,Y) is not Markovian but U is conditionally Markovian on Y. We have in result a model with general model T=(X,U,Y) , which is no more Markovian, wherein the filtering and smoothing are accurate possible with time linear complexity. Some preliminary Simulations show the importance of new smoothing models with of jumps.

The dissertation is aimed at methods for simultaneous processing of various type sensor data into a virtual map. Conceptually the development was focused on algorithms for simultaneous localization and mapping. In theoretical part has the problem been addressed by the probabilistic approach. The practical part deals with a new approach called as partially collective mapping whose application leads to creation map in form of a set of simple geometrical entities which represents in piecewise manner a border between obstacles and free space.