Optimization is important in physical and engineering sciences for the problems such as Lagrangian formalism in mechanics, finding the optimal electron density in quantum chemistry, designing minimum-cost networks in computer science. Searching for global minima by overcoming local minima is a fundamental issue in optimization. This dissertation develops adaptive annealing methods which are phy...

The second virial coefficients are given as a spherical-core contribution plus a series of nonspherical perturbation terms. A revised analysis is given of the effect of long-range nonspherical terms in the intermolecular potential on the second virial coefficient given by a preferred HFDIDl spherical core treatment of the integration for small intermolecular distances. This effect is consid...

This paper presents investigations of two special cases of dynamic valve analysis. These special cases arose in the development of a new type of gas field reciprocating compressor. These special cases were for a moving frame of reference (since the discharge valves were integral with the piston) , and for independent mass damping {sealing/damping elements are modelled separately instead of as "...

In order to simulate the Stirling engine more easily, the stiffness and damping ratio of the crankshaft bearing are assumed to be steady-state in the research before, but this assumption is contrary to the real condition. Therefore, in this paper, a time-varying stiffness and damping ratio of the crankshaft bearing simulation method has been proposed. Compared with the simulation results of the...

The Ekman layer problem in a neutron star crust-core boundary is studied, taking into account possible slippage between the core flow (modelled as a single r-mode oscillation) and the crust, and allowing for a background magnetic field. With the help of a simple toy problem we derive basic estimates for the layer thickness and damping timescales, and show that the slippage enters linearly (inst...

Power system stability enhancement via a power system stabilizer (PSS) and FACTS-based stabilizers is thoroughly investigated in this paper. The design problem of PSS and different FACTS controllers is formulated as an optimization problem. An eigenvalue-based objective function to increase the system damping and improve the system response is proposed. Then, a real-coded genetic algorithm (RCG...