Analytical Aspects of the Theory of Tikhonov Systems

It is proved that the solutions of Tikhonov systems, in addition to having the property of a limiting transition, are pseudoholomorphic under certain conditions additional to the conditions of A.N. Tikhonov’s theorem. At the same time, the number of fast and slow variables can be anything. Both initial and boundary value problems for systems of this type are considered.

How to Repurpose the University: A Resilience Lens on Sustainability Governance

Universities have an important role in moving society towards a more sustainable future. However, this will require us to repurpose universities, reorienting and refocusing the different university domains (education, research, campus, and outreach) towards sustainability. The governance structures and processes used to embed sustainability into the activities and operations of the institution are critical to achieving the required transformation. Our current university systems which are seen as contributing to socio-ecological system unsustainability are resilient to change due to slow variables such as organisational and sector-wide prevailing paradigms and culture. Therefore, to repurpose a university requires us to destabilise our prevailing system, crossing a threshold into a new stable system of a ‘sustainable university' across all its domains. This paper utilises an adaptation of Biggs et al. (2012) resilience principles for the governance of social-ecological systems to provide a framework to consider aspects of university governance for sustainability that can be utilised to repurpose universities towards sustainability, and destabilize unsustainable elements of the system. This paper draws out examples relating to sustainability governance within universities with regards to the four principles of (i) managing diversity and redundancy, (ii) managing connectivity, (iii) managing slow variables and feedbacks, and (iv) encouraging learning and experimentation within the context of complex adaptive systems. In this article, we have shown that using resilience in a non-normative way is possible (to decrease resilience of an unsustainable system), and that it can also be valuable to help understand how to shift organisational governance towards a particular end-state (in this case, university governance that advances sustainability). This paper provides an example of how to operationalise resilience principles of relevance to the resilience literature as well as providing a practical framework to guide higher education institution governance for sustainability.

Fast-slow Variable Dissection with Two Slow Variables Related to Calcium Concentrations: A Case Study to Bursting in a Neural Pacemaker Model

Neuronal bursting is an electrophysiological behavior participating in physiological or pathological functions and a complex nonlinear alternating between burst and quiescent state modulated by slow variables. Identification of dynamics of bursting modulated by two slow variables is still an open problem. In the present paper, a novel fast-slow variable dissection method with two slow variables is proposed to analyze the complex bursting in a 4-dimensional neuronal model to describe bursting associated with pathological pain. The lumenal (Clum) and intracellular (Cin) calcium concentrations are the slowest variables respectively in the quiescent state and burst duration. Questions encountered when the traditional method with one low variable is used. When Clum is taken as slow variable, the burst is successfully identified to terminate near the saddle-homoclinic bifurcation point of the fast subsystem and begin not from the saddle-node bifurcation. With Cin chosen as slow variable, Clum value of initiation point is far from the saddle-node bifurcation point, due to Clum not contained in the equation of membrane potential. To overcome this problem, both Cin and Clum are regarded as slow variables, the two-dimensional fast subsystem exhibits a saddle-node bifurcation point, which is extended to a saddle-node bifurcation curve by introducing Clum dimension. Then, the initial point of burst is successfully identified to be near the saddle-node bifurcation curve. The results present a feasible method for fast-slow variable dissection and deep understanding to the complex bursting behavior with two slow variables, which is helpful for the modulation to pathological pain.

Fast–Slow Variable Dissection with Two Slow Variables: A Case Study on Bifurcations Underlying Bursting for Seizure and Spreading Depression

The identification of nonlinear dynamics of bursting patterns related to multiple time scales and pathology of brain tissues is still an open problem. In the present paper, representative cases of bursting related to seizure (SZ) and spreading depression (SD) simulated in a theoretical model are analyzed. When the fast–slow variable dissection method with only one slow variable (extracellular potassium concentration, [Formula: see text]) taken as the bifurcation parameter of the fast subsystem is used, the mismatch between bifurcation points of the fast subsystem and the beginning and ending phases of burst appears. To overcome this problem, both slow variables [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] (intracellular sodium concentration) are regarded as bifurcation parameters of the fast subsystem, which exhibits three codimension-2 bifurcation points and multiple codimension-1 bifurcation curves containing the saddle-node bifurcation on an invariant cycle (SNIC), the supercritical Hopf bifurcation (the border between spiking and the depolarization block), and the saddle homoclinic (HC) bifurcation. The bursting patterns for SD are related to the Hopf bifurcation and the depolarization block while for SZ to SNIC. Furthermore, at the intersection points between the bursting trajectory and the bifurcation curves in plane ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]), the initial or termination phases of burst match the SNIC or HC point well or the Hopf point to a certain extent due to the slow passage effect, showing that the fast–slow variable dissection method with suitable process is still effective to analyze bursting activities. The results present the complex bifurcations underlying the bursting patterns and a proper performing process for the fast–slow variable dissection with two slow variables, which are helpful for modulation to bursting patterns related to brain disfunction.

Quasi-Steady-State and Partial-Equilibrium Approximations in Chemical Kinetics: One Stage Beyond the Elimination of a Fast Variable

<pre>Classical approximations in chemical kinetics, the quasi-steady-state approximation (QSSA) and the partial-equilibrium approximation (PEA), are used to reduce rate equations for the concentrations and the extents of the reaction steps, respectively. We make precise two conditions on the rate constants necessary and sufficient to eliminate a well-chosen variable in the vicinity of a steady state. The first condition expresses that dynamics admits a small characteristic time associated with a fast variable. The second condition ensures that the fast variable is a concentration for QSSA and an extent for PEA. Both approximations exploit the zeroth order of a singular perturbation method. Eliminating a fast variable does not mean that it has reached a steady state. The fast evolution is considered over and the slow evolution of the eliminated variable is governed by the slow variables. The evolution of the slow variables occurs on a slow manifold in the space of the concentrations or the extents. In some cases the dynamics of the slow variables can be associated with a reduced chemical scheme. QSSA and PEA are applied to three chemical schemes associated with linear and nonlinear dynamics. We find that QSSA cannot be identified with the elimination of a reactive intermediate. The nonlinearities of the rate equations induce a more complex behavior.</pre>

Quasi-Steady-State and Partial-Equilibrium Approximations in Chemical Kinetics: One Stage Beyond the Elimination of a Fast Variable

<pre>Classical approximations in chemical kinetics, the quasi-steady-state approximation (QSSA) and the partial-equilibrium approximation (PEA), are used to reduce rate equations for the concentrations and the extents of the reaction steps, respectively. We make precise two conditions on the rate constants necessary and sufficient to eliminate a well-chosen variable in the vicinity of a steady state. The first condition expresses that dynamics admits a small characteristic time associated with a fast variable. The second condition ensures that the fast variable is a concentration for QSSA and an extent for PEA. Both approximations exploit the zeroth order of a singular perturbation method. Eliminating a fast variable does not mean that it has reached a steady state. The fast evolution is considered over and the slow evolution of the eliminated variable is governed by the slow variables. The evolution of the slow variables occurs on a slow manifold in the space of the concentrations or the extents. In some cases the dynamics of the slow variables can be associated with a reduced chemical scheme. QSSA and PEA are applied to three chemical schemes associated with linear and nonlinear dynamics. We find that QSSA cannot be identified with the elimination of a reactive intermediate. The nonlinearities of the rate equations induce a more complex behavior.</pre>

Quasi-Steady-State and Partial-Equilibrium Approximations in Chemical Kinetics: One Stage Beyond the Elimination of a Fast Variable

<pre>Classical approximations in chemical kinetics, the quasi-steady-state approximation (QSSA) and the partial-equilibrium approximation (PEA), are used to reduce rate equations for the concentrations and the extents of the reaction steps, respectively. We make precise two conditions on the rate constants necessary and sufficient to eliminate a well-chosen variable in the vicinity of a steady state. The first condition expresses that dynamics admits a small characteristic time associated with a fast variable. The second condition ensures that the fast variable is a concentration for QSSA and an extent for PEA. Both approximations exploit the zeroth order of a singular perturbation method. Eliminating a fast variable does not mean that it has reached a steady state. The fast evolution is considered over and the slow evolution of the eliminated variable is governed by the slow variables. The evolution of the slow variables occurs on a slow manifold in the space of the concentrations or the extents. In some cases the dynamics of the slow variables can be associated with a reduced chemical scheme. QSSA and PEA are applied to three chemical schemes associated with linear and nonlinear dynamics. We find that QSSA cannot be identified with the elimination of a reactive intermediate. The nonlinearities of the rate equations induce a more complex behavior.</pre>

A Dynamical Study of Fusion Hindrance with Nakajima-Zwanzig Projection Method

A new framework is proposed for the study of collisions between very heavy ions which lead to the synthesis of Super-Heavy Elements (SHE), to address the fusion hindrance phenomenon. The dynamics of the reaction is studied in terms of collective degrees of freedom undergoing relaxation processes with different time scales. The Nakajima-Zwanzig projection operator method is employed to eliminate fast variable and derive a dynamical equation for the reduced system with only slow variables. There, the time evolution operator is renormalised and an inhomogeneous term appears, which represents a propagation of the given initial distribution. The term results in a slip to the initial values of the slow variables. We expect that gives a dynamical origin of the so-called “injection point s” introduced by Swiatecki et al in order to reproduce absolute values of measured cross sections for SHE. A formula for the slip is given in terms of physical parameters of the system, which confirms the results recently obtained with a Langevin equation, and permits us to compare various incident channels.

Regularized Asymptotic Solutions of Integro-Differential Equations with Fast and Slow Variables

The article considers a nonlinear integro-differential system of equations with fast and slow variables. Such systems were not considered previously from the point of view of constructing regularized (according to Lomov) asymptotic solutions. The known studies were mainly devoted to construction of the asymptotics of the Butuzov-Vasil'eva boundary layer type, which, as is known, can be applied only if the spectrum of the first variation matrix (on the degenerate solution) is located strictly in the open left-half plane of a complex variable. If the spectrum of this matrix falls on the imaginary axis, the S.A. Lomov regularization method is commonly used. However, this method was mainly developed for singularly perturbed differential systems that do not contain integral terms, or for integro-differential problems without slow variables. In this article, the regularization method is generalized for two-dimensional integro-differential equations with fast and slow variables.