Maxwell's role in turning the concept of model into the methodology of modeling

This is a contribution towards a history and philosophy of modeling in its early stages in electromagnetism. In 1873, James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879) hinted at the methodology of modeling at the end of his Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism. We focus on Maxwell's impact on physicists who immediately followed him, specifically Oliver Lodge (1851–1940) and George Francis FitzGerald (1851–1901). We begin with the role that the scientific concept of model played in the late nineteenth century, as assessed by Ludwig Boltzmann (1844–1906). We then discuss the role of hypothesis as a methodology, the appeal to (dynamical) illustration, and the way Maxwell applied model and working model in his studies of electromagnetism. We show that for Maxwell these key terms were kept distinct, but Lodge did not maintain these distinctions and, in this regard, FitzGerald followed Lodge. Notwithstanding Lodge's influence, Fitzgerald modified Maxwell's theory based on the mechanical model he designed, thereby implicitly taking the first step towards modeling. This methodology consists in drawing consequences from the (mechanical) model to the (electrodynamic) theory and modifying the latter in light of the functioning of the former. At the core of our argument is the thesis that it was a methodological novelty to move from the concept of model to the methodology of modeling. The introduction of modeling as a new methodology into physics in the late nineteenth century was a major event which deserves proper recognition.     

谈“十四五”生态保护与绿色发展的生态关系

 从“十四五”保护与发展的生态关系角度，探讨了生态保护与绿色发展的十大生态关系，阐述了生态保护和绿色发展中的一系列有关生态关系的生态智慧及生态技术，并对长江、黄河等流域的生态保护和修复提出了相关建议。     

The Dynamics Characteristics of Flexible Spacecraft and its Closed-Loop Stability with Passive Control

Passive control is the most popular methodology for flexible spacecraft while it remains an open problem whether the closed-loop performance can be achieved only with passive control subject to the coupling modes of rigid and flexibility. Also, the closed-loop performance of passive PD control based on the dynamics of the Euler angle parameterization of spacecraft, which has been widely used in practice, is yet to be addressed. Towards these challenges, by introducing the input-output exact linearization theory and Lyapunov theory, the authors show that the closed-loop performance for flexible spacecraft with rigid and flexible modes can be achieved by adjusting the parameters of the passive controllers sufficiently large. This is done by firstly transforming the flexible spacecraft dynamics into an exact feedback linearization standard form, and then analyzing the closed-loop performance of flexible spacecraft.     

基于知识图谱的核电设备健康管理知识建模与分析

随着信息技术发展,设备健康数据与知识图谱技术结合为设备健康发展带来新的发展机遇,知识图谱利用其多种特异性优势,使企业系统中积累的海量设备维修数据得到有效整合利用.本文提出基于知识图谱的核电设备健康管理知识建模与分析方法,并根据实体关系模型构建维修知识图谱本体框架,同时基于核电企业实际的维修工单数据,从统计分析和关联分析两方面取得良好的实践效果.研究结果表明,知识图谱能够在设备维修知识的集成上解决传统的数据孤岛问题,同时能基于故障的可视化分析为维修人员和管理人员提供决策和知识支持.     

A new twist to the No Miracles Argument for the success of science

J. D. Trout has recently developed a new defense of scientific realism, a new version of the No Miracles Argument. I critically evaluate Trout's novel defense of realism. I argue that Trout's argument for scientific realism and the related explanation for the success of science are self-defeating. In the process of arguing against the traditional realist strategies for explaining the success of science, he inadvertently undermines his own argument.     

Little-known and phylogenetically obscure South African estuarine microgastropods (Mollusca: Truncatelloidea) as living animals

Areas of the Knysna estuarine bay in the Western Cape are dominated by three endemic South African truncatelloid microgastropods, temporarily known as ‘Hydrobia’ knysnaensis (Krauss), ‘Assiminea’ capensis (Sowerby) and ‘Assiminea’ globulus Connolly. Although first described 80–170 years ago and present in abundance (up to 100,000 m^?2), they remain surrounded by confusion and still await taxonomic assignment, largely because they appear most atypical members of their groups by virtue of anatomy and/or biogeography and/or habitat. This study contributes in-life perspectives to morphological and phylogenetic analyses known to be on-going. At Knysna, they are syntopic: at least two occurring in >85% and all three in >40% of individual 0.0026 m² samples from their region of dominance. Nevertheless, they tend to greater abundance in divergent microhabitats; ‘A.’ globulus dominating higher tidal levels, and ‘A.’ capensis and ‘Hydrobia’ lower ones; the former especially unvegetated sediment, the latter, if anything, seagrass. Interspecific feeding interactions appear unlikely to be responsible for these patterns, other evidence suggesting that all are maintained below carrying capacity. Field biology of ‘H.’ knysnaensis generally appears equivalent to that of northern-hemisphere intertidal hydrobiids and that of ‘A.’ globulus is typically assimineid, albeit at atypically low shore height. Unlike assimineids, however, ‘A.’ capensis is truly aquatic. The success of these truncatelloids in unusual circumstances may be consequent on the absence from South Africa of other microgastropod groups that fill their niches elsewhere in the southern hemisphere.     

Constructing and evaluating core inflation measures from component‐level inflation data

This paper undertakes a comprehensive examination of 10 measures of core inflation and evaluates which measure produces the best forecast of headline inflation out‐of‐sample. We use the Personal Consumption Expenditure Price Index as our measure of inflation. We use two sets of components (17 and 50) of the Personal Consumption Expenditure Price Index to construct these core inflation measures and evaluate these measures at the three time horizons (6, 12 and 24 months) most relevant for monetary policy decisions. The best measure of core inflation for both sets of components and over all time horizons uses weights based on the first principal component of the disaggregated (component‐level) prices. Interestingly, the results vary by the number of components used; when more components are used the weights based on the persistence of each component is statistically equivalent to the weights generated by the first principal component. However, those forecasts using the persistence of 50 components are statistically worse than those generated using the first principal component of 17 components. The statistical superiority of the principal component method is due to the fact that it extracts (in the first principal component) the common source of variation in the component level prices that accurately describes trend inflation over the next 6–24 months.     

Variations on a theme: Clifford’s parallelism in elliptic space

In 1873, W. K. Clifford introduced a notion of parallelism in the three-dimensional elliptic space that, quite surprisingly, exhibits almost all properties of Euclidean parallelism in ordinary space. The purpose of this paper is to describe the genesis of this notion in Clifford’s works and to provide a historical analysis of its reception in the investigations of F. Klein, L. Bianchi, G. Fubini, and E. Bortolotti. Special emphasis is placed upon the important role that Clifford’s parallelism played in the development of the theory of connections.     

Optimal investment problem for an insurer and a reinsurer

This paper studies the optimal investment problem for an insurer and a reinsurer. The basic claim process is assumed to follow a Brownian motion with drift and the insurer can purchase proportional reinsurance from the reinsurer. The insurer and the reinsurer are allowed to invest in a risk-free asset and a risky asset. Moreover, the authors consider the correlation between the claim process and the price process of the risky asset. The authors ?rst study the optimization problem of maximizing the expected exponential utility of terminal wealth for the insurer. Then with the optimal reinsurance strategy chosen by the insurer, the authors consider two optimization problems for the reinsurer: The problem of maximizing the expected exponential utility of terminal wealth and the problem of minimizing the ruin probability. By solving the corresponding Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equations, the authors derive the optimal reinsurance and investment strategies, explicitly. Finally, the authors illustrate the equality of the reinsurer's optimal investment strategies under the two cases.