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.     

A neural network versus Black–Scholes: a comparison of pricing and hedging performances

An Erratum has been published for this article in Journal of Forecasting 22(6‐7) 2003, 551 The Black–Scholes formula is a well‐known model for pricing and hedging derivative securities. It relies, however, on several highly questionable assumptions. This paper examines whether a neural network (MLP) can be used to find a call option pricing formula better corresponding to market prices and the properties of the underlying asset than the Black–Scholes formula. The neural network method is applied to the out‐of‐sample pricing and delta‐hedging of daily Swedish stock index call options from 1997 to 1999. The relevance of a hedge‐analysis is stressed further in this paper. As benchmarks, the Black–Scholes model with historical and implied volatility estimates are used. Comparisons reveal that the neural network models outperform the benchmarks both in pricing and hedging performances. A moving block bootstrap is used to test the statistical significance of the results. Although the neural networks are superior, the results are sometimes insignificant at the 5% level. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

转台轴线标定及综合标定矩阵的生成——用于三维计算机视觉系统

提出利用标定平面的两个角度可交出转台轴线,通过交出的轴线,标定出光-象平面轴线的关系,并给出测量点通过平移、旋转再进入标定矩阵的一个新的转换矩阵。     

对西方数学直观的评析

本文从数学方法论的角度,具体论述和评析了西方数学直观随数学发展的不同阶段所表现出的特点和演变方式。     

乒乓球运动中的力学分析

利用力学原理分析了乒乓球的运动方程与击球时作用力、球的速度和位置之间的关系．确定出任意条件下的球的落点．并给出了一些计算结果．     

一种信息审计系统中的多关键字匹配算法

针对审计系统中搜索大量审计数据的需要,设计了一种基于哈希表机制的多关键字匹配算法.该算法把关键字集合储存到哈希表中,并为关键字集合建立了两个过滤表和一个关键字长度类型表.在查找过程中,对未经过滤表验证的字符串不再进行匹配查找,同时,关键字长度类型表的使用减少了循环的次数.测试结果表明,该算法在速度和精度上都优于BM和mgrep算法.     

无机化学中共价键类型及其在元素周期表中变化规律

无机化学中常见共价键有双电子σ键(包括σ配键)、双电子π键、单电子键、三电子键、离域π键、多中心键、反馈π键(包括d-pπ键、d-dπ键和π←dπ键)等.不同化学键的形成,对物质性质有着重要影响.本文主要讨论无机化合物中常见共价键形成条件和特征,对物质性质影响及其在元素周期表中变化规律.     

过量降水对重要建筑物的影响

以变截面筒体高层建筑结构为例，讨论了过量降水对重要建筑物的影响．计算结果表明，过量降水引起的非均匀地基变形对高层建筑结构的顶端侧移、层间侧移、上部结构的翘曲位移、地基和基础结构底部应力的影响是非常显著的．     

PB在企业管理系统中与多种数据库的连接

分析了使用面向对象数据库软件Power Builder开发煤气公司一表一卡管理系统过程中，对SQL Server和Visual Foxpro两种不同数据库的连接，提出了解决新系统与旧系统的数据兼容问题。     

导弹发射决策专家系统推理机研究与实现

介绍了一种基于灵活、通用的知识表达方法的推理机。它将面向对象方法和问题求解的黑板模型有机结合 ,自带各种控制信息和适宜的不确定性推理算法 ,将知识库分层和模块化 ,极大地提高了推理效率。推理机根据监控信息 ,推理计算出导弹允许发射的合格置信度 ,已应用于导弹发射决策专家系统设计中。