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Traditional methods for solving the traveling salesman problem are not effective for high-dimensional problems due to their high computational complexity. One of the most effective ways to solve this problem is the decomposition approach, which includes three main stages: clustering vertices, solving subproblems within each cluster and then merging the obtained solutions into a final solution. This article focuses on the third stage — merging cycles of solving subproblems — since this stage is not always given sufficient attention, which leads to less accurate final solutions of the problem. The paper proposes a new modified Sigal algorithm for merging cycles. To evaluate its effectiveness, it is compared with two algorithms for merging cycles — the method of connecting midpoints of edges and an algorithm based on closeness of cluster centroids. The dependence of quality of solving subproblems on algorithms used for merging cycles is investigated. Sigal’s modified algorithm performs pairwise clustering and minimizes total distance. The centroid method focuses on connecting clusters based on closeness of centroids, and an algorithm using mid-points estimates the distance between mid-points of edges. Two types of clustering — k-means and affinity propagation — were also considered. Numerical experiments were performed using the TSPLIB dataset with different numbers of cities and topologies to test effectiveness of proposed algorithm. The study analyzes errors caused by the order in which clusters were merged, the quality of solving subtasks and number of clusters. Experiments show that the modified Sigal algorithm has the smallest median final distance and the most stable results compared to other methods. Results indicate that the quality of the final solution obtained using the modified Sigal algorithm is more stable depending on the sequence of merging clusters. Improving the quality of solving subproblems usually results in linear improvement of the final solution, but the pooling algorithm rarely affects the degree of this improvement.

This study investigates the influence of a time-periodic (modulation) magnetic field upon the development of ferroconvection in a densely packed medium saturated with couple stress ferromagnetic fluid. The Darcy model is used to describe the flow in porous medium. The research is important from practical and theoretical point of view. A time-periodic magnetic field is essential in circumscribing channels where the effect of gravity is less or nonexistent to generate circulation. There are numerous engineering uses for this in the manufacturing of magnetic field sensors, charged particle electrode materials, modulators, magnetic resonators, and optical devices. The resulting physical eigenvalue problem is dealt with by using isothermal boundary conditions and the regular perturbation technique with a small time-periodic amplitude. The onset criteria were defined on the supposition that the exchange of stability principle holds. The shift in the thermal Rayleigh number is dependent on the associated parameters: magnetic parameter, Vadasz number, couple stress parameter, porosity, and frequency of the time-periodic function. The results in this case indicate that the onset of ferroconvection can be enhanced or reduced by appropriate changes in the governing parameters.

Currently, earthquake-resistant design of buildings based on the power calculation and presentation of effect of the earthquake static equivalent forces, which are calculated using elastic response spectra (linear-spectral method) that connects the law of motion of the soil with the absolute acceleration of the model in a nonlinear oscillator.

This approach does not directly take into account either the influence of the duration of strong motion or the plastic behavior of the structure. Frequency content and duration of ground vibrations directly affect the energy received by the building and causing damage to its elements. Unlike power or kinematic calculation of the seismic effect on the structure can be interpreted without considering separately the forces and displacements and to provide, as the product of both variables, i.e., the work or input energy (maximum energy that can be purchased building to the earthquake).

With the energy approach of seismic design, it is necessary to evaluate the input seismic energy in the structure and its distribution among various structural components.

The article provides substantiation of the energy approach in the design of earthquake-resistant buildings and structures instead of the currently used method based on the power calculation and presentation of effect of the earthquake static equivalent forces, which are calculated using spectra of the reaction.

Noted that interest in the use of energy concepts in earthquake-resistant design began with the works of Housner, which provided the seismic force in the form of the input seismic energy, using the range of speeds, and suggested that the damage in elastic-plastic system and elastic system causes one and the same input seismic energy.

The indices of the determination of the input energy of the earthquake, proposed by various authors, are given in this paper. It is shown that modern approaches to ensuring seismic stability of structures, based on the representation of the earthquake effect as a static equivalent force, do not adequately describe the behavior of the system during an earthquake.

In this paper, based on quantitative estimates of seismic risk analyzes developed in the NRU MSUCE Standard Organization (STO) “Seismic resistance structures. The main design provisions”. In the developed document a step forward with respect to the optimal design of earthquake-resistant structures.

The proposed concept of using the achievements of modern methods of calculation of buildings and structures on seismic effects, which are harmonized with the Eurocodes and are not contrary to the system of national regulations.

The study presented in the paper is devoted to the problem of finite graph exploration using a collective of agents. Finite non-oriented graphs without loops and multiple edges are considered in this paper. The collective of agents consists of two agents-researchers, who have a finite memory independent of the number of nodes of the graph studied by them and use two colors each (three colors are used in the aggregate) and one agentexperimental, who has a finite, unlimitedly growing internal memory. Agents-researches can simultaneously traverse the graph, read and change labels of graph elements, and also transmit the necessary information to a third agent — the agent-experimenter. An agent-experimenter is a non-moving agent in whose memory the result of the functioning of agents-researchers at each step is recorded and, also, a representation of the investigated graph (initially unknown to agents) is gradually built up with a list of edges and a list of nodes.

The work includes detail describes of the operating modes of agents-researchers with an indication of the priority of their activation. The commands exchanged between agents-researchers and an agent-experimenter during the execution of procedures are considered. Problematic situations arising in the work of agentsresearchers are also studied in detail, for example, staining a white vertex, when two agents simultaneously fall into the same node, or marking and examining the isthmus (edges connecting subgraphs examined by different agents-researchers), etc. The full algorithm of the agent-experimenter is presented with a detailed description of the processing of messages received from agents-researchers, on the basis of which a representation of the studied graph is built. In addition, a complete analysis of the time, space, and communication complexities of the constructed algorithm was performed.

The presented graph exploration algorithm has a quadratic (with respect to the number of nodes of the studied graph) time complexity, quadratic space complexity, and quadratic communication complexity. The graph exploration algorithm is based on the depth-first traversal method.

The general formalization of visualization models in cellular automata (CA) scope is presented, their classification is examined. It also describes possible approaches to the sound scales generation. We consider special cases of visualization manners for CA of various dimensions. By a simple 3D CA example the features of nanoscale systems imaging are indicated.

In the paper the statistical relationships between the size and production characteristics of phytoplankton and zooplankton of the Vistula and Curonian lagoons, the Baltic Sea, were investigated. Research phytoplankton and zooplankton within the Russian part of the area of the Vistula and the Curonian lagoon was carried out on the monthly basis (from April to November) within the framework of long-term monitoring program on evaluating of ecological status of the lagoons. The size structure of plankton is the basis for understanding of the development of production processes, mechanisms of formation of the plankton species diversity and functioning of the lagoon ecosystems. As results of the work it was found that the maximum rate of photosynthesis and the integral value of the primary production with a change in cell volume of phytoplankton are changed according to a power law. The result shows that the smaller the size of algal cells in phytoplankton communities the more actively occur metabolism and the more effective they assimilate the solar energy. It is shown that the formation of plankton species diversity in ecosystems of lagoons is closely linked with the size structure of plankton communities and with features of development of the production processes. It is proposed the structure of a spatially homogenous mathematical model of the plankton food chain for the lagoon ecosystems taking into account the size spectrum and the characteristics of phytoplankton and zooplankton. The model parameters are the sizedependent indicators allometrically linked with average volumes of cells and organisms in different ranges of their sizes. In the model the algorithm for changes over time the coefficients of food preferences in the diet of zooplankton was proposed. Developed the size-dependent mathematical model of aquatic ecosystems allows to consider the impact of turbulent exchange on the size structure and temporal dynamics of the plankton food chain of the Vistula and Curonian lagoons. The model can be used to study the different regimes of dynamic behavior of plankton systems depending on the changes in the values of its parameters and external influences, as well as to quantify the redistribution of matter flows in ecosystems of the lagoons.

The paper presents the physical and mathematical formulation of the problems of internal ballistics of an artillery shot for a charge consisting of a set of powder tubes and their stress-strain state. Combustion and movement of a bundle of powder tubes along the barrel channel is modeled by an equivalent tubular charge of all-round combustion. It is assumed that the equivalent tube moves along the axis of the bore. The speed of movement of an equivalent tubular charge and its current position are determined from Newton’s second law. When calculating the flow parameters, two-dimensional axisymmetric equations of gas dynamics were used, for the solution of which an axisymmetric orthogonalized difference grid is constructed, which adapts to the flow conditions. The control volume method is used to numerically solve the system of gas-dynamic equations. The gas parameters at the boundaries of the control volumes are determined using a self-similar solution to the Godunov’s problem of the decay of an arbitrary discontinuity. The stress-strain state is modeled for a separate burning powder tube located in the field of gas-dynamic parameters. The calculation of the gas-dynamic parameters of the shot is carried out without taking into account the deformed state of the powder elements. The behavior of powder elements during firing is considered under these conditions. The finite element method with the division of the calculation area into triangular elements is used to solve the problem of elasticity. In the process of powder tube burnout, the computational grid on each time layer of the dynamic problem is completely updated due to a change in the boundaries of the powder element due to combustion. The paper shows the time dependences of the parameters of the internal ballistics process and the stress-strain state of powder elements, as well as the distribution of the main parameters of the flow of combustion products at different points in time. It has been established that the tubular powder elements during the shot experience significant deformations, which must be taken into account when solving the basic problem of internal ballistics. The data obtained give an idea of the level of equivalent stresses acting at various points of the powder element. The results obtained indicate the relevance of the conjugate formulation of the problem of gas dynamics and the stress-strain state for charges consisting of tubular powders, since this allows a new approach to the design of tubular charges and opens up the possibility of determining the parameters on which the physics of the combustion process of gunpowder significantly depends, therefore, and the dynamics of the shot process.

The work investigates the process of self-consistent relaxation of the region of disturbances created in a rarefied binary low-temperature plasma by a stationary charged ball or cylinder with an absorbing surface. A feature of such problems is their self-consistent kinetic nature, in which it is impossible to separate the processes of transfer in phase space and the formation of an electromagnetic field. A mathematical model is presented that makes it possible to describe and analyze the state of the gas, electric and thermal fields in the vicinity of the body. The multidimensionality of the kinetic formulation creates certain problems in the numerical solution, therefore a curvilinear system of nonholonomic coordinates was selected for the problem, which minimizes its phase space, which contributes to increasing the efficiency of numerical methods. For such coordinates, the form of the Vlasov kinetic equation has been justified and analyzed. To solve it, a variant of the large particle method with a constant form factor was used. The calculations used a moving grid that tracks the displacement of the distribution function carrier in the phase space, which further reduced the volume of the controlled region of the phase space. Key details of the model and numerical method are revealed. The model and the method are implemented as code in the Matlab language. Using the example of solving a problem for a ball, the presence of significant disequilibrium and anisotropy in the particle velocity distribution in the disturbed zone is shown. Based on the calculation results, pictures of the evolution of the structure of the particle distribution function, profiles of the main macroscopic characteristics of the gas — concentration, current, temperature and heat flow, and characteristics of the electric field in the disturbed region are presented. The mechanism of heating of attracted particles in the disturbed zone is established and some important features of the process of formation of heat flow are shown. The results obtained are well explainable from a physical point of view, which confirms the adequacy of the model and the correct operation of the software tool. The creation and testing of a basis for the development in the future of tools for solving more complex problems of modeling the behavior of ionized gases near charged bodies is noted.

The work will be useful to specialists in the field of mathematical modeling, heat and mass transfer processes, lowtemperature plasma physics, postgraduate students and senior students specializing in the indicated areas.

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of rigid water model TIP4P-EW at ambient conditions were carried out. Delaunay’s simplexes were considered as structural elements of liquid water. Topological criterion which allows to identify the water microstructure in snapshot of MD cell was used to allocate its dense part. Geometrical analysis of water Delaunay’s simplexes indicates their strong flatness in comparison with a regular tetrahedron that is fundamentally different from the results for dense part of simple liquids. The statistics of TIP4P-EW water clusters was investigated depending on their cardinality and connectivity. It is similar to the statistics for simple liquids and the structure of this dense part is also a fractal surface consisting of the free edges of the Delaunay’s simplexes.

Dynamic game theoretic models of the corporative innovative development are investigated. The proposed models are based on concordance of private and public interests of agents. It is supposed that the structure of interests of each agent includes both private (personal interests) and public (interests of the whole company connected with its innovative development first) components. The agents allocate their personal resources between these two directions. The system dynamics is described by a difference (not differential) equation. The proposed model of innovative development is studied by simulation and the method of enumeration of the domains of feasible controls with a constant step. The main contribution of the paper consists in comparative analysis of efficiency of the methods of hierarchical control (compulsion or impulsion) for information structures of Stackelberg or Germeier (four structures) by means of the indices of system compatibility. The proposed model is a universal one and can be used for a scientifically grounded support of the programs of innovative development of any economic firm. The features of a specific company are considered in the process of model identification (a determination of the specific classes of model functions and numerical values of its parameters) which forms a separate complex problem and requires an analysis of the statistical data and expert estimations. The following assumptions about information rules of the hierarchical game are accepted: all players use open-loop strategies; the leader chooses and reports to the followers some values of administrative (compulsion) or economic (impulsion) control variables which can be only functions of time (Stackelberg games) or depend also on the followers’ controls (Germeier games); given the leader’s strategies all followers simultaneously and independently choose their strategies that gives a Nash equilibrium in the followers’ game. For a finite number of iterations the proposed algorithm of simulation modeling allows to build an approximate solution of the model or to conclude that it doesn’t exist. A reliability and efficiency of the proposed algorithm follow from the properties of the scenario method and the method of a direct ordered enumeration with a constant step. Some comprehensive conclusions about the comparative efficiency of methods of hierarchical control of innovations are received.