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The article considers minimization of the expectation of convex function. Problems of this type often arise in machine learning and a variety of other applications. In practice, stochastic gradient descent (SGD) and similar procedures are usually used to solve such problems. We propose to use the ellipsoid method with mini-batching, which converges linearly and can be more efficient than SGD for a class of problems. This is verified by our experiments, which are publicly available. The algorithm does not require neither smoothness nor strong convexity of the objective to achieve linear convergence. Thus, its complexity does not depend on the conditional number of the problem. We prove that the method arrives at an approximate solution with given probability when using mini-batches of size proportional to the desired accuracy to the power −2. This enables efficient parallel execution of the algorithm, whereas possibilities for batch parallelization of SGD are rather limited. Despite fast convergence, ellipsoid method can result in a greater total number of calls to oracle than SGD, which works decently with small batches. Complexity is quadratic in dimension of the problem, hence the method is suitable for relatively small dimensionalities.

The increased potential for jamming satellite navigation signals, which provide the highest positioning accuracy for moving objects, makes the development of alternative navigation systems comparable in accuracy but autonomous extremely important. One of the most effective such approaches is the integration of inertial and optical navigation systems (NS), as they are more resistant to artificial interference. Among NS data, one can distinguish systems that use a velocity field calculation method when processing optical flow, allowing the determination of the linear and angular velocity vectors of an object in the absence of terrain maps and reference points. However, a serious drawback of this method is the high computational cost of determining the velocity field (optical flow parameters), which is difficult to implement onboard an object. In this regard, the article considers an approach that allows for constructing a tightly coupled autonomous inertial-optical navigation scheme for objects moving along known (programmed) trajectories. This scheme utilizes a navigation algorithm that is easily implemented in onboard computers due to the discovered possibility of estimating the navigation vector without preliminary calculation of optical flow parameters, as well as by utilizing functional dependencies of navigation variables arising on analytical (orthodromic) trajectories. To illustrate the generality of the solution, cases of a rigidly mounted video camera on the object and its two-degree stabilization are studied. The navigation algorithm, providing a stochastic estimate of the full vector of linear and angular motion parameters based on measurements of an integrated tightly coupled inertial-optical NS, is built on the basis of an extended Kalman filter for correlated noise of the object and the observer. A numerical experiment illustrating the effectiveness of the proposed approach is conducted.

Stochastically forced discrete dynamical systems are considered. Using first approximation systems, we study dynamics of deviations of stochastic solutions from deterministic equilibria. Necessary and sufficient conditions of the existence of stable stationary solutions of equations for mean-square deviations are derived. Stationary values of these mean-square deviations are used for the estimations of the dispersion of random states nearby stable equilibria and analysis of noise-induced transitions. Constructive application of the suggested technique to the analysis of various stochastic regimes in Ricker population model with Allee effect is demonstrated.

This article describes a method to model the course of forest ecosystem succession to the climax state by means of a Markov chain. In contrast to traditional methods of forest succession modelling based on changes of vegetation types, several variants of the vertical structure of communities formed by late-successional tree species are taken as the transition states of the model. Durations of succession courses from any stage are not set in absolute time units, but calculated as the average number of steps before reaching the climax in a unified time scale. The regularities of succession courses are revealed in the proper time of forest ecosystems shaping. The evidences are obtained that internal features of the spatial and population structure do stochastically determine the course and the pace of forest succession. The property of developing vegetation of forest communities is defined as an attribute of stochastic determinism in the course of autogenous succession.

The paper is devoted to the analysis of the proximity of the population system to dangerous boundaries. An intersection of these boundaries results in the collapse of the stable coexistence of interacting populations. As a reason of such destruction one can consider random perturbations inevitably presented in any living system. This study is carried out on the example of the well-known model of interaction between predator and prey populations, taking into account both a stabilizing factor of the competition of predators for another than prey resources, and also a destabilizing saturation factor for predators. To describe the saturation of predators, we use the second type Holling trophic function. The dynamics of the system is studied as a function of the predator saturation, and the coefficient of predator competition for resources other than prey. The paper presents a parametric description of the possible dynamic regimes of the deterministic model. Here, local and global bifurcations are studied, and areas of sustainable coexistence of populations in equilibrium and the oscillation modes are described. An interesting feature of this mathematical model, firstly considered by Bazykin, is a global bifurcation of the birth of limit cycle from the separatrix loop. We study the effects of noise on the equilibrium and oscillatory regimes of coexistence of predator and prey populations. It is shown that an increase of the intensity of random disturbances can lead to significant deformations of these regimes right up to their destruction. The aim of this work is to develop a constructive probabilistic criterion for the proximity of the population stochastic system to the dangerous boundaries. The proposed approach is based on the mathematical technique of stochastic sensitivity functions, and the method of confidence domains. In the case of a stable equilibrium, this confidence domain is an ellipse. For the stable cycle, this domain is a confidence band. The size of the confidence domain is proportional to the intensity of the noise and stochastic sensitivity of the initial deterministic attractor. A geometric criterion of the exit of the population system from sustainable coexistence mode is the intersection of the confidence domain and the corresponding separatrix of the unforced deterministic model. An effectiveness of this analytical approach is confirmed by the good agreement of theoretical estimates and results of direct numerical simulations.

We now review the main points of mean-field approximation (MFA) in its application to multicomponent stochastic reaction-diffusion systems.

We present the chemical reaction model under study — brusselator. We write the kinetic equations of reaction supplementing them with terms that describe the diffusion of the intermediate components and the fluctuations of the concentrations of the initial products. We simulate the fluctuations as random Gaussian homogeneous and spatially isotropic fields with zero means and spatial correlation functions with a non-trivial structure. The model parameter values correspond to a spatially-inhomogeneous ordered state in the deterministic case.

In the MFA we derive single-site two-dimensional nonlinear self-consistent Fokker–Planck equation in the Stratonovich's interpretation for spatially extended stochastic brusselator, which describes the dynamics of probability distribution density of component concentration values of the system under consideration. We find the noise intensity values appropriate to two types of Fokker–Planck equation solutions: solution with transient bimodality and solution with the multiple alternation of unimodal and bimodal types of probability density. We study numerically the probability density dynamics and time behavior of variances, expectations, and most probable values of component concentrations at various noise intensity values and the bifurcation parameter in the specified region of the problem parameters.

Beginning from some value of external noise intensity inside the ordered phase disorder originates existing for a finite time, and the higher the noise level, the longer this disorder “embryo” lives. The farther away from the bifurcation point, the lower the noise that generates it and the narrower the range of noise intensity values at which the system evolves to the ordered, but already a new statistically steady state. At some second noise intensity value the intermittency of the ordered and disordered phases occurs. The increasing noise intensity leads to the fact that the order and disorder alternate increasingly.

Thus, the scenario of the noise induced order–disorder transition in the system under study consists in the intermittency of the ordered and disordered phases.

We present a simulation methodology for the prediction of ЃgunexpectedЃh bottlenecks, i.e., the bottlenecks that occur suddenly and unexpectedly for drivers on a highway. Such unexpected bottlenecks can be either a moving bottleneck (MB) caused by a slow moving vehicle or a motionless bottleneck caused by a stopped vehicle (SV). Based on simulations of a stochastic microscopic traffic flow model in the framework of KernerЃfs three-phase traffic theory, we show that through the use of a small share of probe vehicles (FCD) randomly distributed in traffic flow the reliable prediction of ЃgunexpectedЃh bottlenecks is possible. We have found that the time dependence of the probability of MB and SV prediction as well as the accuracy of the estimation of MB and SV location depend considerably on sequences of phase transitions from free flow (F) to synchronized flow (S) (F→S transition) and back from synchronized flow to free flow (S→F transition) as well as on speed oscillations in synchronized flow at the bottleneck. In the simulation approach, the identification of F→S and S→F transitions at an unexpected bottleneck has been made in accordance with Kerner's three-phase traffic theory. The presented simulation methodology allows us both the prediction of the unexpected bottleneck that suddenly occurs on a highway and the distinguishing of the origin of the unexpected bottleneck, i.e., whether the unexpected bottleneck has occurred due to a MB or a SV.

This paper presents the results of experimental validation of some structural issues concerning the practical use of methods to overcome catastrophic forgetting of neural networks. A comparison of current effective methods like EWC (Elastic Weight Consolidation) and WVA (Weight Velocity Attenuation) is made and their advantages and disadvantages are considered. It is shown that EWC is better for tasks where full retention of learned skills is required on all the tasks in the training queue, while WVA is more suitable for sequential tasks with very limited computational resources, or when reuse of representations and acceleration of learning from task to task is required rather than exact retention of the skills. The attenuation of the WVA method must be applied to the optimization step, i. e. to the increments of neural network weights, rather than to the loss function gradient itself, and this is true for any gradient optimization method except the simplest stochastic gradient descent (SGD). The choice of the optimal weights attenuation function between the hyperbolic function and the exponent is considered. It is shown that hyperbolic attenuation is preferable because, despite comparable quality at optimal values of the hyperparameter of the WVA method, it is more robust to hyperparameter deviations from the optimal value (this hyperparameter in the WVA method provides a balance between preservation of old skills and learning a new skill). Empirical observations are presented that support the hypothesis that the optimal value of this hyperparameter does not depend on the number of tasks in the sequential learning queue. And, consequently, this hyperparameter can be picked up on a small number of tasks and used on longer sequences.

The currently performed mathematical and computer modeling of thermal processes in technical systems is based on an assumption that all the parameters determining thermal processes are fully and unambiguously known and identified (i.e., determined). Meanwhile, experience has shown that parameters determining the thermal processes are of undefined interval-stochastic character, which in turn is responsible for the intervalstochastic nature of thermal processes in the electronic system. This means that the actual temperature values of each element in an technical system will be randomly distributed within their variation intervals. Therefore, the determinative approach to modeling of thermal processes that yields specific values of element temperatures does not allow one to adequately calculate temperature distribution in electronic systems. The interval-stochastic nature of the parameters determining the thermal processes depends on three groups of factors: (a) statistical technological variation of parameters of the elements when manufacturing and assembling the system; (b) the random nature of the factors caused by functioning of an technical system (fluctuations in current and voltage; power, temperatures, and flow rates of the cooling fluid and the medium inside the system); and (c) the randomness of ambient parameters (temperature, pressure, and flow rate). The interval-stochastic indeterminacy of the determinative factors in technical systems is irremediable; neglecting it causes errors when designing electronic systems. A method that allows modeling of unsteady interval-stochastic thermal processes in technical systems (including those upon interval indeterminacy of the determinative parameters) is developed in this paper. The method is based on obtaining and further solving equations for the unsteady statistical measures (mathematical expectations, variances and covariances) of the temperature distribution in an technical system at given variation intervals and the statistical measures of the determinative parameters. Application of the elaborated method to modeling of the interval-stochastic thermal process in a particular electronic system is considered.

We study the influence of fishery on a structured fish population under random changes of habitat conditions. The population parameters correspond to dominant pelagic fish species of Far-Eastern seas of the northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean (pollack, herring, sardine). Similar species inhabit various parts of the Word Ocean. The species body size distribution was chosen as a main population feature. This characteristic is easy to measure and adequately defines main specimen qualities such as age, maturity and other morphological and physiological peculiarities. Environmental fluctuations have a great influence on the individuals in early stages of development and have little influence on the vital activity of mature individuals. The fishery revenue was chosen as an optimality criterion. The main control characteristic is fishing effort. We have chosen quadratic dependence of fishing revenue on the fishing effort according to accepted economic ideas stating that the expenses grow with the production volume. The model study shows that the population structure ensures the increased population stability. The growth and drop out of the individuals’ due to natural mortality smoothens the oscillations of population density arising from the strong influence of the fluctuations of environment on young individuals. The smoothing part is played by diffusion component of the growth processes. The fishery in its turn smooths the fluctuations (including random fluctuations) of the environment and has a substantial impact upon the abundance of fry and the subsequent population dynamics. The optimal time-dependent fishing effort strategy was compared to stationary fishing effort strategy. It is shown that in the case of quickly changing habitat conditions and stochastic dynamics of population replenishment there exists a stationary fishing effort having approximately the same efficiency as an optimal time-dependent fishing effort. This means that a constant or weakly varying fishing effort can be very efficient strategy in terms of revenue.