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Foundations

Foundations is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal on mathematics, physics and chemistry published quarterly online by MDPI.

All Articles (227)

The well-known shooting algorithm has produced important results in solving various linear as well as nonlinear BVPs, defined on unbounded intervals, but has become obsolete. The main difficulty lies in the numerical handling of the domain’s infiniteness. This paper presents a three-step strategy that significantly improves the traditional truncation algorithm. It consists of Chebyshev collocation, implemented as Chebfun, in conjunction with rational AAA interpolation and analytic continuation. Furthermore, and more importantly, this approach enables us to provide a thorough analysis of both possible errors in dealing with and the hidden singularities of some BVPs of real interest. A singular second-order eigenvalue problem and a fourth-order nonlinear degenerate parabolic equation, all defined on the real axis, are considered. For the latter, Chebfun provides properties-preserving solutions. Travelling wave solutions are also studied. They are highly nonlinear BVPs. The problem arises from the analysis of thin viscous film flows down an inclined plane under the competing stress due to the surface tension gradients and gravity, a long-standing concern of ours. By extending the solutions to these problems in the complex plane, we observe that the complex poles do not influence their behaviour. On the other hand, the real ones involve singularities and indicate how long solutions can be extended through continuity.

3 February 2026

Chebfun working on the domain 
  
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 produced the following outcomes: (a) The first three eigenvectors of the problem (1), in order, are red, green and blue. (b) The Chebyshev coefficients of the first three eigenvectors. They decrease linearly and overlap on a log-linear plot.

As a contribution to automated set-theoretic inferencing, a translation is proposed of conjunctions of literals of the forms , , and z=x, where stand for variables ranging over the von Neumann universe of sets, into quantifier-free Boolean formulae of a rather simple conjunctive normal form. The formulae in the target language involve variables ranging over a Boolean ring of sets, along with a difference operator and relators designating equality, non-disjointness, and inclusion. Moreover, the result of each translation is a conjunction of literals of the forms and and of implications whose antecedents are isolated literals and whose consequents are either inclusions (strict or non-strict) between variables, or equalities between variables. Besides reflecting a simple and natural semantics, which ensures satisfiability preservation, the proposed translation has quadratic algorithmic time complexity and bridges two languages, both of which are known to have an NP-complete satisfiability problem.

30 January 2026

Axioms of the variety of difference algebras.

Global optimization represents a fundamental challenge in computer science and engineering, as it aims to identify high-quality solutions to problems spanning from moderate to extremely high dimensionality. The Differential Evolution (DE) algorithm is a population-based algorithm like Genetic Algorithms (GAs) and uses similar operators such as crossover, mutation and selection. The proposed method introduces a set of methodological enhancements designed to increase both the robustness and the computational efficiency of the classical DE framework. Specifically, an adaptive termination criterion is incorporated, enabling early stopping based on statistical measures of convergence and population stagnation. Furthermore, a population sampling strategy based on k-means clustering is employed to enhance exploration and improve the redistribution of individuals in high-dimensional search spaces. This mechanism enables structured population renewal and effectively mitigates premature convergence. The enhanced algorithm was evaluated on standard large-scale numerical optimization benchmarks and compared with established global optimization methods. The experimental results indicate substantial improvements in convergence speed, scalability and solution stability.

23 January 2026

The steps of the proposed DE algorithm.

Analysis of Telegraph Equation for Propagating Waves with Dispersion and Attenuation

  • Hyoung-In Lee,
  • Sang-Hyeon Kim and
  • Hee-Jeong Moon
  • + 1 author

The structural vibration of industrial droplet dispensers can be modeled by telegraph-like equations to a good approximation. We reinterpret the telegraph equation from the standpoint of an electric–circuit system consisting of an inductor and a resistor, which is in interaction with an environment, say, a substrate. This interaction takes place through a capacitor and a shunt resistor. Such interactions serve as leakage. We have performed an analytical investigation of the frequency dispersion of telegraph equations over an unbounded one-dimensional domain. By varying newly identified key parameters, we have not only recovered the well-known characteristics but also discovered crossover phenomena regarding phase and group velocities. We have examined frequency responses of the electric circuit underlying telegraph equations, thereby confirming the role as low-pass filters. By identifying a set of physically meaningful reduced cases, we have laid the foundations on which we could further explore wave propagations over a finite domain with appropriate side conditions.

6 January 2026

(a) Old-style encapsulation of an IC (integrated circuit) chip onto a substrate for a larger chip-substrate gap. (b) Modern encapsulation of an IC chip onto a substrate for an extremely small chip-substrate gap. (c) A medical syringe, say, for the injection of immunization fluids. A rough sketch of a syringe of a droplet dispenser consisting roughly of a plunger, a barrel, and a nozzle. Note that the downstream end of the barrel is normally tapered. A compressed-air pressure is acting on the outside face of a plunger. (d) A typical time history of the hand pressure on the plunger. An external forcing function 
  
    
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 of a box-type periodicity comprising four events: (i) a step-up stage (vertical upward arrow), (ii) a flat excited state over 
  
    
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, (iii) a step-down stage (vertical downward arrow), and (iv) a dormant rest state over the inter-excitation interval 
  
    
      Δ
      0
    
  
. (e) Mostly 2-D motion of a droplet dispenser. (f) Spatially converging spikes (blue dots with respective dotted lines) onto a certain neuronal location (a dot of yellow filling and black boundary). It is worth noticing that 
  
    
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 on (d) is considered as an input (excitation), while the droplet ejection on (b) is taken to be an output (response).

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Foundations - ISSN 2673-9321