For a general class of saddle point problems sharp estimates for Babuška’s inf-sup stability constants are derived in terms of the constants in Brezzi’s theory. In the finite-dimensional Hermitian case more detailed spectral properties of preconditioned saddle point matrices are presented, which are helpful for the convergence analysis of common Krylov subspace methods. The theoretical results ...

We establish that first-order methods avoid saddle points for almost all initializations. Our results apply to a wide variety of first-order methods, including gradient descent, block coordinate descent, mirror descent and variants thereof. The connecting thread is that such algorithms can be studied from a dynamical systems perspective in which appropriate instantiations of the Stable Manifold...

An experimental and theoretical study of lyotropic chromonic liquid crystals (LCLCs) confined in cylinders with degenerate planar boundary conditions elucidates LCLC director configurations. When the Frank saddle-splay modulus is more than twice the twist modulus, the ground state adopts an inhomogeneous escaped-twisted configuration. Analysis of the configuration yields a large saddle-splay mo...

We study the dynamics of generic unfoldings of saddle-node circle local diffeomorphisms from the measure theoretical point of view, obtaining statistical stability results for deterministic and random perturbations in these kind of one-parameter families. In particular we show that the map is uniformly expanding for all parameters close enough to the parameter of the saddle-node and have positi...

We consider two-dimensional overdamped double-well systems perturbed by white noise. In the weak-noise limit the most probable fluctuational path leading from either point attractor to the separatrix (the most probable escape path, or MPEP} must terminate on the saddle between the two wells. However, as the parameters of a symmetric double-well system are varied, a unique MPEP may bifurcate int...

The nudged-elastic band (NEB) method is modified with concomitant two climbing images (C2-NEB) to find a transition state (TS) in complex energy landscapes, such as those with a serpentine minimal energy path (MEP). If a single climbing image (C1-NEB) successfully finds the TS, then C2-NEB finds it too. However, improved stability of C2-NEB makes it suitable for more complex cases, where C1-NEB...

A computational procedure that allows the detection of a new type of high-dimensional chaotic saddle in Hamiltonian systems with three degrees of freedom is presented. The chaotic saddle is associated with a so-called normally hyperbolic invariant manifold (NHIM). The procedure allows to compute appropriate homoclinic orbits to the NHIM from which we can infer the existence a chaotic saddle. NH...

We study the mechanisms according to which social infrastructure influences the preservation of physical capital and, consequently, economic growth. The presented model considers that social infrastructure is a specific type of human capital, which acts in order to preserve already existing physical capital, by, e.g. reducing the incentive for rent seeking or corruption. Using an innovative met...