Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Program

Applied Mathematics

Supervisor

Corless, Robert M.

2nd Supervisor

Moreno Maza, Marc

Joint Supervisor

Abstract

Two central concerns in scientific computing are the reliability and efficiency of algorithms. We introduce the term feasible computation to describe algorithms that are reliable and efficient given the contextual constraints imposed in practice. The main focus of this dissertation then, is to bring greater clarity to the forms of error introduced in computation and modeling, and in the limited context of symbolic and numeric integration, to contribute to integration algorithms that better account for error while providing results efficiently.

Chapter 2 considers the problem of spurious discontinuities in the symbolic integration problem, proposing a new method to restore continuity based on a pair of unwinding numbers. Computable conditions for the unwinding numbers are specified, allowing the computation of a variety of continuous integrals. Chapter 3 introduces two structure-preserving algorithms for the symbolic-numeric integration of rational functions on exact input. A structured backward and forward error analysis for the algorithms shows that they are a posteriori backward and forward stable, with both forms of error exhibiting tolerance proportionality.

Chapter 4 identifies the basic logical structure of feasible inference by presenting a logical model of stable approximate inference, illustrated by examples of modeling and numerical integration. In terms of this model it is seen that a necessary condition for the feasibility of methods of abstraction in modeling and complexity reduction in computational mathematics is the preservation of inferential structure, in a sense that is made precise. Chapter 5 identifies a robust pattern in mathematical sciences of transforming problems to make solutions feasible. It is showed that computational complexity reduction methods in computational science involve chains of such transformations. It is argued that the structured and approximate nature of such strategies indicates the need for a "higher-order" model of computation and a new definition of computational complexity.

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