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The potential of a finite-element technique based on an egalitarian meshing of the space–time domain D of physical problems described by parabolic or hyperbolic differential equations is explored. A least-squares minimization technique is applied in the meshed domain D to obtain stiffness-like matrices associated with various linear differential operators. Applications discussed include problems of boundary growth, and diffusive coalescence, in which D cannot be regarded as the Cartesian product of two independent domains in space and time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although it is often asserted that, in view of their reduced length, axially compressible beams have a higher buckling load than their inextensible counterparts, a detailed analysis demonstrates that this is not necessarily the case. The argument to arrive at this conclusion is made in terms of relatively straightforward concepts of elasticity and structural mechanics. It is shown that for certain classes of materials, the reduced prebuckling length is more than compensated for by a softening of the elastic response, leading to a reduction of the Euler critical load. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]