Rethinking geometrical exactness

A crucial concern of early modern geometry was fixing appropriate norms for deciding whether some objects, procedures, or arguments should or should not be allowed into it. According to Bos, this is the exactness concern. I argue that Descartes’s way of responding to this concern was to suggest an appropriate conservative extension of Euclid’s plane geometry (EPG). In Section 2, I outline the exactness concern as, I think, it appeared to Descartes. In Section 3, I account for Descartes’s views on exactness and for his attitude towards the most common sorts of constructions in classical geometry. I also explain in which sense his geometry can be conceived as a conservative extension of EPG. I conclude by briefly discussing some structural similarities and differences between Descartes’s geometry and EPG.     

Applications of the Discrete Weiss Conjecture in Operator Theory

In this paper, we study a discrete version of the Weiss Conjecture. In Section 1 we discuss the Reproducing Kernel Thesis and in Section 2 we introduce the operators which concern us. Section 3 shows how to relate these operators to Carleson embeddings and weighted composition operators, so that we can apply the Carleson measure theorem to obtain conditions for boundedness and compactness of many weighted composition operators. Section 4 contains Theorem 4.4 which is a discrete version of the Weiss Conjecture for contraction semigroups, and finally Section 5 shows how the usual (continuous time) Weiss Conjecture is related to the discrete version studied here; in fact they are equivalent (for scalar valued observation operators). The main advantage of the discrete version is that it is technically simpler – the observation operators are automatically bounded and the functional calculus can be achieved using power series.     

Force,deflection, and time: Proposition VI of Newton's Principia

In this extended study of Proposition VI, and its first corollary, in Book I of Newton's Principia, we clarify both the statements and the demonstrations of these fundamental results. We begin by tracing the evolution of this proposition and its corollary, to see how their texts may have changed from their initial versions. To prepare ourselves for some of the difficulties our study confronts, we then examine certain confusions which arise in two recent commentaries on Proposition VI. We go on to note other confusions, not in any particular commentary, but in Newton's demonstration and, especially, in his statement of the proposition. What, exactly, does Newton mean by a “body [that] revolves … about an immobile center”? By a “just-nascent arc”? By the “sagitta of the arc”? By the “centripetal force”? By “will be as”? We search for the mathematical meanings that Newton has in mind for these fragments of the Proposition VI statement, a search that takes us to earlier sections of the Principia and to discussions of the “method of first and last ratios,” centripetal force, and the second law of motion. The intended meaning of Proposition VI then emerges from the combined meanings of these fragments. Next we turn to the demonstration of Proposition VI, noting first that Newton's own argument could be more persuasive, before we construct a modern, more rigorous proof. This proof, however, is not as simple as one might expect, and the blame for this lies with the “sagitta of the arc,” Newton's measure of deflection in Proposition VI. Replacing the sagitta with a more natural measure of deflection, we obtain what we call Platonic Proposition VI, whose demonstration has a Platonic simplicity. Before ending our study, we examine the fundamental first corollary of Proposition VI. In his statement of this Corollary 1, Newton replaces the sagitta of Proposition VI by a not quite equal deflection from the tangent and the area swept out (which represents the time by Proposition I) by a not quite equal area of a triangle. These two approximations create small errors, but are these errors small enough? Do the errors introduced by these approximations tend to zero fast enough to justify these replacements? Newton must believe so, but he leaves this question unasked and unanswered, as have subsequent commentators on this crucial corollary. We end our study by asking and answering this basic question, which then allows us to give Corollary 1 a convincing demonstration.     

An “inverse” relationship between mathematics identities and classroom practices among early career elementary teachers: The impact of accountability

This qualitative case study guided by portraiture examines the relationships between three early career elementary teachers’ beliefs about themselves in relation to mathematics (mathematics identities) and their classroom practices. Through autobiographical inquiry, reflective practice, classroom observations, interviews, and artifacts, findings show that all three second grade teachers appeared to have an “inverse” relationship between their mathematics identities and their classroom practices. In this relationship, as negative as they felt about themselves with regards to mathematics, they expended that much more effort to ensure that their students would have positive experiences with it and not be stigmatized by it as they had been. Accountability to schools, students, and parents, to increase student achievement appeared to play an important role in this relationship. Implications for preservice teacher education, inservice professional development, and research on beliefs and practices are discussed.     

The Carlitz shtuka

Recently we have used the Carlitz exponential map to define a finitely generated submodule of the Carlitz module having the right properties to be a function field analogue of the group of units in a number field. Similarly, we constructed a finite module analogous to the class group of a number field. In this short note more algebraic constructions of these “unit” and “class” modules are given and they are related to Ext modules in the category of shtukas.     

On the potential balance among compulsory education outcomes through econometric and multiobjective programming analysis

This paper sheds new light on the relationship between inputs and outputs in the framework of the educational production function. In particular, it is geared at gaining a better understanding of which factors may be affected in order to achieve an optimal educational output level. With this objective in mind, we analyze teacher-based assessments (actual marks) in three different subjects using a multiobjective schema. For much of the analysis we use data from a recent (2010) Survey – ESOC10, linked with the results from an educational assessment program conducted among 11 and 15 year-old students and with the administrative records on teacher-based scores. Following the statistical and econometric analysis of these data, they are used to build a multiobjective mixed integer model. A reference point approach is used to determine the profile of, potentially, the most “successful and balanced” students in terms of educational outcomes. This kind of methodology in multiobjective programming allows generating “very balanced” solutions in terms of the objective values (subjects). Finally, a sensitivity analysis is used to determine policies that can be carried out in order to improve the performance levels of primary and secondary education students. Particularly, policy makers should be more concerned with the need to promote some cultural habits – such as reading –, from both the students’ and parents’ side. Additionally, policy efforts should be focused on making the vocational pathways available to Spanish youth more appealing, with the aim of taking advantage of the particular skills of students not succeeding in the academic track.     

Handling effects of reinforced preference and counter-veto in credibility of outranking

The aim of this paper is to generalize the way of computing the credibility of outranking in a multiple criteria aggregation procedure, in view of taking into account two new effects called reinforced preference and counter-veto. These effects concern only those criteria for which, as soon as action a is “judged very strongly preferred” to action b, one wishes that the credibility of outranking of a over b is greater than that for the case where (all things equal elsewhere) the preference is not “judged very strong”. To achieve this goal, we propose two complementary ways. The first one involves a reinforced preference threshold which affects the concordance degree, and the second one involves a counter-veto threshold which affects the insertion of discordance degree in the calculation of the credibility of outranking. The introduction of these two new effects remains compatible with the handling of ordinal preference scales. The resulting new index of the credibility of outranking can be used, in particular, in ELECTRE methods.     

The affect heuristic

This paper introduces a theoretical framework that describes the importance of affect in guiding judgments and decisions. As used here, “affect” means the specific quality of “goodness” or “badness” (i) experienced as a feeling state (with or without consciousness) and (ii) demarcating a positive or negative quality of a stimulus. Affective responses occur rapidly and automatically—note how quickly you sense the feelings associated with the stimulus word “treasure” or the word “hate”. We argue that reliance on such feelings can be characterized as “the affect heuristic”. In this paper we trace the development of the affect heuristic across a variety of research paths followed by ourselves and many others. We also discuss some of the important practical implications resulting from ways that this heuristic impacts our daily lives.     

Tau-functions,Grassmannians and rank one conditions

In integrable systems, specifically the KP hierarchy, there are functions known as “tau-functions”, closely related to the Schur polynomials in terms of which they are often written. Although they are generally viewed as the solutions to a collection of nonlinear PDEs, in this note they will equivalently be characterized by a quadratic difference equation. Sato's theorem associates tau-functions to the points of a Grassmann manifold. To make that amazing theorem clear to non-experts, we will first show an analogous (but easily understood) example of a linear ODE and its solution from a flow on the xy-plane. In each case the solution is created via a flow generated by a certain linear operator. The question we pose is this: “What other operators could have been used to generate solutions in the same way?” Although the answer is well known in the ODE case, the question in the nonlinear case is the main result of our new paper. We will state the result and discuss its relationship to the “trend” of writing tau-functions in terms of matrices satisfying certain rank one conditions. The elucidation of a geometric interpretation of the Hirota bilinear difference equation (HBDE) is a key feature of the proof and will be briefly described.     

Three models for the homotopy theory of homotopy theories

Given any model category, or more generally any category with weak equivalences, its simplicial localization is a simplicial category which can rightfully be called the “homotopy theory” of the model category. There is a model category structure on the category of simplicial categories, so taking its simplicial localization yields a “homotopy theory of homotopy theories”. In this paper we show that there are two different categories of diagrams of simplicial sets, each equipped with an appropriate definition of weak equivalence, such that the resulting homotopy theories are each equivalent to the homotopy theory arising from the model category structure on simplicial categories. Thus, any of these three categories with the respective weak equivalences could be considered a model for the homotopy theory of homotopy theories. One of them in particular, Rezk’s complete Segal space model category structure on the category of simplicial spaces, is much more convenient from the perspective of making calculations and therefore obtaining information about a given homotopy theory.     

What is the meaning of “meaning”? A case study from graphing

This article raises questions about the meaning of “meaning,” which often is understood in terms of the referent or interpretant (sense) of mathematical signs. In this study, which uses data from an interview study with scientists who were asked to read graphs from their own work, a phenomenologically grounded approach is proposed with the intent to contribute toward a more appropriate theory of meaning. I argue that graphs accrue to meaning — which always arises from already existing, existential understanding of the world more generally and the workplace in particular — rather than having or receiving meaning from some place or person. We experience graphs as meaningful exactly at the moment when they are integral to a world that we already understand in an existential but never completely determinable way.     

Further cardinal arithmetic

We continue the investigations in the author’s book on cardinal arithmetic, assuming some knowledge of it. We deal with the cofinality of (S _{≤ℵ 0}(κ), ⊆) for κ real valued measurable (Section 3), densities of box products (Section 5,3), prove the equality cov(λ,λ,θ⁺,2) in more cases even when cf(λ)=ℵ₀ (Section 1), deal with bounds of pp(λ) for λ limit of inaccessible (Section 4) and give proofs to various claims I was sure I had already written but did not find (Section 6). Done mainly 1–4/1991. I thank Alice Leonhardt for typing and retyping so beautifully and accurately. Partially supported by the Basic Research Fund, Israel Academy of Sciences. Publication number 430.     

Compact Ovoids in Quadrangles III: Clifford Algebras and Isoparametric Hypersurfaces

In this third part, we consider those compact quadrangles which arise from isoparametric hypersurfaces of Clifford type and their focal manifolds. Sections 9–11 give a comprehensive introduction to these quadrangles from the incidence-geometric point of view. Section 10 contains also a new (algebraic) proof that these geometries are quadrangles.We determine which of these quadrangles have ovoids or spreads and also whether the normal sphere bundles of the focal manifolds admit sections, or whether they are topologically trivial. We give explicit geometric constructions for spreads, ovoids, and sections.     

A study on the structure of planning behaviour

Although there is an abundance of literature on planning, it is largely either about how we actually plan, about how we should plan, or about how we should organize our planning, and little effort seems to have been contributed to investigate how we actually organize our planning, which should become the basis for the above three kinds of research. In this paper, we consider first the relationship between planning and decision-making with a simple example (Section 2), and then the benefits and costs of planning more specifically (Section 3). After these preparatory considerations, we postulate a hypothesis which describes planning behaviour of individuals and organizations, with necessary definitions and assumptions (Section 4). Some propositions attained from the hypothesis are also included. For testing the validity of the hypothesis, an organism model of organization which deals with an organization as an open system in the environment is introduced (Section 5.1). We make additional assumptions to let the model plan (Section 5.2), and the behaviour of the model is generally supported by the practitioners and researcher interviewed (Section 5.3). Finally we discussed briefly the methodology employed and the possible applications of the hypothesis (Section 6).     

An analytic series method for Laplacian problems with mixed boundary conditions

Mixed boundary value problems are characterised by a combination of Dirichlet and Neumann conditions along at least one boundary. Historically, only a very small subset of these problems could be solved using analytic series methods (“analytic” is taken here to mean a series whose terms are analytic in the complex plane). In the past, series solutions were obtained by using an appropriate choice of axes, or a co-ordinate transformation to suitable axes where the boundaries are parallel to the abscissa and the boundary conditions are separated into pure Dirichlet or Neumann form. In this paper, I will consider the more general problem where the mixed boundary conditions cannot be resolved by a co-ordinate transformation. That is, a Dirichlet condition applies on part of the boundary and a Neumann condition applies along the remaining section. I will present a general method for obtaining analytic series solutions for the classic problem where the boundary is parallel to the abscissa. In addition, I will extend this technique to the general mixed boundary value problem, defined on an arbitrary boundary, where the boundary is not parallel to the abscissa. I will demonstrate the efficacy of the method on a well known seepage problem.     

An application of cooperative game among container terminals of one port

In this paper a two-stage game that involves three container terminals located in Karachi Port in Pakistan is discussed. In the first stage, the three terminals have to decide on whether to act as a singleton or to enter into a coalition with one or both of the other terminals. The decision at this stage should presumably be based on the predicted outcome for the second stage. The second stage is here modelled as a Bertrand game with one outside competitor, the coalition and the terminal in Karachi Port (if any) that has not joined the coalition. Furthermore, three partial and one grand coalition among the three terminals at Karachi Port are investigated. The concepts of “characteristic function” and “core” are used to analyse the stability of these coalitions and this revealed that one combination does not satisfy the superadditivity property of the characteristic function and can therefore be ruled out. The resulting payoffs (profits) of these coalitions are analysed on the basis of “core”. The best payoff for all players is in the case of a “grand coalition”. However, the real winner is the outsider (the terminal at the second port) which earns a better payoff without joining the coalition, and hence will play the role of the “orthogonal free-rider”.     

A disjunctive graph model and framework for constructing new train schedules

Train scheduling is a complex and time consuming task of vital importance in many countries. To create completely new train schedules that are more accurate and efficient than permitted by current techniques, a novel “hybrid” job shop approach is proposed and implemented in this paper. Unique characteristics of train scheduling are firstly incorporated into a disjunctive graph representation of the solution. Dedicated “stand-alone” constructive algorithms that utilise this representation are then developed. The modelling approach and the constructive algorithms are essential as they provide the basis for which meta-heuristics and other iterative refinement algorithms can be applied. A numerical investigation and case study is provided and demonstrates the viability of the modelling approach. Furthermore it is demonstrated that good quality solutions are provided with reasonable computational effort.     

Completing Diophantus, De polygonis numeris, prop. 5

The last proposition of Diophantus’ De polygonis numeris, inquiring the number of ways that a number can be polygonal and apparently aiming at “simplifying” the definitory relation established by Diophantus himself, is incomplete. Past completions of this proposition are reported in detail and discussed, and a new route to a “simplified” relation is proposed, simpler, more transparent and more “Greek looking” than the others. The issue of the application of such a simplified relation to solving the problem set out by Diophantus is also discussed in full detail.