Exchange lemmas 1: Deng's lemma

Deng's lemma gives estimates on the behavior of solutions of ordinary differential equations in the neighborhood of a partially hyperbolic equilibrium. We prove a generalization in which “partially hyperbolic equilibrium” is replaced by “normally hyperbolic invariant manifold.”     

Polynomial contractions and Lyapunov regularity

The purpose of this note is twofold: to introduce the notion of polynomial contraction for a linear nonautonomous dynamics with discrete time, and to show that it persists under sufficiently small linear and nonlinear perturbations. The notion of polynomial contraction mimics the notion of exponential contraction, but with the exponential decay replaced by a polynomial decay. We show that this behavior is exhibited by a large class of dynamics, by giving necessary conditions in terms of “polynomial” Lyapunov exponents. Finally, we establish the persistence of the asymptotic stability of a polynomial contraction under sufficiently small linear and nonlinear perturbations. We also consider the case of nonuniform polynomial contractions, for which the Lyapunov stability is not uniform.     

Robustness of nonuniform exponential dichotomies in Banach spaces

We give conditions for the robustness of nonuniform exponential dichotomies in Banach spaces, in the sense that the existence of an exponential dichotomy for a given linear equation x^′=A(t)x persists under a sufficiently small linear perturbation. We also establish the continuous dependence with the perturbation of the constants in the notion of dichotomy and of the “angles” between the stable and unstable subspaces. Our proofs exhibit (implicitly) the exponential dichotomies of the perturbed equations in terms of fixed points of appropriate contractions. We emphasize that we do not need the notion of admissibility (of bounded nonlinear perturbations). We also obtain related robustness results in the case of nonuniform exponential contractions. In addition, we establish an appropriate version of robustness for nonautonomous dynamical systems with discrete time.     

Continuous and discrete characterizations for the uniform exponential stability of linear skew-evolution semiflows

In this paper, we will consider the concept “linear skew-evolution semiflows” and extend theorems of R. Datko, S. Rolewicz, Zabczyk and J.M.A.M van Neerven for this case [15].     

Uniformly primary ideals

This article introduces and advances the basic theory of “uniformly primary ideals” for commutative rings, a concept that imposes a certain boundedness condition on the usual notion of “primary ideal”. Characterizations of uniformly primary ideals are provided along with examples that give the theory independent value. Applications are also provided in contexts that are relevant to Noetherian rings.     

Lindelöf spaces which are Menger, Hurewicz, Alster, productive, or D

We discuss relationships in Lindelöf spaces among the properties “Menger”, “Hurewicz”, “Alster”, “productive”, and “D”.     

Nonmonotone systems decomposable into monotone systems with negative feedback

Motivated by the work of Angeli and Sontag [Monotone control systems, IEEE Trans. Automat. Control 48 (2003) 1684-1698] and Enciso and Sontag [On the global attractivity of abstract dynamical systems satisfying a small gain hypothesis, with applications to biological delay systems, Discrete Continuous Dynamical Systems, to appear] in control theory, we show that certain finite and infinite dimensional semi-dynamical systems with “negative feedback” can be decomposed into a monotone “open-loop” system with “inputs” and a decreasing “output” function. The original system is reconstituted by “plugging the output into the input”. Employing a technique of Gouzé [A criterion of global convergence to equilibrium for differential systems with an application to Lotka-Volterra systems, Rapport de Recherche 894, INRIA] and Cosner [Comparison principles for systems that embed in cooperative systems, with applications to diffusive Lotka-Volterra models, Dynam. Cont., Discrete Impulsive Systems 3 (1997) 283-303] of imbedding the system into a larger symmetric monotone system, we are able to obtain information on the asymptotic behavior of solutions, including existence of positively invariant sets and global convergence.     

On the Impossibility of Stabilization of Solutions of a System of Linear Deterministic Difference Equations by Perturbations of Its Coefficients by Stochastic Processes of “White-Noise” Type

We consider the problem of mean-square stabilization of solutions of a system of linear deterministic difference equations with discrete time by perturbations of its coefficients by a stochastic white-noise process. The answer is negative and is based on the analysis of the corresponding matrix algebraic Sylvester equation introduced earlier by the author in the theory of stability of stochastic systems. At the same time, we answer the same question for a vector matrix system of linear difference equations with continuous time and for a vector matrix system of differential equations.     

Countable connected Hausdorff and Urysohn bunches of arcs in the plane

In this paper, we answer a question by Krasinkiewicz, Reńska and Sobolewski by constructing countable connected Hausdorff and Urysohn spaces as quotient spaces of bunches of arcs in the plane. We also consider a generalization of graphs by allowing vertices to be continua and replacing edges by not necessarily connected sets. We require only that two “vertices” be in the same quasi-component of the “edge” that contains them. We observe that if a graph G cannot be embedded in the plane, then any generalized graph modeled on G is not embeddable in the plane. As a corollary we obtain not planar bunches of arcs with their natural quotients Hausdorff or Urysohn. This answers another question by Krasinkiewicz, Reńska and Sobolewski.     

Bounds for a multivariate extension of range over standard deviation based on the Mahalanobis distance

The range over standard deviation of a set of univariate data points is given a natural multivariate extension through the Mahalanobis distance. The problem of finding extrema of this multivariate extension of “range over standard deviation” is investigated. The supremum (maximum) is found using Lagrangian methods and an interval is given for the infinimum. The independence of optimizing the Mahalanobis distance and the multivariate extension of range is demonstrated and connections are explored in several examples using an analogue of the “hat” matrix of linear regression.     

Melnikov method for discontinuous planar systems

This paper treats the occurrence of homoclinic solutions in planar systems with discontinuous right-hand side. More precisely, we deal with a T$T$-periodic perturbed system such that the unperturbed system is an autonomous possessing homoclinic orbit. By means of the so-called “non-smooth” Melnikov function there is shown the existence of a homoclinic solution for a perturbed system. The non-smooth Melnikov function is derived, and the method of how to find it in concrete problems is also introduced.     

Almost disjoint large subsets of semigroups

There are several notions of largeness in a semigroup S that originated in topological dynamics. Among these are thick, central, syndetic and piecewise syndetic. Of these, central sets are especially interesting because they are partition regular and are guaranteed to contain substantial combinatorial structure. It is known that in (N,+) any central set may be partitioned into infinitely many pairwise disjoint central sets. We extend this result to a large class of semigroups (including (N,+)) by showing that if S is a semigroup in this class which has cardinality κ then any central set can be partitioned into κ many pairwise disjoint central sets. We also show that for this same class of semigroups, if there exists a collection of μ almost disjoint subsets of any member S, then any central subset of S contains a collection of μ almost disjoint central sets. The same statement applies if “central” is replaced by “thick”; and in the case that the semigroup is left cancellative, “central” may be replaced by “piecewise syndetic”. The situation with respect to syndetic sets is much more restrictive. For example, there does not exist an uncountable collection of almost disjoint syndetic subsets of N. We investigate the extent to which syndetic sets can be split into disjoint syndetic sets.     

Darboux integrating factors: Inverse problems

We discuss planar polynomial vector fields with prescribed Darboux integrating factors, in a nondegenerate affine geometric setting. We establish a reduction principle which transfers the problem to polynomial solutions of certain meromorphic linear systems, and show that the space of vector fields with a given integrating factor, modulo a subspace of explicitly known “standard” vector fields, has finite dimension. For several classes of examples we determine this space explicitly.     

Nonlinear perturbations of nonuniform exponential dichotomy on measure chains

This paper focuses on nonlinear perturbations of flows in Banach spaces, corresponding to a nonautonomous dynamical system on measure chains admitting a nonuniform exponential dichotomy. We first define the nonuniform exponential dichotomy of linear nonuniformly hyperbolic systems on measure chains, then establish a new version of the Grobman-Hartman theorem for nonuniformly hyperbolic dynamics on measure chains with the help of nonuniform exponential dichotomies. Moreover, we also construct stable invariant manifolds for sufficiently small nonlinear perturbations of a nonuniform exponential dichotomy. In particular, it is shown that the stable invariant manifolds are Lipschitz in the initial values provided that the nonlinear perturbation is a sufficiently small Lipschitz perturbation.     

On K-Positivity Properties of Time-Invariant Linear Systems Subject to Discrete Point Lags

This paper discusses non-negativity and positivity concepts and related properties for the state and output trajectory solutions of dynamic linear time-invariant systems described by functional differential equations subject to point time-delays. The various non-negativity and positivity introduced hierarchically from the weakest one to the strongest one while separating the corresponding properties when applied to the state space or to the output space as well as for the zero-initial state or zero-input responses. The formulation is developed by defining cones for the input, state and output spaces of the dynamic system.     

Nonuniform exponential contractions and Lyapunov sequences

For a nonautonomous dynamics with discrete time obtained from the product of linear operators, we show that a nonuniform exponential contraction can be completely characterized in terms of what we call strict Lyapunov sequences. We note that nonuniform exponential contractions include as a very particular case the uniform exponential contractions that correspond to have a uniform asymptotic stability of the dynamics. We also obtain “inverse theorems” that give explicitly strict Lyapunov sequences for each nonuniform exponential contraction. Essentially, the Lyapunov sequences are obtained in terms of what are usually called Lyapunov norms, that is, norms with respect to which the behavior of a nonuniform exponential contraction becomes uniform. We also show how the characterization of nonuniform exponential contractions in terms of quadratic Lyapunov sequences can be used to establish in a very simple manner the persistence of the asymptotic stability of a nonuniform exponential contraction under sufficiently small linear or nonlinear perturbations. Moreover, we describe an appropriate version of our results in the context of ergodic theory showing that the existence of an eventually strict Lyapunov function implies that all Lyapunov exponents are negative almost everywhere.     

Stability of axial motions of nonlinearly elastic loops

We establish the stability of axial motions (steady motions along the lengthwise direction) of nonlinearly elastic loops of string. A key observation here is that a linear combination of the total energy and the total circulation of the string, both of which are conserved quantities, yields an appropriate Liapunov function. From our previous work [5], we know that there are uncountably many shapes corresponding to a given axial speed. Accordingly, we establish orbitai stability (modulo this collection of relative equilibria). For a well-defined class of soft materials, there is an upper bound on the axial speed sufficient for stability; stiff materials are shown to be orbitally stable at any axial speed.     

On semilocally simply connected spaces

The purpose of this paper is: (i) to construct a space which is semilocally simply connected in the sense of Spanier even though its Spanier group is non-trivial; (ii) to propose a modification of the notion of a Spanier group so that via the modified Spanier group semilocal simple connectivity can be characterized; and (iii) to point out that with just a slightly modified definition of semilocal simple connectivity which is sometimes also used in literature, the classical Spanier group gives the correct characterization within the general class of path-connected topological spaces.While the condition “semilocally simply connected” plays a crucial role in classical covering theory, in generalized covering theory one needs to consider the condition “homotopically Hausdorff” instead. The paper also discusses which implications hold between all of the abovementioned conditions and, via the modified Spanier groups, it also unveils the weakest so far known algebraic characterization for the existence of generalized covering spaces as introduced by Fischer and Zastrow. For most of the implications, the paper also proves the non-reversibility by providing the corresponding examples. Some of them rely on spaces that are newly constructed in this paper.     

Supertropical algebra

We develop the algebraic polynomial theory for “supertropical algebra,” as initiated earlier over the real numbers by the first author. The main innovation there was the introduction of “ghost elements,” which also play the key role in our structure theory. Here, we work somewhat more generally over an ordered monoid, and develop a theory which contains the analogs of several basic theorems of classical commutative algebra. This structure enables one to develop a Zariski-type algebraic geometric approach to tropical geometry, viewing tropical varieties as sets of roots of (supertropical) polynomials, leading to an analog of the Hilbert Nullstellensatz.Particular attention is paid to factorization of polynomials. In one indeterminate, any polynomial can be factored into linear and quadratic factors, and although unique factorization may fail, there is a “preferred” factorization that is explained both geometrically and algebraically. The failure of unique factorization in several indeterminates is explained by geometric phenomena described in the paper.     

Circular spectrum and bounded solutions of periodic evolution equations

We consider the existence and uniqueness of bounded solutions of periodic evolution equations of the form u^′=A(t)u+?H(t,u)+f(t), where A(t) is, in general, an unbounded operator depending 1-periodically on t, H is 1-periodic in t, ? is small, and f is a bounded and continuous function that is not necessarily uniformly continuous. We propose a new approach to the spectral theory of functions via the concept of “circular spectrum” and then apply it to study the linear equations u^′=A(t)u+f(t) with general conditions on f. For small ? we show that the perturbed equation inherits some properties of the linear unperturbed one. The main results extend recent results in the direction, saying that if the unitary spectrum of the monodromy operator does not intersect the circular spectrum of f, then the evolution equation has a unique mild solution with its circular spectrum contained in the circular spectrum of f.