Which finite simple groups are unit groups?

We prove that if G$G$ is a finite simple group which is the unit group of a ring, then G$G$ is isomorphic to: (a) a cyclic group of order 2; or (b) a cyclic group of prime order 2^k−1$2^k-1$ for some k$k$; or (c) a projective special linear group _PSLn(_F2)${PSL}_n\left({\mathbb{F}}_2\right)$ for some n≥3$n\ge 3$. Moreover, these groups do all occur as unit groups. We deduce this classification from a more general result, which holds for groups G$G$ with no non-trivial normal 2-subgroup.     

On a family of differential operators with the coupling parameter in the boundary condition

We study a family of differential operators _Lα${\mathbf{L}}_{\alpha }$ in two variables, depending on the coupling parameter α?0$\alpha ?0$ that appears only in the boundary conditions. Our main concern is the spectral properties of _Lα${\mathbf{L}}_{\alpha }$, which turn out to be quite different for α<1$\alpha <1$ and for α>1$\alpha >1$. In particular, _Lα${\mathbf{L}}_{\alpha }$ has a unique self-adjoint realization for α<1$\alpha <1$ and many such realizations for α>1$\alpha >1$. In the more difficult case α>1$\alpha >1$ an analysis of non-elliptic pseudodifferential operators in dimension one is involved.     

The quantum harmonic oscillator as a Zariski geometry

A structure is associated with the quantum harmonic oscillator, over a fixed algebraically closed field F$\mathbb{F}$ of characteristic 0, which is shown to be uncountably categorical. An analysis of definable sets is carried out, from which it follows that this structure is a Zariski geometry of dimension 1. It is non-classical in the sense that it is not interpretable in _ACF0${\mathit{ACF}}_0$ and in the case F=C$\mathbb{F}=\mathbb{C}$, is not a structure on a complex manifold.     

Blow-up and propagation of disturbances for fast diffusion equations

This paper is concerned with the Cauchy problem for the fast diffusion equation _ut−Δu^m=αu^_p1$u_t-\Delta u^m=\alpha u^{p_1}$ in R^N${\mathbb{R}}^N$ (N≥1$N\ge 1$), where m∈(0,1)$m\in (0,1)$, _p1>1$p_1>1$ and α>0$\alpha >0$. The initial condition _u0$u_0$ is assumed to be continuous, nonnegative and bounded. Using a technique of subsolutions, we set up sufficient conditions on the initial value _u0$u_0$ so that u(t,x)$u(t,x)$ blows up in finite time, and we show how to get estimates on the profile of u(t,x)$u(t,x)$ for small enough values of t>0$t>0$.     

On first-fit coloring of ladder-free posets

Bosek and Krawczyk exhibited an on-line algorithm for partitioning an on-line poset of width w$w$ into w^14lgw$w^{14lgw}$ chains. They also observed that the problem of on-line chain partitioning of general posets of width w$w$ could be reduced to First-Fit chain partitioning of 2w²+1$2w^2+1$-ladder-free posets of width w$w$, where an m$m$-ladder is the transitive closure of the union of two incomparable chains _x1≤?≤_xm$x_1\le ?\le x_m$, _y1≤?≤_ym$y_1\le ?\le y_m$ and the set of comparabilities {_x1≤_y1,…,_xm≤_ym}$\{x_1\le y_1,\dots ,x_m\le y_m\}$. Here, we provide a subexponential upper bound (in terms of w$w$ with m$m$ fixed) for the performance of First-Fit chain partitioning on m$m$-ladder-free posets, as well as an exact quadratic bound when m=2$m=2$, and an upper bound linear in m$m$ when w=2$w=2$. Using the Bosek–Krawczyk observation, this yields an on-line chain partitioning algorithm with a somewhat improved performance bound. More importantly, the algorithm and the proof of its performance bound are much simpler.     

Holomorphic mappings preserving Minkowski functionals

We show that the equality _m1(f(x))=_m2(g(x))$m_1\left(f\left(x\right)\right)=m_2\left(g\left(x\right)\right)$ for x$x$ in a neighborhood of a point a$a$ remains valid for all x$x$ provided that f$f$ and g$g$ are open holomorphic maps, f(a)=g(a)=0$f\left(a\right)=g\left(a\right)=0$ and _m1,_m2$m_1,m_2$ are Minkowski functionals of bounded balanced domains. Moreover, a polynomial relation between f$f$ and g$g$ is obtained.     

The inverse inertia problem for the complements of partial k-trees

Let F$\mathbb{F}$ be an infinite field with characteristic not equal to two. For a graph G=(V,E)$G=(V,E)$ with V={1,…,n}$V=\{1,\dots ,n\}$, let S(G;F)$S(G;\mathbb{F})$ be the set of all symmetric n×n$n\times n$ matrices A=[_ai,j]$A=[a_{i,j}]$ over F$\mathbb{F}$ with _ai,j≠0$a_{i,j}\ne 0$, i≠j$i\ne j$ if and only if ij∈E$ij\in E$. We show that if G is the complement of a partial k  -tree and m?k+2$m?k+2$, then for all nonsingular symmetric m×m$m\times m$ matrices K   over F$\mathbb{F}$, there exists an m×n$m\times n$ matrix U   such that U^TKU∈S(G;F)$U^{T}KU\in S(G;\mathbb{F})$. As a corollary we obtain that, if k+2?m?n$k+2?m?n$ and G is the complement of a partial k-tree, then for any two nonnegative integers p and q   with p+q=m$p+q=m$, there exists a matrix in S(G;R)$S(G;\mathbb{R})$ with p positive and q negative eigenvalues.     

On the norming constants for normal maxima

Given n   independent standard normal random variables, it is well known that their maxima _Mn$M_n$ can be normalized such that their distribution converges to the Gumbel law. In a remarkable study, Hall proved that the Kolmogorov distance _dn$d_n$ between the normalized _Mn$M_n$ and its associated limit distribution is less than 3/log?n$3/\log ?n$. In the present study, we propose a different set of norming constants that allow this upper bound to be decreased with _dn≤C(m)/log?n$d_n\le C(m)/\log ?n$ for n≥m≥5$n\ge m\ge 5$. Furthermore, the function C(m)$C(m)$ is computed explicitly, which satisfies C(m)≤1$C(m)\le 1$ and _limm→∞?C(m)=1/3${\lim }_{m\to \infty }?C(m)=1/3$. As a consequence, some new and effective norming constants are provided using the asymptotic expansion of a Lambert W type function.     

Zero separation results for solutions of second order linear differential equations

The oscillation of solutions of f^″+Af=0$f^{″}+Af=0$ is discussed by focusing on four separate situations. In the complex case A$A$ is assumed to be either analytic in the unit disc D$\mathbb{D}$ or entire, while in the real case A$A$ is continuous either on (−1,1)$(-1,1)$ or on (0,∞)$(0,\infty )$. In all situations A$A$ is expected to grow beyond bounds that ensure finite oscillation for all (non-trivial) solutions, and the separation between distinct zeros of solutions is considered.     

Parametric inference for discretely observed multidimensional diffusions with small diffusion coefficient

We consider a multidimensional diffusion X$X$ with drift coefficient b(α,_Xt)$b(\alpha ,X_t)$ and diffusion coefficient ?σ(β,_Xt)$?\sigma (\beta ,X_t)$. The diffusion sample path is discretely observed at times _tk=kΔ$t_k=k\Delta$ for k=1…n$k=1\dots n$ on a fixed interval [0,T]$[0,T]$. We study minimum contrast estimators derived from the Gaussian process approximating X$X$ for small ?$?$. We obtain consistent and asymptotically normal estimators of α$\alpha$ for fixed Δ$\Delta$ and ?→0$?\to 0$ and of (α,β)$(\alpha ,\beta )$ for Δ→0$\Delta \to 0$ and ?→0$?\to 0$ without any condition linking ?$?$ and Δ$\Delta$. We compare the estimators obtained with various methods and for various magnitudes of Δ$\Delta$ and ?$?$ based on simulation studies. Finally, we investigate the interest of using such methods in an epidemiological framework.