Conjugacy classes and finite p-groups

Let G be a finite p-group, where p is a prime number, and a ∈ G. Denote by Cl(a) = {gag⁻¹| g ∈ G} the conjugacy class of a in G. Assume that |Cl(a)| = pⁿ. Then Cl(a) Cl(a⁻¹) = {xy | x ∈ Cl(a), y ∈ Cl(a⁻¹)} is the union of at least n(p − 1) + 1 distinct conjugacy classes of G. Received: 16 December 2004     

On a graph related to permutability in finite groups

For a finite group G we define the graph Γ(G) to be the graph whose vertices are the conjugacy classes of cyclic subgroups of G and two conjugacy classes ${\mathcal {A}, \mathcal {B}}For a finite group G we define the graph Γ(G) to be the graph whose vertices are the conjugacy classes of cyclic subgroups of G and two conjugacy classes A, B{\mathcal {A}, \mathcal {B}} are joined by an edge if for some A ? A, B ? B A{A \in \mathcal {A},\, B \in \mathcal {B}\, A} and B permute. We characterise those groups G for which Γ(G) is complete.     

On finite Moufang polygons

We show that a finite generalized polygon Γ is Moufang with respect to a groupG if and only if for every flag {x, y} of Γ, the subgroupG ₁(x, y) ofG fixing every element incident with one ofx, y acts transitively on the set of apartments containing the elementsu, x, y, w, whereu≠y (resp.w≠x) is an arbitrary element incident withx (resp.y). Research Associate at the National Fund of Scientific Research of Belgium. Research partially supported by NSF Grant DMS-8901904.     

On zeros of characters of finite groups

For a finite group G and a non-linear irreducible complex character χ of G write υ(χ) = {g ∈ G | χ(g) = 0}. In this paper, we study the finite non-solvable groups G such that υ(χ) consists of at most two conjugacy classes for all but one of the non-linear irreducible characters χ of G. In particular, we characterize a class of finite solvable groups which are closely related to the above-mentioned question and are called solvable φ-groups. As a corollary, we answer Research Problem 2 in [Y.Berkovich and L.Kazarin: Finite groups in which the zeros of every non-linear irreducible character are conjugate modulo its kernel. Houston J. Math. 24 (1998), 619–630.] posed by Y.Berkovich and L.Kazarin.     

On the Existence of a Long Path Between Specified Vertices in a 2-Connected Graph

 Let G be a 2-connected graph with maximum degree Δ (G)≥d, and let x and y be distinct vertices of G. Let W be a subset of V(G)−{x, y} with cardinality at most d−1. Suppose that max{d _G(u), d _G(v)}≥d for every pair of vertices u and v in V(G)−({x, y}∪W) with d _G(u,v)=2. Then x and y are connected by a path of length at least d−|W|. Received: February 5, 1998 Revised: April 13, 1998     

On recognizability of some finite simple orthogonal groups by spectrum

It is proved that, if G is a finite group that has the same set of element orders as the simple group D _p (q), where p is prime, p ≥ 5 and q ∈ {2, 3, 5}, then the commutator group of G/F(G) is isomorphic to D _p (q), the subgroup F(G) is equal to 1 for q = 5 and to O _q (G) for q ∈ {2, 3}, F(G) ≤ G′, and |G/G′| ≤ 2.     

Longest Paths and Longest Cycles in Graphs with Large Degree Sums

 Let p(G) and c(G) denote the number of vertices in a longest path and a longest cycle, respectively, of a finite, simple graph G. Define σ₄(G)=min{d(x ₁)+d(x ₂)+ d(x ₃)+d(x ₄) | {x ₁,…,x ₄} is independent in G}. In this paper, the difference p(G)−c(G) is considered for 2-connected graphs G with σ₄(G)≥|V(G)|+3. Among others, we show that p(G)−c(G)≤2 or every longest path in G is a dominating path. Received: August 28, 2000 Final version received: May 23, 2002     

A Degree Sum Condition Concerning the Connectivity and the Independence Number of a Graph

Let G be a graph and S ⊂ V(G). We denote by α(S) the maximum number of pairwise nonadjacent vertices in S. For x, y ∈ V(G), the local connectivity κ(x, y) is defined to be the maximum number of internally-disjoint paths connecting x and y in G. We define . In this paper, we show that if κ(S) ≥ 3 and for every independent set {x ₁, x ₂, x ₃, x ₄} ⊂ S, then G contains a cycle passing through S. This degree condition is sharp and this gives a new degree sum condition for a 3-connected graph to be hamiltonian.     

On the adjacent-vertex-strongly-distinguishing total coloring of graphs

For any vertex u∈V(G), let T_N(U)={u}∪{uv|uv∈E(G), v∈v(G)}∪{v∈v(G)|uv∈E(G)}and let f be a total k-coloring of G. The total-color neighbor of a vertex u of G is the color set C_f(u)={f(x)|x∈TN(U)}. For any two adjacent vertices x and y of V(G)such that C_f(x)≠C_f(y), we refer to f as a k-avsdt-coloring of G("avsdt"is the abbreviation of"adjacent-vertex-strongly- distinguishing total"). The avsdt-coloring number of G, denoted by X_(ast)(G), is the minimal number of colors required for a avsdt-coloring of G. In this paper, the avsdt-coloring numbers on some familiar graphs are studied, such as paths, cycles, complete graphs, complete bipartite graphs and so on. We proveΔ(G) 1≤X_(ast)(G)≤Δ(G) 2 for any tree or unique cycle graph G.     

Recognition by noncommuting graph of finite simple groups L 4(q)

Let G be a nonabelian group. We define the noncommuting graph ∇(G) of G as follows: its vertex set is G\Z(G), the set of non-central elements of G, and two different vertices x and y are joined by an edge if and only if x and y do not commute as elements of G, i.e., [x, y] ≠ 1. We prove that if L ∈ {L ₄(7), L ₄(11), L ₄(13), L ₄(16), L ₄(17)} and G is a finite group such that ∇(G) ≅ ∇(L), then G ≅ L.     

On Solvability of Finite Groups with Few Non-Normal Subgroups

For a finite group G, let v(G) denote the number of conjugacy classes of non-normal subgroups of G and vc(G) denote the number of conjugacy classes of non-normal noncyclic subgroups of G. In this paper, we show that every finite group G satisfying v(G) ≤2|π(G)| or vc(G) ≤ |π(G)| is solvable, and for a finite nonsolvable group G, v(G) = 2|π(G)| +1 if and only if G ? A ₅.     

One sufficient condition for Hamiltonian graphs involving distances

In 1990 G. T. Chen proved that if G is a 2-connected graph of order n and 2|N(x) ∪ N(y)| + d(x) + d(y) ≥ 2n − 1 for each pair of nonadjacent vertices x, y ∈ V (G), then G is Hamiltonian. In this paper we prove that if G is a 2-connected graph of order n and 2|N(x) ∪ N(y)| + d(x)+d(y) ≥ 2n−1 for each pair of nonadjacent vertices x, y ∈ V (G) such that d(x, y) = 2, then G is Hamiltonian.     

Improved confidence set estimators of a multivariate normal mean and generalizations

Summary LetX be the observed vector of thep-variate (p≧3) normal distribution with mean θ and covariance matrix equal to the identity matrix. Denotey ₊=max{0,y} for any real numbery. We consider the confidence set estimator of θ of the formC _δa,φ={θ:|θ−δ^a,φ(X)}≦c}, whereδ ^a,φ=[1−aφ({X})/{X}²]₊X is the positive part of the Baranchik (1970,Ann. Math. Statist.,41, 642–645) estimator. We provide conditions on ϕ(•) anda which guarantee thatC _δa.φ has higher coverage probability than the usual one, {θ:|θ−X|≦c}. This dominance result will be shown to hold for spherically symmetric distributions, which include the normal distribution,t-distribution and double exponential distribution. The latter result generalizes that of Hwang and Chen (1983,Technical Report, Dept. of Math., Cornell University).     

Gauss-Bonnet Formula, Finiteness Condition, and Characterizations of Graphs Embedded in Surfaces

Let G be an infinite graph embedded in a closed 2-manifold, such that each open face of the embedding is homeomorphic to an open disk and is bounded by finite number of edges. For each vertex x of G, define the combinatorial curvature

Superstability of the generalized orthogonality equation on restricted domains

Chmielinski has proved in the paper [4] the superstability of the generalized orthogonality equation |〈f(x), f(y)〉| = |〈x,y〉|. In this paper, we will extend the result of Chmielinski by proving a theorem: LetD _n be a suitable subset of ℝⁿ. If a function f:D _n → ℝⁿ satisfies the inequality ∥〈f(x), f(y)〉| |〈x,y〉∥ ≤ φ(x,y) for an appropriate control function φ(x, y) and for allx, y ∈ D _n, thenf satisfies the generalized orthogonality equation for anyx, y ∈ D _n.     

Strict Betweennesses Induced by Posets as well as by Graphs

For a finite poset P = (V, ≤ ), let _s(P){\cal B}_s(P) consist of all triples (x,y,z) ∈ V ³ such that either x < y < z or z < y < x. Similarly, for every finite, simple, and undirected graph G = (V,E), let B_s(G){\cal B}_s(G) consist of all triples (x,y,z) ∈ V ³ such that y is an internal vertex on an induced path in G between x and z. The ternary relations B_s(P){\cal B}_s(P) and B_s(G){\cal B}_s(G) are well-known examples of so-called strict betweennesses. We characterize the pairs (P,G) of posets P and graphs G on the same ground set V which induce the same strict betweenness relation B_s(P)=B_s(G){\cal B}_s(P)={\cal B}_s(G).     

Fan-type theorem for path-connectivity

A graphG is said to bek-path-connected if every pair of distinct vertices inG are joined by a path of length at leastk. We prove that if max{deg _G ^x , deg _G ^y }k for every pair of verticesx,y withd _G (x,y)=2 in a 2-connected graphG, whered _G (x,y) is the distance betweenx andy inG, thenG isk-path-connected.     

On the polynomial limit cycles of polynomial differential equations

In this paper we deal with ordinary differential equations of the form dy/dx = P(x, y) where P(x, y) is a real polynomial in the variables x and y, of degree n in the variable y. If y = φ(x) is a solution of this equation defined for x ∈ [0, 1] and which satisfies φ(0) = φ(1), we say that it is a periodic orbit. A limit cycle is an isolated periodic orbit in the set of all periodic orbits. If φ(x) is a polynomial, then φ(x) is called a polynomial solution.     

Existence and Uniqueness of Strong Solutions for a Class of Quasi‐Linear Hyperbolic Equations with Order Degeneration

Let k(y) > 0, 𝓁(y) > 0 for y > 0, k(0) = 𝓁(0) = 0 and lim_{y → 0}k(y)/𝓁(y) exists; then the equation L(u) ≔ k(y)u_xx – ∂_y(𝓁(y)u_y) + a(x, y)u_x = f(x, y, u) is strictly hyperbolic for y > 0 and its order degenerates on the line y = 0. Consider the boundary value problem Lu = f(x, y, u) in G, u|_AC = 0, where G is a simply connected domain in ℝ² with piecewise smooth boundary ∂G = AB∪AC∪BC; AB = {(x, 0) : 0 ≤ x ≤ 1}, AC : x = F(y) = ∫^y₀(k(t)/𝓁(t))^1/2dt and BC : x = 1 – F(y) are characteristic curves. Existence of generalized solution is obtained by a finite element method, provided f(x, y, u) satisfies Carathéodory condition and |f(x, y, u)| ≤ Q(x, y) + b|u| with Q ∈ L²(G), b = const > 0. It is shown also that each generalized solution is a strong solution, and that fact is used to prove uniqueness under the additional assumption |f(x, y, u₁) – f(x, y, u₂| ≤ C|u₁ – u₂|, where C = const > 0.     

Group measure space decomposition of II1 factors and W*-superrigidity

We prove a “unique crossed product decomposition” result for group measure space II₁ factors L ^∞(X)⋊Γ arising from arbitrary free ergodic probability measure preserving (p.m.p.) actions of groups Γ in a fairly large family G\mathcal{G}, which contains all free products of a Kazhdan group and a non-trivial group, as well as certain amalgamated free products over an amenable subgroup. We deduce that if T _n denotes the group of upper triangular matrices in PSL (n,ℤ), then any free, mixing p.m.p. action of G = \operatornamePSL(n,\mathbbZ)*_Tn\operatornamePSL(n,\mathbbZ)\Gamma=\operatorname{PSL}(n,\mathbb{Z})*_{T_{n}}\operatorname{PSL}(n,\mathbb{Z}) is W^∗-superrigid, i.e. any isomorphism between L ^∞(X)⋊Γ and an arbitrary group measure space factor L ^∞(Y)⋊Λ, comes from a conjugacy of the actions. We also prove that for many groups Γ in the family G\mathcal{G}, the Bernoulli actions of Γ are W^∗-superrigid.