The boundary of the outer space of a free product

Let G be a countable group that splits as a free product of groups of the form G = G ₁ *···* G _k * F _N , where F _N is a finitely generated free group. We identify the closure of the outer space PO(G, {G ₁,..., G _k }) for the axes topology with the space of projective minimal, very small (G, {G ₁,..., G _k })-trees, i.e. trees whose arc stabilizers are either trivial, or cyclic, closed under taking roots, and not conjugate into any of the G _i ’s, and whose tripod stabilizers are trivial. Its topological dimension is equal to 3N + 2k ? 4, and the boundary has dimension 3N + 2k ? 5. We also prove that any very small (G, {G ₁,..., G _k })-tree has at most 2N + 2k?2 orbits of branch points.     

The Uncountable Lattice of All Subfunctors of the Functor of Rational Representations

In set theory the cardinality of the continuum \(|{\mathbb R}|\) is the cardinal number of some interesting sets, like the Cantor set or the transcendental numbers. We will prove that the cardinal number of all subfunctors of the functor of rational representations \(k \otimes_{{\mathbb Z}} R_{{\mathbb Q}}\), taking values on odd order groups over the field k of characteristic 2, is equal to \(|{\mathbb R}|\). When the characteristic q?>?0 of the field k is not necessarily even, we will present a formula giving the dimension of the evaluations S _C,k(G), of the simple functor S _C,k, at any group G of order prime to q and being associated to a suitable cyclic group C.     

Distance domination of generalized de Bruijn and Kautz digraphs

Let G = (V,A) be a digraph and k ≥ 1 an integer. For u, v ∈ V, we say that the vertex u distance k-dominate v if the distance from u to v at most k. A set D of vertices in G is a distance k-dominating set if each vertex of V D is distance k-dominated by some vertex of D. The distance k-domination number of G, denoted by γ _k (G), is the minimum cardinality of a distance k-dominating set of G. Generalized de Bruijn digraphs G _B (n, d) and generalized Kautz digraphs G _K (n, d) are good candidates for interconnection networks. Denote Δ _k := (∑ _j=0 ^k d ^j )^?1. F. Tian and J. Xu showed that ?nΔ _k ? γ _k (G _B (n, d)) ≤?n/d ^k? and ?nΔ _k ? ≤ γ _k (G _K (n, d)) ≤ ?n/d ^k ?. In this paper, we prove that every generalized de Bruijn digraph G _B (n, d) has the distance k-domination number ?nΔ _k ? or ?nΔ _k ?+1, and the distance k-domination number of every generalized Kautz digraph G _K (n, d) bounded above by ?n/(d ^k?1+d ^k )?. Additionally, we present various sufficient conditions for γ _k (G _B (n, d)) = ?nΔ _k ? and γ _k (G _K (n, d)) = ?nΔ _k ?.     

The asymptotic formula in Waring’s problem for one square and seventeen fifth powers

Let R _k,s(n) denote the number of solutions of the equation \({n= x^2 + y_1^k + y_2^k + \cdots + y_s^k}\) in natural numbers x, y ₁, . . . , y _s . By a straightforward application of the circle method, an asymptotic formula for R _k,s(n) is obtained when k ≥ 3 and s ≥ 2^k–1 + 2. When k ≥ 6, work of Heath-Brown and Boklan is applied to establish the asymptotic formula under the milder constraint s ≥ 7 · 2^k–4 + 3. Although the principal conclusions provided by Heath-Brown and Boklan are not available for smaller values of k, some of the underlying ideas are still applicable for k = 5, and the main objective of this article is to establish an asymptotic formula for R _5,17(n) by this strategy.     

Normal coverings of solvable groups

For a finite non cyclic group G, let γ(G) be the smallest integer k such that G contains k proper subgroups H ₁, . . . , H _k with the property that every element of G is contained in \({H_i^g}\) for some \({i \in \{1,\dots,k\}}\) and \({g \in G.}\) We prove that for every n ≥ 2, there exists a finite solvable group G with γ(G) = n.     

An improved approximation algorithm for the <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-level facility location problem with soft capacities

We consider the k-level facility location problem with soft capacities (k-LFLPSC). In the k-LFLPSC, each facility i has a soft capacity u _i along with an initial opening cost f _i ≥ 0, i.e., the capacity of facility i is an integer multiple of u _i incurring a cost equals to the corresponding multiple of f _i . We firstly propose a new bifactor (ln(1/β)/(1 ?β),1+2/(1 ?β))-approximation algorithm for the k-level facility location problem (k-LFLP), where β ∈ (0, 1) is a fixed constant. Then, we give a reduction from the k-LFLPSC to the k-LFLP. The reduction together with the above bifactor approximation algorithm for the k-LFLP imply a 5.5053-approximation algorithm for the k-LFLPSC which improves the previous 6-approximation.     

Abelian Cayley Graphs of Given Degree and Diameter 2 and 3

Let CC _d,k be the largest possible number of vertices in a cyclic Cayley graph of degree d and diameter k, and let AC _d,k be the largest order in an Abelian Cayley graph for given d and k. We show that \({CC_{d,2} \geq \frac{13}{36} (d + 2)(d -4)}\) for any d= 6p?2 where p is a prime such that \({p \neq 13}\) , \({p \not\equiv 1}\) (mod 13), and \({AC_{d,3} \geq \frac{9}{128} (d + 3)^2(d - 5)}\) for d = 8q?3 where q is a prime power.     

Binary central relations and submaximal clones determined by nontrivial equivalence relations

Let k ≥ 3, θ a nontrivial equivalence relation on E _k = {0, . . . ,k – 1}, and ρ a binary central relation on E _k (a reflexive graph with a vertex having E _k as its neighborhood). It is known that the clones Pol θ and Pol ρ (of operations on E _k preserving θ and ρ, respectively) are maximal clones; i.e., covered by the largest clone in the inclusion-ordered lattice of clones on E _k . In this paper, we give the classification of all binary central relations ρ on E _k such that the clone Pol θ ∩ Pol ρ is maximal in Pol θ.     

Conditional connectivity of bubble sort graphs

A subset F ? V (G) is called an R ^k -vertex-cut of a graph G if G ? F is disconnected and each vertex of G ? F has at least k neighbors in G ? F. The R ^k -vertex-connectivity of G, denoted by κ ^k (G), is the cardinality of a minimum R ^k -vertex-cut of G. Let B _n be the bubble sort graph of dimension n. It is known that κ _k (B _n ) = 2 ^k (n ? k ? 1) for n ≥ 2k and k = 1, 2. In this paper, we prove it for k = 3 and conjecture that it is true for all k ∈ N. We also prove that the connectivity cannot be more than conjectured.     

On generalized Heawood inequalities for manifolds: a van Kampen–Flores-type nonembeddability result

The fact that the complete graph K₅ does not embed in the plane has been generalized in two independent directions. On the one hand, the solution of the classical Heawood problem for graphs on surfaces established that the complete graph K_n embeds in a closed surface M (other than the Klein bottle) if and only if (n?3)(n?4) ≤ 6b₁(M), where b₁(M) is the first Z₂-Betti number of M. On the other hand, van Kampen and Flores proved that the k-skeleton of the n-dimensional simplex (the higher-dimensional analogue of K_n+1) embeds in R^2k if and only if n ≤ 2k + 1.Two decades ago, Kühnel conjectured that the k-skeleton of the n-simplex embeds in a compact, (k ? 1)-connected 2k-manifold with kth Z₂-Betti number b_k only if the following generalized Heawood inequality holds: ( _k+1 ^n?k?1 ) ≤ ( _k+1 ^2k+1 )b_k. This is a common generalization of the case of graphs on surfaces as well as the van Kampen–Flores theorem.In the spirit of Kühnel’s conjecture, we prove that if the k-skeleton of the n-simplex embeds in a compact 2k-manifold with kth Z₂-Betti number bk, then n ≤ 2b_k( _k ^2k+2 )+2k+4. This bound is weaker than the generalized Heawood inequality, but does not require the assumption that M is (k?1)-connected. Our results generalize to maps without q-covered points, in the spirit of Tverberg’s theorem, for q a prime power. Our proof uses a result of Volovikov about maps that satisfy a certain homological triviality condition.     

Discriminator positively complete classes of ternary logic

The article addresses the operator of positive closure on the set P _k of functions of k-valued logic. For each k ? 3, k ≠ 4, the set H _k of all homogeneous functions from P _k is proved to form an atom in the lattice of the positively closed classes from P _k . Also, we find all 17 positively closed classes from P ₃ containing the class H ₃ (i.e., discriminator positively closed classes). Positively generating systems of these classes are defined.     

On the Extremal Zagreb Indices of Graphs with Cut Edges

For a (molecular) graph, the first Zagreb index M ₁ is equal to the sum of squares of the vertex degrees, and the second Zagreb index M ₂ is equal to the sum of products of degrees of pairs of adjacent vertices. In this paper, we show that all connected graphs with n vertices and k cut edges, the maximum (resp. minimum) M ₁- and M ₂-value are obtained, respectively, and uniquely, at K _n ^k (resp. P _n ^k ), where K _n ^k is a graph obtained by joining k independent vertices to one vertex of K _n?k and P _n ^k is a graph obtained by connecting a pendent path P _k+1 to one vertex of C _n?k.     

Generalized separants of differential polynomials

Let f ∈ K{y} be an element of the ring of differential polynomials in one differential variable y with one differential operator δ. For any variable y _k , the polynomial g = δ ⁿ (f) can be represented in the form g = A _k y _k + go, where go does not depend on y _k . If y _k is the leader of g, then A _k is a separant of the polynomial f. A formula for A _k is obtained for sufficiently large numbers n and k and some applications of this formula are presented.     

A gradual rank increasing process for matrix completion

The matrix completion problem is easy to state: let A be a given data matrix in which some entries are unknown. Then, it is needed to assign “appropriate values” to these entries. A common way to solve this problem is to compute a rank-k matrix, B _k , that approximates A in a least squares sense. Then, the unknown entries in A attain the values of the corresponding entries in B _k . This raises the question of how to determine a suitable matrix rank. The method proposed in this paper attempts to answer this question. It builds a finite sequence of matrices \(B_{k}, k = 1, 2, \dots \), where B _k is a rank-k matrix that approximates A in a least squares sense. The computational effort is reduced by using B _k-1 as starting point in the computation of B _k . The ability of B _k to serve as substitute for A is measured with two objective functions: a “training” function that measures the distance between the known part of A and the corresponding part of B _k , and a “probe” function that assesses the quality of the imputed entries. Watching the changes in these functions as k increases enables us to find an optimal matrix rank. Numerical experiments illustrate the usefulness of the proposed approach.     

Generalized competition index of primitive digraphs

For any positive integers k and m, the k-step m-competition graph C _m ^k (D) of a digraph D has the same set of vertices as D and there is an edge between vertices x and y if and only if there are distinct m vertices v₁, v₂, · · ·, v _m in D such that there are directed walks of length k from x to v _i and from y to v _i for all 1 ≤ i ≤ m. The m-competition index of a primitive digraph D is the smallest positive integer k such that C _m ^k (D) is a complete graph. In this paper, we obtained some sharp upper bounds for the m-competition indices of various classes of primitive digraphs.     

The Number of <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-Sumsets in an Abelian Group

Let G be an abelian group of order n. The sum of subsets A₁,...,A_k of G is defined as the collection of all sums of k elements from A₁,...,A_k; i.e., A₁ + A₂ + · · · + A_k = {a₁ + · · · + a_k | a₁ ∈ A₁,..., a_k ∈ A_k}. A subset representable as the sum of k subsets of G is a k-sumset. We consider the problem of the number of k-sumsets in an abelian group G. It is obvious that each subset A in G is a k-sumset since A is representable as A = A₁ + · · · + A_k, where A₁ = A and A₂ = · · · = A_k = {0}. Thus, the number of k-sumsets is equal to the number of all subsets of G. But, if we introduce a constraint on the size of the summands A₁,...,A_k then the number of k-sumsets becomes substantially smaller. A lower and upper asymptotic bounds of the number of k-sumsets in abelian groups are obtained provided that there exists a summand A_i such that |A_i| = n log^qn and |A₁ +· · ·+ A_i-1 + A_i+1 + · · ·+A_k| = n log^qn, where q = -1/8 and i ∈ {1,..., k}.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">L</Emphasis><Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis></Superscript> estimates for the Schrödinger type operators

Let L _k = (?Δ) ^k + V ^k be a Schrödinger type operator, where k ≥ 1 is a positive integer and V is a nonnegative polynomial. We obtain the L ^p estimates for the operators ?^2k L _k ^?1 and ? ^k L _k ^?1/2 .     

Minimum Difference Representations of Graphs

Define a k-minimum-difference-representation (k-MDR) of a graph G to be a family of sets \({\{S(v): v\in V(G)\}}\) such that u and v are adjacent in G if and only if min{|S(u)?S(v)|, |S(v)?S(u)|} ≥ k. Define ρ _min(G) to be the smallest k for which G has a k-MDR. In this note, we show that {ρ _min(G)} is unbounded. In particular, we prove that for every k there is an n ₀ such that for n > n ₀ ‘almost all’ graphs of order n satisfy ρ _min(G) > k. As our main tool, we prove a Ramsey-type result on traces of hypergraphs.     

On the k-polygonal numbers and the mean value of Dedekind sums

For any positive integer k ≥ 3, it is easy to prove that the k-polygonal numbers are a_n(k) = (2n+n(n?1)(k?2))/2. The main purpose of this paper is, using the properties of Gauss sums and Dedekind sums, the mean square value theorem of Dirichlet L-functions and the analytic methods, to study the computational problem of one kind mean value of Dedekind sums S(a_n(k)ā_m(k), p) for k-polygonal numbers with 1 ≤ m, n ≤ p ? 1, and give an interesting computational formula for it.