On conditionally positive definite dot product kernels

Let m and n be fixed, positive integers and P a space composed of real polynomials in m variables. The authors study functions f ： R →R which map Gram matrices, based upon n points of R^m, into matrices, which are nonnegative definite with respect to P Among other things, the authors discuss continuity, differentiability, convexity, and convexity in the sense of Jensen, of such functions     

A covering lemma for L(ℝ)

Jensen's celebrated Covering Lemma states that if 0^# does not exist, then for any uncountable set of ordinals X, there is a Y∈L such that X⊆Y and |X| = |Y|. Working in ZF + AD alone, we establish the following analog: If ℝ^# does not exist, then L(ℝ) and V have exactly the same sets of reals and for any set of ordinals X with |X| ≥Θ ^{L (ℝ)}, there is a Y∈L(ℝ) such that X⊆Y and |X| = |Y|. Here ℝ is the set of reals and Θ is the supremum of the ordinals which are the surjective image of ℝ. Received: 29 October 1999 / Published online: 12 December 2001     

An Improvement to “A Note on Euclidean Ramsey Theory”

We characterize those subsets Y⊆ℝ ⁿ such that for every infinite X⊆ℝ ⁿ , there is a red/blue coloring of ℝ ⁿ having no monochromatic red set similar to X and no monochramtic blue set similar to Y.     

Geometric Tomography of Convex Cones

The parallel X-ray of a convex set K⊂ℝ ⁿ in a direction u is the function that associates to each line l, parallel to u, the length of K∩l. The problem of finding a set of directions such that the corresponding X-rays distinguish any two convex bodies has been widely studied in geometric tomography. In this paper we are interested in the restriction of this problem to convex cones, and we are motivated by some applications of this case to the covariogram problem. We prove that the determination of a cone by parallel X-rays is equivalent to the determination of its sections from a different type of tomographic data (namely, point X-rays of a suitable order). We prove some new results for the corresponding problem which imply, for instance, that convex polyhedral cones in ℝ³ are determined by parallel X-rays in certain sets of two or three directions. The obtained results are optimal.     

On visibility and covering by convex sets

A setX⊆ℝ ^d isn-convex if among anyn of its points there exist two such that the segment connecting them is contained inX. Perles and Shelah have shown that any closed (n+1)-convex set in the plane is the union of at mostn ⁶ convex sets. We improve their bound to 18n ³, and show a lower bound of order Ω(n ²). We also show that ifX⊆ℝ² is ann-convex set such that its complement has λ one-point path-connectivity components, λ<∞, thenX is the union ofO(n ⁴+n ²λ) convex sets. Two other results onn-convex sets are stated in the introduction (Corollary 1.2 and Proposition 1.4). Research supported by Charles University grants GAUK 99/158 and 99/159, and by U.S.-Czechoslovak Science and Technology Program Grant No. 94051. Part of the work by J. Matoušek was done during the author’s visits at Tel Aviv University and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Part of the work by P. Valtr was done during his visit at the University of Cambridge supported by EC Network DIMANET/PECO Contract No. ERBCIPDCT 94-0623.     

Polynomial parallel volume, convexity and contact distributions of random sets

We characterize convexity of a random compact set X in ℝ^d via polynomial expected parallel volume of X. The parallel volume of a compact set A is a function of r≥0 and is defined here in two steps. First we form the parallel set at distance r with respect to a one- or two-dimensional gauge body B. Then we integrate the volume of this (relative) parallel set with respect to all rotations of B. We apply our results to characterize convexity of the typical grain of a Boolean model via first contact distributions.     

The structure on the real field generated by the standard part map on an o-minimal expansion of a real closed field

Let R be a sufficiently saturated o-minimal expansion of a real closed field, let be the convex hull of ℚ in R, and let st: → ℝ ⁿ be the standard part map. For X ⊆ R ⁿ define st X:= st (X ∩ ). We let ℝ_ind be the structure with underlying set ℝ and expanded by all sets st X, where X ⊆ R ⁿ is definable in R and n = 1, 2,.... We show that the subsets of ℝ ⁿ that are definable in ℝ_ind are exactly the finite unions of sets st X st Y, where X, Y ⊆ R ⁿ are definable in R. A consequence of the proof is a partial answer to a question by Hrushovski, Peterzil and Pillay about the existence of measures with certain invariance properties on the lattice of bounded definable sets in R ⁿ .     

Generalizations of the odd degree theorem and applications

LetV ⊂ ℙℝ ⁿ be an algebraic variety, such that its complexificationV _ℂ ⊂ ℙ ⁿ is irreducible of codimensionm ≥ 1. We use a sufficient condition on a linear spaceL ⊂ ℙℝ ⁿ of dimensionm + 2r to have a nonempty intersection withV, to show that any six dimensional subspace of 5 × 5 real symmetric matrices contains a nonzero matrix of rank at most 3.     

Uniqueness in Discrete Tomography of Delone Sets with Long-Range Order

We address the problem of determining finite subsets of Delone sets Λ⊂ℝ ^d with long-range order by X-rays in prescribed Λ-directions, i.e., directions parallel to nonzero interpoint vectors of Λ. Here, an X-ray in direction u of a finite set gives the number of points in the set on each line parallel to u. For our main result, we introduce the notion of algebraic Delone sets Λ⊂ℝ² and derive a sufficient condition for the determination of the convex subsets of these sets by X-rays in four prescribed Λ-directions.     

Retracts, fixed point property and existence of periodic points

Let X be a metric space, f ∈ C⁰( X), andV ⊂X. The set-trajectory ( V, f( V), …,f ⁿ (V)) is investigated and some conditions for f to have periodic points with given periods are obtained.     

On the subspace L((x ∧ y)m) of Sm(∧2?4)

We take the exterior power ℝ⁴ ∧ ℝ⁴ of the space ℝ⁴, its mth symmetric power V = S ^m (∧²ℝ⁴) = (ℝ⁴ ∧ ℝ⁴) ∨ (ℝ⁴ ∧ ℝ⁴) ∨ ... ∨(ℝ⁴ ∧ ℝ⁴), and put V ₀ = L((x ∧ y)∨ ... ∨(x ∧ y): x, y ∈ ℝ⁴). We find the dimension of V ₀ and an algorithm for distinguishing a basis for V ₀ efficiently. This problem arose in vector tomography for the purpose of reconstructing the solenoidal part of a symmetric tensor field. Original Russian Text Copyright ? 2009 Gubarev V. Yu. The author was supported by the State Maintenance Program for the Leading Scientific Schools of the Russian Federation (Grant NSh-344.2008.1). __________ Novosibirsk. Translated from Sibirskiĭ Matematicheskiĭ Zhurnal, Vol. 50, No. 3, pp. 503–514, May–June, 2009.     

Compactness for maps minimizing the n-energy under a free boundary constraint

Let X denote a compact subset of ℝ ⁿ and B the unit ball in ℝ ⁿ . In this paper we investigate analytical and topological compactness properties of minimizing sequences for the n-energy in the class of maps , the homotopy class . Received: 5 June 2000     

Modules of vector fields,differential forms and degenerations of differential systems

We deal with (n−1)-generated modules of smooth (analytic, holomorphic) vector fieldsV=(X ₁,..., X_n−1) (codimension 1 differential systems) defined locally on ℝ ⁿ or ℂ ⁿ , and extend the standard duality(X ₁,..., X_n−1)↦(ω), ω=Ω(X₁,...,X_n−1,.,) (Ω−a volume form) betweenV′s and 1-generated modules of differential 1-forms (Pfaffian equations)—when the generatorsX _i are linearly independent—onto substantially wider classes of codimension 1 differential systems. We prove that two codimension 1 differential systemsV and are equivalent if and only if so are the corresponding Pfaffian equations (ω) and provided that ω has1-division property: ωΛμ=0, μ—any 1-form ⇒ μ=fω for certain function germf. The 1-division property of ω turns out to be equivalent to the following properties ofV: (a)fX∈V, f—not a 0-divisor function germ ⇒X∈V (thedivision property); (b) (V ^⊥)^⊥=V; (c)V ^⊥=(ω); (d) (ω)^⊥=V, where ⊥ denotes the passing from a module (of vector fields or differential 1-forms) to its annihilator. Supported by Polish KBN grant N^o 2 1090 91 01. Partially supported by the fund for the promotion of research at the Technion, 100–942.     

Weak helix submanifolds of euclidean spaces

Let M⊂ℝ ⁿ be a submanifold of a euclidean space. A vector d∈ℝ ⁿ is called a helix direction of M if the angle between d and any tangent space T _p M is constant. Let ℋ(M) be the set of helix directions of M. If the set ℋ(M) contains r linearly independent vectors we say that M is a weak r-helix. We say that M is a strong r-helix if ℋ(M) is a r-dimensional linear subspace of ℝ ⁿ . For curves and hypersurfaces both definitions agree. The object of this article is to show that these definitions are not equivalent. Namely, we construct (non strong) weak 2-helix surfaces of ℝ⁴. The author is supported by the Project M.I.U.R. “Riemann Metrics and Differentiable Manifolds” and by G.N.S.A.G.A. of I.N.d.A.M., Italy.     

Envelope of holomorphy of a tube domain over a complex Lie group

According to S. Bochner [6, 7]: IfD =B +iℝ ⁿ is a tube domain in ℂ ⁿ , where B is a domain in ℝ ⁿ , and if [(B)\tilde]\tilde B is the convex envelope of B, then any holomorphic function on D extends to the tube domain [(D)\tilde] = [(B)\tilde] + i\mathbbRⁿ \tilde D = \tilde B + i\mathbb{R}^n , which is a univalent envelope of holomorphy of D. We give a generalization of this result to (nonunivalent) tube domains over a complex Lie group which admit a closed sub-group as a real form. Application: If (V, φ) is a tube domain over ℂ ⁿ and if B is the convex envelope of ϕ(V)∩ℝ ⁿ in ℝ ⁿ , then [(V)\tilde] = B + i\mathbbRⁿ \tilde V = B + i\mathbb{R}^n is an envelope of holomorphy of (V, φ).     

Visibility Graphs of Point Sets in the Plane

The visibility graph of a discrete point set X⊂ℝ² has vertex set X and an edge xy for every two points x,y∈X whenever there is no other point in X on the line segment between x and y. We show that for every graph G, there is a point set X∈ℝ², such that the subgraph of induced by X is isomorphic to G. As a consequence, we show that there are visibility graphs of arbitrary high chromatic number with clique number 6 settling a question by Kára, Pór and Wood. Supported by the DFG Research Center Matheon (FZT86).     

Positive definite functions and stable random vectors

We say that a random vector X = (X ₁, …, X _n ) in ℝ ⁿ is an n-dimensional version of a random variable Y if, for any a ∈ ℝ ⁿ , the random variables Σa _i X _i and γ(a)Y are identically distributed, where γ: ℝ ⁿ → [0,∞) is called the standard of X. An old problem is to characterize those functions γ that can appear as the standard of an n-dimensional version. In this paper, we prove the conjecture of Lisitsky that every standard must be the norm of a space that embeds in L ₀. This result is almost optimal, as the norm of any finite-dimensional subspace of L _p with p ∈ (0, 2] is the standard of an n-dimensional version (p-stable random vector) by the classical result of P. Lèvy. An equivalent formulation is that if a function of the form f(‖ · ‖ _K ) is positive definite on ℝ ⁿ , where K is an origin symmetric star body in ℝ ⁿ and f: ℝ → ℝ is an even continuous function, then either the space (ℝ ⁿ , ‖·‖ _K ) embeds in L ₀ or f is a constant function. Combined with known facts about embedding in L ₀, this result leads to several generalizations of the solution of Schoenberg’s problem on positive definite functions.     

Cantor set and interpolation

In 1998, Y. Benyamini published interesting results concerning interpolation of sequences using continuous functions ℝ → ℝ. In particular, he proved that there exists a continuous function ℝ → ℝ which in some sense “interpolates” all sequences (x _n ) _n∈ℤ ∈ [0, 1]^ℤ “simultaneously.” In 2005, M.R. Naulin and C. Uzcátegui unified and generalized Benyamini’s results. In this paper, the case of topological spaces X and Y with an Abelian group acting on X is considered. A similar problem of “simultaneous interpolation” of all “generalized sequences” using continuous mappings X → Y is posed. Further generalizations of Naulin-Uncátegui theorems, in particular, multidimensional analogues of Benyamini’s results are obtained.     

Edgeworth expansions for stochastic approximation theory

To estimate the root ϑ of an unknown regression function f: ℝ → ℝ the iterative Robbins-Monro method X _n+1 = X _n − a/nY _n with noisy observations Y _n = f(X _n ) + V _n of f(X _n ) can be used. It is well known that X _n − ϑ can be approximated by a weighted sum of the observation errors V _n . As recently shown this approximation can be improved by adding quadratic and cubic forms in the observation errors. This paper presents valid Edgeworth expansions of the distribution function of the approximating sequence up to a remainder term of order o(1/√n) or even o(1/n).