General preservers of invariant subspace lattices

Let be the space of all bounded linear operators on a Banach space X and let LatA be the lattice of invariant subspaces of the operator . We characterize some maps with one of the following preserving properties: Lat(Φ(A)+Φ(B))=Lat(A+B), or Lat(Φ(A)Φ(B))=Lat(AB), or Lat(Φ(A)Φ(B)+Φ(B)Φ(A))=Lat(AB+BA), or Lat(Φ(A)Φ(B)Φ(A))=Lat(ABA), or Lat([Φ(A),Φ(B)])=Lat([A,B]).     

Proximity problems on line segments spanned by points

Finding the closest or farthest line segment (line) from a point are fundamental proximity problems. Given a set S of n points in the plane and another point q, we present optimal O(nlogn) time, O(n) space algorithms for finding the closest and farthest line segments (lines) from q among those spanned by the points in S. We further show how to apply our techniques to find the minimum (maximum) area triangle with a vertex at q and the other two vertices in S{q} in optimal O(nlogn) time and O(n) space. Finally, we give an O(nlogn) time, O(n) space algorithm to find the kth closest line from q and show how to find the k closest lines from q in O(nlogn+k) time and O(n+k) space.     

On partitioning two matroids into common independent subsets

Let M₁ and M₂ be two matroids on the same ground set S. We conjecture that if there do not exist disjoint subsets A₁,A₂,…,A_k+1 of S, such that _isp_M1(A_i)≠Ø, and similarly for M₂, then S is partitioned into k sets, each independent in both M₁ and M₂. This is a possible generalization of König's edge-coloring theorem. We prove the conjecture for the case k=2 and for a regular case, in which both matroids have the same rank d, and S consists of k·d elements. Finally, we prove another special case related to a conjecture of Rota.     

Searching with lies under error cost constraints

The Rényi–Berlekamp–Ulam game is a classical model for the problem of determining the minimum number of queries to find an unknown member in a finite set when up to a finite number of the answers may be erroneous. In the variant considered in this paper, questions with q many possible answers are allowed, further lies are constrained by a bipartite graph with edges weighted by 0,1,2,… (the “channel”). The channel Γ is an arbitrary assignment stipulating the cost of the different possible lies, i.e., of each answer j≠i when the correct answer is i by Γ(i,j). It is also assumed that a maximum cost e (sum of the cost of all wrong answers) can be afforded by the responder during the whole game. We provide tight asymptotic bounds for the number of questions needed to solve this problem. The appropriate searching strategies are actually provided. We also show that adaptiveness can be dramatically reduced when the channel satisfies certain symmetry constraints.     

A note on exponential dispersion models which are invariant under length-biased sampling

Length-biased sampling (LBS) situations may occur in clinical trials, reliability, queueing models, survival analysis and population studies where a proper sampling frame is absent. In such situations items are sampled at rate proportional to their “length” so that larger values of the quantity being measured are sampled with higher probabilities. More specifically, if f(x) is a p.d.f. presenting a parent population composed of non-negative valued items then the sample is practically drawn from a distribution with p.d.f. g(x)=xf(x)/E(X) describing the length-biased population. In this case the distribution associated with g is termed a length-biased distribution. In this note, we present a unified approach for characterizing exponential dispersion models which are invariant, up to translations, under various types of LBS. The approach is rather simple as it reduces such invariance problems into differential equations in terms of the derivatives of the associated variance functions.     

Exact algorithms and applications for Tree-like Weighted Set Cover

We introduce an NP-complete special case of the Weighted Set Cover problem and show its fixed-parameter tractability with respect to the maximum subset size, a parameter that appears to be small in relevant applications. More precisely, in this practically relevant variant we require that the given collection C of subsets of a base set S should be “tree-like”. That is, the subsets in C can be organized in a tree T such that every subset one-to-one corresponds to a tree node and, for each element s of S, the nodes corresponding to the subsets containing s induce a subtree of T. This is equivalent to the problem of finding a minimum edge cover in an edge-weighted acyclic hypergraph. Our main result is an algorithm running in O(3^kmn) time where k denotes the maximum subset size, n:=|S|, and m:=|C|. The algorithm also implies a fixed-parameter tractability result for the NP-complete Multicut in Trees problem, complementing previous approximation results. Our results find applications in computational biology in phylogenomics and for saving memory in tree decomposition based graph algorithms.     

On four color monochromatic sets with nondecreasing diameter

Let m and r be positive integers. Define f(m,r) to be the least positive integer N such that for every coloring of the integers 1,…,N with r colors there exist monochromatic subsets B₁ and B₂ (not necessarily of the same color), each having m elements, such that (a) max(B₁)-min(B₁)max(B₂)-min(B₂), and (b) max(B₁)B₂). We improve previous upper bounds to determine that f(m,4)=12m-9.     

Global stability of a rational difference equation

In this paper, we study the global stability of the difference equation , where the parameters a,a_i(0,∞) for i=0,…,k, x_-k,…, x_-1[0,∞) and x₀(0,∞). We prove that the unique positive equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable if and only if it is locally asymptotically. Also we provide sufficient condition for it to be globally asymptotically stable and our results solve the open problem proposed by Kulenović and Ladas (Dynamics of Second Order Rational Difference Equations with Open Problems and Conjectures, Chapman & Hall/CRC, Boca Raton, 2002).     

Maximum genus, connectivity and minimal degree of graphs

This paper is devoted to the lower bounds on the maximum genus of graphs. A simple statement of our results in this paper can be expressed in the following form:

Let G be a k-edge-connected graph with minimum degree δ, for each positive integer k(3), there exists a non-decreasing function f(δ) such that the maximum genus γ_M(G) of G satisfies the relation γ_M(G)f(δ)β(G), and furthermore that lim_δ→∞f(δ)=1/2, where β(G)=|E(G)|-|V(G)|+1 is the cycle rank of G.

The result shows that lower bounds of the maximum genus of graphs with any given connectivity become larger and larger as their minimum degree increases, and complements recent results of several authors.     

On relations between 1-lines of Adams–Novikov spectral sequences modulo invariant prime ideals

We have a ring homomorphism Θ from the cohomology of the extended Morava stabilizer group G_n with coefficients in F[w^±1] to the cohomology of G_n+1 with coefficients in the graded field F((u_n))[u^±1]. In this note we study the behavior of Θ on H¹. Then it is shown that Θ is injective on H¹ for n1 and for all primes p.     

Cauchy–Riemann equations and J-symplectic forms

Let (Σ,j) be a Riemann surface. The almost complex manifolds (M,J) for which the J-holomorphic curves :Σ→M are of variational type, are characterized. This problem is related to the existence of a vertically non-degenerate closed complex 3-form on Σ×M (see Theorem 4.3 below), which determines a family of J-symplectic structures on (M,J) parametrized by Σ.     

Visibility maps of segments and triangles in 3D

Let T be a set of n triangles in three-dimensional space, let s be a line segment, and let t be a triangle, both disjoint from T. We consider the subdivision of T based on (in)visibility from s; this is the visibility map of the segment s with respect to T. The visibility map of the triangle t is defined analogously. We look at two different notions of visibility: strong (complete) visibility, and weak (partial) visibility. The trivial Ω(n²) lower bound for the combinatorial complexity of the strong visibility map of both s and t is almost tight: we prove an O(n²(n)) upper bound for both structures, where (n) is the extremely slowly increasing inverse Ackermann function. Furthermore, we prove that the weak visibility map of s has complexity Θ(n⁵), and the weak visibility map of t has complexity Θ(n⁷). If T is a polyhedral terrain, the complexity of the weak visibility map is Ω(n⁴) and O(n⁵), both for a segment and a triangle. We also present efficient algorithms to compute all discussed structures.     

On oscillatory solutions of certain first order ordinary differential equations

By constructing a class of solutions to the integral inequality for t  t₀ large enough, where 0<A₁a(τ)A₂<+∞ and λ>1, that tend to zero as t→+∞ we address an open problem in the theory of nonlinear oscillations.     

Chromatic numbers and products

Let f(n) be the smallest number so that there are two n chromatic graphs whose product has chromatic number f(n). Under the assumption that a certain sharper result than one obtained by Duffus et al. [On the chromatic number of the product of graphs, J. Graph Theory 9 (1985) 487–495], and Welzl [Symmetric graphs and interpretations, J. Combin. Theory, Sci. B 37 (1984) 235–244], holds we will prove that f(n)n/2.     

Area-preserving approximations of polygonal paths

Let P be an x-monotone polygonal path in the plane. For a path Q that approximates P let W_A(Q) be the area above P and below Q, and let W_B(Q) be the area above Q and below P. Given P and an integer k, we show how to compute a path Q with at most k edges that minimizes W_A(Q)+W_B(Q). Given P and a cost C, we show how to find a path Q with the smallest possible number of edges such that W_A(Q)+W_B(Q)C. However, given P, an integer k, and a cost C, it is NP-hard to determine if a path Q with at most k edges exists such that max{W_A(Q),W_B(Q)}C. We describe an approximation algorithm for this setting. Finally, it is also NP-hard to decide whether a path Q exists such that |W_A(Q)−W_B(Q)|=0. Nevertheless, in this error measure we provide an algorithm for computing an optimal approximation up to an additive error.     

An improved approximation algorithm for the asymmetric TSP with strengthened triangle inequality

We consider the asymmetric traveling salesperson problem with γ-parameterized triangle inequality for γ[1/2,1). That means, the edge weights fulfill w(u,v)γ(w(u,x)+w(x,v)) for all nodes u,v,x. Chandran and Ram [L.S. Chandran, L.S. Ram, Approximations for ATSP with parametrized triangle inequality, in: Proc. 19th Int. Symp. on Theoret. Aspects of Comput. Sci. (STACS), in: Lecture Notes in Comput. Sci., vol. 2285, Springer, Berlin, 2002, pp. 227–237] gave the first constant factor approximation algorithm with polynomial running time for this problem. They achieve performance ratio γ/(1−γ). We devise an approximation algorithm with performance ratio (1+γ)/(2−γ−γ³), which is better for γ[0.5437,1), that is, for the particularly interesting large values of γ.     

Discrete subspaces of countably tight compacta

Our main result is that the following cardinal arithmetic assumption, which is a slight weakening of GCH, “2^κ is a finite successor of κ for every cardinal κ”, implies that in any countably tight compactum X there is a discrete subspace D with . This yields a (consistent) confirmation of Alan Dow’s Conjecture 2 from [A. Dow, Closures of discrete sets in compact spaces, Studia Math. Sci. Hung. 42 (2005) 227–234].     

The bandwidth sum of join and composition of graphs

Given a graph G, a proper labeling f of G is a one-to-one function . The bandwidth sum of a graph G, denoted by B_s(G), is defined by B_s(G)=min∑_uvE(G)|f(u)-f(v)|, where the minimum is taken for all proper labelings f of G. In this paper, we give some results for the bandwidth sum problem for the join of k graphs G₁,G₂,…,G_k, where each G_i is a path, cycle, complete graph, or union of isolated vertices. We also discuss the bandwidth sum for the composition of two graphs G and H, where G and H are path, cycle, or union of isolated vertices.     

Limit shape of convex lattice polygons with minimal perimeter

Let n be a positive integer and · any norm in . Denote by B the unit ball of · and the class of convex lattice polygons with n vertices and least ·-perimeter. We prove that after suitable normalization, all members of tend to a fixed convex body, as n→∞.     

Global existence and blow-up solutions and blow-up estimates for a non-local quasilinear degenerate parabolic system

This paper deals with p-Laplacian systems

with null Dirichlet boundary conditions in a smooth bounded domain ΩR^N, where p,q>1, , and a,b>0 are positive constants. We first get the non-existence result for a related elliptic systems of non-increasing positive solutions. Secondly by using this non-existence result, blow-up estimates for above p-Laplacian systems with the homogeneous Dirichlet boundary value conditions are obtained under Ω=B_R={xR^N:|x|<R}(R>0). Then under appropriate hypotheses, we establish local theory of the solutions and obtain that the solutions either exists globally or blow-up in finite time.