Langford sequences: perfect and hooked

A sequence {d, d+1,…, d+m?1} of m consecutive positive integers is said to be perfect if the integers {1, 2,…, 2m} can be arranged in disjoint pairs {(a_i, b_i): 1?i?m} so that {b_i?a_i: 1?i?m}={d,d+1,…,d+m?1}. A sequence is hooked if the set {1, 2,…, 2m?1 2m+1} can be arranged in pairs to satisfy the same condition. Well known necessary conditions for perfect sequences are herein shown to be sufficient. Similar necessary and sufficient conditions for hooked sequences are given.     

Navigation and control of the motion of a back wheel drive tricycle

This work deals with the guidance and control of the motion of a back wheel drive tricycle. Denote by O the center of mass of the tricycle. Given N points P_i, i = 0,…, N − 1 in the horizontal plane, a finite time interval [0, t_f], and a sequence of times τ₀ = 0 < τ₁ < … < τ_{N −1} = t_f. Based on a dynamical model of the tricycle, and by using the concept of path controllability, control laws are derived for the tricycle's pedalling moment and directional moment such that O will pass through p_j at the time τ_j, j = 0,…, N − 1, respectively.     

On discount residue classes

It is shown that, whenever m₁, m₂,…, m_n are natural numbers such that the pairwise greatest common divisors, d_ij=(m_i, m_j), i≠j are distinct and different from 1, then there exist integers a₁, a₂,…,a_n such that the solution sets of the congruences x≡_i (modm_i), i= 1,2,…,n are disjoint.     

Multiplicative infinite loop space theory

Let G be a finitely presented group given by its pre-abelian presentation <X1,…,Xm; Xe11ζ1,…,Xemmζ,ζm+1,…>, where ei≥0 for i = 1,…, m and ζj?G′ for j≥1. Let N be the subgroup of G generated by the normal subgroups [xeii, G] for i = 1,…, m. Then Dn+2(G)≡γn+2(G) (modNG′) for all n≥0, where G” is the second commutator subgroup of G,γn+2(G) is the (n+2)th term of the lower central series of G and Dn+2(G) = G∩(1+△n+2(G)) is the (n+2)th dimension subgroup of G.     

Ordered sums of group elements

The following theorem is proved. If a₁, … a_k are distinct elements of a group, written additively, though not necessarily Abelian, and the sums a_i1 + … + a_im, 1 ? i₁ < … < i_m ? k do not represent 0, then they represent at least 2k ? 1 distinct elements, and this bound 2k ? 1 is attained only when k ? 3 or when the elements a₁, …, a_k generate a dihedral group.     

Complementing and exactly covering sequences

The following is proved (in a slightly more general setting): Let α₁, …, α_m be positive real, γ₁, …, γ_m real, and suppose that the system [nα_i + γ_i], i = 1, …, m, n = 1, 2, …, contains every positive integer exactly once (= a complementing system). Then $\text{α}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{α}{}_{\mathrm{j}}$ is an integer for some i ≠ j in each of the following cases: (i) m = 3 and m = 4; (ii) m = 5 if all α_i but one are integers; (iii) m ? 5, two of the α_i are integers, at least one of them prime; (iv) m ? 5 and α_n ? 2ⁿ for n = 1, 2, …, m ? 4.For proving (iv), a method of reduction is developed which, given a complementing system of m sequences, leads under certain conditions to a derived complementing system of m ? 1 sequences.     

Δ-Monotone arrangements of real numbers

Given a set of M × N real numbers, can these always be labeled as x_i,j; i = 1,…, M; j = 1,…, N; such that x_i+1,j+1 ? x_i+1,j ? x_i,j+1 + x_ij ≥ 0, for every (i, j) where 1 ≤ i ≤ M ? 1, 1 ≤ j ≤ N ? 1? For M = N = 3, or smaller values of M, N it is shown that there is a “uniform” rule. However, for max(M, N) > 3 and min(M, N) ≥ 3, it is proved that no uniform rule can be given. For M = 3, N = 4 a way of labeling is demonstrated. For general M, N the problem is still open although, for a special case where all the numbers are 0's and 1's, a solution is given.     

Intersection properties of finite sets

Let X₁, X₂, …, X_m be finite sets. The present paper is concerned with the m² ? m intersection numbers |X_i ∩ X_j| (i ≠ j). We prove several theorems on families of sets with the same prescribed intersection numbers. We state here one of our conclusions that requires no further terminology. Let T₁, T₂, …, T_m be finite sets and let m ? 3. We assume that each of the elements in the set union T₁ ∪ T₂ ∪ … ∪ T_m occurs in at least two of the subsets T₁, T₂, …, T_m. We further assume that every pair of sets T_i and T_j (i ≠ j) intersect in at most one element and that for every such pair of sets there exists exactly one set T_k (k ≠ i, k ≠ j) such that T_k intersects both T_i and T_j. Then it follows that the integer m = 2m′ + 1 is odd and apart from the labeling of sets and elements there exist exactly m′ + 1 such families of sets. The unique family with the minimal number of elements is {1}, {2}, …, {m′}, {1}, {2}, …, {m′}, {1, 2, …, m′}.     

On covering a product of sets with products of their subsets

Suppose that S₁,…,S_N are collections of subsets of X₁,…,X_N, respectively, such that n_i subsets belonging to S_i, and no fewer, cover X_i for all i. the main result of this paper is that to cover X₁ x…x X_N requires no fewer than σ^N_i=1 (n_i–1) + 1 and no more than Π^N_i=1n_i subsets of the form A₁ x…x A_N, where A_i∈S₁foralli. Moreo ver, these bounds cannot be improved. Identical bounds for the spanning number of a normal product of graphs are also obtained.     

A stochastic permutation-flowshop scheduling problem minimizing in distribution the schedule length

Consider n jobs (J₁,J₂,…,J_n) and m machines (M₁,M₂…,M_m). Upon completion of processing of J_i, 1 ? i ? n, on M_j 1 ? j ? m ? 1, it departs with probability p_i or moves to M_j+1 with the complementary probability, 1?p_i. A job completing service on M_m departs. The processing time of j_i on M_j possesses a distribution function F_j. It is proved that sequencing the jobs in a nondecreasing order of p_i minimizes in distribution the schedule length.     

On orthogonal matrices with constant diagonal

In connection with the problem of finding the best projections of k-dimensional spaces embedded in n-dimensional spaces Hermann König asked: Given m∈$\text{R}$ and n∈$\text{N}$, are there n×n matrices C=(c_ij), i, j=1,…,n, such that c_ii=m for all i, |c_ij|=1 for i≠j, and C²=(m²+n?1)I_n? König was especially interested in symmetric C, and we find some families of matrices satisfying this condition. We also find some families of matrices satisfying the less restrictive condition CC^T=(m²+n?1)I_n.     

Asymptotic bias of some election methods

Consider an election where N seats are distributed among parties with proportions p ₁,…,p _m of the votes. We study, for the common divisor and quota methods, the asymptotic distribution, and in particular the mean, of the seat excess of a party, i.e. the difference between the number of seats given to the party and the (real) number Np _i that yields exact proportionality. Our approach is to keep p ₁,…,p _m fixed and let N→∞, with N random in a suitable way. In particular, we give formulas showing the bias favouring large or small parties for the different election methods.     

On distribution by rank of bases for vector spaces of matrices over a finite field

Let F^m×n_q denote the vector space of all m×n matrices over the finite field F_q of order q, and let $\text{B}\text{=(A}{}_1\text{,A}{}_2\text{,…,A}{}_{\mathrm{mn}}\text{)}$ denote an ordered basis for F^m×n_q. If the rank of A_i is r_i,i=1,2,…,mn, then $\text{B}$ is said to have rank (r₁,r₂,…,r_mn), and the number of ordered bases of F^mxn_q with rank (r₁,r₂,…,r_mn is denoted by N_q(r₁, r₂,…,r_mn). This paper determines formulas for the numbers N_q(r₁,r₂,…,r_mn) for the case m=n=2, q arbitrary, and while some of the techniques of the paper extend to arbitrary m and n, the general formulas for the numbers N_q(r₁,r₂,…,r_mn) seem quite complicated and remain unknown. An idea on a possible computer attack which may be feasible for low values of m and n is also discussed.     

Permutation-operator inequalities on certain symmetry classes of tensors

If A∈T(m, N), the real-valued N-linear functions on E_m, and σ∈S_N, the symmetric group on {…,N}, then we define the permutation operator P_σ: T(m, N) → T(m, N) such that P_σ(A)(x₁,x₂,…,x_N = A(x_σ(1),x_σ(2),…, x_σ(N)). Suppose Σ^q_i=1n_i = N, where the n_i are positive integers. In this paper we present a condition on σ that is sufficient to guarantee that 〈P_σ(A₁?A₂???A_q),A₁?A₂?? ? A_q〉 ? 0 for A_i∈S(m, n_i), where S(m, n_i) denotes the subspace of T(m, n_i) consisting of all the fully symmetric members of T(m, n_i). Also we present a broad generalization of the Neuberger identity which is sometimes useful in answering questions of the type described below. Suppose G and H are subgroups of S_N. We let T_G(m, N) denote all A∈T(m, N) such that P_σ(A) = A for all σ∈G. We define the symmetrizer $\text{S}$_G: T(m, N)→T_G(m,N) such that $\text{S}{}_{\mathrm{G}}\text{(A) = 1/|G|Σ}{}_{\mathrm{\sigma \in G}}\text{P}{}_{\mathrm{\sigma }}\text{(A)}$. Suppose H is a subgroup of G and A∈T_H(m, N). Clearly $\text{6}\text{S}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>G</mtext>}}\text{6(A) 6? 6A6.}$ We are interested in the reverse type of comparison. In particular, if D is a suitably chosen subset of T_H(m,N), then can we explicitly present a constant C>0 such that $\text{6}\text{S}{}_{\mathrm{G}}\text{(A)6?C6A6}$ for all A∈D?     

Proof of Gromov’s theorem on homogeneous nilpotent approximation for vector fields of class C 1

The article is devoted to the asymptotic properties of the vector fields $\tilde X_i^g $ , i = 1, …, N, θ _g -connected with C ¹-smooth basis vector fields {X _i } _i=1,…,N satisfying condition (+ deg). We prove a theorem of Gromov on the homogeneous nilpotent approximation for vector fields of classC ¹. Nontrivial examples are constructed of quasimetrics induced by vector fields {X _i } _{i=1, …, N} .     

Relation between frobenius and 2-frobenius groups with order components of finite groups

IfG is a finite group, we define its prime graph Г(G), as follows: its vertices are the primes dividing the order ofG and two verticesp, q are joined by an edge, if there is an element inG of orderpq. We denote the set of all the connected components of the graph Г(G) by T(G)= {π_i(G), fori = 1,2, …,t(G)}, where t(G) is the number of connected components of Г(G). We also denote by π(n) the set of all primes dividingn, wheren is a natural number. Then ¦G¦ can be expressed as a product of m₁, m₂, …, m_t(G), where m_i’s are positive integers with π(m_i) = π_i. Thesem _i ’s are called the order components ofG. LetOC(G) := {m ₁,m ₂, …,m _t (G)} be the set of order components ofG. In this paper we prove that, if G is a finite group andOC(G) =OC(M), where M is a finite simple group witht(M) ≥ 2, thenG is neither Frobenius nor 2-Frobenius.     

A subdeterminant inequality for normal matrices

Let A be an n × n normal matrix over $\text{C}$, and Q_m, _n be the set of strictly increasing integer sequences of length m chosen from 1,…,n. For α, β ? Q_m, _n denote by A[α|β] the submatrix obtained from A by using rows numbered α and columns numbered β. For k ? {0, 1,…, m} we write |α∩β| = k if there exists a rearrangement of 1,…, m, say i₁,…, i_k, i_k+1,…, i_m, such that α(i_j) = β(i_j), i = 1,…, k, and {α(i_k+1),…, α(i_m) } ∩ {β(i_k+1),…, β(i_m) } = ?. A new bound for |detA[α|β ]| is obtained in terms of the eigenvalues of A when 2m = n and |α∩β| = 0.Let $\text{U}$_n be the group of n × n unitary matrices. Define the nonnegative number

where | α ∩ β| = k. It is proved that

Let A be semidefinite hermitian. We conjecture that ρ₀(A) ? ρ₁(A) ? ··· ? ρ_m(A). These inequalities have been tested by machine calculations.     

Strong law for the bootstrap

Let X₁, X₂, X₃, … be i.i.d. r.v. with E|X₁| < ∞, E X₁ = μ. Given a realization X = (X₁,X₂,…) and integers n and m, construct Y_n,i, i = 1, 2, …, m as i.i.d. r.v. with conditional distribution $\text{P}{}^1\text{(Y}{}_{\mathrm{n,i}}\text{= X}{}_{\mathrm{j}}\text{) =}\text{1}\text{n}$ for 1 ? j ? n. ($\text{P}{}^1$ denotes conditional distribution given X). Conditions relating the growth rate of m with n and the moments of X₁ are given to ensure the almost sure convergence of $\text{(}\text{1}\text{m}\text{)Σ}{}^{\mathrm{m}}{}_{\mathrm{i=1}}\text{Y}{}_{\mathrm{n,i}}$ toμ. This equation is of some relevance in the theory of Bootstrap as developed by Efron (1979) and Bickel and Freedman (1981).     

Optimal labelling of a product of two paths

If G is a graph with p vertices and at least one edge, we set φ (G) = m n max |f(u) ? f(v)|, where the maximum is taken over all edges uv and the minimum over all one-to-one mappings f : V(G) → {1, 2, …, p}: V(G) denotes the set of vertices of G.P_n will denote a path of length n whose vertices are integers 1, 2, …, n with i adjacent to j if and only if |i ? j| = 1. P_m × P_n will denote a graph whose vertices are elements of {1, 2, …, m} × {1, 2, …, n} and in which (i, j), (r, s) are adjacent whenever either i = r and |j ? s| = 1 or j = s and |i ? r| = 1.Theorem.If max(m, n) ? 2, thenφ(P_m × P_n) = min(m, n).