Rational values of the arccosine function

We give a short proof to characterize the cases when arccos(√r), the arccosine of the squareroot of a rational number r ∈ [0, 1], is a rational multiple of π: This happens exactly if r is an integer multiple of 1/4. The proof relies on the well-known recurrence relation for the Chebyshev polynomials of the first kind. Research partially supported by grant BFM2003-06335-C03-03 of the DGI (Spain).     

On the number of generators needed for free profinite products of finite groups

We provide lower estimates on the minimal number of generators of the profinite completion of free products of finite groups. In particular, we show that if C ₁, ..., C _n are finite cyclic groups then there exists a finite group G which is generated by isomorphic copies of C ₁, ..., C _n and the minimal number of generators of G is n. The first author’s research is partially supported by NSF grant DMS-0701105. The second author’s research is partially supported by OTKA grant T38059 and the Magyary Zoltán Postdoctoral Fellowship.     

Relative mean curvature configurations for surfaces in ℝ<Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis></Superscript>, <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis> ≥ 5

We define the relative mean curvature directions on surfaces immersed in ℝⁿ, n ≥ 4, generalizing the concept of mean curvature directions for surfaces in 4-space studied by Mello. We obtain their differential equations and study their corresponding generic configurations. *Work partially supported by DGCYT grant no. MTM2004-03244 and Unimontes-BR. †Work partially supported by DGCYT grant no. MTM2004-03244. ‡Work partially supported by DGCYT grant no. BFM2003-0203.     

A Sharp Form of the Cramér–Wold Theorem

The Cramér–Wold theorem states that a Borel probability measure P on ℝ ^d is uniquely determined by its one-dimensional projections. We prove a sharp form of this result, addressing the problem of how large a subset of these projections is really needed to determine P. We also consider extensions of our results to measures on a separable Hilbert space. First author partially supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología, grant BFM2002-04430-C02-02. Second author partially supported by Instituto de Cooperación Iberoamericana, Programa de Cooperación Interuniversitaria AL-E 2003. Third author partially supported by grants from NSERC and the Canada research chairs program.     

Strong Semismoothness of the Fischer-Burmeister SDC and SOC Complementarity Functions

We show that the Fischer-Burmeister complementarity functions, associated to the semidefinite cone (SDC) and the second order cone (SOC), respectively, are strongly semismooth everywhere. Interestingly enough, the proof relys on a relationship between the singular value decomposition of a nonsymmetric matrix and the spectral decomposition of a symmetric matrix.The author’s research was partially supported by Grant R146-000-035-101 of National University of Singapore.The author’s research was partially supported by Grant R314-000-042/057-112 of National University of Singapore and a grant from the Singapore-MIT Alliance.Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 90C33, 90C22, 65F15, 65F18     

Classification of 4-dimensional homogeneous D’Atri spaces

The property of being a D’Atri space (i.e., a space with volume-preserving symmetries) is equivalent to the infinite number of curvature identities called the odd Ledger conditions. In particular, a Riemannian manifold (M, g) satisfying the first odd Ledger condition is said to be of type . The classification of all 3-dimensional D’Atri spaces is well-known. All of them are locally naturally reductive. The first attempts to classify all 4-dimensional homogeneous D’Atri spaces were done in the papers by Podesta-Spiro and Bueken-Vanhecke (which are mutually complementary). The authors started with the corresponding classification of all spaces of type , but this classification was incomplete. Here we present the complete classification of all homogeneous spaces of type in a simple and explicit form and, as a consequence, we prove correctly that all homogeneous 4-dimensional D’Atri spaces are locally naturally reductive. The first author’s work has been partially supported by D.G.I. (Spain) and FEDER Project MTM 2004-06015-C02-01, by a grant AVCiTGRUPOS03/169 and by a Research Grant from Ministerio de Educación y Cultura. The second author’s work has been supported by the grant GA ČR 201/05/2707 and it is part of the research project MSM 0021620839 financed by the Ministry of Education (MŠMT).     

The distance between homotopy classes of <Emphasis Type="Italic">S</Emphasis><Superscript>1</Superscript>-valued maps in multiply connected domains

Certain Sobolev spaces of S ¹-valued functions can be written as a disjoint union of homotopy classes. The problem of finding the distance between different homotopy classes in such spaces is considered. In particular, several types of one-dimensional and two-dimensional domains are studied. Lower bounds are derived for these distances. Furthermore, in many cases it is shown that the lower bounds are sharp but are not achieved. The first author’s work of was supported in part by NSF grant 0503887. The second author’s research of was supported by G.S. Elkin research fund.     

Applications of Klee’s Dehn–Sommerville Relations

We use Klee’s Dehn–Sommerville relations and other results on face numbers of homology manifolds without boundary to (i) prove Kalai’s conjecture providing lower bounds on the f-vectors of an even-dimensional manifold with all but the middle Betti number vanishing, (ii) verify Kühnel’s conjecture that gives an upper bound on the middle Betti number of a 2k-dimensional manifold in terms of k and the number of vertices, and (iii) partially prove Kühnel’s conjecture providing upper bounds on other Betti numbers of odd- and even-dimensional manifolds. For manifolds with boundary, we derive an extension of Klee’s Dehn–Sommerville relations and strengthen Kalai’s result on the number of their edges. I. Novik research partially supported by Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship and NSF grant DMS-0500748. E. Swartz research partially supported by NSF grant DMS-0600502.     

A method for the resolution of the Jacobi equation <Emphasis Type="Italic">Y</Emphasis>″ + <Emphasis Type="Italic">RY</Emphasis> = 0 on the manifold <Emphasis Type="Italic">Sp</Emphasis>(2)/<Emphasis Type="Italic">SU</Emphasis>(2)

In this paper a method for the resolution of the differential equation of the Jacobi vector fields in the manifold V ₁ = Sp(2)/SU(2) is exposed. These results are applied to determine areas and volumes of geodesic spheres and balls. Work partially supported by DGI (Spain) and FEDER Projects MTM 2004-06015-C02-01 and MTM 2007-65852 (first author) and by Research Project PGIDIT05PXIB16601PR (second author). Authors’ addresses: A. M. Naveira, Departamento de Geometría y Topología. Facultad de Matemáticas, Avda. Andrés Estellés, N1, 46100 – Burjassot, Valencia, Spain; A. D. Tarrío Tobar, E. U. Arquitectura Técnica, Campus A Zapateira. Universidad de A Coru?a, 15192 – A Coru?a, Spain     

Amalgamation,interpolation and epimorphisms in algebraic logic

In his landmark paper on amalgamation published in Algebra Universalis in 1971, Don Pigozzi posed some open questions in connection with amalgamation of subclasses of cylindric algebras. Some of these questions were originally raised by Comer, Daigneault, Johnson, McKenzie and others. In this paper we give answers to all these as well as a number of other related questions. Most of the solutions were found by the authors of this paper. However, a few were contributed by others who will of course be given due credit at the appropriate points. This paper is dedicated to Don Pigozzi on his retirement. Presented by R. W. Quackenbush. The first author’s research was supported by the Hungarian National Foundation for Scientific Research grants no T30314 and T23234. The second author’s research was supported by the Hungarian National Foundation for Scientific Reserach OKTA grant no T30314. All the new results in this article were announced by Judit Madarász in the Workshop on Abstract Algebraic Logic, held in Centre de Recerca Matematica Bellaterra, Spain July 1–5, 1997. Received December 15, 2002; accepted in final form January 3, 2006.     

Iterative Weighted Semiparametric Least Squares Estimation in Repeated Measurement Partially Linear Regression Models

Consider a repeated measurement partially linear regression model with an unknown vector parameter β, an unknown function g(.), and unknown heteroscedastic error variances. In order to improve the semiparametric generalized least squares estimator (SGLSE) of β, we propose an iterative weighted semiparametric least squares estimator (IWSLSE) and show that it improves upon the SGLSE in terms of asymptotic covariance matrix. An adaptive procedure is given to determine the number of iterations. We also show that when the number of replicates is less than or equal to two, the IWSLSE can not improve upon the SGLSE. These results are generalizations of those in [2] to the case of semiparametric regressions.     

Feedback Stackelberg equilibrium strategies when the private label competes with the national brand

We consider a noncooperative differential game where a retailer sells her own private label in addition to the manufacturer’s brand. We assume that each brand’s goodwill evolves according to a modified Nerlove-Arrow dynamics, in such a way that the advertising effort of one brand hurts the competitor’s goodwill stock. We characterize Feedback-Stackelberg pricing and advertising strategies and employ simulations to analyze their sensitivity to the main model parameters. We thank an anonymous Reviewer for very helpful comments. Research supported by NSERC, Canada, and FQRSC, Quebec. Research completed when the second author was a visiting professor at GERAD, HEC Montréal. The second author’s research was partially supported by MEC and JCYL under projects SEJ2005-03858/ECON and VA045A06, co-financed by FEDER funds.     

On groups of hyperbolic length

We investigate the recently introduced notion of rotation numbers for periodic orbits of interval maps. We identify twist orbits, that is those orbits that are the simplest ones with given rotation number. We estimate from below the topological entropy of a map having an orbit with given rotation number. Our estimates are sharp: there are unimodal maps where the equality holds. We also discuss what happens for maps with larger modality. In the Appendix we present a new approach to the problem of monotonicity of entropy in one-parameter families of unimodal maps. This work was partially done during the first author’s visit to IUPUI (funded by a Faculty Research Grant from UAB Graduate School) and his visit to MSRI (the research at MSRI funded in part by NSF grant DMS-9022140) whose support the first author acknowledges with gratitude. The second author was partially supported by NSF grant DMS-9305899, and his gratitude is as great as that of the first author.     

A General Fredholm Theory II: Implicit Function Theorems

This is the second paper in a series introducing a generalized Fredholm theory in a new class of smooth spaces called polyfolds. In general, these spaces are not locally homeomorphic to open sets in Banach spaces. The current paper develops the Fredholm theory in M-polyfold bundles. It consists of a transversality and a perturbation theory. In upcoming papers the generalized Fredholm theory will be applied to the Floer Theory, the Gromov–Witten Theory and the Symplectic Field Theory H.H.’s research partially supported by NSF grant DMS-0603957. K.W.’s research partially supported by NSF grant DMS-0606588.     

Singular measures with smalH(p, q)-projections

We construct a singular probability measure μ on the complex sphere such that the Poisson integral of μ is a pluriharmonic function in the ball and the Fourier transform of μ is asp→∞. Supported by the Centre de Recerca Matemàtica (Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Barcelona) under a grant from DGICYT (Spain); partially supported by the RFFI grant 96-01-00693.     

The horospherical geometry of surfaces in hyperbolic 4-space

We study some geometrical properties associated to the contacts of surfaces with hyperhorospheres inH ₊ ⁴ (−1). We introduce the concepts of osculating hyperhorospheres, horobinormals, horoasymptotic directions and horospherical points and provide conditions ensuring their existence. We show that totally semiumbilical surfaces have orthogonal horoasymptotic directions. Work partially supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, JSPS, No. 12874007. Work partially supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, JSPS, No. 12000266. Work partially supported by DGCYT grant no. BFM2003-02037.     

On the characterization of strong convergence of an iterative algorithm for a class of multi-valued variational inclusions

This paper introduces an Ishikawa type iterative algorithm for finding approximating solutions of a class of multi-valued variational inclusion problems. Characterization of strong convergence of this iterative method is established. L. C. Ceng’s research partially supported by the Teaching and Research Award Fund for Outstanding Young Teachers in Higher Education Institutions of MOE, China and the Dawn Program Foundation in Shanghai. S. Schaible’s research partially supported by the National Science Council of Taiwan. This research was partially supported by the grant NSC 96-2628-E-110-014-MY3.     

Collars and partitions of hyperbolic cone-surfaces

For compact Riemann surfaces, the collar theorem and Bers’ partition theorem are major tools for working with simple closed geodesics. The main goal of this article is to prove similar theorems for hyperbolic cone-surfaces. Hyperbolic two-dimensional orbifolds are a particular case of such surfaces. We consider all cone angles to be strictly less than π to be able to consider partitions. Emily B. Dryden—partially supported by the US National Science Foundation grant DMS-0306752. Hugo Parlier—supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation grants 21-57251.99 and 20-68181.02.     

A measurable-group-theoretic solution to von Neumann’s problem

We give a positive answer, in the measurable-group-theory context, to von Neumann’s problem of knowing whether a non-amenable countable discrete group contains a non-cyclic free subgroup. We also get an embedding result of the free-group von Neumann factor into restricted wreath product factors. D. Gaboriau’s research was supported by CNRS. R. Lyons’ research was supported partially by NSF grant DMS-0705518 and Microsoft Research.