Asymptotic behaviour of trajectories of unipotent flows on homogeneous spaces

We show that ifG is a semisimple algebraic group defined overQ and Γ is an arithmetic lattice inG:=G _R with respect to theQ-structure, then there exists a compact subsetC ofG/Γ such that, for any unipotent one-parameter subgroup {u _t} ofG and anyg∈G, the time spent inC by the {u _t}-trajectory ofgΓ, during the time interval [0,T], is asymptotic toT, unless {g ⁻¹u_tg} is contained in aQ-parabolic subgroup ofG. Some quantitative versions of this are also proved. The results strengthen similar assertions forSL(n,Z),n≥2, proved earlier in [5] and also enable verification of a technical condition introduced in [7] for lattices inSL(3,R), which was used in our proof of Raghunathan’s conjecture for a class of unipotent flows, in [8].     

Packing cycles with modularity constraints

We prove that for all positive integers k, there exists an integer N =N(k) such that the following holds. Let G be a graph and let Γ an abelian group with no element of order two. Let γ: E(G)→Γ be a function from the edges of G to the elements of Γ. A non-zero cycle is a cycle C such that Σ _e∈E(C) γ(e) ≠ 0 where 0 is the identity element of Γ. Then G either contains k vertex disjoint non-zero cycles or there exists a set X ⊆ V (G) with |X| ≤N(k) such that G−X contains no non-zero cycle.     

Riemann surfaces in fibered polynomial hulls

Let Δ be the closed unit disk in C, let Γ be the circle, let Π: Δ×C→Δ be projection, and letA(Δ) be the algebra of complex functions continuous on Δ and analytic in int Δ. LetK be a compact set in C² such that Π(K)=Γ, and letK _λ≠{w∈C|(λ,w)∈K}. Suppose further that (a) for every λ∈Γ,K _λ is the union of two nonempty disjoint connected compact sets with connected complement, (b) there exists a function Q(λ,w)≠(w-R(λ))²-S(λ) quadratic in w withR,S∈A(Δ) such that for all λ∈Γ, {w∈C|Q(λ,w)=0}υ intK _λ, whereS has only one zero in int Δ, counting multiplicity, and (c) for every λ∈Γ, the map ω→Q(λ,ω) is injective on each component ofK _λ. Then we prove that К/K is the union of analytic disks 2-sheeted over int Δ, where К is the polynomial convex hull ofK. Furthermore, we show that БК/K is the disjoint union of such disks.     

Unique ergodicity of flows on homogeneous spaces

LetG be a unimodular Lie group, Γ a co-compact discrete subgroup ofG and ‘a’ a semisimple element ofG. LetT _a be the mapgΓ →ag Γ:G/Γ →G/Γ. The following statements are pairwise equivalent: (1) (T _a, G/Γ,θ) is weak-mixing. (2) (T _a, G/Γ) is topologically weak-mixing. (3) (G ^u, G/Γ) is uniquely ergodic. (4) (G ^u, G/Γ,θ) is ergodic. (5) (G ^u, G/Γ) is point transitive. (6) (G ^u, G/Γ) is minimal. If in additionG is semisimple with finite center and no compact factors, then the statement “(T _a, G/Γ,θ) is ergodic” may be added to the above list. The authors were partially supported by NSF grant MCS 75-05250.     

On groups of central type,non-degenerate and bijective cohomology classes

A finite group G is of central type (in the non-classical sense) if it admits a non-degenerate cohomology class [c] ∈ H ²(G, ℂ*) (G acts trivially on ℂ*). Groups of central type play a fundamental role in the classification of semisimple triangular complex Hopf algebras and can be determined by their representation-theoretical properties. Suppose that a finite group Q acts on an abelian group A so that there exists a bijective 1-cocycle π ∈ Z ¹(Q,Ǎ), where Ǎ = Hom(A, ℂ*) is endowed with the diagonal Q-action. Under this assumption, Etingof and Gelaki gave an explicit formula for a non-degenerate 2-cocycle in Z ²(G, ℂ*), where G:= A × Q. Hence, the semidirect product G is of central type. In this paper, we present a more general correspondence between bijective and non-degenerate cohomology classes. In particular, given a bijective class [π] ∈ H ¹(Q,Ǎ) as above, we construct non-degenerate classes [cπ] ∈ H ²(G,ℂ*) for certain extensions 1 → A → G → Q → 1 which are not necessarily split. We thus strictly extend the above family of central type groups.     

Tiling Transitive Tournaments and Their Blow-ups

Let TT _k denote the transitive tournament on k vertices. Let TT(h,k) denote the graph obtained from TT _k by replacing each vertex with an independent set of size h≥1. The following result is proved: Let c ₂=1/2, c ₃=5/6 and c _k =1−2^{−k−log k} for k≥4. For every ∈>0 there exists N=N(∈,h,k) such that for every undirected graph G with n>N vertices and with δ(G)≥c _k n, every orientation of G contains vertex disjoint copies of TT(h,k) that cover all but at most ∈n vertices. In the cases k=2 and k=3 the result is asymptotically tight. For k≥4, c _k cannot be improved to less than 1−2^{−0.5k(1+o(1))}. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Homogenous projective factors for actions of semi-simple Lie groups

We analyze the structure of a continuous (or Borel) action of a connected semi-simple Lie group G with finite center and real rank at least 2 on a compact metric (or Borel) space X, using the existence of a stationary measure as the basic tool. The main result has the following corollary: Let P be a minimal parabolic subgroup of G, and K a maximal compact subgroup. Let λ be a P-invariant probability measure on X, and assume the P-action on (X,λ) is mixing. Then either λ is invariant under G, or there exists a proper parabolic subgroup Q⊂G, and a measurable G-equivariant factor map ϕ:(X,ν)→(G/Q,m), where ν=∫ _K kλdk and m is the K-invariant measure on G/Q. Furthermore, The extension has relatively G-invariant measure, namely (X,ν) is induced from a (mixing) probability measure preserving action of Q. Oblatum 14-X-1997 & 18-XI-1998 / Published online: 20 August 1999     

Distal actions and shifted convolution property

A locally compact group G is said to have shifted convolution property (abbr. as SCP) if for every regular Borel probability measure μ on G, either sup _x∈G μ ⁿ (Cx) → 0 for all compact subsets C of G, or there exist x ∈ G and a compact subgroup K normalised by x such that μ ⁿ x ⁻ⁿ → ωK, the normalised Haar measure on K. We first consider distality of factor actions of distal actions. It is shown that this holds in particular for factors by compact groups invariant under the action and for factors by the connected component of the identity. We then characterize groups having SCP in terms of a readily verifiable condition on the conjugation action (pointwise distality). This gives some interesting corollaries to distality of certain actions and Choquet-Deny measures which actually motivated SCP and pointwise distal groups. We also relate distality of actions on groups to that of the extensions on the space of probability measures.     

Orthogonal factorizations of digraphs

Let G be a digraph with vertex set V(G) and arc set E(G) and let g = (g ⁻, g ⁺) and ƒ = (ƒ ⁻, ƒ ⁺) be pairs of positive integer-valued functions defined on V(G) such that g ⁻(x) ⩽ ƒ ⁻(x) and g ⁺(x) ⩽ ƒ ⁺(x) for each x ∈ V(G). A (g, ƒ)-factor of G is a spanning subdigraph H of G such that g ⁻(x) ⩽ id _H (x) ⩽ ƒ ⁻(x) and g ⁺(x) ⩽ od _H (x) ⩽ ƒ ⁺(x) for each x ∈ V(H); a (g, ƒ)-factorization of G is a partition of E(G) into arc-disjoint (g, ƒ)-factors. Let = {F ₁, F ₂,…, F _m} and H be a factorization and a subdigraph of G, respectively. is called k-orthogonal to H if each F _i , 1 ⩽ i ⩽ m, has exactly k arcs in common with H. In this paper it is proved that every (mg+m−1,mƒ−m+1)-digraph has a (g, f)-factorization k-orthogonal to any given subdigraph with km arcs if k ⩽ min{g ⁻(x), g ⁺(x)} for any x ∈ V(G) and that every (mg, mf)-digraph has a (g, f)-factorization orthogonal to any given directed m-star if 0 ⩽ g(x) ⩽ f(x) for any x ∈ V(G). The results in this paper are in some sense best possible.      

Fixed point theorems for non-Lipschitzian mappings of asymptotically nonexpansive type

LetX be a Banach space,K a nonempty, bounded, closed and convex subset ofX, and supposeT:K→K satisfies: for eachx∈K, lim sup _i→∞{sup _y∈K ‖t ⁱx−Tⁱy∼−‖x−y‖}≦0. IfT ^N is continuous for some positive integerN, and if either (a)X is uniformly convex, or (b)K is compact, thenT has a fixed point inK. The former generalizes a theorem of Goebel and Kirk for asymptotically nonexpansive mappings. These are mappingsT:K→K satisfying, fori sufficiently large, ‖Tⁱx−Tⁱy‖≦k _i‖x−y∼,x,y∈K, wherek _i→1 asi→∞. The precise assumption in (a) is somewhat weaker than uniform convexity, requiring only that Goebel’s characteristic of convexity, ɛ₀ (X), be less than one. Research supported by National Science Foundation Grant GP 18045.     

Quasiconformal homogeneity of genus zero surfaces

A Riemann surface M is said to be K-quasiconformally homogeneous if, for every two points p, q ∈ M, there exists a K-quasiconformal homeomorphism f: M→M such that f(p) = q. In this paper, we show there exists a universal constant K > 1 such that if M is a K-quasiconformally homogeneous hyperbolic genus zero surface other than ⅅ², then K ≥ K. This answers a question by Gehring and Palka [10]. Further, we show that a non-maximal hyperbolic surface of genus g ≥ 1 is not K-quasiconformally homogeneous for any finite K ≥ 1.     

On the Cohen–Lusk theorem

Let G be a finite group and X be a G-space. For a map f: X → ℝ ^m , the partial coincidence set A(f, k), k ≤ |G|, is the set of points x ∈ X such that there exist k elements g ₁,…, g _k of the group G, for which f(g ₁ x) = ⋅⋅⋅ = f(g _k x) holds. We prove that the partial coincidence set is nonempty for G = ℤ _p ⁿ under some additional assumptions. Translated from Fundamentalnaya i Prikladnaya Matematika, Vol. 13, No. 8, pp. 61–67, 2007.     

On degrees of maps between Grassmannians

Let G_n,k denote the oriented grassmann manifold of orientedk-planes in ℝⁿ. It is shown that for any continuous mapf: G_n,k → G_n,k, dim G_n,k = dim G_m,l = l(m −l), the Brouwer’s degree is zero, providedl > 1,n ≠ m. Similar results for continuous mapsg: ℂG_m,l → ℂG_n,k,h: ℍG_m,l → ℍG_n,k, 1 ≤ l < k ≤ n/2, k(n — k) = l(m — l) are also obtained.     

The range of a projection of small norm inl 1 n

It is proved that there exists a positive function Φ(∈) defined for sufficiently small ∈ 〉 0 and satisfying lim_t→0 Φ(∈) =0 such that for any integersn 〉>0, ifQ is a projection ofl ₁ ⁿ onto ak-dimensional subspaceE with ‖|Q‖|≦1+∈ then there is an integerh〉=k(1−Φ(∈)) and anh-dimensional subspaceF ofE withd(F,l ₁ ^h ) 〈= 1+Φ (∈) whered(X, Y) denotes the Banach-Mazur distance between the Banach spacesX andY. Moreover, there is a projectionP ofl ₁ ⁿ ontoF with ‖|P‖| ≦1+Φ(∈). Author was partially supported by the N.S.F. Grant MCS 79-03042.     

Groups containing a strongly embedded subgroup

An involution v of a group G is said to be finite (in G) if vv ^g has finite order for any g ∈ G. A subgroup B of G is called a strongly embedded (in G) subgroup if B and G\B contain involutions, but B ∩ B ^g does not, for any g ∈ G\B. We prove the following results. Let a group G contain a finite involution and an involution whose centralizer in G is periodic. If every finite subgroup of G of even order is contained in a simple subgroup isomorphic, for some m, to L ₂(2 ^m ) or Sz(2 ^m ), then G is isomorphic to L ₂(Q) or Sz(Q) for some locally finite field Q of characteristic two. In particular, G is locally finite (Thm. 1). Let a group G contain a finite involution and a strongly embedded subgroup. If the centralizer of some involution in G is a 2-group, and every finite subgroup of even order in G is contained in a finite non-Abelian simple subgroup of G, then G is isomorphic to L ₂(Q) or Sz(Q) for some locally finite field Q of characteristic two (Thm. 2). Supported by RFBR (project No. 08-01-00322), by the Council for Grants (under RF President) and State Aid of Leading Scientific Schools (grant NSh-334.2008.1), and by the Russian Ministry of Education through the Analytical Departmental Target Program (ADTP) “Development of Scientific Potential of the Higher School of Learning” (project Nos. 2.1.1.419 and 2.1.1./3023). (D. V. Lytkina and V. D. Mazurov) Translated from Algebra i Logika, Vol. 48, No. 2, pp. 190–202, March–April, 2009.     

Multidimensional version of M. A. Krasnoseľskii’s generalized contraction principle

Let M be a complete K-metric space with n-dimensional metric ρ(x, y): M × M → R ⁿ , where K is the cone of nonnegative vectors in R ⁿ . A mapping F: M → M is called a Q-contraction if ρ (Fx,Fy) ⩽ Qρ (x,y), where Q: K → K is a semi-additive absolutely stable mapping. A Q-contraction always has a unique fixed point x* in M, and ρ(x*,a) ⩽ (I - Q)^-1 ρ(Fa, a) for every point a in M. The point x* can be obtained by the successive approximation method x _k = Fx _k-1, k = 1, 2,..., starting from an arbitrary point x ₀ in M, and the following error estimates hold: ρ (x*, x _k ) ⩽ Q ^k (I - Q)^-1ρ(x ₁, _x ⁰) ⩽ (I - Q)^-1 Q ^k ρ(x ₁, x ₀), k = 1, 2,.... Generally the mappings (I - Q)^-1 and Q ^k do not commute. For n = 1, the result is close to M. A. Krasnosel’skii’s generalized contraction principle.     

An elementary approach to gap theorems

Using elementary comparison geometry, we prove: Let (M, g) be a simply-connected complete Riemannian manifold of dimension ≥ 3. Suppose that the sectional curvature K satisfies −1 − s(r) ≤ K ≤ −1, where r denotes distance to a fixed point in M. If lim _{r → ∞} e^2r s(r) = 0, then (M, g) has to be isometric to ℍ ⁿ . The same proof also yields that if K satisfies −s(r) ≤ K ≤ 0 where lim _{r → ∞} r ² s(r) = 0, then (M, g) is isometric to ℝ ⁿ , a result due to Greene and Wu. Our second result is a local one: Let (M, g) be any Riemannian manifold. For a ∈ ℝ, if K ≤ a on a geodesic ball B _p (R) in M and K = a on ∂B _p (R), then K = a on B _p (R).     

Local linear operators and multicontour solutions of homogeneous coupled map lattices

Theorems are proved establishing a relationship between the spectra of the linear operators of the formA+Ωg _iB_ig_i ⁻¹ andA+B _i, whereg _i∈G, andG is a group acting by linear isometric operators. It is assumed that the closed operatorsA andB _i possess the following property: ‖B _iA⁻¹gB_jA⁻¹‖→0 asd(e,g)→∞. Hered is a left-invariant metric onG ande is the unit ofG. Moreover, the operatorA is invariant with respect to the action of the groupG. These theorems are applied to the proof of the existence of multicontour solutions of dynamical systems on lattices. Translated fromMatematicheskie Zametki, Vol. 65, No. 1, pp. 37–47, January, 1999.     

Possible limit laws for entrance times of an ergodic aperiodic dynamical system

LetG denote the set of decreasingG: ℝ→ℝ withGэ1 on ]−∞,0], and ƒ ₀ ^∞ G(t)dt⩽1. LetX be a compact metric space, andT: X→X a continuous map. Let μ denone aT-invariant ergodic probability measure onX, and assume (X, T, μ) to be aperiodic. LetU⊂X be such that μ(U)>0. Let τ _U (x)=inf{k⩾1:T ^k xεU}, and defineG _U (t)=1/u(U)u({xεU:u(U)τU(x)>t),tεℝ We prove that for μ-a.e.x∈X, there exists a sequence (U _n ) _n≥1 of neighbourhoods ofx such that {x}=∩ _n U _n , and for anyG ∈G, there exists a subsequence (n _k ) _k≥1 withG _{U n k} ↑U weakly. We also construct a uniquely ergodic Toeplitz flowO(x ^∞,S, μ), the orbit closure of a Toeplitz sequencex ^∞, such that the above conclusion still holds, with moreover the requirement that eachU _n be a cylinder set. In memory of Anzelm Iwanik     

Distinguishing labeling of the actions of almost simple groups

Suppose Γ is a group acting on a set X, written as (Γ,X). An r-labeling f: X→{1,2, ..., r} of X is called distinguishing for (Γ,X) if for all σ∈Γ,σ≠1, there exists an element x∈X such that f(x)≠f(x ^σ ). The distinguishing number d(Γ,X) of (Γ,X) is the minimum r for which there is a distinguishing r-labeling for (Γ,X). If Γ is the automorphism group of a graph G, then d(Γ,V (G)) is denoted by d(G), and is called the distinguishing number of the graph G. The distinguishing set of Γ-actions is defined to be D*(Γ)={d(Γ,X): Γ acts on X}, and the distinguishing set of Γ-graphs is defined to be D(Γ)={d(G): Aut(G)≅Γ}. This paper determines the distinguishing set of Γ-actions and the distinguishing set of Γ-graphs for almost simple groups Γ.