On the lower Markov spectrum

C. Hightower found two infinite sequences of gaps in the Markov spectrum, ( _n , _n ) and ( _n , _n ) with _n and _n both Markov elements, converging to . This paper exhibits Markov elements _n ^* and _n ^* such that, for alln 1, ( _n ^* , _n ) and ( _{n n} ^* ) are gaps in the Markov spectrum. Other results include showing that, for alln 1, _n is completely isolated, while the other endpoints of the gaps are limit points in the Markov spectrum.     

A Strong Maximum Principle for some quasilinear elliptic equations

In its simplest form the Strong Maximum Principle says that a nonnegative superharmonic continuous function in a domain ⁿ ,n 1, is in fact positive everywhere. Here we prove that the same conclusion is true for the weak solutions of – u + (u) = f with a nondecreasing function ,(0)=0, andf0 a.e. in if and only if the integral((s)s) ^–1/2 ds diverges ats=0+. We extend the result to more general equations, in particular to – _p u + (u) =f where _p (u) = div(|Du| ^p-2 Du), 1 <p < . Our main result characterizes the nonexistence of a dead core in some reaction-diffusion systems.This work was partly done while the author was visiting the University of Minnesota as a Fulbright Scholar.     

A decision theoretical characterization of weak ergodicity

Summary The relation between the ergodic coefficient and deficiency relative to the least informative experiment is investigated. The result is applied to nonhomogeneous Markov chains (NMC's). Our main result can be described as follows: Given an NMC, define the experiments _n ^(j) for n1 consisting in observing the (n+j)-th state of the chain, the j-th state being the unknown parameter. Then the chain is weakly ergodic if and only if for any j, _n ^(j) converges as n (with respect to deficiencies) to the least informative experiment. It is finally shown that in the homogeneous case, the rate of convergence is always exponential.     

The existence of probability measures with specified projections

Let X and Y be locally compact-compact topological spaces, F X×Y is closed, and P(F) is the set of all Borel probability measures on F. For us to find, for the pair of probability measures (_x, _y P (X)×P(Y), a probability measure P(F) such that _X = _X ^–1 , _Y = _Y ^–1 it is necessary and sufficient that, for any pair of Borel sets A X, B Y for which (A× B) F=Ø, the condition _XA+ _YB 1 holds.Translated from Matematicheskie Zametki, Vol. 14, No. 4, pp. 573–576, October, 1973.     

Computing the Hilbert transform of a Jacobi weight function

We discuss the evaluation of the Hilbert transformf _–1 ¹ (t-)^–1 w(, )(t)dt,–1<<1, of the Jacobi weight functionw(, )(t)=(1–t))(1+t) by analytic and numerical means and also comment on the recursive computation of the quantitiesf _–1 ¹ )(t–)^–1 _n (t;w ^{(, ))} w ^{(, )}(t)dt,n=0, 1, 2, ..., where _n (·;w ^{(, )}) is the Jacobi polynomial of degreen.The work of the first author was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under grant DCR-8320561. The work of the second author was supported by the National Science Foundation under grant DMS-8419086.     

Derivatives of the Spectral Function and Sobolev Norms of Eigenfunctions on a Closed Riemannian Manifold

Let e(x, y, ) be the spectral function and the unit spectral projection operator, with respect to the Laplace–Beltrami operator on a closed Riemannian manifold M. We generalize the one-term asymptotic expansion of e(x, x, ) by Hörmander (Acta Math. 88 (1968), 341–370) to that of _{x y} e(x,y,)| _x=y for any multiindices , in a sufficiently small geodesic normal coordinate chart of M. Moreover, we extend the sharp (L ²,L ^p) (2 p) estimates of by Sogge (J. Funct. Anal. 77 (1988), 123–134; London Math. Soc. Lecture Note Ser. 137, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1989; Vol. 1, pp. 416–422) to the sharp (L ², Sobolev L ^p) estimates of .     

Computation of efficient solutions of discretely distributed stochastic optimization problems

In engineering and economics often a certain vectorx of inputs or decisions must be chosen, subject to some constraints, such that the expected costs (or loss) arising from the deviation between the outputA() x of a stochastic linear systemxA()x and a desired stochastic target vectorb() are minimal. Hence, one has the following stochastic linear optimization problem minimizeF(x)=Eu(A()x b()) s.t.xD, (1) whereu is a convex loss function on ^m , (A(), b()) is a random (m,n + 1)-matrix, E denotes the expectation operator andD is a convex subset of ⁿ . Concrete problems of this type are e.g. stochastic linear programs with recourse, error minimization and optimal design problems, acid rain abatement methods, problems in scenario analysis and non-least square regression analysis.Solving (1), the loss functionu should be exactly known. However, in practice mostly there is some uncertainty in assigning appropriate penalty costs to the deviation between the outputA ()x and the targetb(). For finding in this situation solutions hedging against uncertainty a set of so-called efficient points of (1) is defined and a numerical procedure for determining these compromise solutions is derived. Several applications are discussed.     

Stability inL 1 of some integral operators

A class of Markov operators appearing in biomathematics is investigated. It is proved that these operators are asymptotic stable inL ¹, i.e. lim _n P ⁿ f=0 forfL ¹ and f(x) dx=0.     

Regressions and monotone chains II: The poset of integer intervals

A regressive function (also called a regression or contractive mapping) on a partial order P is a function mapping P to itself such that (x)x. A monotone k-chain for is a k-chain on which is order-preserving; i.e., a chain x ₁<...ksuch that (x ₁)...(x_k). Let P _nbe the poset of integer intervals {i, i+1, ..., m} contained in {1, 2, ..., n}, ordered by inclusion. Let f(k) be the least value of n such that every regression on P _nhas a monotone k+1-chain, let t(x,j) be defined by t(x, 0)=1 and t(x,j)=x ^t(x,j–1). Then f(k) exists for all k (originally proved by D. White), and t(2,k) < f(K) <t( + _k, k) , where _k 0 as k. Alternatively, the largest k such that every regression on P _nis guaranteed to have a monotone k-chain lies between lg^*(n) and lg^*(n)–2, inclusive, where lg^*(n) is the number of appliations of logarithm base 2 required to reduce n to a negative number. Analogous results hold for choice functions, which are regressions in which every element is mapped to a minimal element.     

Characterization,structure and analysis on abelian ℒ∞ groups

An abelian topological group is an group if and only if it is a locally -compactk-space and every compact subset in it is contained in a compactly generated locally compact subgroup. Every abelian groupG is topologically isomorphic to G ₀ where ₀ andG ₀ is an abelian group where every compact subset is contained in a compact subgroup. Intrinsic definitions of measures, convolution of measures, measure algebra,L ₁-algebra, Fourier transforms of abelian groups are given and their properties are studied.     

Application of Topological Degree to the Study of Bifurcation in von Kármán Equations

The aim of this paper is to illustrate the use of topological degree for the study of bifurcation in von Kármán equations with two real positive parameters and for a thin elastic disk lying on the elastic base under the action of a compressing force, which may be written in the form of an operator equation F(x, , ) = 0 in some real Banach spaces X and Y. The bifurcation problem that we study is a mathematical model for a certain physical phenomenon and it is very important in the mechanics of elastic constructions. We reduce the bifurcation problem in the solution set of equation F(x, , ) = 0 at a point (0, ₀, ₀) X × IR ₊ ² to the bifurcation problem in the solution set of a certain equation in IR ⁿ at a point (0, ₀, ₀) IR ⁿ × IR ₊ ², where n = dim Ker F _x (0, ₀, ₀) and F _x (0, ₀, ₀): X Y is a Fréchet derivative of F with respect to x at (0, ₀, ₀). To solve the bifurcation problem obtained as a result of reduction, we apply homotopy and degree theory.     

Circles and spheres in pseudo-Riemannian geometry

Summary A totally umbilical pseudo-Riemannian submanifold with the parallel mean curvature vector field is said to be an extrinsic sphere. A regular curve in a pseudo-Riemannian manifold is called a circle if it is an extrinsic sphere. LetM be ann-dimensional pseudo-Riemannian submanifold of index (0n) in a pseudo-Riemannian manifold with the metricg and the second fundamental formB. The following theorems are proved. For ₀ = +1 or –1, ₁ = +1, –1 or 0 (2–2 ₀+ ₁2n–2–2) and a positive constantk, every circlec inM withg(c, c) = ₀ andg( _c c, _c c) = ₁ k ² is a circle in iffM is an extrinsic sphere. For ₀ = +1 or –1 (–₀n–), every geodesicc inM withg(c, c) = ₀ is a circle in iffM is constant isotropic and B(x,x,x) = 0 for anyx T(M). In this theorem, assume, moreover, that 1n–1 and the first normal space is definite or zero at every point. Then we can prove thatM is an extrinsic sphere. When = 0 orn, this fact does not hold in general.     

Solving systems of polynomial inequalities over a real closed field in subexponential time

Let _m= (₁,..., _m) denote an ordered field, where _i+1>0 is infinitesimal relative to the elements of _i, 0 < –i < m (by definition, ₀= ). Given a system of inequalities f₁ > 0, ..., f_s > 0, f_s+1 0, ..., f_k 0, where f_{j m} [X₁,..., X_n] are polynomials such that, and the absolute value of any integer occurring in the coefficients of the f_js is at most 2^M. An algorithm is constructed which tests the above system of inequalities for solvability over the real closure of _m in polynomial time with respect to M, ((d)ⁿd₀)^n+m. In the case _m=, the algorithm explicitly constructs a family of real solutions of the system (provided the latter is consistent). Previously known algorithms for this problem had complexity of the order ofM(d d ₀ ^{m 2U(n)} .Translated from Zapiski Nauchnykh Seminarov Leningradskogo Otdeleniya Maternaticheskogo Instituta im. V. A. Steklova Akad. Nauk SSSR, Vol. 174, pp. 3–36, 1988.     

Exact convergence rates in strong approximation laws for large increments of partial sums

Summary Consider partial sumsS _n of an i.i.d. sequenceX ₁ X ₂, ..., of centered random variables having a finite moment generating function in a neighborhood of zero. The asymptotic behaviour of is investigated, where 1b _n n denotes an integer sequence such thatb _n /logn asn. In particular, ifb _n =o(log ^p n) asn for somep>1, the exact convergence rate ofU _n /b _{n n} =1 +0 (1) is determined, where _n depends uponb _n and the distribution ofX ₁. In addition, a weak limit law forU _n is derived. Finally, it is shown how strong invariance takes over if b _n (loglogn)²/log³ n=.     

Monotonic subsequences in permutations of n natural numbers

Let S_n be the set of all permutations of the numbers 1, 2,..., n, and letl _n() be the number of terms in the maximal monotonic subsequence contained in S_n. If M[l _n()] is the mean value ofl _n () on S_n, then, for all except a finite number of n, the bound M[l _n()] e n is valid.Translated from Matematicheskie Zametki, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 511–514, April, 1973.The author wishes to thank E. M. Nikishin for having posed the problem and for his constant interest in the work.     

An Inequality for Tail Probabilities of Martingales with Bounded Differences

Let M _n =X₁+...+X_n be a martingale with bounded differences X_m=M_m-M_m-1 such that {|X_m| _m}=1 with some nonnegative _m. Write ²= ₁ ² + ... + _n ² . We prove the inequalities {M _nx}c(1-(x/)), {M _n x} 1- c(1- (-x/)) with a constant . The result yields sharp inequalities in some models related to the measure concentration phenomena.     

Striktionseigenschaften von Regelscharen imE n

Let ={e(u)|uI} be a one-parameter family of straight lines forming a ruledC ^r-2-surface E ⁿ (n2,r1) without singular generatorse(u) (uI). As a synopsis, a generalization and an improvement of various results already known about the strictional properties of ruled surfaces E ⁿ (especially in the casen=3) the author demonstrates a uniform geometrical way of defining and uniquely obtaining thestriction point S(u) and theparameter of distribution d(u) of a generatore(u) under the minimal assumptions thate(u)E ⁿ (n2) be noncylindrical andr1. Other methods of obtainingS(u) andd(u) are discussed in comparison, and special strictional properties ofskew ruled surfaces E ⁿ are proved.

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Herrn Prof. Dr. H. R. Müller zum 65. Geburtstag     

Embeddings of Lorentz—Marcinkiewicz spaces with mixed norms

X(Y) f -:X(Y)={fM(×): f_{X(Y)=f(x,.)YX<} . =(0, ), M (×) — , ×, X, Y, Z— . X(Y) Z(×).     

On quadratic spline interpolation

Using the quadratic spline interpolates(x) fitting the data (x _i,y _i), 0in and satisfying the end conditions_o=y_o, we give formulae approximatingy andy at selected knots by orders up toO(h ⁴).     

On a characterization of the support functions

Letf:S ^n–1 be a support function. Then, for everya , if the functionu f(u)–a, u has a negative minimum, then a unique argument exists for which this minimum is attained. It is shown that the converse holds true under some obvious restrictions onf. A perturbation theorem for the space (S ^n–1) is given as an application.