Which finite simple groups are unit groups?

We prove that if G$G$ is a finite simple group which is the unit group of a ring, then G$G$ is isomorphic to: (a) a cyclic group of order 2; or (b) a cyclic group of prime order 2^k−1$2^k-1$ for some k$k$; or (c) a projective special linear group _PSLn(_F2)${PSL}_n\left({\mathbb{F}}_2\right)$ for some n≥3$n\ge 3$. Moreover, these groups do all occur as unit groups. We deduce this classification from a more general result, which holds for groups G$G$ with no non-trivial normal 2-subgroup.     

A unified proof of Brooks’ theorem and Catlin’s theorem

Brooks’ theorem is a fundamental result in the theory of graph coloring. Catlin proved the following strengthening of Brooks’ theorem: Let d$d$ be an integer at least 3, and let G$G$ be a graph with maximum degree d$d$. If G$G$ does not contain _Kd+1$K_{d+1}$ as a subgraph, then G$G$ has a d$d$-coloring in which one color class has size α(G)$\alpha \left(G\right)$. Here α(G)$\alpha \left(G\right)$ denotes the independence number of G$G$. We give a unified proof of Brooks’ theorem and Catlin’s theorem.     

Bounds on the connected domination number of a graph

A subset S$S$ of vertices in a graph G=(V,E)$G=(V,E)$ is a connected dominating set of G$G$ if every vertex of V?S$V?S$ is adjacent to a vertex in S$S$ and the subgraph induced by S$S$ is connected. The minimum cardinality of a connected dominating set of G$G$ is the connected domination number _γc(G)${\gamma }_c\left(G\right)$. The girth g(G)$g\left(G\right)$ is the length of a shortest cycle in G$G$. We show that if G$G$ is a connected graph that contains at least one cycle, then _γc(G)≥g(G)−2${\gamma }_c\left(G\right)\ge g\left(G\right)-2$, and we characterize the graphs obtaining equality in this bound. We also establish various upper bounds on the connected domination number of a graph, as well as Nordhaus–Gaddum type results.     

[1, 2]-sets in graphs

A subset S⊆V$S\subseteq V$ in a graph G=(V,E)$G=(V,E)$ is a [j,k]$[j,k]$-set if, for every vertex v∈V?S$v\in V?S$, j≤|N(v)∩S|≤k$j\le |N\left(v\right)\cap S|\le k$ for non-negative integers j$j$ and k$k$, that is, every vertex v∈V?S$v\in V?S$ is adjacent to at least j$j$ but not more than k$k$ vertices in S$S$. In this paper, we focus on small j$j$ and k$k$, and relate the concept of [j,k]$[j,k]$-sets to a host of other concepts in domination theory, including perfect domination, efficient domination, nearly perfect sets, 2-packings, and k$k$-dependent sets. We also determine bounds on the cardinality of minimum [1, 2]-sets, and investigate extremal graphs achieving these bounds. This study has implications for restrained domination as well. Using a result for [1, 3]-sets, we show that, for any grid graph G$G$, the restrained domination number is equal to the domination number of G$G$.     

Crossing number additivity over edge cuts

Consider a graph G$G$ with a minimal edge cut F$F$ and let _G1$G_1$, _G2$G_2$ be the two (augmented) components of G−F$G-F$. A long-open question asks under which conditions the crossing number of G$G$ is (greater than or) equal to the sum of the crossing numbers of _G1$G_1$ and _G2$G_2$—which would allow us to consider those graphs separately. It is known that crossing number is additive for |F|∈{0,1,2}$\left|F\right|\in \{0,1,2\}$ and that there exist graphs violating this property with |F|≥4$\left|F\right|\ge 4$. In this paper, we show that crossing number is additive for |F|=3$\left|F\right|=3$, thus closing the final gap in the question.     

Weak convergence of censored and reflected stable processes

It is shown that if a sequence of open n$n$-sets _Dk$D_k$ increases to an open n$n$-set D$D$ then reflected stable processes in _Dk$D_k$ converge weakly to the reflected stable process in D$D$ for every starting point x$x$ in D$D$. The same result holds for censored α$\alpha$-stable processes for every x$x$ in D$D$ if D$D$ and _Dk$D_k$ satisfy the uniform Hardy inequality. Using the method in the proof of the above results, we also prove the weak convergence of reflected Brownian motions in unbounded domains.     

Parametric inference for discretely observed multidimensional diffusions with small diffusion coefficient

We consider a multidimensional diffusion X$X$ with drift coefficient b(α,_Xt)$b(\alpha ,X_t)$ and diffusion coefficient ?σ(β,_Xt)$?\sigma (\beta ,X_t)$. The diffusion sample path is discretely observed at times _tk=kΔ$t_k=k\Delta$ for k=1…n$k=1\dots n$ on a fixed interval [0,T]$[0,T]$. We study minimum contrast estimators derived from the Gaussian process approximating X$X$ for small ?$?$. We obtain consistent and asymptotically normal estimators of α$\alpha$ for fixed Δ$\Delta$ and ?→0$?\to 0$ and of (α,β)$(\alpha ,\beta )$ for Δ→0$\Delta \to 0$ and ?→0$?\to 0$ without any condition linking ?$?$ and Δ$\Delta$. We compare the estimators obtained with various methods and for various magnitudes of Δ$\Delta$ and ?$?$ based on simulation studies. Finally, we investigate the interest of using such methods in an epidemiological framework.     

Estimation for stochastic differential equations with a small diffusion coefficient

We consider a multidimensional diffusion X$X$ with drift coefficient b(_Xt,α)$b(X_t,\alpha )$ and diffusion coefficient εa(_Xt,β)$\epsilon a(X_t,\beta )$ where α$\alpha$ and β$\beta$ are two unknown parameters, while ε$\epsilon$ is known. For a high frequency sample of observations of the diffusion at the time points k/n$k/n$, k=1,…,n$k=1,\dots ,n$, we propose a class of contrast functions and thus obtain estimators of (α,β)$(\alpha ,\beta )$. The estimators are shown to be consistent and asymptotically normal when n→∞$n\to \infty$ and ε→0$\epsilon \to 0$ in such a way that ε⁻¹n^−ρ${\epsilon }^{-1}{n}^{-\rho }$ remains bounded for some ρ>0$\rho >0$. The main focus is on the construction of explicit contrast functions, but it is noted that the theory covers quadratic martingale estimating functions as a special case. In a simulation study we consider the finite sample behaviour and the applicability to a financial model of an estimator obtained from a simple explicit contrast function.     

On words that are concise in residually finite groups

A group-word w$w$ is called concise if whenever the set of w$w$-values in a group G$G$ is finite it always follows that the verbal subgroup w(G)$w\left(G\right)$ is finite. More generally, a word w$w$ is said to be concise in a class of groups X$X$ if whenever the set of w$w$-values is finite for a group G∈X$G\in X$, it always follows that w(G)$w\left(G\right)$ is finite. P. Hall asked whether every word is concise. Due to Ivanov the answer to this problem is known to be negative. Dan Segal asked whether every word is concise in the class of residually finite groups. In this direction we prove that if w$w$ is a multilinear commutator and q$q$ is a prime-power, then the word w^q$w^q$ is indeed concise in the class of residually finite groups. Further, we show that in the case where w=_γk$w={\gamma }_k$ the word w^q$w^q$ is boundedly concise in the class of residually finite groups. It remains unknown whether the word w^q$w^q$ is actually concise in the class of all groups.     

Applications of equivariant degree for gradient maps to symmetric Newtonian systems

We consider G=Γ×S¹$G=\Gamma \times S^1$ with Γ$\Gamma$ being a finite group, for which the complete Euler ring structure in U(G)$U\left(G\right)$ is described. The multiplication tables for Γ=_D6$\Gamma =D_6$, _S4$S_4$ and _A5$A_5$ are provided in the Appendix. The equivariant degree for G$G$-orthogonal maps is constructed using the primary equivariant degree with one free parameter. We show that the G$G$-orthogonal degree extends the degree for G$G$-gradient maps (in the case of G=Γ×S¹$G=\Gamma \times S^1$) introduced by G?ba in [K. G?ba, W. Krawcewicz, J. Wu, An equivariant degree with applications to symmetric bifurcation problems I: Construction of the degree, Bull. London. Math. Soc. 69 (1994) 377–398]. The computational results obtained are applied to a Γ$\Gamma$-symmetric autonomous Newtonian system for which we study the existence of 2π$2\pi$-periodic solutions. For some concrete cases, we present the symmetric classification of the solution set for the systems considered.     

On weighted Hilbert spaces and integration of functions of infinitely many variables

We study aspects of the analytic foundations of integration and closely related problems for functions of infinitely many variables _x1,_x2,…∈D$x_1,x_2,\dots \in D$. The setting is based on a reproducing kernel k$k$ for functions on D$D$, a family of non-negative weights _γu${\gamma }_u$, where u$u$ varies over all finite subsets of N$\mathbb{N}$, and a probability measure ρ$\rho$ on D$D$. We consider the weighted superposition K=_∑uγuku$K={\sum }_u{\gamma }_u{k}_u$ of finite tensor products _ku$k_u$ of k$k$. Under mild assumptions we show that K$K$ is a reproducing kernel on a properly chosen domain in the sequence space D^N$D^{\mathbb{N}}$, and that the reproducing kernel Hilbert space H(K)$H\left(K\right)$ is the orthogonal sum of the spaces H(_γuku)$H\left({\gamma }_u{k}_u\right)$. Integration on H(K)$H\left(K\right)$ can be defined in two ways, via a canonical representer or with respect to the product measure ρ^N${\rho }^{\mathbb{N}}$ on D^N$D^{\mathbb{N}}$. We relate both approaches and provide sufficient conditions for the two approaches to coincide.     

On the removal lemma for linear systems over Abelian groups

In this paper we present an extension of the removal lemma to integer linear systems over abelian groups. We prove that, if the k$k$-determinantal of an integer (k×m)$(k\times m)$ matrix A$A$ is coprime with the order n$n$ of a group G$G$ and the number of solutions of the system Ax=b$Ax=b$ with _x1∈_X1,…,_xm∈_Xm$x_1\in X_1,\dots ,x_m\in X_m$ is o(n^m−k)$o\left(n^{m-k}\right)$, then we can eliminate o(n)$o\left(n\right)$ elements in each set to remove all these solutions.