Mutational equations in metric spaces

This paper summarizes an extension of differential calculus to a mutational calculus for maps from one metric space to another. The simple idea is to replace half-lines allowing to define difference quotients of maps and their various limits in the case of vector space by transitions with which we can also define differential quotients of a map. Their various limits are called mutations of a map. Many results of differential calculus and set-valued analysis, including the Inverse Function Theorem, do not really rely on the linear structure and can be adapted to the nonlinear case of metric spaces and exploited. Furthermore, the concept of differential equation can be extended tomutational equation governing the evolution in metric spaces. Basic Theorems as the Nagumo Theorem, the Cauchy-Lipschitz Theorem, the Center Manifold Theorem and the second Lyapunov Method hold true for mutational equations.This work was motivated by evolution equations of tubes in visual servoing on one hand, mathematical morphology on the other, when the metric spaces are power spaces. This paper begins by listing some consequences of general theorems concerning mutational equations for tubes.     

Transitivity and variational principles

We apply an order reasoning to mappings satisfying the triangle inequality. This general approach yields the Ekeland’s variational principle as one of the consequences. In addition we obtain an extension of the Brøndsted variational principle and of the Takahashi fixed point theorem.     

Structure of approximate solutions for discrete-time control systems arising in economic dynamics

In this work we study the structure of approximate solutions of an autonomous discrete-time control system with a compact metric space of states X which is a subset of a finite-dimensional Euclidean space. This control system is described by a nonempty closed set Ω⊂X×X which determines a class of admissible trajectories (programs) and by a bounded upper semicontinuous function v:Ω→R¹ which determines an optimality criterion. We are interested in turnpike properties of the approximate solutions which are independent of the length of the interval, for all sufficiently large intervals. Usually, in economic dynamics, the turnpike properties have been studied for systems such that all their good programs converge to a turnpike which was an interior point of Ω. In this paper we establish turnpike results for a large class of control systems for which the turnpike is not necessarily an interior point of Ω.     

Differential form methods in the theory of variational systems and Lagrangian field theories

This paper will attempt to unify diverse material from physics and engineering in terms of differential forms on manifolds. A variational system will be defined by means of a scalar-valued differential form on a manifold and an ideal in the Grassmann algebra of differential forms on that manifold to serve as constraints. Two types of extremal submanifolds will be defined. The first-called the Euler-Lagrange extremals-will be defined by a method that is the generalization of the classical methods in the calculus of variations. The second—a generalization of a method used by Cartan in his treatise Leçons sur les invariants intégraux-will define extremals as integral submanifolds of an exterior differential system invariently attached to the variational system. As examples, the variational systems attached to string theories in Riemannian manifolds and Yang-Mills fields will be discussed from this differential form point of view. Finally, as application, the differential geometric properties and definition of energy will be presented from the differential form point of view.This work was supported by a grant from the Applied Mathematics program of the National Science Foundation.     

Singularly perturbed functional-differential inclusions

Differential inclusions of a retarded type with a small real parameter >0 in part of the derivatives are considered. We prove upper semicontinuity of the map set of solutions at =0⁺ inC[0, 1]×(L ²(0, 1)–weak) topology. In case of constant delay lower semicontinuity inC[0, 1]×(L ¹(0, 1)–strong) is shown.     

A continuity method for sweeping processes

We show that the existence and uniqueness of BV continuous sweeping processes can be easily reduced to the Lipschitz continuous case by means of a suitable reparametrization of the associated moving convex set. Moreover we put this approach in the wider framework of rate independent operators acting on curves in metric spaces and we prove an extension theorem for such operators. This abstract theorem is then applied in order to infer continuous dependence of the sweeping process on the data.     

Well-posedness and porosity in optimal control without convexity assumptions

The Tonelli existence theorem in the calculus of variations and its subsequent modifications were established for integrands f which satisfy convexity and growth conditions. In [27] we considered a class of optimal control problems which is identified with the corresponding complete metric space of integrands, say . We did not impose any convexity assumptions. The main result in [27] establishes that for a generic integrand the corresponding optimal control problem is well-posed. In this paper we study the set of all integrands for which the corresponding optimal control problem is well-posed. We show that the complement of this set is not only of the first category but also a -porous set. The main result of the paper is obtained as a realization of a variational principle which can be applied to various classes of optimization problems. Received April 15, 2000 / Accepted October 10, 2000 / Published online December 8, 2000     

The limiting behavior of the value-function for variational problems arising in continuum mechanics

In this paper we study the limiting behavior of the value-function for one-dimensional second order variational problems arising in continuum mechanics. The study of this behavior is based on the relation between variational problems on bounded large intervals and a limiting problem on [0,∞)$[0,\infty )$.     

Empirical likelihood for the parametric part in partially linear errors-in-function models

Partially linear errors-in-function models were proposed by Liang (2000), but their inferences have not been systematically studied. This article proposes an empirical likelihood method to construct confidence regions of the parametric components. Under mild regularity conditions, the nonparametric version of the Wilk’s theorem is derived. Simulation studies show that the proposed empirical likelihood method provides narrower confidence regions, as well as higher coverage probabilities than those based on the traditional normal approximation method.     

Safety controls and applications to the Dubins’ car

In this paper we consider systems with cooperative controls. Such a model turns out to be efficient in those cases where one has to deal with different goals, as optimality and safety issues, at the same time. On the other hand, the drawback of this approach is the presence of discontinuities of the various controls. To deal with this problem, we give a general strategy, which is based on the concept of Krasowskii solution to discontinuous ODEs. Such a strategy is then applied to the safety driving of the Dubins car.     

Point-based sufficient conditions for metric regularity of implicit multifunctions

We obtain some point-based sufficient conditions for the metric regularity in Robinson’s sense of implicit multifunctions in a finite-dimensional setting. The new implicit function theorem (which is very different from the preceding results of Ledyaev and Zhu [Yu.S. Ledyaev, Q.J. Zhu, Implicit multifunctions theorems, Set-Valued Anal. 7 (1999) 209–238], Ngai and Théra [H.V. Ngai, M. Théra, Error bounds and implicit multifunction theorem in smooth Banach spaces and applications to optimization, Set-Valued Anal. 12 (2004) 195–223], Lee, Tam and Yen [G.M. Lee, N.N. Tam, N.D. Yen, Normal coderivative for multifunctions and implicit function theorems, J. Math. Anal. Appl. 338 (2008) 11–22]) can be used for analyzing parametric constraint systems as well as parametric variational systems. Our main tools are the concept of normal coderivative due to Mordukhovich and the corresponding theory of generalized differentiation.     

On the second cohomology group in semi-abelian categories

We develop some new aspects of cohomology in the context of semi-abelian categories: we establish a Hochschild-Serre 5-term exact sequence extending the classical one for groups and Lie algebras; we prove that an object is perfect if and only if it admits a universal central extension; we show how the second Barr-Beck cohomology group classifies isomorphism classes of central extensions; we prove a universal coefficient theorem to explain the relationship with homology.     

Computation of order conditions for symplectic partitioned Runge-Kutta schemes with application to optimal control

We derive order conditions for the discretization of (unconstrained) optimal control problems, when the scheme for the state equation is of Runge-Kutta type. This problem appears to be essentially the one of checking order conditions for symplectic partitioned Runge-Kutta schemes. We show that the computations using bi-coloured trees are naturally expressed in this case in terms of oriented free tree. This gives a way to compute them by an appropriate computer program. This study is supported by CNES and ONERA, in the framework of the CNES fellowship of the second author.     

Lusztig's isomorphism theorem for cellular algebras

In this paper, we first introduce a notion of semisimple system with parameters, then we establish Lusztig's isomorphism theorem for any cellular semisimple system with parameters. As an application, we obtain Lusztig's isomorphism theorem for Ariki-Koike algebras, cyclotomic q-Schur algebras and Birman-Murakami-Wenzl algebras. Second, using the results for certain Ariki-Koike algebras, we prove an analogue of Lusztig's isomorphism theorem for the cyclotomic Hecke algebras of type G(p,p,n) (which are not known to be cellular in general). These generalize earlier results of [G. Lusztig, On a theorem of Benson and Curtis, J. Algebra 71 (1981) 490-498.] on such isomorphisms for Iwahori-Hecke algebras associated to finite Weyl groups.     

Symmetry and-commutativity of topological*-algebras

An advertibly complete locallym-convex (lmc)^*-algebraE is symmetric if and only if each normed (inverse limit) factorE/N , A, ofE is symmetric in the respective Banach factorE , A, ofE. Every locally C^*-algebra is symmetric. If denotes the continuous positive functionals on an lmc^*-algebraE and withL _f ={x E: f(x ^* x) =0}, thenE is, by definition,-commutative if for anyx, y E.-commutativity and commutativity coincide in lmcC ^*-algebras, so that an lmc^*-algebra with a bounded approximate identity is-commutative if and only if its enveloping algebra is commutative. Several standard results for commutative lmc^*-algebras are also obtained in the-commutative case, as for instance, the nonemptiness of the Gel'fand space of a suitable-commutative lmc^*-algebra, the automatic continuity of positive functionals when the algebras involved factor, as well as that the spectral radius is a continuous submultiplicative semi-norm, when the algebras considered are moreover symmetric. An application of the latter result yields a spectral characterization of-commutativity.     

Extending the Newton-Kantorovich hypothesis for solving equations

The famous Newton-Kantorovich hypothesis (Kantorovich and Akilov, 1982 [3], Argyros, 2007 [2], Argyros and Hilout, 2009 [7]) has been used for a long time as a sufficient condition for the convergence of Newton’s method to a solution of an equation in connection with the Lipschitz continuity of the Fréchet-derivative of the operator involved. Here, using Lipschitz and center-Lipschitz conditions, and our new idea of recurrent functions, we show that the Newton-Kantorovich hypothesis can be weakened, under the same information. Moreover, the error bounds are tighter than the corresponding ones given by the dominating Newton-Kantorovich theorem (Argyros, 1998 [1]; [2] and [7]; Ezquerro and Hernández, 2002 [11]; [3]; Proinov 2009, 2010 [16] and [17]).Numerical examples including a nonlinear integral equation of Chandrasekhar-type (Chandrasekhar, 1960 [9]), as well as a two boundary value problem with a Green’s kernel (Argyros, 2007 [2]) are also provided in this study.     

Duffing equation and action functional

In this paper, we investigate the periodic nonlinear second order ordinary differential equation with friction

     

A critical point theorem via the Ekeland variational principle

The aim of this paper is to establish the existence of a local minimum for a continuously Gâteaux differentiable function, possibly unbounded from below, without requiring any weak continuity assumption. Several special cases are also emphasized. Moreover, a novel definition of Palais-Smale condition, which is more general than the usual one, is presented and a mountain pass theorem is pointed out. As a consequence, multiple critical points theorems are then established. Finally, as an example of applications, an elliptic Dirichlet problem with critical exponent is investigated.     

On two-dimensional parametric variational problems

Let be a two-dimensional parametric variational integral the Lagrangian F(x,z) of which is positive definite and elliptic, and suppose that is a closed rectifiable Jordan curve in . We then prove that there is a conformally parametrized minimizer of in the class of surfaces of the type of the disk B which are bounded by . An immediate consequence of this theorem is that the Dirichlet integral and the area functional have the same infima, a result whose proof usually requires a Lichtenstein-type mapping theorem or else Morrey's lemma on -conformal mappings. In addition we show that the minimizer of is H?lder continuous in B, and even in if satisfies a chord-arc condition. In Section 1 it is described how our results are related to classical investigations, in particular to the work of Morrey. Without difficulty our approach can be carried over to two-dimensional surfaces of codimension greater than one. Received July 20, 1998 / Accepted October 23, 1998     

Hierarchies of higher order kernels

Summary Recent literature on functional estimation has shown the importance of kernels with vanishing moments although no general framework was given to build kernels of increasing order apart from some specific methods based on moment relationships. The purpose of the present paper is to develop such a framework and to show how to build higher order kernels with nice properties and to solve optimization problems about kernels. The proofs given here, unlike standard variational arguments, explain why some hierarchies of kernels do have optimality properties. Applications are given to functional estimation in a general context. In the last section special attention is paid to density estimates based on kernels of order (m, r), i.e., kernels of orderr for estimation of derivatives of orderm. Convergence theorems are easily derived from interpretation by means of projections inL ² spaces.