A Priori and A Posteriori: A Bootstrapping Relationship

The distinction between a priori and a posteriori knowledge has been the subject of an enormous amount of discussion, but the literature is biased against recognizing the intimate relationship between these forms of knowledge. For instance, it seems to be almost impossible to find a sample of pure a priori or a posteriori knowledge. In this paper, it will be suggested that distinguishing between a priori and a posteriori is more problematic than is often suggested, and that a priori and a posteriori resources are in fact used in parallel. We will define this relationship between a priori and a posteriori knowledge as the bootstrapping relationship. As we will see, this relationship gives us reasons to seek for an altogether novel definition of a priori and a posteriori knowledge. Specifically, we will have to analyse the relationship between a priori knowledge and a priori reasoning, and it will be suggested that the latter serves as a more promising starting point for the analysis of aprioricity. We will also analyse a number of examples from the natural sciences and consider the role of a priori reasoning in these examples. The focus of this paper is the analysis of the concepts of a priori and a posteriori knowledge rather than the epistemic domain of a posteriori and a priori justification.     

A Barrier Function Method for the Nonconvex Quadratic Programming Problem with Box Constraints

In this paper a barrier function method is proposed for approximating a solution of the nonconvex quadratic programming problem with box constraints. The method attempts to produce a solution of good quality by following a path as the barrier parameter decreases from a sufficiently large positive number. For a given value of the barrier parameter, the method searches for a minimum point of the barrier function in a descent direction, which has a desired property that the box constraints are always satisfied automatically if the step length is a number between zero and one. When all the diagonal entries of the objective function are negative, the method converges to at least a local minimum point of the problem if it yields a local minimum point of the barrier function for a sequence of decreasing values of the barrier parameter with zero limit. Numerical results show that the method always generates a global or near global minimum point as the barrier parameter decreases at a sufficiently slow pace.     

Graphs with disjoint dominating and paired-dominating sets

A dominating set of a graph is a set of vertices such that every vertex not in the set is adjacent to a vertex in the set, while a paired-dominating set of a graph is a dominating set such that the subgraph induced by the dominating set contains a perfect matching. In this paper, we show that no minimum degree is sufficient to guarantee the existence of a disjoint dominating set and a paired-dominating set. However, we prove that the vertex set of every cubic graph can be partitioned into a dominating set and a paired-dominating set.     

Stability of a singularly perturbed problem

We prove the stability of the mixed problem for a system of telegraph equations under a perturbation of one of the boundary conditions by a sum of a singular perturbation (a small parameter multiplying the highest derivative) and a small regular perturbation. The solution of the problem consists of the current and voltage in a segment of a telegraph line. One of its ends is short-circuited, and a capacitor of small capacity, together with a nonlinear resistance whose volt-ampere characteristic is perturbed by a small term, is connected to the other end. We prove the convergence of the solution of the problem to the unique continuous piecewise continuously differentiable solution of the unperturbed problem bifurcating at some instant of time from its unique classical solution.     

Scalarization of Henig Proper Efficient Points in a Normed Space

In a general normed space equipped with the order induced by a closed convex cone with a base, using a family of continuous monotone Minkowski functionals and a family of continuous norms, we obtain scalar characterizations of Henig proper efficient points of a general set and a bounded set, respectively. Moreover, we give a scalar characterization of a superefficient point of a set in a normed space equipped with the order induced by a closed convex cone with a bounded base.     

Slice theorem and orbit type stratification in infinite dimensions

We establish a general slice theorem for the action of a locally convex Lie group on a locally convex manifold, which generalizes the classical slice theorem of Palais to infinite dimensions. We discuss two important settings under which the assumptions of this theorem are fulfilled. First, using Glöckner's inverse function theorem, we show that the linear action of a compact Lie group on a Fréchet space admits a slice. Second, using the Nash–Moser theorem, we establish a slice theorem for the tame action of a tame Fréchet Lie group on a tame Fréchet manifold. For this purpose, we develop the concept of a graded Riemannian metric, which allows the construction of a path-length metric compatible with the manifold topology and of a local addition. Finally, generalizing a classical result in finite dimensions, we prove that the existence of a slice implies that the decomposition of the manifold into orbit types of the group action is a stratification.     

Genus fields of Kummer extensions of rational function fields

In this paper we obtain the genus field of a general Kummer extension of a global rational function field. We study first the case of a general Kummer extension of degree a power of a prime. Then we prove that the genus field of a composite of two abelian extensions of a global rational function field with relatively prime degrees is equal to the composite of their respective genus fields. Our main result, the genus of a general Kummer extension of a global rational function field, is a direct consequence of this fact.     

An Inverse Problem in Elastostatics

This paper assembles a variety of methods which have been devisedfor acoustic and elastic wave propagation inverse problems andadapts them to the problem of determining the shear modulusprofile of an elastic half-space from a knowledge of the torsionaldeflection and shear stress distributions on the surface. Methodsinclude the reduction to a Gel'fand-Levitan integral equation,for which a fast numerical algorithm is presented; a methodbased on modelling the half-space as a layered medium; identificationof the medium as a member of a family for which a closed formsolution is possible; a Green's function approach for a mediumwith small variations from uniformity.     

Subspaces and quotients of Banach spaces with shrinking unconditional bases

The main result is that a separable Banach space with the weak* unconditional tree property is isomorphic to a subspace as well as a quotient of a Banach space with a shrinking unconditional basis. A consequence of this is that a Banach space is isomorphic to a subspace of a space with a shrinking unconditional basis if and only if it is isomorphic to a quotient of a space with a shrinking unconditional basis, which solves a problem dating to the 1970s. The proof of the main result also yields that a uniformly convex space with the unconditional tree property is isomorphic to a subspace as well as a quotient of a uniformly convex space with an unconditional finite dimensional decomposition.     

Hybrid iterative scheme for generalized equilibrium problems and fixed point problems of finite family of nonexpansive mappings

In this paper, we introduce a new mapping and a Hybrid iterative scheme for finding a common element of the set of solutions of a generalized equilibrium problem and the set of common fixed points of a finite family of nonexpansive mappings in a Hilbert space. Then, we prove the strong convergence of the proposed iterative algorithm to a common fixed point of a finite family of nonexpansive mappings which is a solution of the generalized equilibrium problem. The results obtained in this paper extend the recent ones of Takahashi and Takahashi [S. Takahashi, W. Takahashi, Strong convergence theorem for a generalized equilibrium problem and a nonexpansive mapping in a Hilbert space, Nonlinear Anal. 69 (2008) 1025–1033].     

Knuth’s Coherent Presentations of Plactic Monoids of Type A

We construct finite coherent presentations of plactic monoids of type A. Such coherent presentations express a system of generators and relations for the monoid extended in a coherent way to give a family of generators of the relations amongst the relations. Such extended presentations are used for representations of monoids, in particular, it is a way to describe actions of monoids on categories. Moreover, a coherent presentation provides the first step in the computation of a categorical cofibrant replacement of a monoid. Our construction is based on a rewriting method introduced by Squier that computes a coherent presentation from a convergent one. We compute a finite coherent presentation of a plactic monoid from its column presentation and we reduce it to a Tietze equivalent one having Knuth’s generators.     

Staircase Parameterization in Dynamical Selection

This paper deals with a variant of a dynamical selection scheme introduced by Attouch and Cominetti for ill-posed convex minimization which combines approximation with the steepest descent method by mean of a suitable parameterization of the approximation parameter as a function of the time. This variant applies to a general inclusion with a maximal monotone operator by mean of a staircase parameterization. A discrete analogue is also considered. Applications to selecting a particular zero of a maximal monotone operator or a particular fixed point of a nonexpansive mapping via regularization techniques are presented. Finally, the alternative use of well-posedness by perturbations is discussed.     

Numerical Evaluation of Functionals based on Variance Minimisation

Numerically evaluating the effect of a functional on a function is a very common task in scientific computing. The definite integral of a function over a domain is an example, differentiating a function in a certain point into a certain direction is another one. We developed a generic method to compute the effect of a functional using a linear approximation formula. The method is designed to generate the nodes and weights needed to approximate different functionals using a single set of tools: it regards the target function as a stochastic field and uses a user–defined covariance function for this field to minimise the error made by the approximation formula. The resulting formulas are optimal in an average case sense: all possible realisations of this stochastic field are taken into account while computing the solution. This results in nodes and weights that evaluate the target functional applied to any realisation with a minimised average error. The space of all realisations of such a stochastic field can be of infinite dimension whereas classical approaches often only consider a finite dimensional space of functions. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

On farthest points of sets

For a convex closed bounded set in a Banach space, we study the existence and uniqueness problem for a point of this set that is the farthest point from a given point in space. In terms of the existence and uniqueness of the farthest point, as well as the Lipschitzian dependence of this point on a point in space, we obtain necessary and su.cient conditions for the strong convexity of a set in several infinite-dimensional spaces, in particular, in a Hilbert space. A set representable as the intersection of closed balls of a fixed radius is called a strongly convex set. We show that the condition “for each point in space that is sufficiently far from a set, there exists a unique farthest point of the set” is a criterion for the strong convexity of a set in a finite-dimensional normed space, where the norm ball is a strongly convex set and a generating set.     

Partial Groupoid Actions: Globalization,Morita Theory,and Galois Theory

In this article, we introduce the notion of a partial action of a groupoid on a ring as well as we give a criteria for the existence of a globalization of it. We construct a Morita context associated to a globalizable partial groupoid action, and we introduce the notion of a partial Galois extension, which is related to the strictness of this context.     

Adaptive greedy approximations

The problem of optimally approximating a function with a linear expansion over a redundant dictionary of waveforms is NP-hard. The greedy matching pursuit algorithm and its orthogonalized variant produce suboptimal function expansions by iteratively choosing dictionary waveforms that best match the function’s structures. A matching pursuit provides a means of quickly computing compact, adaptive function approximations. Numerical experiments show that the approximation errors from matching pursuits initially decrease rapidly, but the asymptotic decay rate of the errors is slow. We explain this behavior by showing that matching pursuits are chaotic, ergodic maps. The statistical properties of the approximation errors of a pursuit can be obtained from the invariant measure of the pursuit. We characterize these measures using group symmetries of dictionaries and by constructing a stochastic differential equation model. We derive a notion of the coherence of a signal with respect to a dictionary from our characterization of the approximation errors of a pursuit. The dictionary elements slected during the initial iterations of a pursuit correspond to a function’s coherent structures. The tail of the expansion, on the other hand, corresponds to a noise which is characterized by the invariant measure of the pursuit map. When using a suitable dictionary, the expansion of a function into its coherent structures yields a compact approximation. We demonstrate a denoising algorithm based on coherent function expansions.     

Formulation of the problem of the flutter of a shell of revolution and a shallow shell in a high-velocity supersonic gas flow

Aero-elastic vibration is investigated in the case of a shallow shell of revolution or a cylindrical panel, which respectively occupy a part of a thin cylindrical body or a thin profile, in a high-velocity supersonic gas flow at zero angle of attack. Particular attention is paid to finding the pressure interaction and this problem is solved within the framework of the law of plane sections in boundary-layer theory. An expression is obtained which refines and supplements the well-known formula of “piston” theory. A linearized formulation of the problem of the panel flutter of a shallow shell is presented. Using the example of a plate located on one of the sides of a wedge, it is shown that the formula of “piston” theory is complemented with a term which has the meaning of a compressive force in the plane of the plate. It is shown that, when account is taken of this term, there is a reduction in the critical flow velocity.     

On Siegel modular forms of half-integral weights and Jacobi forms

We will establish a bijective correspondence between the space of the cuspidal Jacobi forms and the space of the half-integral weight Siegel cusp forms which is compatible with the action of the Hecke operators. This correspondence is based on a bijective correspondence between the irreducible unitary representations of a two-fold covering group of a symplectic group and a Jacobi group (that is, a semidirect product of a symplectic group and a Heisenberg group). The classical results due to Eichler-Zagier and Ibukiyama will be reconsidered from our representation theoretic point of view.

     

Continuous conjugation of special nonisentropic one-dimensional gas motions

The exact partially invariant solution of equations of motion of a compressible fluid describing the collapse of particles to a point and an instantaneous source from the point in a one-dimensional nonisentropic motion is cut off by the characteristics and glued into a continuous solution of a one-dimensional submodel in a finite domain. The possibility of a continuous periodic nonisentropic motion of a compressible fluid in a bounded domain under the action of a piston is shown.     

DC programming techniques for solving a class of nonlinear bilevel programs

We propose a method for finding a global solution of a class of nonlinear bilevel programs, in which the objective function in the first level is a DC function, and the second level consists of finding a Karush-Kuhn-Tucker point of a quadratic programming problem. This method is a combination of the local algorithm DCA in DC programming with a branch and bound scheme well known in discrete and global optimization. Computational results on a class of quadratic bilevel programs are reported.