The Poincaré series of divisorial valuations in the plane defines the topology of the set of divisors

With a plane curve singularity one associates a multi-index filtration on the ring of germs of functions of two variables defined by the orders of a function on irreducible components of the curve. The Poincaré series of this filtration turns out to coincide with the Alexander polynomial of the curve germ. For a finite set of divisorial valuations on the ring corresponding to some components of the exceptional divisor of a modification of the plane, in a previous paper there was obtained a formula for the Poincaré series of the corresponding multi-index filtration similar to the one associated with plane germs. Here we show that the Poincaré series of a set of divisorial valuations on the ring of germs of functions of two variables defines “the topology of the set of the divisors” in the sense that it defines the minimal resolution of this set up to combinatorial equivalence. For the plane curve singularity case, we also give a somewhat simpler proof of the statement by Yamamoto which shows that the Alexander polynomial is equivalent to the embedded topology.     

Maximum Principle of Optimal Control of the Primitive Equations of the Ocean with Two Point Boundary State Constraint

We consider a class of stochastic impulse control problems of general stochastic processes i.e. not necessarily Markovian. Under fairly general conditions we establish existence of an optimal impulse control. We also prove existence of combined optimal stochastic and impulse control of a fairly general class of diffusions with random coefficients. Unlike, in the Markovian framework, we cannot apply quasi-variational inequalities techniques. We rather derive the main results using techniques involving reflected BSDEs and the Snell envelope.     

Revisit of the Theorem of Image Trajectories in the Earth-Moon Space

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the theorem of the image trajectories in the Earth-Moon space, the author revisits the theorem and clarifies the relation between the class of image trajectories and the class of symmetric free-return trajectories, which were employed in the Apollo program. In a nutshell, the symmetric free-return trajectories are those image trajectories that intersect the Earth-Moon axis orthogonally at some point above the far side of the Moon. Optimization implications are pointed out.     

Control the Fibre Orientation Distribution at the Outlet of Contraction

A two dimensional model of the orientation distribution of fibres in a paper machine headbox is studied. The goal is to control the fibre orientation distribution at the outlet of contraction by changing its shape. The mathematical formulation leads to an optimization problem with control in coefficients of a linear convection-diffusion equation as the state problem. Then, the problem is expressed as an optimal control problem governed by variational forms. By using an embedding method, the class of admissible shapes is replaced by a class of positive Radon measures. The optimization problem in measure space is then approximated by a linear programming problem. The optimal measure representing optimal shape is approximated by the solution of this linear programming problem. In this paper, we have shown that the embedding method (embedding the admissible set into a subset of measures), successfully can be applied to shape variation design to a one dimensional headbox. The usefulness of this idea is that the method is not iterative and it does not need any initial guess of the solution.      

Vector Interpretation of the Matrix Orthogonality on the Real Line

In this paper we study sequences of vector orthogonal polynomials. The vector orthogonality presented here provides a reinterpretation of what is known in the literature as matrix orthogonality. These systems of orthogonal polynomials satisfy three-term recurrence relations with matrix coefficients that do not obey to any type of symmetry. In this sense the vectorial reinterpretation allows us to study a non-symmetric case of the matrix orthogonality. We also prove that our systems of polynomials are indeed orthonormal with respect to a complex measure of orthogonality. Approximation problems of Hermite-Padé type are also discussed. Finally, a Markov’s type theorem is presented.     

Local Geometry of Levi-Forms Associated with the Existence of Complex Submanifolds and the Minimality of Generic CR Manifolds

Let M be a generic CR manifold in \BbbC^m+d\Bbb{C}^{m+d} of codimension d, locally given as the common zero set of real-valued functions r ¹,…,r ^d . Given an integer δ=1,…,d, we find a necessary and sufficient condition for M to contain a real submanifold of codimension δ with the same CR structure. We also find a necessary and sufficient condition and several sufficient conditions for M to admit a complex submanifold of complex dimension n, for any n=1,…,m. We use the method of prolongation of an exterior differential system. The conditions are systems of partial differential equations on r ¹,…,r ^d of third order.     

On the Existence of Quasipattern Solutions of the Swift–Hohenberg Equation

Quasipatterns (two-dimensional patterns that are quasiperiodic in any spatial direction) remain one of the outstanding problems of pattern formation. As with problems involving quasiperiodicity, there is a small divisor problem. In this paper, we consider 8-fold, 10-fold, 12-fold, and higher order quasipattern solutions of the Swift–Hohenberg equation. We prove that a formal solution, given by a divergent series, may be used to build a smooth quasiperiodic function which is an approximate solution of the pattern-forming partial differential equation (PDE) up to an exponentially small error.     

How to get the timing right. A computational model of the effects of the timing of contacts on team cohesion in demographically diverse teams

Lau and Murnighan’s faultline theory explains negative effects of demographic diversity on team performance as consequence of strong demographic faultlines. If demographic differences between group members are correlated across various dimensions, the team is likely to show a “subgroup split” that inhibits communication and effective collaboration between team members. Our paper proposes a rigorous formal and computational reconstruction of the theory. Our model integrates four elementary mechanisms of social interaction, homophily, heterophobia, social influence and rejection into a computational representation of the dynamics of both opinions and social relations in the team. Computational experiments demonstrate that the central claims of faultline theory are consistent with the model. We show furthermore that the model highlights a new structural condition that may give managers a handle to temper the negative effects of strong demographic faultlines. We call this condition the timing of contacts. Computational analyses reveal that negative effects of strong faultlines critically depend on who is when brought in contact with whom in the process of social interactions in the team. More specifically, we demonstrate that faultlines have hardly negative effects when teams are initially split into demographically homogeneous subteams that are merged only when a local consensus has developed.     

On the speed of convergence to stationarity of the Erlang loss system

We consider the Erlang loss system, characterized by N servers, Poisson arrivals and exponential service times, and allow the arrival rate to be a function of N. We discuss representations and bounds for the rate of convergence to stationarity of the number of customers in the system, and display some bounds for the total variation distance between the time-dependent and stationary distributions. We also pay attention to time-dependent rates.     

The Intrinsic Diameter of the Surface of a Parallelepiped

In the paper we obtain an explicit formula for the intrinsic diameter of the surface of a rectangular parallelepiped in 3-dimensional Euclidean space. As a consequence, we prove that an parallelepiped with relation for its edge lengths has maximal surface area among all rectangular parallelepipeds with given intrinsic diameter.     

Initialization of the Shooting Method via the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman Approach

The aim of this paper is to investigate from the numerical point of view the coupling of the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation and the Pontryagin minimum principle (PMP) to solve some control problems. A rough approximation of the value function computed by the HJB method is used to obtain an initial guess for the PMP method. The advantage of our approach over other initialization techniques (such as continuation or direct methods) is to provide an initial guess close to the global minimum. Numerical tests involving multiple minima, discontinuous control, singular arcs and state constraints are considered.     

Quantization of Pseudo-differential Operators on the Torus

Pseudo-differential and Fourier series operators on the torus \mathbbTⁿ=(\BbbR/2p\BbbZ)ⁿ{{\mathbb{T}}^{n}}=(\Bbb{R}/2\pi\Bbb{Z})^{n} are analyzed by using global representations by Fourier series instead of local representations in coordinate charts. Toroidal symbols are investigated and the correspondence between toroidal and Euclidean symbols of pseudo-differential operators is established. Periodization of operators and hyperbolic partial differential equations is discussed. Fourier series operators, which are analogues of Fourier integral operators on the torus, are introduced, and formulae for their compositions with pseudo-differential operators are derived. It is shown that pseudo-differential and Fourier series operators are bounded on L ² under certain conditions on their phases and amplitudes.     

A presentation for the singular part of the full transformation semigroup

The (full) transformation semigroup T_n\mathcal{T}_{n} is the semigroup of all functions from the finite set {1,…,n} to itself, under the operation of composition. The symmetric group S_n í T_n{\mathcal{S}_{n}\subseteq \mathcal{T}_{n}} is the group of all permutations on {1,…,n} and is the group of units of T_n\mathcal{T}_{n}. The complement T_n\S_n\mathcal{T}_{n}\setminus \mathcal{S}_{n} is a subsemigroup (indeed an ideal) of T_n\mathcal{T}_{n}. In this article we give a presentation, in terms of generators and relations, for T_n\S_n\mathcal{T}_{n}\setminus \mathcal{S}_{n}, the so-called singular part of T_n\mathcal{T}_{n}.     

On the Existence of Optimal Unions of Subspaces for Data Modeling and Clustering

Given a set of vectors F={f ₁,…,f _m } in a Hilbert space H\mathcal {H}, and given a family C\mathcal {C} of closed subspaces of H\mathcal {H}, the subspace clustering problem consists in finding a union of subspaces in C\mathcal {C} that best approximates (is nearest to) the data F. This problem has applications to and connections with many areas of mathematics, computer science and engineering, such as Generalized Principal Component Analysis (GPCA), learning theory, compressed sensing, and sampling with finite rate of innovation. In this paper, we characterize families of subspaces C\mathcal {C} for which such a best approximation exists. In finite dimensions the characterization is in terms of the convex hull of an augmented set C⁺\mathcal {C}^{+}. In infinite dimensions, however, the characterization is in terms of a new but related notion; that of contact half-spaces. As an application, the existence of best approximations from π(G)-invariant families C\mathcal {C} of unitary representations of Abelian groups is derived.     

Density of the polynomials in Hardy and Bergman spaces of slit domains

It is shown that for any t, 0<t<∞, there is a Jordan arc Γ with endpoints 0 and 1 such that G\{1} í \mathbbD:={z:|z| < 1}\Gamma\setminus\{1\}\subseteq\mathbb{D}:=\{z:|z|<1\} and with the property that the analytic polynomials are dense in the Bergman space \mathbbA^t(\mathbbD\G)\mathbb{A}^{t}(\mathbb{D}\setminus\Gamma) . It is also shown that one can go further in the Hardy space setting and find such a Γ that is in fact the graph of a continuous real-valued function on [0,1], where the polynomials are dense in H^t(\mathbbD\G)H^{t}(\mathbb{D}\setminus\Gamma) ; improving upon a result in an earlier paper.     

The Method of Virtual Components in the Multivariate Setting

We describe the so-called method of virtual components for tight wavelet framelets to increase their approximation order and vanishing moments in the multivariate setting. Two examples of the virtual components for tight wavelet frames based on bivariate box splines on three or four direction mesh are given. As a byproduct, a new construction of tight wavelet frames based on box splines under the quincunx dilation matrix is presented.     

A New Regularity Criterion in Terms of the Direction of the Velocity for the MHD Equations

In this paper we obtain a new regularity criterion for weak solutions to the 3D MHD equations. It is proved that if div( \fracu|u|) \mathrm{div}( \frac{u}{|u|}) belongs to L^\frac21-r( 0,T;[(X)\dot]_r( \mathbbR³) ) L^{\frac{2}{1-r}}( 0,T;\dot{X}_{r}( \mathbb{R}^{3}) ) with 0≤r≤1, then the weak solution actually is regular and unique.     

Maxima and Minima of the Hosoya Index and the Merrifield-Simmons Index

The Hosoya index and the Merrifield-Simmons index are typical examples of graph invariants used in mathematical chemistry for quantifying relevant details of molecular structure. In recent years, quite a lot of work has been done on the extremal problem for these two indices, i.e., the problem of determining the graphs within certain prescribed classes that maximize or minimize the index value. This survey collects and classifies these results, and also provides some useful auxiliary results, tools and techniques that are frequently used in the study of this type of problem.     

Regularity of the Schrödinger equation for the harmonic oscillator

We consider the Schrödinger equation for the harmonic oscillator i ? _t u=Hu, where H=?Δ+|x|², with initial data in the Hermite–Sobolev space H ^?s/2 L ²(? ⁿ ). We obtain smoothing and maximal estimates and apply these to perturbations of the equation and almost everywhere convergence problems.