On a problem of spencer

LetX ₁, ...,X _n be events in a probability space. Let ϱ_i be the probabilityX _i occurs. Let ϱ be the probability that none of theX _i occur. LetG be a graph on [n] so that for 1 ≦i≦n X _i is independent of ≈X _j ‖(i, j)∉G≈. Letf(d) be the sup of thosex such that if ϱ₁, ..., ϱ _n ≦x andG has maximum degree ≦d then ϱ>0. We showf(1)=1/2,f(d)=(d−1) ^d−1 d ^−d ford≧2. Hence df(d)=1/e. This answers a question posed by Spencer in [2]. We also find a sharp bound for ϱ in terms of the ϱ _i andG.     

Record values and the exponential distribution

A sequence {X _n,n≧1} of independent and identically distributed random variables with continuous cumulative distribution functionF(x) is considered.X _j is a record value of this sequence ifX _j>max (X ₁, …,X _j−1). Let {X _L(n) n≧0} be the sequence of such record values. Some properties ofX _L(n) andX _L(n)−X_L(n−1) are studied when {X _n,n≧1} has the exponential distribution. Characterizations of the exponential distribution are given in terms of the sequence {X _L(n),n≧0} The work was partly completed when the author was at the Department of Statistics, University of Brasilia, Brazil.     

On the sum of the reciprocals of cycle lengths in sparse graphs

For a graphG let ℒ(G)=Σ{1/k contains a cycle of lengthk}. Erdős and Hajnal [1] introduced the real functionf(α)=inf {ℒ (G)|E(G)|/|V(G)|≧α} and suggested to study its properties. Obviouslyf(1)=0. We provef (k+1/k)≧(300k logk)⁻¹ for all sufficiently largek, showing that sparse graphs of large girth must contain many cycles of different lengths.     

On convergence of a generalized Pál interpolation process

Let f∈C _[−1,1] ^″ (r≥1) and R_n(f,α,β,x) be the generalized Pál interpolation polynomials satisfying the conditions R_n(f,α,β,x_k)=f(x_k),R_n ^′(f,α,β,x_k)=f′(x_k)(k=1,2,…,n), where {x_k} are the roots of n-th Jacobi polynomial P_n(α,β,x),α,β>−1 and {x _k ^″ } are the roots of (1−x²)P_n″(α,β,x). In this paper, we prove that holds uniformly on [0,1]. In Memory of Professor M. T. Cheng Supported by the Science Foundation of CSBTB and the Natural Science Foundatioin of Zhejiang.     

Counting points in hypercubes and convolution measure algebras

It is shown that ifA andB are non-empty subsets of {0, 1} ⁿ (for somenεN) then |A+B|≧(|A||B|)^α where α=(1/2) log₂ 3 here and in what follows. In particular if |A|=2 ^n-1 then |A+A|≧3 ^n-1 which anwers a question of Brown and Moran. It is also shown that if |A| = 2 ^n-1 then |A+A|=3 ^n-1 if and only if the points ofA lie on a hyperplane inn-dimensions. Necessary and sufficient conditions are also given for |A +B|=(|A||B|)^α. The above results imply the following improvement of a result of Talagrand [7]: ifX andY are compact subsets ofK (the Cantor set) withm(X),m(Y)>0 then λ(X+Y)≧2(m(X)m(Y))^α wherem is the usual measure onK and λ is Lebesgue measure. This also answers a question of Moran (in more precise terms) showing thatm is not concentrated on any proper Raikov system.     

Limiting distribution of sums of nonnegative stationary random variables

Summary Let {X _n,j,−∞<j<∞∼,n≧1, be a sequence of stationary sequences on some probability space, with nonnegative random variables. Under appropriate mixing conditions, it is shown thatS _n=X_n,1+…+X _n,n has a limiting distribution of a general infinitely divisible form. The result is applied to sequences of functions {f _n(x)∼ defined on a stationary sequence {X _j∼, whereX _n.f=f_n(X_j). The results are illustrated by applications to Gaussian processes, Markov processes and some autoregressive processes of a general type. This paper represents results obtained at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, under the sponsorship of the National Sciences Foundation, Grant MCS 82-01119.     

Speed of convergence in nonparametric kernel estimation of a regression function and its derivatives

Summary The objective in nonparametric regression is to infer a functiong(x) and itspth order derivativesg ^(g)(x),p≧1 fixed, on the basis of a finite collection of pairs {x _i, g(x_i)+Z _i} _i=1 ⁿ , where the noise componentsZ _i satisfy certain modest assumptions and the domain pointsx _i are selected non-randomly. This paper exhibits a new class of kernel estimatesg _n ^(p) ,p≧0 fixed. The main theoretical results of this study are the rates of convergence obtained for mean square and strong consistency ofg _n ^(p) each of them being uniform on the (0,1).     

The chromatic number of the product of two 4-chromatic graphs is 4

For any graphG and numbern≧1 two functionsf, g fromV(G) into {1, 2, ...,n} are adjacent if for all edges (a, b) ofG, f(a) ≠g(b). The graph of all such functions is the colouring graph ℒ(G) ofG. We establish first that χ(G)=n+1 implies χ(ℒ(G))=n iff χ(G ×H)=n+1 for all graphsH with χ(H)≧n+1. Then we will prove that indeed for all 4-chromatic graphsG χ(ℒ(G))=3 which establishes Hedetniemi’s [3] conjecture for 4-chromatic graphs. This research was supported by NSERC grant A7213     

The speed of convergence of a martingale

LetX _n, n≧0, be a martingale with respect to the σ-fieldsF _n and letB _n ² =Σ_1≧n E{(X ₁−X ₁₋₁)²|F ₁₋₁} It is known that ifB ₁ ² <∞ on some set Ω₀ thenX _∞=limX _n exists and is finite a.e. on Ω₀ We show that under suitable conditions there exists a constant ν<∞ for which lim supB _n ⁻¹ {log logB _n ² }^−1/2|X _∞−X _n−1 | ≦ √2(η+1). If “the fluctuations ofB _n are small” (in the sense of the Corollary) then ν=0 and the usual upper bound of a law of the iterated logrithm results. This upper bound is not necessarily achieved, though. Research supported in part by the NSF under Grant No. MCS 72-04534A04.     

On Lp-convergence of Grunwald interpolation

In this paper, the L_p-convergence of Grünwald interpolation G_n(f,x) based on the zeros of Jacobi polynomials J _n ^(α,β) (x)(−1<α,β<1) is considered. L_p-convergence (0<p<2) of Grünwald interpolation G_n(f,x) is proved for p·Max(α,β)<1. Moreover, L_p-convergence (p>0) of G_n(f,x) is obtained for −1<α,β≤0. Therefore, the results of [1] and [3–5] are improved.     

Existence principles for higher-order nonlocal boundary-value problems and their applications to singular Sturm-Liouville problems

We present existence principles for the nonlocal boundary-value problem (φ(u^(p−1)))′=g(t,u,...,u^(p−1), α_k(u)=0, 1≤k≤p−1, where p ≥ 2, π: ℝ → ℝ is an increasing and odd homeomorphism, g is a Carathéodory function that is either regular or has singularities in its space variables, and α _k: C ^p−1[0, T] → ℝ is a continuous functional. An application of the existence principles to singular Sturm-Liouville problems (−1)ⁿ(φ(u⁽²ⁿ⁻⁾))′=f(t,u,...,u⁽²ⁿ⁻¹⁾), u^(2k)(0)=0, α_ku^(2k)(T)+b_ku^(2k=1)(T)=0, 0≤k≤n−1, is given. Published in Ukrains’kyi Matematychnyi Zhurnal, Vol. 60, No. 2, pp. 240–259, February, 2008.     

On the difference between the number of prime divisors at consecutive integers

Suppose thatg(n) is equal to the number of divisors ofn, counting multiplicity, or the number of divisors ofn, a≠0 is an integer, andN(x,b)=|{n∶n≤x, g(n+a)−g(n)=b orb+1}|. In the paper we prove that sup _b N(x,b)≤C(a)x)(log log 10 _x )^−1/2 and that there exists a constantC(a,μ)>0 such that, given an integerb |b|≤μ(log logx)^1/2,x≥x _o, the inequalityN(x,b)≥C(a,μ)x(log logx(^−1/2) is valid. Translated fromMatematicheskie Zametki, Vol. 66, No. 4, pp. 579–595, October, 1999.     

Asymptotic consistency of fixed-width sequential confidence intervals for a multiple regression function

Summary Letm _n (x) be the recursive kernel estimator of the multiple regression functionm(x)=E[Y|X=x]. For given α (0<α<1) andd>0 we define a certain class of stopping timesN=N(α,d, x) and takeI _N,d (x)=[m _N (x)−d, m _N (x)+d] as a 2d-width confidence interval form(x) at a given pointx. In this paper it is shown that the probability P{m(x)∈I _N,d (x)} converges to α asd tends to zero.     

On estimation of a density and its derivatives

Summary Letf _n ^(p) be a recursive kernel estimate off ^(p) thepth order derivative of the probability density functionf, based on a random sample of sizen. In this paper, we provide bounds for the moments of and show that the rate of almost sure convergence of to zero isO(n ^−α), α<(r−p)/(2r+1), iff ^(r),r>p≧0, is a continuousL ₂(−∞, ∞) function. Similar rate-factor is also obtained for the almost sure convergence of to zero under different conditions onf. This work was supported in part by the Research Foundation of SUNY.     

Ann-dimensional search problem with restricted questions

The problem is the following: How many questions are necessary in the worst case to determine whether a pointX in then-dimensional Euclidean spaceR ⁿ belongs to then-dimensional unit cubeQ ⁿ, where we are allowed to ask which halfspaces of (n−1)-dimensional hyperplanes contain the pointX? It is known that ⌌3n/2⌍ questions are sufficient. We prove here thatcn questions are necessary, wherec≈1.2938 is the solution of the equationx log₂ x−(x−1) log₂ (x−1)=1.     

A note on Lagrange interpolation of functions of generalized bounded variation

In this paper we solve a remained problem in [2], whether the following estimate approximation for the classf∈[-1, 1]∩BV by Lagrange interpolation based on the Jacobi abscissas: L _n ^(a,d) (f,x)−f(x)=O(1/n) holds, if α≠β α,β≥−1. The project is supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province.     

On a singular integral on product spaces

We show that if K(x,y)=Ω(x,y)/|x|ⁿ|y|^m is a Calder n-Zygmund kerned on Rⁿ×R^m, where Ω∈L²(Sⁿ⁻¹×S^m−1) and b(x,y) is any bounded function which is radial with x∈Rⁿ and y∈R^m respectively, then b(x,y)K(x,y) is the kernel of a convolution operator which is bounded on L^p(Rⁿ×R^m) for 1<p<∞ and n≧2, m≧2. Project supported by NSFC     

Linear series onk-gonal curves

Here we prove the following result. Theorem 1.1.Let X be an integral projective curve of arithmetic genus g and k≧ ≧4 an integer. Assume the existence of L ∈ Pic^k (X) with h ⁰ (X, L)=2 and L spanned. Fix a rank 1 torsion free sheaf M on X with h ⁰(X,M)=r+1≧2, h¹ (X, M)≧2 and M spanned by its global sections. Set d≔deg(M) and s≔max {n≧0:h ⁰ (X, M ⊗(L^*)^⊗n)>0}. Then one of the following cases occur:

On large deviations and density functions

Suppose thatX ₁,X ₂, ... is a sequence of absolutely continuous or integer valued random variables with corresponding probability density functionsf _n (x). Let {φ _n } _n=1 ^∞ be a sequence of real numbers, then necessary and sufficient conditions are given forn ⁻¹ logf _n (φ _n )-n ⁻¹ log P (X _n >φ _n )=0(1) asn→∞.     

Extreme value limit laws in the nonidentically distributed case

LetX ₁, ...,X _n be independent random variables, letF _i be the distribution function ofX _i (1≦i≦n) and letX _1n ≦... ≦X _nn be the corresponding order statistics. We consider the statisticsX _kn, wherek=k(n),k/n → 1 andn−k → ∞. Under some additional restrictions concerning the behaviour of the sequences {a _n>0,b _n,k(n),F _n} we characterize the class of all distribution functionsH such that Prob{(X _kn −b _n )/a _n <x)}→H. Dedicated to the Memory of N. V. Smirnov (1900–1966)