The Economics of Social Stratification in Premodern Societies

We present a microeconomic model of social stratification, which includes an endogenous fertility component. In the model, egalitarian and stratified societies coexist. The latter are divided into 2 hereditary classes: a warrior elite and a productive class. The model entails that the extra cost warriors must incur to train and equip their children for war determines the relative sizes of both classes and the degree of economic inequality. Higher costs of warrior children imply a greater economic advantage for warriors and a smaller ratio of warriors to producers. These results are consistent with the historical evidence. Finally, we explore conditions under which the social contributions of the warrior elite could discourage a revolution.     

Some gradient estimates and Harnack inequalities for nonlinear parabolic equations on Riemannian manifolds

In this paper, by the method of J. F. Li and X. J. Xu (Differential Harnack inequalities on Riemannian manifolds I: Linear heat equation, Adv. in Math., 226 (2011), 4456–4491 ), we shall consider the nonlinear parabolic equation on Riemannian manifolds with , . First of all, we shall derive the corresponding Li–Xu type gradient estimates of the positive solutions for . As applications, we deduce Liouville type theorem and Harnack inequality for some special cases. Besides, when , our results are different from Li and Yau's results. We also extend the results of J. F. Li and X. J. Xu, and the results of Y. Yang.     

Algorithm of Barrier Objective Penalty Function

In this paper, an algorithm of barrier objective penalty function for inequality constrained optimization is studied and a conception–the stability of barrier objective penalty function is presented. It is proved that an approximate optimal solution may be obtained by solving a barrier objective penalty function for inequality constrained optimization problem when the barrier objective penalty function is stable. Under some conditions, the stability of barrier objective penalty function is proved for convex programming. Specially, the logarithmic barrier function of convex programming is stable. Based on the barrier objective penalty function, an algorithm is developed for finding an approximate optimal solution to an inequality constrained optimization problem and its convergence is also proved under some conditions. Finally, numerical experiments show that the barrier objective penalty function algorithm has better convergence than the classical barrier function algorithm.     

TV‐like regularization for backward parabolic problems

This paper investigates an inverse problem for parabolic equations backward in time, which is solved by total‐variation‐like (TV‐like, in abbreviation) regularization method with cost function ∥u_x∥². The existence, uniqueness and stability estimate for the regularization problem are deduced in the linear case. For numerical illustration, the variational adjoint method, which presents a simple method to derive the gradient of the optimization functional, is introduced to reconstruct the unknown initial condition for both linear and nonlinear parabolic equations. The conjugate gradient method is used to iteratively search for the optimal approximation. Numerical results validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the existence of positive least energy solutions for a coupled Schrödinger system with critical exponent

In this paper, we consider the following coupled Schrödinger system with critical exponent: where is a smooth bounded domain, λ > 0,μ≥0, and . Under certain conditions on λ and μ, we show that this problem has at least one positive least energy solution. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysis of the mean squared derivative cost function

In this paper, we investigate the mean squared derivative cost functions that arise in various applications such as in motor control, biometrics and optimal transport theory. We provide qualitative properties, explicit analytical formulas and computational algorithms for the cost functions. We also perform numerical simulations to illustrate the analytical results. In addition, as a by‐product of our analysis, we obtain an explicit formula for the inverse of a Wronskian matrix that is of independent interest in linear algebra and differential equations theory. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Oscillation criteria for higher‐order nonlinear dynamic equations with Laplacians and a deviating argument on time scales

In this paper, we study the n th‐order nonlinear dynamic equation with Laplacians and a deviating argument on an above‐unbounded time scale, where n ?2, New oscillation criteria are established for the cases when n is even and odd and when α  > γ ,α  = γ , and α  < γ , respectively, with α  = α ₁?α _{n  ? 1}. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Two homoclinic solutions for a nonperiodic fourth‐order differential equation without coercive condition

In this paper, we investigate the existence of homoclinic solutions for a class of fourth‐order nonautonomous differential equations where w is a constant, and . By using variational methods and the mountain pass theorem, some new results on the existence of homoclinic solutions are obtained under some suitable assumptions. The interesting is that a(x) and f(x,u) are nonperiodic in x,a does not fulfil the coercive condition, and f does not satisfy the well‐known (AR)‐condition. Furthermore, the main result partly answers the open problem proposed by Zhang and Yuan in the paper titled with Homoclinic solutions for a nonperiodic fourth‐order differential equations without coercive conditions (see Appl. Math. Comput. 2015; 250:280–286). Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.