Perturbative manifolds and the Noether generators of nth-order Poisson equations

A manifold that contains small perturbations will induce a perturbed partial differential equation. The partial differential equation that we select is the Poisson equation – in order to explore the interplay between the geometry of the manifold and the perturbations. Specifically, we show how the problem of symmetry determination, for higher-order perturbations, can be elegantly expressed via geometric conditions.     

IFS attractors and Cantor sets

We build a metric space which is homeomorphic to a Cantor set but cannot be realized as the attractor of an iterated function system. We give also an example of a Cantor set K in R³ such that every homeomorphism f of R³ which preserves K coincides with the identity on K.     

A triangular map with homoclinic orbits and no infinite ω-limit set containing periodic points

Recently, Forti, Paganoni and Smítal constructed an example of a triangular map of the unite square, F(x,y)=(f(x),g(x,y)), possessing periodic orbits of all periods and such that no infinite ω-limit set of F contains a periodic point. In this note we show that the above quoted map F has a homoclinic orbit. As a consequence, we answer in the negative the problem presented by A.N. Sharkovsky in the eighties whether, for a triangular map of the square, existence of a homoclinic orbit implies the existence of an infinite ω-limit set containing a periodic point. It is well known that, for a continuous map of the interval, the answer is positive.     

Normalization of complex-valued planar vector fields which degenerate along a real curve

Taking as a start point the recent article of Meziani [7], we present several results concerning the normalization of a class of complex vector fields in the plane which degenerate along a real curve. We mainly deal with operators with finite regularity and analyze both the local situation as well as the case of normalization near a circle. Some related questions (e.g., on semi-global solvability and on the normalization of a class of generalized Mizohata operators) are also discussed.     

From a Nonlinear, Nonconvex Variational Problem to a Linear, Convex Formulation

   Abstract. We propose a general approach to deal with nonlinear, nonconvex variational problems based on a reformulation of the problem resulting in an optimization problem with linear cost functional and convex constraints. As a first step we explicitly explore these ideas to some one-dimensional variational problems and obtain specific conclusions of an analytical and numerical nature.     

Optimal Control in Heterogeneous Domain Decomposition Methods for Advection-Diffusion Equations

New domain decomposition methods (DDM) based on optimal control approach are introduced for the coupling of first and second order equations on overlapping subdomains. Several cost functionals and control functions are proposed. Uniqueness and existence results are proved for the coupled problem, and the convergence of iterative processes is analyzed. The work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (04-01-00615) and it was partly carried out while the first author was visiting the IACS at EPFL.     

On the genericity of chaos

Let M be a compact manifold with dimM?2. We prove that some iteration of the generic homeomorphism on M is semiconjugated to the shift map and has infinite topological entropy (Theorem 1.1).     

Tropical Weyl Group Action via Point Configurations and τ-Functions of the q-Painlevé Equations

Starting from certain point sets in the projective plane, we construct a tropical (or subtraction-free birational) representation of Weyl groups over the field of τ-functions. In particular, our construction includes E ₈ ⁽¹⁾ , E ₇ ⁽¹⁾ , E ₆ ⁽¹⁾ and D ₅ ⁽¹⁾ as affine cases; each of them gives rise to the q-difference Painlevé equation.     

On the null-controllability of the heat equation in unbounded domains

We make two remarks about the null-controllability of the heat equation with Dirichlet condition in unbounded domains. Firstly, we give a geometric necessary condition (for interior null-controllability in the Euclidean setting) which implies that one cannot go infinitely far away from the control region without tending to the boundary (if any), but also applies when the distance to the control region is bounded. The proof builds on heat kernel estimates. Secondly, we describe a class of null-controllable heat equations on unbounded product domains. Elementary examples include an infinite strip in the plane controlled from one boundary and an infinite rod controlled from an internal infinite rod. The proof combines earlier results on compact manifolds with a new lemma saying that the null-controllability of an abstract control system and its null-controllability cost are not changed by taking its tensor product with a system generated by a non-positive self-adjoint operator.     

Equivariant fixed-point indices of iterated maps

We describe an equivariant version (for actions of a finite group G) of Dold’s index theory, [10], for iterated maps. Equivariant Dold indices are defined, in general, for a G-map U → X defined on an open G-subset of a G-ANR X (and satisfying a suitable compactness condition). A local index for isolated fixed-points is introduced, and the theorem of Shub and Sullivan on the vanishing of all but finitely many Dold indices for a continuously differentiable map is extended to the equivariant case. Homotopy Dold indices, arising from the equivariant Reidemeister trace, are also considered.