Flow of a nematic liquid crystal near the leading edge of an infinite prism

Flow of a nematic liquid crystal in an infinite wedge boundedby sidewalls = ± (with no-slip condition) is considered.The fluid is contained in the region 0 r < , – and – < z < (0 ). The near-tip velocity fieldis assumed to have the form v_i(r, ) = rF_i()(i = r, , z) as rtends to zero. We investigate the dependence of eigenvalues and functions F_i() on the tilt angle, G(), between the directorfield and the plane z = c (c ) and on the included angle 2 of the wedge shaped prism. Two kinds of nematicliquid crystal are considered as examples: MBBA and PAA near25 °C and 125 °C, respectively. In general, when 0 <G() < /2 the liquid crystalline material is curvilinear anisotropicand no symmetry properties are found. Here all velocity fieldcomponents are coupled. This coupling reduces the magnitudeof the leading-order eigenvalue and the one with smallest realpart is purely real for any wedge included angle. However, complexeigenvalues can occur for the next eigenvalues ordered in termsof the magnitude of the real part. Thus, if we impose the appropriatebehaviour on the far velocity field so that it is orthogonalto the eigenvectors associated with the first real eigenvalues,the remaining flow fields may display eddies.     

Asymptotic results for bifurcations in pure bending of rubber blocks

The bifurcation of an incompressible neo-Hookean thick blockwith a ratio of thickness to length , subject to pure bending,is considered. The two incremental equilibrium equations correspondingto a nonlinear pre-buckling state of strain are reduced to afourth-order linear eigenproblem that displays a multiple turningpoint. It is found that for 0 < < , the block experiencesan Euler-type buckling instability which in the limit degeneratesinto a surface instability. Singular perturbation methods enableus to capture this transition, while direct numerical simulationscorroborate the analytical results.     

Are All Uniform Algebras Amnm?

A Banach algebra a is AMNM if whenever a linear functional on a and a positive number satisfy |(ab)–(a)(b)|||a||·||b||for all a, b a, there is a multiplicative linear functional on a such that ||–||=o(1) as 0. K. Jarosz [1] asked whetherevery Banach algebra, or every uniform algebra, is AMNM. B.E. Johnson [3] studied the AMNM property and constructed a commutativesemisimple Banach algebra that is not AMNM. In this note weconstruct uniform algebras that are not AMNM. 1991 MathematicsSubject Classification 46J10.     

Correction: Abelian Varieties defined over their Fields of Moduli, I

Bull London Math. Soc, 4 (1972), 370–372. The proof of the theorem contains an error. Before giving acorrect proof, we state two lemmas. LEMMA 1. Let K/k be a cyclic Galois extension of degree m, let generate Gal (K/k), and let (A, I, ) be defined over K. Supposethat there exists an isomorphism :(A,I,) (A, I, ) over K suchthat v^m–1 ... = 1, where v is the canonical isomorphism(A^m, I^m, ^m) (A, I, ). Then (A, I, ) has a model over k, whichbecomes isomorphic to (A, I, ) over K. Proof. This follows easily from [7], as is essentially explainedon p. 371. LEMMA 2. Let G be an abelian pro-finite group and let : G Q/Z be a continuous character of G whose image has order p.Then either: (a) there exist subgroups G' and H of G such that H is cyclicof order p^m for some m, (G') = 0, and G = G' x H, or (b) for any m > 0 there exists a continuous character m ofG such that p^m _m = . Proof. If (b) is false for a given m, then there exists an element G, of order p^r for some r m, such that () ¦ 0. (Considerthe sequence dual to 0 Ker (p^m) G ^pm G). There exists an opensubgroup G_o of G such that (G₀) = 0 and has order p^r in G/G₀.Choose H to be the subgroup of G generated by , and then aneasy application to G/G₀ of the theory of finite abelian groupsshows the existence of G' (note that () ¦ 0 implies that is not a p-th. power in G). We now prove the theorem. The proof is correct up to the statement(iv) (except that (i) should read: F' k₁ F'ab). To removea minor ambiguity in the proof of (iv), choose to be an elementof Gal (F'_ab/k₂) whose image $$\stackrel{\&macr;}{\sigma}$$ in Gal (k₁/k₂) generates this last group. The error occursin the statement that the canonical map v : A^P A acts on pointsby sending a^p a; it, of course, sends a a. The proof is correct, however, in the case that it is possibleto choose so that ^p = 1 (in Gal (F'/k₂)). By applying Lemma 2 to G = Gal (F'_ab/k₂) and the map G Gal(k₁/k₂) one sees that only the following two cases have to beconsidered. (a) It is possible to choose so that ^pm = 1, for some m, andG = G' x H where G' acts trivially on k₁ and H is generatedby . (b) For any m > 0 there exists a field K, F'ab K k₁ k₂is a cyclic Galois extension of degree p^m. In the first case, we let K F'_ab be the fixed field of G'.Then (A, I, ), regarded as being defined over K, has a modelover k₂. Indeed, if m = 1, then this was observed above, butwhen m > 1 the same argument applies. In the second case, let : (A, I, ) (A$$\stackrel{\&macr;}{\sigma}$$, I$$\stackrel{\&macr;}{\sigma }$$, $$\stackrel{\&macr;}{\sigma}$$) be an isomorphism defined over k₁ and let v ... ^p–1 = µ(R). If is replaced by for some Aut_k1((A, I, )) then is replacedby ^P. Thus, as µ(R) is finite, we may assume that ^pm–1= 1 for some m. Choose K, as in (b), to be of degree p^m overk₂. Let _m be a generator of Gal (K/k₂) whose restriction tok₁ is $$\stackrel{\&macr;}{\sigma }$$. Then : (A, I, ) (A^{$$\stackrel{\&macr;}{\sigma }$$}, I^{$$\stackrel{\&macr;}{\sigma}$$}, ^{$$\stackrel{\&macr;}{\sigma }$$} = (A^{$$\stackrel{\&macr;}{\sigma}$$m}, I^{$$\stackrel{\&macr;}{\sigma }$$m}, ^{$$\stackrel{\&macr;}{\sigma}$$m} is an isomorphism defined over K and v ^mpm–1, ... ^m =^pm–1 = 1, and so, by) Lemma 1, (A, I, ) has a model overk₂ which becomes isomorphic to (A, I, over K. The proof may now be completed as before. Addendum: Professor Shimura has pointed out to me that the claimon lines 25 and 26 of p. 371, viz that µ(R) is a puresubgroup of _R^*t, does not hold for all rings R. Thus this condition,which appears to be essential for the validity of the theorem,should be included in the hypotheses. It holds, for example,if µ(R) is a direct summand of µ(F).     

Asymptotics for Fractional Nonlinear Heat Equations

The Cauchy problem is studied for the nonlinear equations withfractional power of the negative Laplacian where (0,2), with critical = /n and sub-critical (0,/n)powers of the nonlinearity. Let u₀ L^1,a L C, u₀(x) 0 in Rⁿ, = . The case of not small initial data is of interest. It is proved that the Cauchy problemhas a unique global solution u C([0,); L L^1,a C) and the largetime asymptotics are obtained.     

Concavity and B-Concavity of Solutions of Quasilinear Filtration Equations

Spatial concavity properties of non-negative weak solutionsof the filtration equations with absorption u_t = ((u))_xx–(u)in Q = Rx(0, ), '0, 0 are studied. Under certain assumptionson the coefficients , it is proved that concavity of the pressurefunction is a consequence of a ‘weak’ convexityof travelling-wave solutions of the form V(x, t) = (x–t+a).It is established that the global structure of a so-called properset B = {V} of such particular solutions determines a propertyof B-concavity for more general solutions which is preservedin time. For the filtration equation u_t = ((u))_xx a semiconcavityestimate for the pressure, v_xx(t+)^–1'(), due to the B-concavityof the solution to the subset B of the explicit self-similarsolutions (x/t+)) is proved. The analysis is based on the intersection comparison based onthe Sturmian argument of the general solution u(x, t) with subsetsB of particular solutions. Also studied are other aspects ofthe B-concavity/convexity with respect to different subsetsof explicit solutions.     

Finite groups in Stone-Cech compactifications

Let be an infinite cardinal and let G = ₂. Now let β Gbe the Stone–ech compactification of G as a discrete semigroup,and let =_<c_{β G} {xG\{0}:minsupp (x)}. We show that thesemigroup contains no nontrivial finite group.     

Piecewise Absolutely Continuous Cocycles Over Irrational Rotations

For an irrational rotation of the circle group T=R/Z and apiecewise absolutely continuous function f:TR, the unitary operatorVh(x)=e^2if(x)h(x+) on L²(T) is studied. It is shown that iff has a single discontinuity with non-integer jump then V is-weakly mixing for some with 0<||<1. In particular Vhas continuous singular spectrum. The property of -weak mixing(with possible change of the value of , 0<||<1) holdsfor all irrational rotations and, given , is stable under perturbationsof f by functions with sufficiently small O(1/n)-norm. On theother hand, there exists a piecewise linear function f withtwo non-integer jumps such that the spectrum of V is continuoussingular for one value of and Lebesgue for another.     

Singular behaviour in a generalized boundary eigenvalue problem for annular plates in tension

A novel application of boundary-layer asymptotic techniquesto a generalized linear eigenvalue problem is presented. Ourinvestigation is concerned with a bifurcation equation thatgoverns the formation of wrinkles in thin annular plates subjectedto in-plane tensile loading on the inner boundary. If denotesthe ratio of the inner and outer radii of the annulus, thenthe critical wrinkling load satisfies = _C(), where the function_C is available only numerically. It is known that there is acritical value such that as but, until now, little has been understood about this singular behaviour. Asymptoticmethods enable us to capture accurately and describe the natureof this blow-up phenomenon which we show is sensitive to theforms of the boundary conditions imposed at the edges of theannular plate. Our analytical findings are complemented by aseries of comparisons with direct numerical simulations thatshed further light on the singular behaviour.     

Geometry of Critical Loci

Let :(Z,z)(U,0) be the germ of a finite (that is, proper with finite fibres)complex analytic morphism from a complex analytic normal surfaceonto an open neighbourhood U of the origin 0 in the complexplane C². Let u and v be coordinates of C² defined on U. Weshall call the triple (, u, v) the initial data. Let stand for the discriminant locus of the germ , that is,the image by of the critical locus of . Let ()_A be the branches of the discriminant locus at O whichare not the coordinate axes. For each A, we define a rational number d by where I(–, –) denotes the intersection number at0 of complex analytic curves in C². The set of rational numbersd, for A, is a finite subset D of the set of rational numbersQ. We shall call D the set of discriminantal ratios of the initialdata (, u, v). The interesting situation is when one of thetwo coordinates (u, v) is tangent to some branch of , otherwiseD = {1}. The definition of D depends not only on the choiceof the two coordinates, but also on their ordering. In this paper we prove that the set D is a topological invariantof the initial data (, u, v) (in a sense that we shall definebelow) and we give several ways to compute it. These resultsare first steps in the understanding of the geometry of thediscriminant locus. We shall also see the relation with thegeometry of the critical locus.     

Dynamic crack-tip singular stress in a cylindrically orthotropic elastic solid

Anti-plane wave motion is induced in a cylindrically orthotropicelastic solid containing a semi-infinite stress-free crack,by a point impulsive body force. First, the static version ofthe problem is solved for the fracture stress _z. Here, a globalsolution is obtained and then examined at the crack tip in orderto determine the nature of the spatial singularity. Next, thedynamic problem is treated and it is found that the dominantspatial singularity for _z at the crack tip is the same as inthe static case. However, the dynamic part of the stress intensityfactor, T, may introduce a further singularity. Several equivalentexpressions are presented for T, one of which is examined insome detail.     

Correction: on the Intersection Matrices of Curves lying on Irregular Algebraic Surfaces

Professor W. F. Hammond has kindly drawn my attention to a blunderin 4 of the above paper. He referred to the ( – 2r) xß submatrix D of the skew-symmetric matrix displayednear the top of page 181, of which it is asserted that it issquare and non-singular, and pointed out that, from the factthat the matrix of which D forms part is regular, it may onlybe deduced that the columns of D are linearly independent; thatis, it only follows that – 2r ß. The validity of the equation – 2r = ß is essentialto the succeeding argument and, fortunately, may be establishedby alternative means. Using the nomenclature of the paper, wehave on F the set ₁^*, ..., _2r^*, ₁^*, ..., _ß^* of independent3-cycles (independent because they cut independent 1-cycleson the curve C), which may be completed, to form a basis forsuch cycles on F, by a further set ₁', ..., _2q–2r–pof independent 3-cycles, each of which meets C in a cycle homologousto zero on C. The cycles ₁^*, ..., ^* are invariant cycles andare independent on F so that, if > 2r + ß, thereis a non-trivial linear combination ^* of these having zero intersectionon C with each of the cycles ₁^*, ..., _2r^*, ₁^*, ..., _ß^*.Thus we have. (^* ._k^*)c = 0 = (^* ._i^*)c i.e. (^* ._k^*) = 0 = (^* ._i^* on F (1 k 2r; 1 i ß). Furthermore, (_j . C) 0 on C and we have (^* ._j .C)_C = 0 i.e. (^* ._j) = 0 on F (1 j 2q – 2r – ß). It now follows that ^* 0 on F (for it has zero intersectionwith every member of a basic set of 3-cycles on F). But thiscondradicts the assumption that ^* is a non-trivial linear combinationof the independent cycles ₁^*, ...,^*; and hence < 2r + ß.     

The A-Polynomial has Ones in the Corners

1. Definition of the A-polynomial The A-polynomial was introduced in [3] (see also [5]), and wepresent an alternative definition here. Let M be a compact 3-manifoldwith boundary a torus T. Pick a basis , µ of ₁T, whichwe shall refer to as the longitude and meridian. Consider thesubset R_U of the affine algebraic variety R = Hom (₁M, SL₂C)having the property that () and (µ) are upper triangular.This is an algebraic subset of R, since one just adds equationsstating that the bottom-left entries in certain matrices arezero. There is a well-defined eigenvalue map given by taking the top-left entries of () and (µ).1991 Mathematics Subject Classification 57M25, 57M50.     

Corrigendum: Elliptic Curves and Quadratic Recurrence Sequences

The statement of the numerical values and z₀ on page 167 of[1, Section 3] contained an error. The values that were actuallyused were (to nine decimal places): thesebeing shifted, by the periods 2₁ and 2₃ respectively, comparedwith the values given in [1] (with ₁ = 1.496729323 and ₃ = 1.225694691i).With ₀ = ₁ and (z) denoting the sigma function (z; g2, g3) withinvariants g2 = 4, g3 = –1 associated with the ellipticcurve given by equation (3.2), these values of and z₀ yield and the latter three values all agreewith those stated in the paper (apart from rounding down thelast digit in the imaginary part of A). 2000 Mathematics SubjectClassification 11B37 (primary), 33E05, 37J35 (secondary).     

Moduli of McKay quiver representations I: the coherent component

For a finite abelian group G GL (n, ), we describe the coherent component Y of the moduli space of-stable McKay quiver representations. This is a not-necessarily-normaltoric variety that admits a projective birational morphism obtained by variation of GeometricInvariant Theory quotient. As a special case, this gives a newconstruction of Nakamura's G-Hilbert scheme Hilb^G that avoidsthe (typically highly singular) Hilbert scheme of |G|-pointsin . To conclude, we describe the toric fan of Y and hence calculate the quiver representationcorresponding to any point of Y.     

Picard Groups of Irrational Rotation C*-Algebras

Let be an irrational number in [0, 1] and A the correspondingirrational rotation C*-algebra. Let Aut (A) be the group ofall automorphisms of A and Int (A) the normal subgroup of Aut(A) of all inner automorphisms of A. Let Pic (A) be the Picardgroup of A. In the present note we shall show that if is notquadratic, then Pic (A)Aut (A)/Int (A) and that if is quadratic,then Pic (A) is isomorphic to a semidirect product of Aut (A)/Int(A) with Z. Furthermore, in the last section we shall discussPicard groups of certain Cuntz algebras.     

Real Interpolation and Two Variants of Gehring's Lemma

Let be a fixed open cube in Rⁿ. For r[1, ) and [0, ) we define where Q is a cube in Rⁿ (with sides parallel to the coordinateaxes) and _Q stands for the characteristic function of the cubeQ. A well-known result of Gehring [5] states that if (1.1) for some p(1, ) and c(0, ), then there exist q(p, ) and C=C(p,q, n, c)(0, ) such that for all cubes Q, where |Q| denotes the n-dimensional Lebesguemeasure of Q. In particular, a function fL¹() satisfying (1.1)belongs to L^q(). In [9] it was shown that Gehring's result is a particular caseof a more general principle from the real method of interpolation.Roughly speaking, this principle states that if a certain reversedinequality between K-functionals holds at one point of an interpolationscale, then it holds at other nearby points of this scale. Usingan extension of Holmstedt's reiteration formulae of [4] andresults of [8] on weighted inequalities for monotone functions,we prove here two variants of this principle involving extrapolationspaces of an ordered pair of (quasi-) Banach spaces. As an applicationwe prove the following Gehring-type lemmas.     

The Finite Subsets of Z2 Having the Extension Property

The paper considers finite subsets Z^d which possess the extensionproperty, namely that every collection {c_k}_k– of complexnumbers which is positive definite with respect to is the restrictionof the Fourier coefficients of some positive measure on T^d.All finite subsets of Z² which possess the extension propertyare described.     

On hearing the shape of a bounded domain with Robin boundary conditions

The asymptotic expansions of the trace of the heat kernel (t)= [sum ]_j=1 exp(-t_j) for small positive t, where {_j} _j=1 arethe eigenvalues of the negative Laplacian -_n = -[sum ]ⁿ_k=1 (/x^k)²in Rⁿ (n = 2 or 3), are studied for a general multiply connectedbounded domain which is surrounded by simply connected boundeddomains _i with smooth boundaries _i (i = 1,...,m), where smoothfunctions Y_i (i = 1,...,m) are assuming the Robin boundary conditions(n_i + Y_i) = 0 on _i. Here /n_i denote differentiations along theinward-pointing normals to _i (i = 1,...,m). Some applicationsof an ideal gas enclosed in the multiply connected bounded containerwith Neumann or Robin boundary conditions are given.     

The Series of Norms in a Soluble p-Group

The norm of a group G is the subgroup of elements of G whichnormalise every subgroup of G. We shall denote it (G). An ascendingseries of subgroups _i(G) in G may be defined recursively by:₀(G) = 1 and, for i 0, _i+1(G)/_i(G) = (G/_i(G)). For each i,the section _i+1(G)/i(G) clearly contains the centre of the groupG/_i(G). A result of Schenkman [8] gives a very close connectionbetween this norm series and the upper central series: _i(G) _i(G) _2i(G). 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification 20E15.