Incomplete perfect mendelsohn designs with block size 4 and one hole of size 7

Let v,k, and n be positive integers. An incomplete perfect Mendelsohn design, denoted by k-IPMD(v,n), is a triple (X, Y, ??) where X is a v-set (of points), Y is an n-subset of X, and ?? is a collection of cyclically ordered k-subsets of X (called blocks) such that every ordered pair (a, b) ∈ (X × X)?(Y × Y) appears t-apart in exactly one block of ?? and no ordered pair (a,b) ∈ Y × Y appears in any block of ?? for any t, where 1 ≤ t ≤ k ? 1. In this article, we obtain conclusive results regarding the existence of 4-IPMD(v,7) where the necessary conditions are v = 2 or 3(mod 4) and v ≥ 22. We also provide an application to the problem relating to coverings of PMDs with block size 4. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Direct construction methods for incomplete perfect Mendelsohn designs with block size four

Let v, k, λ, and n be positive integers. An incomplete perfect Mendelsohn design, denoted by (v,n,k,λ)-IPMD, is a triple (X,Y,B) where X is a v-set (of points), Y is an n-subset of X, and B is a collection of cyclically ordered k-subsets of X (called blocks) such that every ordered pair (a,b) E (X × X)\(Y × Y) appears t-apart in exactly λ blocks of B and no ordered pair (a,b) E Y × Y appears in any block of B for any t, where 1 ≤ t ≤ k − 1. In this article, we introduce an effective and easy way to construct IPMDs for k = 4 and even v − n, and use it to construct some small examples for λ = 1 and 2. Obviously, these results will play an important role to completely solve the existence of (v,n,4,λ)-IPMDs. Furthermore, we also use this method to construct some small examples for HPMDs. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Self-converse Mendelsohn designs with block size 4t + 2

A Mendelsohn design MD(v, k, λ) is a pair (X, B) where X is a v-set together with a collection B of cyclic k-tuples from X such that each ordered pair from X, as adjacent entries, is contained in exactly λk-tuples of B. An MD(v, k, λ) is said to be self-converse, denoted by SCMD(v, k, λ) = (X, B, f), if there is an isomorphic mapping from (X, B) to (X, B⁻¹), where B⁻¹ = {B⁻¹ = 〈x_k, x_k−1, … x₂, x₁〉; B = 〈x₁, … ,x_k〉 ∈ B.}. The existence of SCMD(v, 3, λ) and SCMD(v, 4, 1) has been settled by us. In this article, we will investigate the existence of SCMD(v, 4t + 2, 1). In particular, when 2t + 1 is a prime power, the existence of SCMD(v, 4t + 2, 1) has been completely solved, which extends the existence results for MD(v, k, 1) as well. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J. Combin Designs 7: 283–310, 1999     

Some results on generalized exponents

A digraph G = (V, E) is primitive if, for some positive integer k, there is a u → v walk of length k for every pair u, v of vertices of V. The minimum such k is called the exponent of G, denoted exp(G). The exponent of a vertex u ∈ V, denoted exp(u), is the least integer k such that there is a u → v walk of length k for each v ∈ V. For a set X ⊆ V, exp(X) is the least integer k such that for each v ∈ V there is a X → v walk of length k, i.e., a u → v walk of length k for some u ∈ X. Let F(G, k) : = max{exp(X) : |X| = k} and F(n, k) : = max{F(G, k) : |V| = n}, where |X| and |V| denote the number of vertices in X and V, respectively. Recently, B. Liu and Q. Li proved F(n, k) = (n − k)(n − 1) + 1 for all 1 ≤ k ≤ n − 1. In this article, for each k, 1 ≤ k ≤ n − 1, we characterize the digraphs G such that F(G, k) = F(n, k), thereby answering a question of R. Brualdi and B. Liu. We also find some new upper bounds on the (ordinary) exponent of G in terms of the maximum outdegree of G, Δ⁺(G) = max{d⁺(u) : u ∈ V}, and thus obtain a new refinement of the Wielandt bound (n − 1)² + 1. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J. Graph Theory 28: 215–225, 1998     

Existence of a-fold Perfect （v, {5, 8}, 1）-Mendelsohn Designs

Let v be a positive integer and let K be a set of positive integers. A （v, K, 1）-Mendelsohn design, which we denote briefly by （v, K, 1）-MD, is a pair （X, B） where X is a v-set （of points） and B is a collection of cyclically ordered subsets of X （called blocks） with sizes in the set K such that every ordered pair of points of X are consecutive in exactly one block of B. If for all t =1, 2,..., r, every ordered pair of points of X are t-apart in exactly one block of B, then the （v, K, 1）-MD is called an r-fold perfect design and denoted briefly by an r-fold perfect （v, K, 1）-MD. If K = {k） and r = k - 1, then an r-fold perfect （v, （k）, 1）-MD is essentially the more familiar （v, k, 1）-perfect Mendelsohn design, which is briefly denoted by （v, k, 1）-PMD. In this paper, we investigate the existence of 4-fold perfect （v, （5, 8}, 1）-Mendelsohn designs.     

New upper bounds on the minimum size of covering designs

Let D = {B₁, B₂,…, B_b} be a finite family of k-subsets (called blocks ) of a v-set X(v) = {1, 2,…, v} (with elements called points ). Then D is a (v, k, t) covering design or covering if every t-subset of X(v) is contained in at least one block of D. The number of blocks, b, is the size of the covering, and the minimum size of the covering is called the covering number , denoted C(v, k, t). This article is concerned with new constructions of coverings. The constructions improve many upper bounds on the covering number C(v, k, t) © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Combin Designs 6:21–41, 1998     

Tychonoff products of compact spaces in ZF and closed ultrafilters

Let {(X_i, T_i): i ∈I } be a family of compact spaces and let X be their Tychonoff product. ??(X) denotes the family of all basic non‐trivial closed subsets of X and ??_R(X) denotes the family of all closed subsets H = V × ΠX_i of X, where V is a non‐trivial closed subset of ΠX_i and Q_H is a finite non‐empty subset of I. We show: (i) Every filterbase ?? ? ??_R(X) extends to a ??_R(X)‐ultrafilter ? if and only if every family H ? ??(X) with the finite intersection property (fip for abbreviation) extends to a maximal ??(X) family F with the fip. (ii) The proposition “if every filterbase ?? ? ??_R(X) extends to a ??_R(X)‐ultrafilter ?, then X is compact” is not provable in ZF. (iii) The statement “for every family {(X_i, T_i): i ∈ I } of compact spaces, every filterbase ?? ? ??_R(Y), Y = Π_{i ∈I}Y_i, extends to a ??_R(Y)‐ultrafilter ?” is equivalent to Tychonoff's compactness theorem. (iv) The statement “for every family {(X_i, T_i): i ∈ ω } of compact spaces, every countable filterbase ?? ? ??_R(X), X = Π_{i ∈ω}X_i, extends to a ??_R(X)‐ultrafilter ?” is equivalent to Tychonoff's compactness theorem restricted to countable families. (v) The countable Axiom of Choice is equivalent to the proposition “for every family {(X_i, T_i): i ∈ ω } of compact topological spaces, every countable family ?? ? ??(X) with the fip extends to a maximal ??(X) family ? with the fip” (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Self‐converse Mendelsohn designs with block size 4 and 5

A (v, k, λ)‐Mendelsohn design(X, ℬ︁) is called self‐converse if there is an isomorphic mapping ƒ from (X, ℬ︁) to (X, ℬ︁⁻¹), where ℬ︁⁻¹ = {B⁻¹ = 〈x_k, x_k−1,…,x₂, x₁〉: B = 〈x₁, x₂,…,x_k−1, x_k〉 ϵ ℬ︁}. In this paper, we give the existence spectrum for self‐converse (v, 4, 1)– and (v, 5, 1)– Mendelsohn designs. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Combin Designs 8: 411–418, 2000     

Perfect Mendelsohn designs with equal-sized holes and block size four

Let M = {m₁, m₂, …, m_h} and X be a v-set (of points). A holey perfect Mendelsohn designs (briefly (v, k, λ) - HPMD), is a triple (X, H, B), where H is a collection of subsets of X (called holes) with sizes M and which partition X, and B is a collection of cyclic k-tuples of X (called blocks) such that no block meets a hole in more than one point and every ordered pair of points not contained in a hole appears t-apart in exactly λ blocks, for 1 ≤ t ≤ k − 1. The vector (m₁, m₂, …, m_h) is called the type of the HPMD. If m₁ = m₂ = … = m_h = m, we write briefly m^h for the type. In this article, it is shown that the necessary condition for the existence of a (v, 4, λ) - HPMD of type m^h, namely, is also sufficient with the exception of types 2⁴ and 1⁸ with λ = 1, and type m⁴ for odd m with odd λ. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Combin Designs 5: 203–213, 1997     

3-(v, 4, 1) covering designs with chromatic numbers 2 and 3

A t-(v, k, λ) covering design is a pair (X, B) where X is a v-set and B is a collection of k-sets in X, called blocks, such that every t element subset of X is contained in at least λ blocks of B. The covering number, C_λ(t, k, v), is the minimum number of blocks a t-(v, k, λ) covering design may have. The chromatic number of (X, B) is the smallest m for which there exists a map φ: X → Z_m such that ∣φ((β)∣ ≥2 for all β ∈ B, where φ(β) = {φ(x): x ∈ β}. The system (X, B) is equitably m-chromatic if there is a proper coloring φ with minimal m for which the numbers ∣φ^?1(c)∣ c ∈ Z_m differ from each other by at most 1. In this article we show that minimum, (i.e., ∣B∣ = C λ (t, k, v)) equitably 3-chromatic 3-(v, 4, 1) covering designs exist for v ≡ 0 (mod 6), v ≥ 18 for v ≥ 1, 13 (mod 36), v ≡ 13 and for all numbers v = n, n + 1, where n ≡ 4, 8, 10 (mod 12), n ≥ 16; and n = 6.5^a 13^b 17^c ?4, a + b + c > 0, and n = 14, 62. We also show that minimum, equitably 2-chromatic 3-(v, 4, 1) covering designs exist for v ≡ 0, 5, 9 (mod 12), v ≥ 0, v = 2.5^a 13^b 17^c + 1, a + b + c > 0, and v = 23. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Existence of HPMDs with block size five

In this article, it is shown that the necessary condition for the existence of a holey perfect Mendelsohn design (HPMD) with block size 5 and type hⁿ, namely, n ≥ 5 and n(n - 1)hⁿ ≡ 0 (mod 5), is also sufficient, except possibly for a few cases. The results of this article guarantee the analogous existence results for group divisible designs (GDDs) of group-type hⁿ with block size k = 5 and having index λ = 4. Moreover, some more conclusive results for the existence of (v, 5, 1)-perfect Mendelsohn designs (PMDs) are also mentioned. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Combin Designs 5: 257–273, 1997     

Existential closure of block intersection graphs of infinite designs having finite block size and index

In this article we study the n‐existential closure property of the block intersection graphs of infinite t‐(v, k, λ) designs for which the block size k and the index λ are both finite. We show that such block intersection graphs are 2‐e.c. when 2?t?k ? 1. When λ = 1 and 2?t?k, then a necessary and sufficient condition on n for the block intersection graph to be n‐e.c. is that n?min{t, ?(k ? 1)/(t ? 1)? + 1}. If λ?2 then we show that the block intersection graph is not n‐e.c. for any n?min{t + 1, ?k/t? + 1}, and that for 3?n?min{t, ?k/t?} the block intersection graph is potentially but not necessarily n‐e.c. The cases t = 1 and t = k are also discussed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 19: 85–94, 2011     

On Osgood theorem in Banach spaces

Let X be a real Banach space, ω : [0, +∞) → ? be an increasing continuous function such that ω(0) = 0 and ω(t + s) ≤ ω(t) + ω(s) for all t, s ∈ [0, +∞). According to the infinite dimensional analog of the Osgood theorem if ∫¹₀ (ω(t))^?1 dt = ∞, then for any (t₀, x₀) ∈ ?×X and any continuous map f : ?×X → X such that ∥f(t, x) – f(t, y)∥ ≤ ω(∥x – y∥) for all t ∈ ?, x, y ∈ X, the Cauchy problem (t) = f(t, x(t)), x(t₀) = x₀ has a unique solution in a neighborhood of t₀. We prove that if X has a complemented subspace with an unconditional Schauder basis and ∫¹₀ (ω(t))^?1 dt < ∞ then there exists a continuous map f : ? × X → X such that ∥f(t, x) – f(t, y)∥ ≤ ω(∥x – y∥) for all (t, x, y) ∈ ? × X × X and the Cauchy problem (t) = f(t, x(t)), x(t₀) = x₀ has no solutions in any interval of the real line.     

Constructions of optimal packing designs

Let v and k be positive integers. A (v, k, 1)-packing design is an ordered pair (V, B) where V is a v-set and B is a collection of k-subsets of V (called blocks) such that every 2-subset of V occurs in at most one block of B. The packing problem is mainly to determine the packing number P(k, v), that is, the maximum number of blocks in such a packing design. It is well known that P(k, v) ≤ ⌊v⌊(v − 1)/(k − 1)⌋/k⌋ = J(k, v) where ⌊×⌋ denotes the greatest integer y such that y ≤ x. A (v, k, 1)-packing design having J(k, v) blocks is said to be optimal. In this article, we develop some general constructions to obtain optimal packing designs. As an application, we show that P(5, v) = J(5, v) if v ≡ 7, 11 or 15 (mod 20), with the exception of v ∈ {11, 15} and the possible exception of v ∈ {27, 47, 51, 67, 87, 135, 187, 231, 251, 291}. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Combin Designs 6: 245–260, 1998     

On the transition from a Markov chain to a continuous time process

Starting from a real-valued Markov chain X₀,X₁,…,X_n with stationary transition probabilities, a random element {Y(t);t[0, 1]} of the function space D[0, 1] is constructed by letting Y(k/n)=X_k, k= 0,1,…,n, and assuming Y (t) constant in between. Sample tightness criteria for sequences {Y(t);t[0,1]};_n of such random elements in D[0, 1] are then given in terms of the one-step transition probabilities of the underlying Markov chains. Applications are made to Galton-Watson branching processes.     

Upper bounds on the general covering number Cλ(v,k, t,m)

A collection of k‐subsets (called blocks) of a v‐set X (v) = {1, 2,…, v} (with elements called points) is called a t‐(v, k, m, λ) covering if for every m‐subset M of X (v) there is a subcollection of with such that every block K ∈ has at least t points in common with M. It is required that v ≥ k ≥ t and v ≥ m ≥ t. The minimum number of blocks in a t‐(v, k, m, λ) covering is denoted by C_λ(v, k, t, m). We present some constructions producing the best known upper bounds on C_λ(v, k, t, m) for k = 6, a parameter of interest to lottery players. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A Nim-like Game and Dynamic Recurrence Relations

The nim-like game 〈n, f; X, Y〉 is defined by an integer n ≥ 2 a constraint function f, and two players and X and Y. Players X and Y alternate taking coins from a pile of n coins, with X taking the first turn. The winner is the one who takes the last coin. On the kth turn, a player may remove t_k coins, where 1 ≤ t₁ ≤ n ? 1 and 1 ≤ t_k ≤ max{1, f(t_k?1) for k > 1. Let the set S_f = {1} ∪ {n| there is a winning strategy for Y in the nim-like game 〈n, f; X, Y〉}. In this paper, an algorithm is provided to construct the set S_f = {a₁, a₂,…} in an increasing sequence when the function f(x) is monotonic. We show that if the function f(x) is linear, then there exist integers n₀ and m such that a_n+1 = a_n + a_n?m for n > n₀ and we give upper and lower bounds for m (dependent on f. A duality is established between the asymptotic order of the sequence of elements in S_f and the degree of the function f(x). A necessary and sufficient condition for the sequence {a₀, a₁, a₂,…} of elements in S_f to satisfy a regular recurrence relation is described as well.     

Resolvable Mendelsohn designs with block size 4

Summary Letv andK be positive integers. A (v, k, 1)-Mendelsohn design (briefly (v, k, 1)-MD) is a pair (X,B) whereX is av-set (ofpoints) andB is a collection of cyclically orderedk-subsets ofX (calledblocks) such that every ordered pair of points ofX are consecutive in exactly one block ofB. A necessary condition for the existence of a (v, k, 1)-MD isv(v–1) 0 (modk). If the blocks of a (v, k, 1)-MD can be partitioned into parallel classes each containingv/k blocks wherev ) (modk) or (v – 1)/k blocks wherev 1 (modk), then the design is calledresolvable and denoted briefly by (v, k, 1)-RMD. It is known that a (v, 3,1)-RMD exists if and only ifv 0 or 1 (mod 3) andv 6. In this paper, it is shown that the necessary condition for the existence of a (v, 4, 1)-RMD, namelyv 0 or 1 (mod 4), is also sufficient, except forv = 4 and possibly exceptingv = 12. These constructions are equivalent to a resolvable decomposition of the complete symmetric directed graphK _v ^* onv vertices into 4-circuits.Research supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada under Grant A-5320.     

Covering arrays of strength 3 and 4 from holey difference matrices

A covering array CA(N; t, k, v) is an N × k array with entries from a set X of v symbols such that every N × t sub-array contains all t-tuples over X at least once, where t is the strength of the array. The minimum size N for which a CA(N; t, k, v) exists is called the covering array number and denoted by CAN(t, k, v). Covering arrays are used in experiments to screen for interactions among t-subsets of k components. One of the main problems on covering arrays is to construct a CA(N; t, k, v) for given parameters (t, k, v) so that N is as small as possible. In this paper, we present some constructions of covering arrays of strengths 3 and 4 via holey difference matrices with prescribed properties. As a consequence, some of known bounds on covering array number are improved. In particular, it is proved that (1) CAN(3, 5, 2v) ≤ 2v ²(4v + 1) for any odd positive integer v with gcd(v, 9) ≠ 3; (2) CAN(3, 6, 6p) ≤ 216p ³ + 42p ² for any prime p > 5; and (3) CAN(4, 6, 2p) ≤ 16p ⁴ + 5p ³ for any prime p ≡ 1 (mod 4) greater than 5.     

Viability for nonlinear multi-valued reaction–diffusion systems

In this paper we consider a nonlinear evolution reaction–diffusion system governed by multi-valued perturbations of m-dissipative operators, generators of nonlinear semigroups of contractions. Let X and Y be real Banach spaces, ${\mathcal{K}}In this paper we consider a nonlinear evolution reaction–diffusion system governed by multi-valued perturbations of m-dissipative operators, generators of nonlinear semigroups of contractions. Let X and Y be real Banach spaces, K{\mathcal{K}} be a nonempty and locally closed subset in \mathbbR ×X×Y, A:D(A) í X\rightsquigarrow X, B:D(B) í Y\rightsquigarrow Y{\mathbb{R} \times X\times Y,\, A:D(A)\subseteq X\rightsquigarrow X, B:D(B)\subseteq Y\rightsquigarrow Y} two m-dissipative operators, F:K ? X{F:\mathcal{K} \rightarrow X} a continuous function and G:K \rightsquigarrow Y{G:\mathcal{K} \rightsquigarrow Y} a nonempty, convex and closed valued, strongly-weakly upper semi-continuous (u.s.c.) multi-function. We prove a necessary and a sufficient condition in order that for each (t,x,h) ? K{(\tau,\xi,\eta)\in \mathcal{K}}, the next system

{ lc u￠(t) ? Au(t)+F(t,u(t),v(t))    t 3 tv￠(t) ? Bv(t)+G(t,u(t),v(t))    t 3 tu(t)=x,    v(t)=h, \left\{ \begin{array}{lc} u'(t)\in Au(t)+F(t,u(t),v(t))\quad t\geq\tau \\ v'(t)\in Bv(t)+G(t,u(t),v(t))\quad t\geq\tau \\ u(\tau)=\xi,\quad v(\tau)=\eta, \end{array} \right.