An Ekeland’s variational principle for set-valued mappings with applications

In this paper, we obtain a general Ekeland’s variational principle for set-valued mappings in complete metric space, which is different from those in [G.Y. Chen, X.X. Huang, Ekeland’s ε-variational principle for set-valued mapping, Mathematical Methods of Operations Research 48 (1998) 181–186; G.Y. Chen, X.X. Huang, S.H. Hou, General Ekeland’s Variational Principle for Set-Valued Mappings, Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications 106 (2000) 151–164; S.J. Li, W.Y. Zhang, On Ekeland’s variational Principle for set-valued mappings, Acta Mathematicae Application Sinica, English Series 23 (2007) 141–148]. By the result, we prove some existence results for a general vector equilibrium problem under nonconvex and compact or noncompact assumptions of its domain, respectively. Moreover, we give some equivalent results to the variational principle.     

Constrained versions of Sauer’s lemma

Let [n]={1,…,n}. For a function h:[n]→{0,1}, x[n] and y{0,1} define by the width ω_h(x,y) of h at x the largest nonnegative integer a such that h(z)=y on x−a≤z≤x+a. We consider finite VC-dimension classes of functions h constrained to have a width ω_h(x_i,y_i) which is larger than N for all points in a sample or a width no larger than N over the whole domain [n]. Extending Sauer’s lemma, a tight upper bound with closed-form estimates is obtained on the cardinality of several such classes.     

A note on kernels and Sperner’s Lemma

The kernel-solvability of perfect graphs was first proved by Boros and Gurvich, and later Aharoni and Holzman gave a shorter proof. Both proofs were based on Scarf’s Lemma. In this note we show that a very simple proof can be given using a polyhedral version of Sperner’s Lemma. In addition, we extend the Boros–Gurvich theorem to h-perfect graphs and to a more general setting.     

Statistical calibration: A simplification of Foster’s proof

Foster (1999) has given a proof of the Calibration Theorem of Foster and Vohra (1998), using the Approachability Theorem proposed by Blackwell (1956). This note presents a simplified version of Foster’s argument, invoking the specialization given by Greenwald et al. (2006) of Blackwell’s Theorem.     

Taylor’s expansion for functions in Asplund spaces

The purpose of this paper is to present a version of second-order Taylor’s expansion for C^1,1 functions in Asplund spaces. An application is also given.     

Some variant of Newton’s method with third-order convergence

We present a new modification of the Newton’s method which produces iterative methods with order of convergence three. A general error analysis providing the higher order of convergence is given, and the best efficiency, in term of function evaluations, of two of this new methods is provided.     

A note on the fractional-order Volta’s system

This paper deals with the fractional-order Volta’s system. It is based on the concept of chaotic system, where the mathematical model of system contains fractional order derivatives. This system has simple structure and can display a double-scroll attractor. The behavior and stability analysis of the integer-order and the fractional commensurate and non-commensurate order Volta’s system with total order less than 3 which exhibits chaos are presented as well.     

A note on travelling-wave solutions to Lax’s seventh-order KdV equation

Ganji and Abdollahzadeh [D.D. Ganji, M. Abdollahzadeh, Appl. Math. Comput. 206 (2008) 438–444] derived three supposedly new travelling-wave solutions to Lax’s seventh-order KdV equation. Each solution was obtained by a different method. It is shown that any two of the solutions may be obtained trivially from the remaining solution. Furthermore it is noted that one of the solutions has been known for many years.     

Optimal management of the machine repair problem with working vacation: Newton’s method

This paper studies the M/M/1 machine repair problem with working vacation in which the server works with different repair rates rather than completely terminating the repair during a vacation period. We assume that the server begins the working vacation when the system is empty. The failure times, repair times, and vacation times are all assumed to be exponentially distributed. We use the MAPLE software to compute steady-state probabilities and several system performance measures. A cost model is derived to determine the optimal values of the number of operating machines and two different repair rates simultaneously, and maintain the system availability at a certain level. We use the direct search method and Newton’s method for unconstrained optimization to repeatedly find the global minimum value until the system availability constraint is satisfied. Some numerical examples are provided to illustrate Newton’s method.     

Some second-derivative-free variants of Halley’s method for multiple roots

In this paper, we present two new families of third-order methods for finding multiple roots of nonlinear equations. Each of them is based on a variant of the Halley’s method (for simple roots) free from second derivative. One of the families requires one evaluation of the function and two of its first derivative per iteration, and the other family requires two evaluations of the function and one of its first derivative. Several numerical examples are given to illustrate the performance of the presented methods.     

Students’ and Teachers’ Conceptual Metaphors for Mathematical Problem Solving

Metaphors are regularly used by mathematics teachers to relate difficult or complex concepts in classrooms. A complex topic of concern in mathematics education, and most STEM‐based education classes, is problem solving. This study identified how students and teachers contextualize mathematical problem solving through their choice of metaphors. Twenty‐two high‐school student and six teacher interviews demonstrated a rich foundation for these shared experiences by identifying the conceptual metaphors. This mixed‐methods approach qualitatively identified conceptual metaphors via interpretive phenomenology and then quantitatively analyzed the frequency and popularity of the metaphors to explore whether a coherent metaphorical system exists with teachers and students. This study identified the existence of a set of metaphors that describe how multiple classrooms of geometry students and teachers make sense of mathematical problem solving. Moreover, this study determined that the most popular metaphors for problem solving were shared by both students and teachers. The existence of a coherent set of metaphors for problem solving creates a discursive space for teachers to converse with students about problem solving concretely. Moreover, the methodology provides a means to address other complex concepts in STEM education fields that revolve around experiential understanding.     

Values on regular games under Kirchhoff’s laws

The Shapley value is a central notion defining a rational way to share the total worth of a cooperative game among players. We address a general framework leading to applications to games with communication graphs, where the feasible coalitions form a poset whose all maximal chains have the same length. Considering a new way to define the symmetry among players, we propose an axiomatization of the Shapley value of these games. Borrowing ideas from electric networks theory, we show that our symmetry axiom and the efficiency axiom correspond to the two Kirchhoff’s laws in the circuit associated to the Hasse diagram of feasible coalitions.     

Stability of Mann’s iterates under metric regularity

We consider a Mann-like iteration for solving the inclusion xT(x) where is a set-valued mapping, defined from a Banach space X into itself, which is metrically regular near a point in its graph. We study the behavior of the iterates generated by our method and prove that they inherit the regularity properties of the mapping T. First we consider the case when the mapping T is metrically regular, then the case when it is strongly metrically regular. Finally, we present an inexact version of our method and we study its convergence when the mapping T is strongly metrically subregular.     

A meshless approach for solution of Burgers’ equation

A new meshless method called gradient reproducing kernel particle method (GRKPM) is proposed for numerical solutions of one-dimensional Burgers’ equation with various values of viscosity and different initial and boundary conditions. Discretization is first done in the space via GRKPM, and subsequently, the reduced system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations is discretized in time by the Gear's method. Comparison with the exact solutions, which are only available for restricted initial conditions and values of viscosity, approves the efficacy of the proposed method. For challenging cases involving small viscosities, comparison with the results obtained using other numerical schemes in the literature further attests the desirable features of the presented methodology.     

Best possible global bounds for Jensen’s inequality

In this article we found the form of best possible global upper bound for Jensen’s inequality. Thereby, previous results on this topic are essentially improved. We also give some applications in Analysis and Information Theory.     

A simplification of Laplace’s method: Applications to the Gamma function and Gauss hypergeometric function

The main difficulties in the Laplace’s method of asymptotic expansions of integrals are originated by a change of variables. We propose a variant of the method which avoids that change of variables and simplifies the computations. On the one hand, the calculation of the coefficients of the asymptotic expansion is remarkably simpler. On the other hand, the asymptotic sequence is as simple as in the standard Laplace’s method: inverse powers of the asymptotic variable. New asymptotic expansions of the Gamma function Γ(z) for large z and the Gauss hypergeometric function ₂F₁(a,b,c;z) for large b and c are given as illustrations. An explicit formula for the coefficients of the classical Stirling expansion of Γ(z) is also given.     

On the equivalence of the Mizoguchi–Takahashi fixed point theorem to Nadler’s theorem

In this work, we prove that on a metrically convex complete metric space, the Mizoguchi–Takahashi theorem is equivalent to Nadler’s theorem. Also, we obtain its equivalence on a compact metric space.     

On Fraïssé’s conjecture for linear orders of finite Hausdorff rank

We prove that the maximal order type of the wqo of linear orders of finite Hausdorff rank under embeddability is φ₂(0), the first fixed point of the ε-function. We then show that Fraïssé’s conjecture restricted to linear orders of finite Hausdorff rank is provable in  +“φ₂(0) is well-ordered” and, over , implies  +“φ₂(0) is well-ordered”.     

Certain improvements of Newton’s method with fourth-order convergence

In this paper we present two new schemes, one is third-order and the other is fourth-order. These are improvements of second-order methods for solving nonlinear equations and are based on the method of undetermined coefficients. We show that the fourth-order method is more efficient than the fifth-order method due to Kou et al. [J. Kou, Y. Li, X. Wang, Some modifications of Newton’s method with fifth-order covergence, J. Comput. Appl. Math., 209 (2007) 146–152]. Numerical examples are given to support that the methods thus obtained can compete with other iterative methods.     

Ultrametrics, Banach’s fixed point theorem and the Riordan group

We interpret the reciprocation process in as a fixed point problem related to contractive functions for certain adequate ultrametric spaces. This allows us to give a dynamical interpretation of certain arithmetical triangles introduced herein. Later we recognize, as a special case of our construction, the so-called Riordan group which is a device used in combinatorics. In this manner we give a new and alternative way to construct the proper Riordan arrays. Our point of view allows us to give a natural metric on the Riordan group turning this group into a topological group. This construction allows us to recognize a countable descending chain of normal subgroups.