The gonality of smooth curves with plane models

LetC be the normalization of an integral plane curve of degreed with δ ordinary nodes or cusps as its singularities. If δ=0, then Namba proved that there is no linear seriesg _d ^−2/1 and that everyg _d ^−1/1 is cut out by a pencil of lines passing through a point onC. The main purpose of this paper is to generalize his result to the case δ>0. A typical one is as follows: Ifd≥2(k+1), and δ<kd−(k+1)²+3 for somek>0, thenC has no linear seriesg _d ^−3/1 . We also show that ifd≥2k+3 and δ<kd−(k+1)²+2, then each linear seriesg _d ^−2/1 onC is cut out by a pencil of lines. We have similar results forg _d ^−1/1 andg _2d ^−9/1 . Furthermore, we also show that all of our theorems are sharp.     

On the degree growth of birational mappings in higher dimension

Let ƒ be a birational map of C ^d ,and consider the degree complexity or asymptotic degree growth rate δ(ƒ) = lim_n → ∞ (deg(ƒⁿ))^1/n.We introduce a family of elementary maps, which have the form ƒ = L o J, where L is (invertible) linear, and J(x ₁ ⁻¹ ,..., x_d) = (x ₁ ⁻¹ ,...,x _d ⁻¹ .We develop a method of regularization and show how it can be used to compute δ for an elementary map.     

A Higman inequality for regular near polygons

The inequality of Higman for generalized quadrangles of order (s,t) with s>1 states that t≤s ². We generalize this by proving that the intersection number c _i of a regular near 2d-gon of order (s,t) with s>1 satisfies the tight bound c _i ≤(s ²ⁱ −1)/(s ²−1), and we give properties in case of equality. It is known that hemisystems in generalized quadrangles meeting the Higman bound induce strongly regular subgraphs. We also generalize this by proving that a similar subset in regular near 2d-gons meeting the bounds would induce a distance-regular graph with classical parameters (d,b,α,β)=(d,−q,−(q+1)/2,−((−q) ^d +1)/2) with q an odd prime power.     

Worst-case minimum rectilinear steiner trees in all dimensions

It is proved that the length of the longest possible minimum rectilinear Steiner tree ofn points in the unitd-cube is asymptotic toβ _dn^(d−1)/d , whereβ _d is a constant that depends on the dimensiond≥2. A method of Chung and Graham (1981) is generalized to dimensiond to show that 1≤β _d≤d4^(1−d)/d . In addition to replicating Chung and Graham's exact determination ofβ ₂=1, this generalization yields new bounds such as 1≤β ₃<1.191 and .     

Sharp Upper Bounds on the Minimum Number of Components of 2-factors in Claw-free Graphs

Let G be a claw-free graph with order n and minimum degree δ. We improve results of Faudree et al. and Gould & Jacobson, and solve two open problems by proving the following two results. If δ = 4, then G has a 2-factor with at most (5n − 14)/18 components, unless G belongs to a finite class of exceptional graphs. If δ ≥ 5, then G has a 2-factor with at most (n − 3)/(δ − 1) components, unless G is a complete graph. These bounds are best possible in the sense that we cannot replace 5/18 by a smaller quotient and we cannot replace δ − 1 by δ, respectively.     

On the number of Galois points for a plane curve in positive characteristic,III

We consider the following problem: For a smooth plane curve C of degree d ≥ 4 in characteristic p > 0, determine the number δ(C) of inner Galois points with respect to C. This problem seems to be open in the case where d ≡ 1 mod p and C is not a Fermat curve F(p ^e  + 1) of degree p ^e  + 1. When p ≠ 2, we completely determine δ(C). If p = 2 (and C is in the open case), then we prove that δ(C) = 0, 1 or d and δ(C) = d only if d−1 is a power of 2, and give an example with δ(C) = d when d = 5. As an application, we characterize a smooth plane curve having both inner and outer Galois points. On the other hand, for Klein quartic curve with suitable coordinates in characteristic two, we prove that the set of outer Galois points coincides with the one of \mathbbF₂{\mathbb{F}_{2}} -rational points in \mathbbP²{\mathbb{P}^{2}}.     

On Small Deviations of Series of Weighted Random Variables

Let ξ,ξ ₁,ξ ₂,… be positive i.i.d. random variables, S=∑ _j=1^∞ a(j)ξ _j , where the coefficients a(j)≥0 are such that P(S<∞)=1. We obtain an explicit form of the asymptotics of −ln P(S<x) as x→0 for the following three cases:

About the Fourier transforms of non-smooth measures on hyperspheres

If d_μ is the Fourier transform of a smooth measure d_μ on the hypersphere Sⁿ⁻¹ (n≥2) then there exists a constant C dependent only on n such that ⋎d_μ(y)⋎≤C(1+⋎y⋎)^−(n−1)/2 for all y∈Rⁿ. In this paper, we show that the above statement is false for non-smooth measures. And we present the corresponding estimations for the Fourier transforms of certain non-smooth measures on Sⁿ⁻¹. This research is supported by a grant of NSF of P. R. China.     

On a problem of klee concerning convex polytopes

A non-simpliciald-polytope is shown to have strictly fewerk-faces ([(d−1)/2]≦k≦d−1) then some simpliciald-polytope with the same number of vertices; actual numerical bounds are given. This provides a strong affirmative answer to a problem of Klee.     

Improving on the minimum risk equivariant estimator of a location parameter which is constrained to an interval or a half-interval

For location families with densitiesf ₀(x−θ), we study the problem of estimating θ for location invariant lossL(θ,d)=ρ(d−θ), and under a lower-bound constraint of the form θ≥a. We show, that for quite general (f ₀, ρ), the Bayes estimator δ _U with respect to a uniform prior on (a, ∞) is a minimax estimator which dominates the benchmark minimum risk equivariant (MRE) estimator. In extending some previous dominance results due to Katz and Farrell, we make use of Kubokawa'sIERD (Integral Expression of Risk Difference) method, and actually obtain classes of dominating estimators which include, and are characterized in terms of δ _U . Implications are also given and, finally, the above dominance phenomenon is studied and extended to an interval constraint of the form θ∈[a, b]. Research supported by NSERC of Canada.     

Bounded pseudo-differential operators

This lecture gives an inside look into the proof of the continuity of pseudo-differential operators of orderm and typep, δ₁, δ₂ for 0≦p≦δ₁=1, 0≦p≦δ₂<1, andm/n≦p≦(δ₁+δ₂)/2. Applications are mentioned.     

On the Cantor-Bendixson derivative, resolvable ranks, and perfect set theorems of A. H. Stone

A Borel derivative on the hyperspace 2 ^X of a compactumX is a Borel monotone mapD: 2 ^X →2 ^X . The derivative determines a Cantor-Bendixson type rank δ:2^X → ω₁ ∪ {∞} . We show that ifA⊂2 ^X is analytic andZ⊂A intersects stationary many layers δ₋₁({ξ}), then for almost all σ,F∩δ₋₁({ξ}) cannot be separated fromZ ∩∪ _a<ξ ^δ−1({a}) (and also fromZ ∩∪ _a>ξ ^δ−1({a}) by anyF _σ-set. Another main result involves a natural partial order on 2 ^X related to the derivative. The results are obtained in a general framework of “resolvable ranks” introduced in the paper. During our work on this paper the second author was a Visiting Professor at the Miami University, Ohio. This author would like to express his gratitude to the Department of Mathematics and Statistics for the hospitality.     

Reciprocal polynomials with all zeros on the unit circle

Let f(x)=a _d x ^d +a _d−1 x ^d−1+⋅⋅⋅+a ₀∈ℝ[x] be a reciprocal polynomial of degree d. We prove that if the coefficient vector (a _d ,a _d−1,…,a ₀) or (a _d−1,a _d−2,…,a ₁) is close enough, in the l ¹-distance, to the constant vector (b,b,…,b)∈ℝ ^d+1 or ℝ ^d−1, then all of its zeros have moduli 1.     

Logarithmic derivatives of theta functions

We provide two new proofs of the identity {fx253-1} where °(n)=d ₁(n)−d ₂(n) andd _i (n) is the number of divisors ofn congruent toi mod 3. Furthermore, we express the number of solutions of the Diophantine equationx ²+3y ²=N in terms of δ(N).     

On doubling properties for non-negative weak solutions of elliptic and parabolic PDE

In this paper we study quantitative properties of non-negative (super) solutions for elliptic and parabolic partial differential equations of second order with strongly singular coefficients, in which we cannot expect Harnack's inequality in general. We show the doubling property ofu ^δ with some small exponent 1>δ>0 for non-negative weak supersolutionsu. Furthermore, we show the doubling property ofu ^q with large exponent 2(n+2)/n≥q>0 for non-negative weak solutionsu of parabolic equations.     

Fast Dimension Reduction Using Rademacher Series on Dual BCH Codes

The Fast Johnson–Lindenstrauss Transform (FJLT) was recently discovered by Ailon and Chazelle as a novel technique for performing fast dimension reduction with small distortion from ℓ ₂ ^d to ℓ ₂ ^k in time O(max {dlog d,k ³}). For k in [Ω(log d),O(d ^1/2)], this beats time O(dk) achieved by naive multiplication by random dense matrices, an approach followed by several authors as a variant of the seminal result by Johnson and Lindenstrauss (JL) from the mid 1980s. In this work we show how to significantly improve the running time to O(dlog k) for k=O(d ^1/2−δ ), for any arbitrary small fixed δ. This beats the better of FJLT and JL. Our analysis uses a powerful measure concentration bound due to Talagrand applied to Rademacher series in Banach spaces (sums of vectors in Banach spaces with random signs). The set of vectors used is a real embedding of dual BCH code vectors over GF(2). We also discuss the number of random bits used and reduction to ℓ ₁ space. The connection between geometry and discrete coding theory discussed here is interesting in its own right and may be useful in other algorithmic applications as well.     

Range of Brownian Motion with Drift

Let (B _δ (t)) _{t ≥ 0} be a Brownian motion starting at 0 with drift δ > 0. Define by induction S ₁=− inf _{t ≥ 0} B _δ (t), ρ₁ the last time such that B _δ (ρ₁)=−S ₁, S ₂=sup_{0≤ t ≤ρ 1} B _δ (t), ρ₂ the last time such that B _δ (ρ₂)=S ₂ and so on. Setting A _k =S _k +S _k+1; k ≥ 1, we compute the law of (A ₁,...,A _k ) and the distribution of (B _δ (t+ρ l) − B _δ (ρ _l ); 0 ≤ t ≤ ρ _l-1 − ρ _l )_{2 ≤ l ≤ k} for any k ≥ 2, conditionally on (A ₁,...,A _k ). We determine the law of the range R _δ (t) of (B _δ (s)) _{s≥ 0} at time t, and the first range time θ_δ (a) (i.e. θ_δ (a)=inf{t > 0; R _δ (t) > a}). We also investigate the asymptotic behaviour of θ _δ (a) (resp. R _δ (t)) as a → ∞ (resp. t → ∞).     

Generalized Tractability for Multivariate Problems Part II: Linear Tensor Product Problems, Linear Information, and Unrestricted Tractability

We continue the study of generalized tractability initiated in our previous paper “Generalized tractability for multivariate problems, Part I: Linear tensor product problems and linear information”, J. Complex. 23:262–295, 2007. We study linear tensor product problems for which we can compute linear information which is given by arbitrary continuous linear functionals. We want to approximate an operator S _d given as the d-fold tensor product of a compact linear operator S ₁ for d=1,2,…, with ‖S ₁‖=1 and S ₁ having at least two positive singular values. Let n(ε,S _d ) be the minimal number of information evaluations needed to approximate S _d to within ε∈[0,1]. We study generalized tractability by verifying when n(ε,S _d ) can be bounded by a multiple of a power of T(ε ⁻¹,d) for all (ε ⁻¹,d)∈Ω⊆[1,∞)×ℕ. Here, T is a tractability function which is non-decreasing in both variables and grows slower than exponentially to infinity. We study the exponent of tractability which is the smallest power of T(ε ⁻¹,d) whose multiple bounds n(ε,S _d ). We also study weak tractability, i.e., when . In our previous paper, we studied generalized tractability for proper subsets Ω of [1,∞)×ℕ, whereas in this paper we take the unrestricted domain Ω ^unr=[1,∞)×ℕ. We consider the three cases for which we have only finitely many positive singular values of S ₁, or they decay exponentially or polynomially fast. Weak tractability holds for these three cases, and for all linear tensor product problems for which the singular values of S ₁ decay slightly faster than logarithmically. We provide necessary and sufficient conditions on the function T such that generalized tractability holds. These conditions are obtained in terms of the singular values of S ₁ and mostly asymptotic properties of T. The tractability conditions tell us how fast T must go to infinity. It is known that T must go to infinity faster than polynomially. We show that generalized tractability is obtained for T(x,y)=x ^1+ln y . We also study tractability functions T of product form, T(x,y)=f ₁(x)f ₂(x). Assume that a _i =lim inf  _x→∞(ln ln f _i (x))/(ln ln x) is finite for i=1,2. Then generalized tractability takes place iff

Geometric construction of association schemes from non-degenerate quadrics

LetF _q be a finite field withq elements, whereq is a power of an odd prime. In this paper, we assume that δ=0,1 or 2 and consider a projective spacePG(2ν+δ,F _q ), partitioned into an affine spaceAG(2ν+δ,F _q ) of dimension 2ν+δ and a hyperplaneℋ=PG(2ν+δ−1,F _q ) of dimension 2ν+δ−1 at infinity. The points of the hyperplaneℋ are next partitioned into three subsets. A pair of pointsa andb of the affine space is defined to belong to classi if the line meets the subseti of ℋ. Finally, we derive a family of three-class association schemes, and compute their parameters. This project is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 19571024).     

Entire solutions of differential equations with finite order transcendental entire coefficients

In this paper, we investigate the complex oscillation of the differential equation