On a family of differential operators with the coupling parameter in the boundary condition

We study a family of differential operators _Lα${\mathbf{L}}_{\alpha }$ in two variables, depending on the coupling parameter α?0$\alpha ?0$ that appears only in the boundary conditions. Our main concern is the spectral properties of _Lα${\mathbf{L}}_{\alpha }$, which turn out to be quite different for α<1$\alpha <1$ and for α>1$\alpha >1$. In particular, _Lα${\mathbf{L}}_{\alpha }$ has a unique self-adjoint realization for α<1$\alpha <1$ and many such realizations for α>1$\alpha >1$. In the more difficult case α>1$\alpha >1$ an analysis of non-elliptic pseudodifferential operators in dimension one is involved.     

On functional limits of short- and long-memory linear processes with GARCH(1,1) noises

This paper considers the short- and long-memory linear processes with GARCH (1,1) noises. The functional limit distributions of the partial sum and the sample autocovariances are derived when the tail index α$\alpha$ is in (0,2)$(0,2)$, equal to 2, and in (2,∞)$(2,\infty )$, respectively. The partial sum weakly converges to a functional of α$\alpha$-stable process when α<2$\alpha <2$ and converges to a functional of Brownian motion when α≥2$\alpha \ge 2$. When the process is of short-memory and α<4$\alpha <4$, the autocovariances converge to functionals of α/2$\alpha /2$-stable processes; and if α≥4$\alpha \ge 4$, they converge to functionals of Brownian motions. In contrast, when the process is of long-memory, depending on α$\alpha$ and β$\beta$ (the parameter that characterizes the long-memory), the autocovariances converge to either (i) functionals of α/2$\alpha /2$-stable processes; (ii) Rosenblatt processes (indexed by β$\beta$, 1/2<β<3/4$1/2<\beta <3/4$); or (iii) functionals of Brownian motions. The rates of convergence in these limits depend on both the tail index α$\alpha$ and whether or not the linear process is short- or long-memory. Our weak convergence is established on the space of càdlàg functions on [0,1]$[0,1]$ with either (i) the _J1$J_1$ or the _M1$M_1$ topology (Skorokhod, 1956); or (ii) the weaker form S$S$ topology (Jakubowski, 1997). Some statistical applications are also discussed.     

Parametric inference for discretely observed multidimensional diffusions with small diffusion coefficient

We consider a multidimensional diffusion X$X$ with drift coefficient b(α,_Xt)$b(\alpha ,X_t)$ and diffusion coefficient ?σ(β,_Xt)$?\sigma (\beta ,X_t)$. The diffusion sample path is discretely observed at times _tk=kΔ$t_k=k\Delta$ for k=1…n$k=1\dots n$ on a fixed interval [0,T]$[0,T]$. We study minimum contrast estimators derived from the Gaussian process approximating X$X$ for small ?$?$. We obtain consistent and asymptotically normal estimators of α$\alpha$ for fixed Δ$\Delta$ and ?→0$?\to 0$ and of (α,β)$(\alpha ,\beta )$ for Δ→0$\Delta \to 0$ and ?→0$?\to 0$ without any condition linking ?$?$ and Δ$\Delta$. We compare the estimators obtained with various methods and for various magnitudes of Δ$\Delta$ and ?$?$ based on simulation studies. Finally, we investigate the interest of using such methods in an epidemiological framework.     

Convergence of the modified Mann’s iteration method for asymptotically strict pseudo-contractions

Let C$C$ be a closed convex subset of a real Hilbert space H$H$ and assume that T$T$ is an asymptotically κ$\kappa$-strict pseudo-contraction on C$C$ with a fixed point, for some 0≤κ<1$0\le \kappa <1$. Given an initial guess _x0∈C$x_0\in C$ and given also a real sequence {_αn}$\left\{{\alpha }_n\right\}$ in (0, 1), the modified Mann’s algorithm generates a sequence {_xn}$\left\{x_n\right\}$ via the formula: _xn+1=_αnxn+(1−_αn)Tⁿ_xn$x_{n+1}={\alpha }_n{x}_n+(1-{\alpha }_n)T^n{x}_n$, n≥0$n\ge 0$. It is proved that if the control sequence {_αn}$\left\{{\alpha }_n\right\}$ is chosen so that κ+δ<_αn<1−δ$\kappa +\delta <{\alpha }_n<1-\delta$ for some δ∈(0,1)$\delta \in (0,1)$, then {_xn}$\left\{x_n\right\}$ converges weakly to a fixed point of T$T$. We also modify this iteration method by applying projections onto suitably constructed closed convex sets to get an algorithm which generates a strongly convergent sequence.     

Weak convergence of censored and reflected stable processes

It is shown that if a sequence of open n$n$-sets _Dk$D_k$ increases to an open n$n$-set D$D$ then reflected stable processes in _Dk$D_k$ converge weakly to the reflected stable process in D$D$ for every starting point x$x$ in D$D$. The same result holds for censored α$\alpha$-stable processes for every x$x$ in D$D$ if D$D$ and _Dk$D_k$ satisfy the uniform Hardy inequality. Using the method in the proof of the above results, we also prove the weak convergence of reflected Brownian motions in unbounded domains.     

A unified proof of Brooks’ theorem and Catlin’s theorem

Brooks’ theorem is a fundamental result in the theory of graph coloring. Catlin proved the following strengthening of Brooks’ theorem: Let d$d$ be an integer at least 3, and let G$G$ be a graph with maximum degree d$d$. If G$G$ does not contain _Kd+1$K_{d+1}$ as a subgraph, then G$G$ has a d$d$-coloring in which one color class has size α(G)$\alpha \left(G\right)$. Here α(G)$\alpha \left(G\right)$ denotes the independence number of G$G$. We give a unified proof of Brooks’ theorem and Catlin’s theorem.     

Logarithmic bump conditions and the two-weight boundedness of Calderón–Zygmund operators

We prove that if a pair of weights (u,v)$(u,v)$ satisfies a sharp _Ap$A_p$-bump condition in the scale of all log bumps or certain loglog bumps, then Haar shifts map L^p(v)$L^p(v)$ into L^p(u)$L^p(u)$ with a constant quadratic in the complexity of the shift. This in turn implies the two weight boundedness for all Calderón–Zygmund operators. This gives a partial answer to a long-standing conjecture. We also give a partial result for a related conjecture for weak-type inequalities. To prove our main results we combine several different approaches to these problems; in particular we use many of the ideas developed to prove the _A2$A_2$ conjecture. As a byproduct of our work we also disprove a conjecture by Muckenhoupt and Wheeden on weak-type inequalities for the Hilbert transform. This is closely related to the recent counterexamples of Reguera, Scurry and Thiele.     

Pull-back morphisms for reflexive differential forms

Let f:X→Y$f:X\to Y$ be a morphism between normal complex varieties, where Y$Y$ is Kawamata log terminal. Given any differential form σ$\sigma$, defined on the smooth locus of Y$Y$, we construct a “pull-back form” on X$X$. The pull-back map obtained by this construction is _?Y${?}_Y$-linear, uniquely determined by natural universal properties and exists even in cases where the image of f$f$ is entirely contained in the singular locus of Y$Y$.     

A note on distance-regular graphs with a small number of vertices compared to the valency

In this note we study distance-regular graphs with a small number of vertices compared to the valency. We show that for a given α>2$\alpha >2$, there are finitely many distance-regular graphs Γ$\Gamma$ with valency k$k$, diameter D≥3$D\ge 3$ and v$v$ vertices satisfying v≤αk$v\le \alpha k$ unless (D=3$D=3$ and Γ$\Gamma$ is imprimitive) or (D=4$D=4$ and Γ$\Gamma$ is antipodal and bipartite). We also show, as a consequence of this result, that there are finitely many distance-regular graphs with valency k≥3$k\ge 3$, diameter D≥3$D\ge 3$ and _c2≥εk$c_2\ge \epsilon k$ for a given 0<ε<1$0<\epsilon <1$ unless (D=3$D=3$ and Γ$\Gamma$ is imprimitive) or (D=4$D=4$ and Γ$\Gamma$ is antipodal and bipartite).     

Reflection principle and Ocone martingales

Let M=_(Mt)t≥0$M={\left(M_t\right)}_{t\ge 0}$ be any continuous real-valued stochastic process. We prove that if there exists a sequence _(an)n≥1${\left(a_n\right)}_{n\ge 1}$ of real numbers which converges to 0 and such that M$M$ satisfies the reflection property at all levels _an$a_n$ and 2_an$2a_n$ with n≥1$n\ge 1$, then M$M$ is an Ocone local martingale with respect to its natural filtration. We state the subsequent open question: is this result still true when the property only holds at levels _an$a_n$? We prove that this question is equivalent to the fact that for Brownian motion, the σ$\sigma$-field of the invariant events by all reflections at levels _an$a_n$, n≥1$n\ge 1$ is trivial. We establish similar results for skip free Z$\mathbb{Z}$-valued processes and use them for the proof in continuous time, via a discretization in space.     

Coalescence in the recent past in rapidly growing populations

In a rapidly growing population one expects that two individuals chosen at random from the n$n$th generation are unlikely to be closely related if n$n$ is large. In this paper it is shown that for a broad class of rapidly growing populations this is not the case. For a Galton–Watson branching process with an offspring distribution {_pj}$\left\{p_j\right\}$ such that _p0=0$p_0=0$ and ψ(x)=_{∑jpjI{j≥x}}$\psi \left(x\right)={\sum }_j{p}_j{I}_{\{j\ge x\}}$ is asymptotic to x^−αL(x)$x^{-\alpha }L\left(x\right)$ as x→∞$x\to \infty$ where L(⋅)$L(\cdot )$ is slowly varying at ∞$\infty$ and 0<α<1$0<\alpha <1$ (and hence the mean m=∑j_pj=∞$m=\sum j{p}_j=\infty$) it is shown that if _Xn$X_n$ is the generation number of the coalescence of the lines of descent backwards in time of two randomly chosen individuals from the n$n$th generation then n−_Xn$n-X_n$ converges in distribution to a proper distribution supported by N={1,2,3,…}$\mathbb{N}=\{1,2,3,\dots \}$. That is, in such a rapidly growing population coalescence occurs in the recent past rather than the remote past. We do show that if the offspring mean m$m$ satisfies 1<m≡∑j_pj<∞$1<m\equiv \sum j{p}_j<\infty$ and _p0=0$p_0=0$ then coalescence time _Xn$X_n$ does converge to a proper distribution as n→∞$n\to \infty$, i.e., coalescence does take place in the remote past.     

Estimation for stochastic differential equations with a small diffusion coefficient

We consider a multidimensional diffusion X$X$ with drift coefficient b(_Xt,α)$b(X_t,\alpha )$ and diffusion coefficient εa(_Xt,β)$\epsilon a(X_t,\beta )$ where α$\alpha$ and β$\beta$ are two unknown parameters, while ε$\epsilon$ is known. For a high frequency sample of observations of the diffusion at the time points k/n$k/n$, k=1,…,n$k=1,\dots ,n$, we propose a class of contrast functions and thus obtain estimators of (α,β)$(\alpha ,\beta )$. The estimators are shown to be consistent and asymptotically normal when n→∞$n\to \infty$ and ε→0$\epsilon \to 0$ in such a way that ε⁻¹n^−ρ${\epsilon }^{-1}{n}^{-\rho }$ remains bounded for some ρ>0$\rho >0$. The main focus is on the construction of explicit contrast functions, but it is noted that the theory covers quadratic martingale estimating functions as a special case. In a simulation study we consider the finite sample behaviour and the applicability to a financial model of an estimator obtained from a simple explicit contrast function.     

Hardy and uncertainty inequalities on stratified Lie groups

We prove various Hardy-type and uncertainty inequalities on a stratified Lie group G  . In particular, we show that the operators _Tα:f?|⋅|^−αL^−α/2f$T_{\alpha }:f?{|\cdot |}^{-\alpha }{L}^{-\alpha /2}f$, where |⋅|$|\cdot |$ is a homogeneous norm, 0<α<Q/p$0<\alpha <Q/p$, and L   is the sub-Laplacian, are bounded on the Lebesgue space L^p(G)$L^p(G)$. As consequences, we estimate the norms of these operators sufficiently precisely to be able to differentiate and prove a logarithmic uncertainty inequality. We also deduce a general version of the Heisenberg–Pauli–Weyl inequality, relating the L^p$L^p$ norm of a function f   to the L^q$L^q$ norm of |⋅|^βf${|\cdot |}^{\beta }f$ and the L^r$L^r$ norm of L^δ/2f$L^{\delta /2}f$.