On the convex hull of the multiform numerical range

Let A ₁,…,A_m be nxn hermitian matrices. Definine

W(A ₁,…,A_m )={(xA₁x ^?,…xA_mx ^?):x?C ⁿ ,xx ^?=1}. We will show that every point in the convex hull of W(A ₁,…,A_m ) can be represented as a convex combination of not more than k(m,n) points in W(A ₁,…,A_m ) where k(m,n)=min{n,[√m]+δ _n ² _m+1}.     

The constrained bilinear form and the C-numerical range

Let V be an n-dimentional unitary space with inner product (·,·) and S the set {x∈V:(x, x)=1}. For any A∈Hom(V, V) and $\text{q∈}\text{C}$ with ∣q∣?1, we define

$\text{W(A:q)={(Ax, y):x, y∈S, (x, y)=q}}$

. If q=1, then W(A:q) is just the classical numerical range {(Ax, x):x∈S}, the convexity of which is well known. Another generalization of the numerical range is the C-numerical range, which is defined to be the set

$\text{W}{}_{\mathrm{C}}\text{(A)={}\text{tr}\text{(CU}{}^1\text{AU):U}\text{unitary}\text{}}$

where C∈Hom(V, V). In this note, we prove that W(A:q) is always convex and that W_C(A) is convex for all A if rank C=1 or n=2.     

Isometries of a generalized numerical radius

For 0<q<1, the q-numerical range is defined on the algebra M_n of all n×n complex matrices by

W_q(A)={x^∗Ay:x,y∈Cⁿ,∥x∥=∥y∥=1,〈y,x〉=q}.     

A perturbative method for the spectral analysis of an acoustic multistratified strip

We consider the acoustic propagator A=−∇·c²∇ in the strip Ω={(x, z)∈ℝ²∣0<z<H} with finite width H>0. The celerity c depends for large ∣x∣ only on the variable z and describes the stratification of Ω: it is assumed to be in L^∞(Ω), bounded from below by c_min>0, such that there exists M>0 with c(x, z)=c₁(z) if x< −M and c(x, z)=c₂(z) if x>M. We look at the propagator A as a ‘perturbation’ of the free propagators A_j in Ω associated to the velocities c_j, j=1, 2, and implement a ‘perturbative’ method, adapting ideas of Majda and Vainberg. The spectrum of A is defined in section 2, a limiting absorption principle is proved in section 3 outside of a countable set Γ(A). The points of Γ(A) can only accumulate at the left of the thresholds of the free propagators. The needed material about A_j, j=1, 2, and some technical estimates for A are given in Appendix. © 1998 B. G. Teubner Stuttgart—John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Asymptotic estimates of sums involving the Moebius function

Let p(n) denote the smallest prime factor of an integer n>1 and let p(1)=∞. We study the asymptotic behavior of the sum M(x,y)=Σ_{1≤n≤x,p(n)>y}μ(n) and use this to estimate the size of A(x)=max_|f|≤1|Σ_2≤n<xμ(n)f(p(n))|, where μ(n) is the Moebius function. Applications of bounds for A(x), M(x,y) and similar quantities are discussed.     

A linear-algebra problem from algebraic coding theory

Given an m×n matrix M over E=GF(q^t) and an ordered basis A={z₁,…,z_t} for field E over K=GF(q), expand each entry of M into a t×1 vector of coordinates of this entry relative to A to obtain an mt×n matrix M¹ with entries from the field K. Let r=rank(M) and r¹=rank(M¹). We show that r?r¹?min{rt,n}, and we determine the number b(m,n,r,r¹,q,t) of m×n matrices M of rank r over GF(q^t) with associated mt×n matrix M¹ of rank r¹ over GF (q).     

Bilinear Relative Equilibria of Identical Point Vortices

A new class of bilinear relative equilibria of identical point vortices in which the vortices are constrained to be on two perpendicular lines, conveniently taken to be the x- and y-axes of a Cartesian coordinate system, is introduced and studied. In the general problem we have m vortices on the y-axis and n on the x-axis. We define generating polynomials q(z) and p(z), respectively, for each set of vortices. A second-order, linear ODE for p(z) given q(z) is derived. Several results relating the general solution of the ODE to relative equilibrium configurations are established. Our strongest result, obtained using Sturm’s comparison theorem, is that if p(z) satisfies the ODE for a given q(z) with its imaginary zeros symmetric relative to the x-axis, then it must have at least n?m+2 simple, real zeros. For m=2 this provides a complete characterization of all zeros, and we study this case in some detail. In particular, we show that, given q(z)=z ²+η ², where η is real, there is a unique p(z) of degree n, and a unique value of η ²=A _n , such that the zeros of q(z) and p(z) form a relative equilibrium of n+2 point vortices. We show that $A_{n} \approx\frac{2}{3}n + \frac{1}{2}$ , as n→∞, where the coefficient of n is determined analytically, the next-order term numerically. The paper includes extensive numerical documentation on this family of relative equilibria.     

A conjecture of Kippenhahn about the characteristic polynomial of a pencil generated by two Hermitian matrices. II

Let A be an n × n matrix; write A = H+iK, where i²=—1 and H and K are Hermitian. Let f(x,y,z) = det(zI?xH?yK). We first show that a pair of matrices over an algebraically closed field, which satisfy quadratic polynomials, can be put into block, upper triangular form, with diagonal blocks of size 1×1 or 2×2, via a simultaneous similarity. This is used to prove that if $\text{f(x,y,z) = [g(x,y,z)]}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>n</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$, where g has degree 2, then for some unitary matrix U, the matrix U¹AU is the direct sum of $\text{n}\text{2}$ copies of a 2×2 matrix A₁, where A₁ is determined, up to unitary similarity, by the polynomial g(x,y,z). We use the connection between f(x,y,z) and the numerical range of A to investigate the case where f(x,y,z) has the form (z?αax? βy)^r[g(x,y,z)]^s, where g(x,y,z) is irreducible of degree 2.     

Large spaces of symmetric matrices of bounded rank are decomposable ∗

Let k and n be positive integers such that kn. Let S_n (F) denote the space of all n×n symmetric matrices over the field F with char F≠2. A subspace L of S_n (F) is said to be a k-subspace if rank Ak for every A?L.

Now suppose that k is even, and write k=2r. We say a k∥-subspace of S_n (F) is decomposable if there exists in Fⁿ a subspace W of dimension n?r such that x^tAx=0 for every x?W A?L.

We show here, under some mild assumptions on k n and F, that every k∥-subspace of S_n (F) of sufficiently large dimension must be decomposable. This is an analogue of a result obtained by Atkinson and Lloyd for corresponding subspaces of F^m,n .     

A congruence for the Fourier coefficients of a modular form and its application to quadratic forms

Let F(z)=∑ _n=1^∞ A(n)q ⁿ denote the unique weight 6 normalized cuspidal eigenform on Γ₀(4). We prove that A(p)≡0,2,−1(mod 11) when p≠11 is a prime. We then use this congruence to give an application to the number of representations of an integer by quadratic form of level 4.      

Orthogonality and the numerical range. II

For a continuous linear operator A on a Hilbert space X and unit vectors x and y, an investigation of the set $\text{W[x,y]={z}{}^1\text{Az:z}{}^1\text{z=1}$ and z?span{x,y}} reveals several new results about W(A), the numerical range of A. W[x,y] is an elliptical disk (possibly degenerate), and several conditions are given which imply that W[x,y] is a line segment. In particular if x is a reducing eigenvector of A, then W[x,y] is a line segment. A unit vector is called interior (boundary) if x¹Ax is in the interior (boundary) of W(A). It is shown that interior reducing eigenvectorsare orthogonal to all boundary vectors and that boundary eigenvectors are orthogonal to all other boundary vectors y [except possibly when y¹Ay is interior to a line segment in the boundary of W(A) through the given eigenvalue].     

On the prime power factorization of n!

For a fixed prime q, let eq(n) denote the order of q in the prime factorization of n!. For two fixed integers m?2 and r with 0?r?m−1, let A(x;m,q,r) denote the numbers of positive integers n?x for which . In this paper we shall prove a sharp asymptotic formula of A(x;m,q,r).     

Punishing Factors for Finitely Connected Domains

Let Ω and Π be two finitely connected hyperbolic domains in the complex plane \Bbb C{\Bbb C} and let R(z, Ω) denote the hyperbolic radius of Ω at z and R(w, Π) the hyperbolic radius of Π at w. We consider functions f that are analytic in Ω and such that all values f(z) lie in the domain Π. This set of analytic functions is denoted by A(Ω, Π). We prove among other things that the quantities C_n(W,P) := sup_{f ? A(W,P)}sup_{z ? W}\frac|f⁽ⁿ⁾(z)| R(f(z),P)n! (R(z,W))ⁿC_n(\Omega,\Pi)\,:=\,\sup_{f\in A(\Omega,\Pi)}\sup_{z\in \Omega}\frac{\vert f^{(n)}(z)\vert\,R(f(z),\Pi)}{n!\,(R(z,\Omega))^n} are finite for all n ? \Bbb N{n \in {\Bbb N}} if and only if ∂Ω and ∂Π do not contain isolated points.     

Embedding of a pseudo-point residual design into a Möbius plane

Let $\text{U}$ be a class of subsets of a finite set X. Elements of $\text{U}$ are called blocks. Let υ, t, λ and k be nonnegative integers such that υ?k?t?0. A pair (X, $\text{U}$) is called a (υ, k, λ) t-design, denoted by S_λ(t, k, υ), if (1) |X| = υ, (2) every t-subset of X is contained in exactly λ blocks and (3) for every block A in $\text{U}$, |A| = k. A Möbius plane M is an S₁(3, q+1, q²+1) where q is a positive integer. Let ∞ be a fixed point in M. If ∞ is deleted from M, together with all the blocks containing ∞, then we obtain a point-residual design M^*. It can be easily checked that M^* is an S_q(2, q+1, q²). Any S_q(2, q+1, q²) is called a pseudo-point-residual design of order q, abbreviated by PPRD(q). Let A and B be two blocks in a PPRD(q)M^*. A and B are said to be tangent to each other at z if and only if A∩B={z}. M^* is said to have the Tangency Property if for any block A in M^*, and points x and y such that x?A and y?A, there exists at most one block containing y and tangent to A at x. This paper proves that any PPRD(q)M^* is uniquely embeddable into a Möbius plane if and only if M^* satisfies the Tangency Property.     

The algebraic structure of the set of solutions to the Thue equation

Let Fn be a binary form with integral coefficients of degree n?2, let d denote the greatest common divisor of all non-zero coefficients of Fn, and let h?2 be an integer. We prove that if d=1 then the Thue equation (T) Fn(x,y)=h has relatively few solutions: if A is a subset of the set T(Fn,h) of all solutions to (T), with r:=card(A)?n+1, then

(#)

h divides the numberΔ(A):=_∏1?k<l?rδ(ξk,ξl),

where ξk=〈xk,yk〉∈A, 1?k?r, and δ(ξk,ξl)=xkyl−xlyk. As a corollary we obtain that if h is a prime number then, under weak assumptions on Fn, there is a partition of T(Fn,h) into at most n subsets maximal with respect to condition (#).     

Exceptional cases of Terai’s conjecture on Diophantine equations

Let a, b, c be relatively prime positive integers such that a ^p  + b ^q  = c ^r for fixed integers p, q, r ≥ 2. Terai conjectured that the equation a ^x  + b ^y  = c ^z in positive integers has only the solution (x, y, z) = (p, q, r) except for specific cases. In this paper, we consider the case q = r = 2 and give some results related to exceptional cases.     

Center conditions II: Parametric and model center problems

We consider an Abel equation (*)y’=p(x)y ² +q(x)y ³ withp(x), q(x) polynomials inx. A center condition for (*) (closely related to the classical center condition for polynomial vector fields on the plane) is thaty ₀=y(0)≡y(1) for any solutiony(x) of (*). We introduce a parametric version of this condition: an equation (**)y’=p(x)y ² +εq(x)y ³ p, q as above, ℂ, is said to have a parametric center, if for any ε and for any solutiony(ε,x) of (**),y(ε,0)≡y(ε,1). We show that the parametric center condition implies vanishing of all the momentsm _k (1), wherem _k (x)=∫ ₀ ^{x pk} (t)q(t)(dt),P(x)=∫ ₀ ^x p(t)dt. We investigate the structure of zeroes ofm _k (x) and on this base prove in some special cases a composition conjecture, stated in [10], for a parametric center problem. The research of the first and the third author was supported by the Israel Science Foundation, Grant No. 101/95-1 and by the Minerva Foundation.