Central Subspaces of Banach Spaces

In this paper we study Banach spaces that admit weighted Chebyshev centres for finite sets. Such spaces have been extensively studied recently by Veselý using the approach of finitely intersecting balls. Following his approach we exhibit large classes of Banach spaces that have this property. Certain stability results for spaces of vector valued continuous and Bochner integrable functions are also obtained.     

Pruning method for optimal solutions of int–int decision making scheme

This paper aims to find a faster method for optimal solutions of Feng et al.’s int^m–intⁿ decision making scheme. We first give theoretical characterizations of optimal decision sets. Then we develop a pruning method which filters out those objects that cannot be elements of any optimal decision sets in the beginning. Experimental results have shown that our method has higher efficiency in computing the optimal solutions of this scheme, particularly when we are processing soft sets with a great quantity of data.     

A methodology for supporting strategy implementation based on the VSM: A case study in a Latin-American multi-national

Soft OR tools have increasingly been used to support the strategic development of companies at operational and managerial levels. However, we still lack OR applications that can be useful in dealing with the “implementation gap”, understood as the scarcity of resources available to organizations seeking to align their existing processes and structures with a new strategy. In this paper we contribute to filling that gap, describing an action research case study where we supported strategy implementation in a Latin American multinational corporation through a soft OR methodology. We enhanced the ‘Methodology to support organizational self-transformation’, inspired by the Viable System Model, with substantive improvements in data collection and analyses. Those adjustments became necessary to facilitate second order learning and agreements on required structural changes among a large number of participants. This case study contributes to the soft OR and strategy literature with insights about the promise and constraints of this soft OR methodology to collectively structure complex decisions that support organizational redesign and strategy implementation.     

Concatenation of pseudorandom binary sequences

In the applications it may occur that our initial pseudorandom binary sequence turns out to be not long enough, thus we have to take the concatenation or merging of it with other pseudorandom binary sequences. Here our goal is study when we can form the concatenation of several pseudorandom binary sequences belonging to a given family? We introduce and study new measures which can be used for answering this question.     

A Hecke correspondence theorem for automorphic integrals with symmetric rational period functions on the Hecke groups

Marvin Knopp showed that entire automorphic integrals with rational period functions satisfy a Hecke correspondence theorem, provided the rational period functions have poles only at 0 or ∞. For other automorphic integrals the corresponding Dirichlet series has a functional equation with a remainder term that arises from the nonzero poles of the rational period function. In this paper we prove a Hecke correspondence theorem for a class of automorphic integrals with rational period functions on the Hecke groups. We restrict our attention to automorphic integrals of weight that is twice an odd integer and to rational period functions that satisfy a symmetry property we call “Hecke-symmetry.” Each remainder term satisfies two relations (the second of which is new in this paper) corresponding to the two relations for the rational period function.     

On scalar extensions and spectral decompositions of complex symmetric operators

In this paper we prove that a complex symmetric operator with property (δ) is subscalar. As a corollary, we get that such operators with rich spectra have nontrivial invariant subspaces. We also provide various relations for spectral decomposition properties between complex symmetric operators and their adjoints.     

Capability adjustment for gamma processes with mean shift consideration in implementing Six Sigma program

In the 1980s, Motorola, Inc. introduced its Six Sigma quality program to the world. Some quality practitioners questioned why the Six Sigma advocates claim it is necessary to add a 1.5σ shift to the process mean when estimating process capability. Bothe [Bothe, D.R., 2002. Statistical reason for the 1.5σ shift. Quality Engineering 14 (3), 479–487] provided a statistical reason for considering such a shift in the process mean for normal processes. In this paper, we consider gamma processes which cover a wide class of applications. For fixed sample size n, the detection power of the control chart can be computed. For small process mean shifts, it is beyond the control chart detection power, which results in overestimating process capability. To resolve the problem, we first examine Bothe’s approach and find the detection power is less than 0.5 when data comes from gamma distribution, showing that Bothe’s adjustments are inadequate when we have gamma processes. We then calculate adjustments under various sample sizes n and gamma parameter N, with power fixed to 0.5. At the end, we adjust the formula of process capability to accommodate those shifts which can not be detected. Consequently, our adjustments provide much more accurate capability calculation for gamma processes. For illustration purpose, an application example is presented.     

On the structure of pseudo-holomorphic discs with totally real boundary conditions

In this paper, we study the structure ofJ-holomorphic discs in relation to the Fredholm theory of pseudo-holomorphic discs with totally real boundary conditions in almost complex manifolds (M, J). We prove that anyJ-holomorphic disc with totally real boundary condition that is injective in the interior except at a discrete set of points, which we call a “normalized disc,” must either have some boundary point that is regular and has multiplicity one, or satisfy that its image forms a smooth immersed compact surface (without boundary) with a finite number of self-intersections and a finite number of branch points. In the course of proving this theorem, we also prove several theorems on the local structure of boundary points ofJ-holomorphic discs, and as an application we give a complete treatment of the transverslity result for Floer’s pseudo-holomorphic trajectories for Lagrangian intersections in symplectic geometry. This paper is supported in part by NSF Grant DMS 9215011.     

On Macbeath-Singerman symmetries of Belyi surfaces with PSL(2,p) as a group of automorphisms

The famous theorem of Belyi states that the compact Riemann surface X can be defined over the number field if and only if X can be uniformized by a finite index subgroup Γ of a Fuchsian triangle group Λ. As a result such surfaces are now called Belyi surfaces. The groups PSL(2,q),q=p ⁿ are known to act as the groups of automorphisms on such surfaces. Certain aspects of such actions have been extensively studied in the literature. In this paper, we deal with symmetries. Singerman showed, using acertain result of Macbeath, that such surfaces admit a symmetry which we shall call in this paper the Macbeath-Singerman symmetry. A classical theorem by Harnack states that the set of fixed points of a symmetry of a Riemann surface X of genus g consists of k disjoint Jordan curves called ovals for some k ranging between 0 and g+1. In this paper we show that given an odd prime p, a Macbetah-Singerman symmetry of Belyi surface with PSL(2,p) as a group of automorphisms has at most     

Compact AC(σ) Operators

All compact AC(σ) operators have a representation analogous to that for compact normal operators. As a partial converse we obtain conditions which allow one to construct a large number of such operators. Using the results in the paper, we answer a number of questions about the decomposition of a compact AC(σ) operator into real and imaginary parts.      

Infinite loop spaces,and coherence for symmetric monoidal bicategories

This paper proves three different coherence theorems for symmetric monoidal bicategories. First, we show that in a free symmetric monoidal bicategory every diagram of 2-cells commutes. Second, we show that this implies that the free symmetric monoidal bicategory on one object is equivalent, as a symmetric monoidal bicategory, to the discrete symmetric monoidal bicategory given by the disjoint union of the symmetric groups. Third, we show that every symmetric monoidal bicategory is equivalent to a strict one.     

State morphism MV-algebras

We present a complete characterization of subdirectly irreducible MV-algebras with internal states (SMV-algebras). This allows us to classify subdirectly irreducible state morphism MV-algebras (SMMV-algebras) and describe single generators of the variety of SMMV-algebras, and show that we have a continuum of varieties of SMMV-algebras.     

Reverse Approximation of Energetic Solutions to Rate-Independent Processes

Energetic solutions to rate-independent processes are usually constructed via time-incremental minimization problems. In this work we show that all energetic solutions can be approximated by such incremental problems if we allow for approximate minimizers, where the error in minimization has to be of the order of the time step. Moreover, we study sequences of problems where the energy functionals have a Γ-limit. Research partially supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft via the MATHEON project C18.     

Is the new ECTS system better than the traditional one? An application to the ECTS pilot-project at the University Pablo de Olavide

At the meeting of the joint Bologna Declaration, EU representatives agreed on the establishment of a common European Higher Education Area by 2010. Since then, several universities have implemented pilot projects, although no formal research has been carried out to analyse their results. In this study, we analysed one of these pilot-projects with two objectives. First, we examined the performance of the new system as compared to that of the traditional system. We used a procedure based on a modified model of Data Envelopment Analysis that is able to distinguish students’ efficiency (managerial efficiency) from efficiency based on the educational programme used (programme efficiency). Then we analysed whether the different systems perform differently for different types of students.     

Homeomorphisms between limbs of the Mandelbrot set

Using a family of higher degree polynomials as a bridge, together with complex surgery techniques, we construct a homeomorphism between any two limbs of the Mandelbrot set of equal denominator. Induced by these homeomorphisms and complex conjugation, we obtain an involution between each limb and itself, whose fixed points form a topological arc. All these maps have counterparts at the combinatorial level relating corresponding external arguments. Assuming local connectivity of the Mandelbrot set we may conclude that the constructed homeomorphisms between limbs are compatible with the embeddings of the limbs in the plane. As usual we plough in the dynamical planes and harvest in the parameter space.     

Vectors bundles with theta divisors I—Bundles on Castelnuovo curves

In this paper we show that semistable vector bundles on a Castelnuovo curve of genus g ≥ 2 have theta divisors. As a corollary, we deduce that semistable vector bundles on a smooth, general curve of genus g ≥ 2 which extend to semistable vector bundles on any flat Castelnuovo degeneration of the general curve admit a theta divisor. Received: 8 August 2008     

Fixed points of non-Hamiltonian symplectomorphisms

In this article we study a version of the Arnold conjecture for symplectic maps that are not Hamiltonian. That is, we give a lower bound for the number of fixed points such a map must have. We achieve the result for symplectic maps with sufficiently small Calabi invariant.     

The C 1 wavelet method for numerical solutions of the Neumann problem

In this article we use the C ¹ wavelet bases on Powell-Sabin triangulations to approximate the solution of the Neumann problem for partial differential equations. The C ¹ wavelet bases are stable and have explicit expressions on a three-direction mesh. Consequently, we can approximate the solution of the Neumann problem accurately and stably. The convergence and error estimates of the numerical solutions are given. The computational results of a numerical example show that our wavelet method is well suitable to the Neumann boundary problem.