Uniform convergence of a sequence of functions at a point

It is well known that the uniform limit of a sequence of continuous real-valued functions defined on an interval I is itself continuous. However, if the convergence is pointwise, the limit function need not be continuous (take ? _n (x) = x ⁿ on [0, 1], for example). Boas has shown that the pointwise limit function of a sequence of continuous real-valued functions defined on the compact interval [a,b] is, nonetheless, continuous on a dense subset of [a,b]. In this paper, the notion of uniform convergence at a point is offered as an alternative to the Boas approach in establishing this and, consequently, other results. The arguments stay within the realm of a first proof course in classical mathematical analysis.     

Optimal construction of a selection of a subpopulation

Summary The problem of selecting a subpopulation from a given populationII is to be, on the basis of measurements of members ofII, achieved by choosing those members ofII who satisfy the standards determined by a given selection cirterion and rejecting those who do not. Since the optimum selection depends on the unknown parameter of the probability distribution ofII, it is here considered how to construct a decision function from the space of subsidiary sample having infor-mation on θ to the space of selections. Thus the existence of Bayes and minimax decision functions under the constraint defined by the selection criterion is proved. A necessary and sufficient condition for a decision function satisfying the constraint to be a Bayes decision function is also obtained. The Institute of Statistical Mathematics     

Approximation of a function of two variables by a product of functions of one variable on a given domain

We are concerned with the problem of uniform approximation of a continuous function of two variables by a product of continuous functions of one variable on some domain D. This problem have been examined so far only on a rectangular domain D = U × V, where U and V are compact sets. An algorithm to give a solution of this problem in the discrete case is available. We put forward an algorithm which in certain cases allows one to construct an approximate solution of the problem on a given domain (not necessarily rectangular). This approximate solution is built in the form of interpolating natural splines, which in turn are constructed by means of discrete approximation. Depending on the degree of the splines, the problem can be solved in classes of functions with appropriate degree of smoothness.     

Smooth maps of a foliated manifold in a symplectic manifold

Let M be a smooth manifold with a regular foliation $ \mathcal{F} $ \mathcal{F} and a 2-form ω which induces closed forms on the leaves of $ \mathcal{F} $ \mathcal{F} in the leaf topology. A smooth map f: (M, $ \mathcal{F} $ \mathcal{F} ) → (N, σ) in a symplectic manifold (N, σ) is called a foliated symplectic immersion if f restricts to an immersion on each leaf of the foliation and further, the restriction of f*σ is the same as the restriction of ω on each leaf of the foliation. If f is a foliated symplectic immersion then the derivative map Df gives rise to a bundle morphism F: TM → T N which restricts to a monomorphism on T $ \mathcal{F} $ \mathcal{F} ⊆ T M and satisfies the condition F*σ = ω on T $ \mathcal{F} $ \mathcal{F} . A natural question is whether the existence of such a bundle map F ensures the existence of a foliated symplectic immersion f. As we shall see in this paper, the obstruction to the existence of such an f is only topological in nature. The result is proved using the h-principle theory of Gromov.     

Covering a set with homothets of a convex body

We consider two problems mentioned in the book “Research Problems in Discrete Geometry” (Brass et al. in research problems in discrete geometry, vol xii+499. Springer, New York, pp ISBN: 978-0387-23815-8; 0-387-23815-8, 2005). First, let K and L be given convex bodies in \mathbbR^d{\mathbb{R}^{d}} . We prove that if the total volume of a family of positive homothets of K is sufficiently large then they permit a translative covering of L. This problem, in the case when K = L and the dimension is two, was originally posed by L. Fejes Tóth. The previously known bound (Januszewski in proc. of the International scientific conference on mathematics, pp 29–34. Žilina, 1998) on the total volume (in the case when K = L) was of order d ^d vol(K), we prove a bound that is exponential in the dimension. The second problem is the following: Find a condition, in terms of the coefficients of homothety, that is necessary for a family of positive homothets of K to cover K. The problem was phrased by V. Soltan, who conjectured that the sum of the coefficients is at least d. We confirm an asymptotic version of this conjecture.     

Minimizing the sum of a convex function and a specially structured nonconvex function

A lineraly constrained global optimization problem is studied, where the objective function is the saum of a convex function g(x)a nd a nonconvex function f(x) satisfying a rank two condition. Roughly speaking, the latter means that all the nonconvexity of f(x) is concentrated on a linear manifold of dimension 2. A solution method based on exploiting this special structure is prop     

The rank of a completion of a dedekind domain

Let D be a Dedekind domain with quotient field K. Let C_p be the completion of the localisationD_p , of D at a nonzero prime idealp, of D. Let r_p be the rank of C_p as a D-module, ier_p , is the dimension of the K-vector space K_p , = K? _DC_p . The following results on r_p are deduced from well-known theorems: if r_p is finite for at least one prime ideal p, then D is a discrete valuation ring; and D = C_p if _p = 1. If D is a discrete valuation ring, then r_p = dimExt(K, D) + 1. A module M is extensionless if every extension of M by M splits. The D-module r_C is an estensionless indecomposable module. If r_C is infinite for every nonzero prime ideal, it is shown that an estensionless D-module of finite rank is a direct sum or certain rank one modulcs.     

Efficient Algorithms for Finding a Core of a Tree with a Specified Length

Acoreof a graphGis a pathPinGthat is central with respect to the property of minimizingd(P)=∑_v∈V(G)d(v, P), whered(v, P) is the distance from vertexvto pathP. This paper presents efficient algorithms for finding a core of a tree with a specified length. The sequential algorithm runs inO(n log n) time, wherenis the size of the tree. The parallel algorithm runs inO(log²n) time usingO(n) processors on an EREW PRAM model.     

Self-accessibility of a set with respect to a multivalued field

LetF be a multivalued field on the manifoldM and letN be a submanifold ofM, possibly with boundary. We give a sufficient condition for the self-accessibility property of the pair (N, F), that is:N is contained in the interior of the attainable set fromN at a time smaller or equal toT, for everyT>0 (at the timeT, ifN is compact). To obtain such a condition, a modification of Petrov's implicit function theorem is proved (Ref. 1). Finally, a necessary condition for the self-accessibility property is given.This work was performed under the auspices of the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Rome, Italy.     

Properties of a representation of a basis for the null space

Given a rectangular matrixA(x) that depends on the independent variablesx, many constrained optimization methods involve computations withZ(x), a matrix whose columns form a basis for the null space ofA ^T(x). WhenA is evaluated at a given point, it is well known that a suitableZ (satisfyingA ^T Z = 0) can be obtained from standard matrix factorizations. However, Coleman and Sorensen have recently shown that standard orthogonal factorization methods may produce orthogonal bases that do not vary continuously withx; they also suggest several techniques for adapting these schemes so as to ensure continuity ofZ in the neighborhood of a given point.This paper is an extension of an earlier note that defines the procedure for computingZ. Here, we first describe howZ can be obtained byupdating an explicit QR factorization with Householder transformations. The properties of this representation ofZ with respect to perturbations inA are discussed, including explicit bounds on the change inZ. We then introduceregularized Householder transformations, and show that their use implies continuity of the full matrixQ. The convergence ofZ andQ under appropriate assumptions is then proved. Finally, we indicate why the chosen form ofZ is convenient in certain methods for nonlinearly constrained optimization.The research of the Stanford authors was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Contract DE-AM03-76SF00326, PA No. DE-AT03-76ER72018; the National Science Foundation Grants MCS-7926009 and ECS-8312142; the Office of Naval Research Contract N00014-75-C-0267; and the U.S. Army Research Office Contract DAAG29-84-K-0156.The research of G.W. Stewart was supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research Contract AFOSR-82-0078.     

Distinguished extensions of a lattice-ordered group

Any lattice-ordered group (l-group for short) is essentially extended by its lexicographic product with a totally ordered group. That is, anl-homomorphism (i.e., a group and lattice homomorphism) on the extension which is injective on thel-group must be injective on the extension as well. Thus nol-group has a maximal essential extension in the categoryIGp ofl-groups withl-homomorphisms. However, anl-group is a distributive lattice, and so has a maximal essential extension in the categoryD of distributive lattices with lattice homomorphisms. Adistinguished extension of onel-group by another is one which is essential inD. We characterize such extensions, and show that everyl-groupG has a maximal distinguished extensionE(G) which is unique up to anl-isomorphism overG.E(G) contains most other known completions in whichG is order dense, and has mostl-group completeness properties as a result. Finally, we show that ifG is projectable then E(G) is the -completion of the projectable hull ofG.Presented by M. Henriksen.     

Union curvature of a vector field in a subspace

The differential equations of union curves on a hypersurfaceV _n immersed in a RiemannianV _n+1 have been obtained by Springer [1]. These results were generalized later for a subspace in a Riemannian space by Mishra [2]. The author [3] has defined the union curvature of a vector field with respect to a curve on a hypersurfaceV _n of a RiemannianV _n+1. The purpose of this paper is to consider union curvature of a vector field with respect to a curve in a subspaceV _n of a RiemannianV _m. The author is indebted to the referee for helpful suggestions.     

Two inverse problems of finding a coefficient in a parabolic equation

For a parabolic equation, we consider inverse problems of reconstructing a coefficient that depends on the space variables alone. The first problem is to find a lower-order coefficient c(x) multiplying u(x, t), and the second problem is to find the coefficient a(x) multiplying Δu. As additional information, the integral of the solution with respect to time with some weight function is given. The coefficients of the equation depend both on time and on the space variables. We obtain sufficient conditions for the existence of generalized solutions of our problems; moreover, for the first problem, we also prove uniqueness and construct an iterative sequence that converges to the desired coefficient almost everywhere in the domain. We present examples of input data of these problems for which the assumptions of our theorems are necessarily true.     

Asymptotics of the density matrix for a system of a large number of identical particles

The Wigner equation is considered for a system of a large numberN of identical particles with interaction factor of the order of 1/N. In both the Bose and the Fermi cases, we construct the asymptotics of the solution of the Cauchy problem for this equation with regard to the exchange effect for the case in which the Planck constant is of the order ofN ^−1/d , whered is the space dimension. This asymptotics is interpreted in terms of the theory of the complex germ on a curved phase space equivalent to the space of functions with values on the Riemann sphere in the Fermi case and on the Lobachevskii plane in the Bose case. The classical equations of motion in both cases are reduced to the Vlasov equation; since the phase space is infinite-dimensional, the complex germ is subjected to additional conditions depending on the type of statistics. Translated fromMatematicheskie Zametki, Vol. 65, No. 1, pp. 84–106, January, 1999.     

Characterizations of discrete distributions by a conditional distribution and a regression function

Summary The bivariate distribution of (X, Y), whereX andY are non-negative integer-valued random variables, is characterized by the conditional distribution ofY givenX=x and a consistent regression function ofX onY. This is achieved when the conditional distribution is one of the distributions: a) binomial, Poisson, Pascal or b) a right translation of these. In a) the conditional distribution ofY is anx-fold convolution of another random variable independent ofX so thatY is a generalized distribution. A main feature of these characterizations is that their proof does not depent on the specific form of the regression function. It is also indicated how these results can be used for good-ness-of-fit purposes.     

Asymptotically optimal selection of a piecewise polynomial estimator of a regression function

Let (X, Y) be a pair of random variables such that X = (X₁,…, X_d) ranges over a nondegenerate compact d-dimensional interval C and Y is real-valued. Let the conditional distribution of Y given X have mean θ(X) and satisfy an appropriate moment condition. It is assumed that the distribution of X is absolutely continuous and its density is bounded away from zero and infinity on C. Without loss of generality let C be the unit cube. Consider an estimator of θ having the form of a piecewise polynomial of degree k_n based on m_n^d cubes of length 1/m_n, where the m_n^d(_d^k_n+d) coefficients are chosen by the method of least squares based on a random sample of size n from the distribution of (X, Y). Let (k_n, m_n) be chosen by the FPE procedure. It is shown that the indicated estimator has an asymptotically minimal squared error of prediction if θ is not of the form of piecewise polynomial.     

Fitting a Set of Points by a Circle

Given a set of points S={p ₁ ,. . ., p _n } in Euclidean d -dimensional space, we address the problem of computing the d -dimensional annulus of smallest width containing the set. We give a complete characterization of the centers of annuli which are locally minimal in arbitrary dimension and we show that, for d=2 , a locally minimal annulus has two points on the inner circle and two points on the outer circle that interlace anglewise as seen from the center of the annulus. Using this characterization, we show that, given a circular order of the points, there is at most one locally minimal annulus consistent with that order and it can be computed in time O(n log n) using a simple algorithm. Furthermore, when points are in convex position, the problem can be solved in optimal Θ(n) time. Received June 25, 1997, and in revised form March 5, 1998.     

On the endomorphism ring of a module noetherian with respect to a torsion theory

IfM is a module torsionfree and noetherian with respect to a torsion theory, ifS is the endomorphism ring ofM, and ifL(S) is the ideal ofS consisting of all endomorphisms with large kernels, thenL(S) is nilpotent and a bound on the index of nilpotency ofL(S) is given.