On Conservative Confidence Intervals

The subject of the paper – (conservative) confidence intervals – originates in applications to auditing. Auditors are interested in upper confidence bounds for an unknown mean for all sample sizes n. The samples are drawn from populations such that often only a few observations are nonzero. The conditional distribution of an observation given that it is nonzero usually has a very irregular shape. However, it can be assumed that observations are bounded. We propose a way to reduce the problem to inequalities for tail probabilities of certain relevant statistics. Note that a traditional approach involving limit theorems forces to impose additional conditions on regularity of samples and leads to approximate or asymptotic bounds. In the case of , as a statistic we can use sample mean, say , and we have to use Hoeffding [7] inequalities, since currently they are the best available. This leads to upper confidence bounds for which are of (asymptotic) size at most in the case of risk =0.05, where is the unknown standard deviation. We have , where is the bound in a model with normally distributed observations. It seems that the bound is very robust and can be improved replacing Hoeffding's inequalities by more refined ones. The commonly used Stringer bound (it is still not known whether it is an upper confidence bound) is of asymptotic size c with equality only for Bernoulli distributions, and the ratio c / can be arbitrary large already for rather simple distributions. Our bounds can involve a priori information (professional judgment of an auditor) of type ₀ or/and ₀, which leads to improvements. Most of the results also hold for sampling without replacement from finite populations. The i.i.d. condition can be replaced by a martingale-type dependence assumption. Finally, the results can be extended to the noni.i.d. case and for settings with several samples.     

On regularities of the distribution of special sequences

Ifp2 is an integer, then every nonnegative integerk is represented by an expression of the form with integersa _i (k), 0a _i (k)p–1,i=0.1,...,s. The radical-inverse function to the basep, _p (k), is defined by . The sequence is uniformly distributed modulo 1 (it may be called a one-dimensional Halton sequence). In the casep=2 it is the van der Corput sequence. The set of all numbers (0, 1] such that the local discrepancy is bounded inn is determined.     

Einige Bemerkungen zum Goldbach'schen Problem

By combinatorial means the authors show the existence of thin sub-sets of primes, useful for Goldbach decompositions. For example, there is a set of primes with , such that all butO(x(ln x)^–A) even integersnx can be written as .

     

Ore Extensions of Hopf Algebras

In this paper, Ore extensions in the class of Hopf algebras are studied. The classification theorem enables one to describe the Hopf--Ore extensions for the group algebras, for the algebras and , and for the quantum ax + b group.     

Regular Unitarily Invariant Spaces on the Complex Sphere

Let K be a compact space, let X be a closed subspace of C(K), and let be a positive measure on K. The triple is said to be regular if, for any positive function and for any , there exists a function such that on K and . The case where K is the unit sphere in and the subspace X is invariant with respect to the unitary group is investigated. Sufficient spectral conditions and a necessary condition for the regularity of a triple are obtained. Connections with compactness of certain Hankel operators and applications to interpolation problems are presented. Bibliography: 16 titles.     

On flag-transitive affine planes of orderq 3

Let be a translation plane of orderq ³,q an odd prime power, whose kern GF(q). Letl be the line at infinity of . LetG be a solvable collineation group of in the linear translation complement, which acts transitively onl , and letH be a maximal normal cyclic subgroup ofG. Then the restriction ofH onl acts semiregularly onl and {1, 2, 3, 6}, where is the restriction ofG onl (ifq –1(mod 3), then {1, 2}). Ifq {3, 5} and {1, 2}, then is determined completely, using a computer.     

Change of variables in a multiple integral for local fields

A proof of the formula for locally compact fields andC ¹-isomorphisms :UV, whereU andV are open subsets of , was never published. In this paper we give two short proofs, one of them is a more elementary variant of the other.     

Absolute monotonicity of polynomials occurring in the numerical solution of initial value problems

Summary This paper deals with polynomial approximations ø(x) to the exponential function exp(x) related to numerical procedures for solving initial value problems. Motivated by positivity and contractivity requirements imposed on these numerical procedures we study the smallest negative argument, denoted by –R(ø), at which ø is absolutely monotonic. For given integersp1,m1 we determine the maximum ofR(ø) when ø varies over the class of all polynomials of a degree m with (forx0).     

Proper holomorphic mappings between generalized pseudoellipsoids

Summary We characterize the existence of proper holomorphic mappings between pseudoellipsoids of the form . If f:()() is any such mapping, the existence of a subgroup of Aut (()) such that is shown equivalent to a condition on the branch locus of f.     

Zur Interpolation und Integration differenzierbarer periodischer Funktionen

Summary Letx ₀<x ₁<...<x _n–1<x ₀+2 be nodes having multiplicitiesv ₀,...,v _n–1, 1v _k r (0k<n). We approximate the evaluation functional ,x fixed, and the integral respectively by linear functionals of the form and determine optimal weights for the Favard classesW _r C ₂. In the even case of optimal interpolation these weights are unique except forr=1,x(x _k +x _k–1)/2 mod 2. Moreover we get periodic polynomial splinesw _{k, j} (0k<n, 0j<v _k ) of orderr such that are the optimal weights. Certain optimal quadrature formulas are shown to be of interpolatory type with respect to these splines. For the odd case of optimal interpolation we merely have obtained a partial solution.

Bojanov hat in [4, 5] ähnliche Resultate wie wir erzielt. Um Wiederholungen zu vermeiden, werden Resultate, deren Beweise man bereits in [4, 5] findet, nur zitiert     

Euler Characteristics of Local Systems on \mathcal{M}> 2

We calculate the Euler characteristics of the local systems S ^k S ² on the moduli space ₂ of curves of genus 2, where is the rank 4 local system R ¹ _* .     

Piecewise-Convex Maximization Problems

A function F:Rⁿ R is called a piecewise convex function if it can be decomposed into , where f _j:Rⁿ R is convex for all jM={1,2...,m}. We consider subject to xD. It generalizes the well-known convex maximization problem. We briefly review global optimality conditions for convex maximization problems and carry one of them to the piecewise-convex case. Our conditions are all written in primal space so that we are able to proposea preliminary algorithm to check them.     

Limiting Laws for Entrance Times of Critical Mappings of a Circle

A renormalization group transformation R ₁ has a single stable point in the space of the analytic circle homeomorphisms with a single cubic critical point and with the rotation number (the golden mean). Let a homeomorphism T be the C ¹-conjugate of . We let denote the sequence of distribution functions of the time of the kth entrance to the nth renormalization interval for the homeomorphism T. We prove that for any , the sequence has a finite limiting distribution function , which is continuous in , and singular on the interval [0,1]. We also study the sequence for k>1.     

A 2-extension of the field ℚ of rational numbersof rational numbers

It is proved that the rational number field has one, and only one, normal 2-extension (_{2, t8)}/with group isomorphic to .If is the maximal subfield of a real-closed field, which does not contain ,then the algebraic closure of is isomorphic to the field .Bibliography: 7titles.Translated fromZapiski Nauchnykh Seminarov POMI, Vol. 236, 1997, pp. 192–196.     

The Functional Law of the Iterated Logarithm for the Empirical Process Based on Sample Means

Consider a double array of i.i.d. random variables with mean and variance and set . Let denote the empirical distribution function of Z_{1, n} ,..., Z _{N, n} and let be the standard normal distribution function. The main result establishes a functional law of the iterated logarithm for , where n=n(N) as N. For the proof, some lemmas are derived which may be of independent interest. Some corollaries of the main result are also presented.     

Convex independent sets and 7-holes in restricted planar point sets

For a finite setA of points in the plane, letq(A) denote the ratio of the maximum distance of any pair of points ofA to the minimum distance of any pair of points ofA. Fork>0 letc (k) denote the largest integerc such that any setA ofk points in general position in the plane, satisfying for fixed , contains at leastc convex independent points. We determine the exact asymptotic behavior ofc (k), proving that there are two positive constants=(), such thatk ^1/3c (k)k ^1/3. To establish the upper bound ofc (k) we construct a set, which also solves (affirmatively) the problem of Alonet al. [1] about the existence of a setA ofk points in general position without a 7-hole (i.e., vertices of a convex 7-gon containing no other points fromA), satisfying . The construction uses Horton sets, which generalize sets without 7-holes constructed by Horton and which have some interesting properties.     

Some properties of the moduli of families of curves

Let A={a₁,...,a_n} and B={b₁,...,b_m} be systems of distinct points in , let be a family of homotopic classes H_i,i=1,..., j+m, of closed Jordan curves on, where the classes H_j+l, l=1,...,m, consist of curves that are homotopic to a point curve in b. Let =₁,..., _j+m be a system of positive numbers and letU be the modulus of the extremal-metric problem for the family and the system . In this paper we investigate the dependence of the modulusU=U(,A,B) on the parameters _i and on the disposition of the points a_k and b. One shows thatU is a smooth function of the indicated arguments and one obtains expressions for the derivatives U, U, and U. One gives some applications of these results.Translated from Zapiski Nauchnykh Seminarov Leningradskogo Otdeleniya Matematicheskogo Instituta im. V. A. Steklova AN SSSR, Vol. 144, pp. 72–82, 1985.     

Torsion and closed geodesics on complex hyperbolic manifolds

Summary LetX be a compact complex manifold covered by complex hyperbolicn-space with the induced metric. Each stable horocycle has a cocomplex structure preserved by the geodesic flow. To a closed geodesic one can thus associate a piece of the Poincaré map with a holomorphic fixed point. The resulting Atiyah-Bott fixed point indices, together with the length and multiplicity of as a periodic orbit, determine the contribution of to certain zeta functionsR _p(z), 0pn. From the leading coefficient ofR _p atZ=0 and the Hodge numbersh ^ij (X) we calculate the Ray-Singer -torsionT _p (X). This indicates that the known connections between torsion and the dynamical features of closed orbits continue to hold in the holomorphic category.Corresponding results hold for the -torsion of a flat unitary bundle, extending certain formulas of Ray and Singer to the casen>1.Partially supported by the Sloan Foundation and the National Science Foundation     

The dirichlet problem for sub-elliptic second order equations

The C-regularity up to the boundary of solutions to the Dirichlet problem: is proved, using a comparison principle of L with a Hörmander's type operator X _j ^* X_j, where is a smooth bounded open subset of Rⁿ, and is a second-order degenerate elliptic operator with smooth coefficients, satisfying the so-called Fefferman-Phong's condition.     

A sharper stability bound of Fourier frames

Given a real sequence {_n}_n. Suppose that is a frame for L²[–, ] with bounds A, B. The problem is to find a positive constant L such that for any real sequence {_n}_n with ¦_n –_n¦ <L, is also a frame for L²[–, ]. Balan [1] obtained arcsin . This value is a good stability bound of Fourier frames because it covers Kadec's 1/4-theorem and is better than (see Duffin and Schaefer [3]). In this paper, a sharper estimate is given.