Linear birth and death models and associated Laguerre and Meixner polynomials

We study birth and death processes with linear rates λ_n = n + α + c + 1, μ_{n + 1} = n + c, n 0 and μ₀ is either zero or c. The spectral measures of both processes are found using generating functions and the integral transforms of Laplace and Stieltjes. The corresponding orthogonal polynomials generalize Laguerre polynomials and the choice μ₀ = c generates the associated Laguerre polynomials of Askey and Wimp. We investigate the orthogonal polynomials in both cases and give alternate proofs of some of the results of Askey and Wimp on the associated Laguerre polynomials. We also identify the spectra of the associated Charlier and Meixner polynomials as zeros of certain transcendental equations.     

Affine-inscribed and affine-circumscribed polygons and polytopes

Five theorems on polygons and polytopes inscribed in (or circumscribed about) a convex compact set in the plane or space are proved by topological methods. In particular, it is proved that for every interior point O of a convex compact set in ℝ³, there exists a two-dimensional section through O circumscribed about an affine image of a regular octagon. It is also proved that every compact convex set in ℝ³ (except the cases listed below) is circumscribed about an affine image of a cube-octahedron (the convex hull of the midpoints of the edges of a cube). Possible exceptions are provided by the bodies containing a parallelogram P and contained in a cylinder with directrix P. Bibliography: 29 titles. Translated fromZapiski Nauchnykh Seminarov POMI, Vol. 231, 1995, pp. 286–298. Translated by B. M. Bekker.     

Ritz and harmonic Ritz values and the convergence of FOM and GMRES

The Ritz and harmonic Ritz values are approximate eigenvalues, which can be computed cheaply within the FOM and GMRES Krylov subspace iterative methods for solving non‐symmetric linear systems. They are also the zeros of the residual polynomials of FOM and GMRES, respectively. In this paper we show that the Walker–Zhou interpretation of GMRES enables us to formulate the relation between the harmonic Ritz values and GMRES in the same way as the relation between the Ritz values and FOM. We present an upper bound for the norm of the difference between the matrices from which the Ritz and harmonic Ritz values are computed. The differences between the Ritz and harmonic Ritz values enable us to describe the breakdown of FOM and stagnation of GMRES. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Partitions and pairwise sums and products

A seven cell partition of N is constructed with the property that no infinite set has all of its pairwise sums and products in any one cell. A related Ramsey Theory question is shown to have different answers for two and three cell partitions.     

Beliefs and beyond: affect and the teaching and learning of mathematics

The importance of beliefs for the teaching and learning of mathematics is widely recognized among mathematics educators. In this special issue, we explicitly address what we call “beliefs and beyond” to indicate the larger field surrounding beliefs in mathematics education. This is done to broaden the discussion to related concepts (which may not originate in mathematics education) and to consider the interconnectedness of concepts. In particular, we present some new developments at the conceptual level, address different approaches to investigate beliefs, highlight the role of student beliefs in problem-solving activities, and discuss teacher beliefs and their significance for professional development. One specific intention is to consider expertise from colleagues in the fields of educational research and psychology, side by side with perspectives provided by researchers from mathematics education.     

Edges and switches,tunnels and bridges

Edge casing is a well-known method to improve the readability of drawings of non-planar graphs. A cased drawing orders the edges of each edge crossing and interrupts the lower edge in an appropriate neighborhood of the crossing. Certain orders will lead to a more readable drawing than others. We formulate several optimization criteria that try to capture the concept of a “good” cased drawing. Further, we address the algorithmic question of how to turn a given drawing into an optimal cased drawing. For many of the resulting optimization problems, we either find polynomial time algorithms or NP-hardness results.     

Polytopes and arrangements: Diameter and curvature

We introduce a continuous analogue of the Hirsch conjecture and a discrete analogue of the result of Dedieu, Malajovich and Shub. We prove a continuous analogue of the result of Holt and Klee, namely, we construct a family of polytopes which attain the conjectured order of the largest total curvature.     

Diversity and Popularity in Organizations and Communities

This paper examines social groupings whose structure depends only on the distribution of ability to attract attention. When people‘s attention is a scarce resource, those individuals who are rated highest by a large number of other individuals will have to ration their attention, resulting in constraints on the social structure of the group. The incidence of popular individuals by that definition reflects the extent to which individuals agree on who their highest-rated colleague is. We propose three basic distributions or ways to generate the matrix of perceived ability so as to yield popularity profiles that can be parametrically adjusted to match observations. We demonstrate that each of these assumption sets leads to a slightly different correlation between the value of the assumption‘s parameter and the set of observable popularity patterns. Since popularity, in real life, often determines such things as power, centrality, over-utilization and perhaps reduced accessibility, having more realistic ways of representing it is important for modeling and understanding virtual organizations and communities.     

Proper and Unit Trapezoid Orders and Graphs

We show that the class of trapezoid orders in which no trapezoid strictly contains any other trapezoid strictly contains the class of trapezoid orders in which every trapezoid can be drawn with unit area. This is different from the case of interval orders, where the class of proper interval orders is exactly the same as the class of unit interval orders.     

微言要义之数列的上下极限

本文分别从语义,数学和教学三个方面讨论上下极限与极限概念之间的差别和联系,以求厘清差别,透彻理解上下极限概念的本质.     

Competition and Cooperation between Manufacturer and Retailer

We assume that each manufacturer decides his price to the tradeand that retailers set their prices in the light of the manufacturer'sprices. We consider two hypotheses about the way in which eachmakes his decision. In the absence of cooperation, the retailerchooses a price (as a function of the trade price) which willmaximize the retail profit. The manufacturer takes this intoaccount in determining his price to maximize his profit. Ifthey cooperate (which may be illegal), they agree to a retailprice which maximizes their joint profit. The trade price isset via a discussion on how the profit is to be split betweenthem. It is clear that the cooperative profit cannot be lessthan the non-cooperative profit. In at least one set of circumstancesthe non-cooperative solution yields a smaller profit for theretailer than the manufacturer, which means that the latteris in a weak position with respect to bargaining over the additionalprofits from cooperation. More surprising is our main resultthat, for some response functions, cooperative prices are lowerand sales volumes are higher under cooperation. Examples tobe examined in detail are: (a) single manufacturer and singleretailer; (b) several manufacturers and a single retailer (ora group of identical retailers) with a linear symmetric price-volumerelationship.     

Navier and Stokes meet Poincare and Dulac

This paper surveys various precise (long-time) asymptotic results for the solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations with potential forces in bounded domains. It turns out that the asymptotic expansion leads surprisingly to a kind of Poincare-Dulac normal form of the Navier-Stokes equations. We will also discuss some related results and a few open issues.     

Extension and Lifting of Operators and Polynomials

We study the problem of extension and lifting of operators belonging to certain operator ideals, as well as that of their associated polynomials and holomorphic functions. Our results provide a characterization of ${\mathcal{L}_1}$ and ${\mathcal{L}_\infty}$ -spaces that includes and extends those of Lindenstrauss-Rosenthal [32] using compact operators and González-Gutiérrez [23] using compact polynomials. We display several examples to show the difference between extending and lifting compact (resp. weakly compact, unconditionally convergent, separable and Rosenthal) operators to operators of the same type. Finally, we show the previous results in a homological perspective, which helps the interested reader to understand the motivations and nature of the results presented.     

Bloch and normal functions and their relation

Following a brief introduction to Bloch and normal functions, several conditions, including a convergence theorem, are shown for determining them. In addition, since an exponential of any constant multiple of a Bloch function is always normal, we investigate whether or not the converse holds, and construct an example of a non-Bloch function such that the exponential of any constant multiple of it is normal.     

Planar and infinite hypohamiltonian and hypotraceable graphs

Chvátal raised the question whether or not planar hypohamiltonian graphs exist and Grünbaum conjectured the nonexistence of such graphs. We shall describe an infinite class of planar hypohamiltonian graphs and infinite classes of planar hypotraceable graphs of connectivity two (resp. three). Infinite hypohamiltonian (resp. htpotraceable) graphs are also described. It is shown how the study of infinite hypotraceable graphs leads to a new infinite family of finite hypotraceable graphs.     

On T-spaces and related concepts and results

This paper is a brief survey of the T-space concept and related results. A connection between T-spaces and so-called varieties of pairs, analogous to the connection between T-ideals and varieties of algebras, is established. The concepts of A-equivalency and T-equivalency are introduced, after which some applications are considered.     

Three- and Four-Dimensional Einstein-like Manifolds and Homogeneity

The aim of this paper is to study three- and four-dimensional Einstein-like Riemannian manifolds which are Ricci-curvature homogeneous, that is, have constant Ricci eigenvalues. In the three-dimensional case, we present the complete classification of these spaces while, in the four-dimensional case, this classification is obtained in the special case where the manifold is locally homogeneous. We also present explicit examples of four-dimensional locally homogeneous Riemannian manifolds whose Ricci tensor is cyclic-parallel (that is, are of type A) and has distinct eigenvalues. These examples are invalidating an expectation stated by F. Podestá and A. Spiro, and illustrating a striking contrast with the three-dimensional case (where this situation cannot occur). Finally, we also investigate the relation between three- and four-dimensional Einstein-like manifolds of type A and D'Atri spaces, that is, Riemannian manifolds whose geodesic symmetries are volume-preserving (up to sign).     

Fuzzy programming and profit and cost allocation for a production and transportation problem

In this paper, we deal with a real problem on production and transportation in a housing material manufacturer, and consider a production and transportation planning under the assumption that the manufacturer makes multiple products at factories in multiple regions and the products are in demand in each of the regions. First, we formulate mixed zero–one programming problems such that the cost of production and transportation is minimized subject to capacities of factories and demands of regions. Second, to realize stable production and satisfactory supply of the products in fuzzy environments, fuzzy programming for the production and transportation problem is incorporated. Finally, under the optimal planning of production and transportation, we show a profit and cost allocation by applying a solution concept from game theory. Using actual data, we show usefulness of the fuzzy programming and a rational allocation scheme of the profit and cost.     

Classical and Exceptional Root Systems and Quantizations

We present a method for quantizing semisimple Lie algebras. In Huru (Russ. Math. [2007]) we defined quantizations of the braided Lie algebra structure on a finite dimensional graded vector space V by quantizations of braided derivations on the exterior algebra of V ^* . We find quantizations of semisimple Lie algebras in this setting using the grading by their roots and shall go through all root systems, classical and exceptional.