Tjurina and Milnor Numbers of Matrix Singularities

To gain understanding of the deformations of determinants andPfaffians resulting from deformations of matrices, the deformationtheory of composites f F with isolated singularities is studied,where f : YC is a function with (possibly non-isolated) singularityand F : XY is a map into the domain of f, and F only is deformed.The corresponding T¹(F) is identified as (something like) thecohomology of a derived functor, and a canonical long exactsequence is constructed from which it follows that = µ(f F) – ß₀ + ß₁, where is the length of T¹(F) and ß_i is the lengthof Tor_i^O_Y(O_Y/J_f, O_X). This explains numerical coincidences observedin lists of simple matrix singularities due to Bruce, Tari,Goryunov, Zakalyukin and Haslinger. When f has Cohen–Macaulaysingular locus (for example when f is the determinant function),relations between and the rank of the vanishing homology ofthe zero locus of f F are obtained.     

Exceptional Functions and Normality

Yang proved in [10] that if f and f^(k) have no fix-points forevery fF, where F is a family of meromorphic functions in adomain G and k a fixed integer, then F is normal in G. In thispaper we prove normality for families F for which every fF omits₁ and f^(k) omits ₂, where ₁ and ₂ are analytic functions with. 1991 Mathematics SubjectClassification 30D35, 30D45.     

Lower Bounds for the Lp-Norm in Terms of the Mellin Transform

Given a measurable function f on (0, ) with Mellin transformF(s), let |f|_p denote the L^p-norm of f with respect to the measuredx/x. We prove that under certain assumptions, for instanceif f is real and non-negative and F() converges for in an openinterval and F() 0, then wherec_p (2e)^–1. We derive similar inequalities for complex-valuedf, for the L^p-norm of the derivative of f, and for the supremumof real-valued f and of its derivative. The lower bounds areeminently applicable when f is a convolution product.     

Complex Dynamics of Convergence Acceleration

Generalized Steffensen methods are nonderivative algorithmsfor the computation of fixed points of a function f. They replacethe functional iteration Z_m+1=f(Z_m) with Z_m+1=F_n(Z_m, where F_nis explicitly provided for every n 1 as a quotient of two Hankeldeterminants. In this paper we derive rules pertaining to thelocal behaviour of these methods. Specifically, and subjectto analyticity, given that is a bounded fixed point of f, thenit is also a fixed point of F_n. Moreover, unless f'() vanishesor is a root of unity, becomes a superattractive fixed pointof F_n of degree n; if f'() is a root of unity of minimal degreeq2, then is (as a fixed point of F_n) superattractive of degreemin {q-1, n}; if f'()=1, then is attractive for F_n; and, finally,if is superattractive of degree s (as a fixed point of f),then it becomes superattractive of degree (s + 1)^n–1(ns+ s + 1)–1. Attractivity rules change at infinity (providedthat f()=). Broadly speaking, infinity becomes less attractivefor F_n, Since one is interested in convergence to finite fixedpoints, this further enhances the appeal of generalized Steffensenmethods.     

The Bicanonical Map of Surfaces with pg = 0 and K2 >= 7, II

Minimal complex surfaces of general type with p_g = 0 and K²= 7 or 8 whose bicanonical map is not birational are studied.It is shown that if S is such a surface, then the bicanonicalmap has degree 2 (see Bulletin of the London Mathematical Society33 (2001) 1–10) and there is a fibration f: S P¹ suchthat (i) the general fibre F of f is a genus 3 hyperellipticcurve; (ii) the involution induced by the bicanonical map ofS restricts to the hyperelliptic involution of F. Furthermore, if , then f isan isotrivial fibration with six double fibres, and if , then f has five double fibres andit has precisely one fibre with reducible support, consistingof two components. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification 14J29.     

Canonical curves in P3

Let Hilb^6t–3(P³) be the Hilbert scheme of closed 1-dimensionalsubschemes of degree 6 and arithmetic genus 4 in P³. Let H bethe component of Hilb^6t–3(P³) whose generic point correspondsto a canonical curve, that is, a complete intersection of aquadric and a cubic surface in P³. Let F be the vector spaceof linear forms in the variables z₁, z₂, z₃, z₄. Denote by F_dthe vector space of homogeneous forms of degree d. Set X = (f₂,f₃)where f₂ P(F₂) is a quadric surface, and f₃ P(F₃/f₂ ·F) is a cubic modulo f₂. Wehave a rational map, : X ... Hdefined by (f₂,f₃) f₂ f₃. It fails to be regular along thelocus where f₂ and f₃ acquire a common linear component. Ourmain result gives an explicit resolution of the indeterminaciesof as well as of the singularities of H. 2000 Mathematical Subject Classification: 14C05, 14N05, 14N10,14N15.     

Hypersurface Singularities with 2-Dimensional Critical Locus

Consider an analytic germ f:(C^m, 0)(C, 0) (m3) whose criticallocus is a 2-dimensional complete intersection with an isolatedsingularity (icis). We prove that the homotopy type of the Milnorfiber of f is a bouquet of spheres, provided that the extendedcodimension of the germ f is finite. This result generalizesthe cases when the dimension of the critical locus is zero [8],respectively one [12]. Notice that if the critical locus isnot an icis, then the Milnor fiber, in general, is not homotopicallyequivalent to a wedge of spheres. For example, the Milnor fiberof the germ f:(C⁴, 0)(C, 0), defined by f(x₁, x₂, x₃, x₄) =x₁x₂x₃x₄ has the homotopy type of S¹xS¹xS¹. On the other hand,the finiteness of the extended codimension seems to be the rightgeneralization of the isolated singularity condition; see forexample [9–12, 17, 18]. In the last few years different types of ‘bouquet theorems’have appeared. Some of them deal with germs f:(X, x)(C, 0) wheref defines an isolated singularity. In some cases, similarlyto the Milnor case [8], F has the homotopy type of a bouquetof (dim X–1)-spheres, for example when X is an icis [2],or X is a complete intersection [5]. Moreover, in [13] Siersmaproved that F has a bouquet decomposition FF₀Sⁿ...Sⁿ (whereF₀ is the complex link of (X, x)), provided that both (X, x)and f have an isolated singularity. Actually, Siersma conjecturedand Tibr proved [16] a more general bouquet theorem for thecase when (X, x) is a stratified space and f defines an isolatedsingularity (in the sense of the stratified spaces). In thiscase F_iF_i, where the F_i are repeated suspensions of complexlinks of strata of X. (If (X, x) has the ‘Milnor property’,then the result has been proved by Lê; for details see[6].) In our situation, the space-germ (X, x) is smooth, but f hasbig singular locus. Surprisingly, for dim Sing f^–1(0)2,the Milnor fiber is again a bouquet (actually, a bouquet ofspheres, maybe of different dimensions). This result is in thespirit of Siersma's paper [12], where dim Sing f^–1(0)= 1. In that case, there is only a rather small topologicalobstruction for the Milnor fiber to be homotopically equivalentto a bouquet of spheres (as explained in Corollary 2.4). Inthe present paper, we attack the dim Sing f^–1(0) = 2 case.In our investigation some results of Zaharia are crucial [17,18].     

Sums of Connectivity Functions on Rn

A function f: Rⁿ R is a connectivity function if the graphof its restriction f|C to any connected C Rⁿ is connected inRⁿ x R. The main goal of this paper is to prove that every functionf: Rⁿ R is a sum of n + 1 connectivity functions (Corollary2.2). We will also show that if n > 1, then every functiong: Rⁿ R which is a sum of n connectivity functions is continuouson some perfect set (see Theorem 2.5) which implies that thenumber n + 1 in our theorem is best possible (Corollary 2.6). Toprove the above results, we establish and then apply the followingtheorems which are of interest on their own. For every dense G-subset G of Rⁿ there are homeomorphisms h₁,..., h_n of Rⁿ such that Rⁿ = G h₁(G) ... h_n(G) (Proposition2.4). For every n > 1 and any connectivity function f: Rⁿ R, ifx Rⁿ and > 0 then there exists an open set U Rⁿ such thatx U Bⁿ(x, ), f|bd(U) is continuous, and |(x) – f(y)|< for every y bd(U) (Proposition 2.7). 1991 MathematicsSubject Classification: 26B40, 54C30, 54F45.     

Antisupercyclic Operators and Orbits of the Volterra Operator

We say that a bounded linear operator T acting on a Banach spaceB is antisupercyclic if for any x B either Tⁿx = 0 for somepositive integer n or the sequence {Tⁿx/||Tⁿx||} weakly convergesto zero in B. Antisupercyclicity of T means that the angle criterionof supercyclicity is not satisfied for T in the strongest possibleway. Normal antisupercyclic operators and antisupercyclic bilateralweighted shifts are characterized. As for the Volterra operator V, it is proved that if 1 p and any f L_p [0,1] then the limit lim_n (n!||Vⁿf||_p)^1/n doesexist and equals 1 – inf supp (f). Upon using this asymptoticformula it is proved that the operator V acting on the Banachspace L_p[0,1] is antisupercyclic for any p (1,). The same statementfor p = 1 or p = is false. The analogous results are provedfor operators when the real part of z C is positive.     

Tangential Boundary Behaviour of Harmonic and Holomorphic Functions

Let K be a kernel on Rⁿ, that is, K is a non-negative, unboundedL¹ function that is radially symmetric and decreasing. We definethe convolution K * F by and note from L^p-capacity theory [11, Theorem 3] that, if F L^p, p > 1, then K * F exists as a finite Lebesgue integraloutside a set A Rⁿ with C_K,p(A) = 0. For a Borel set A, where We define the Poisson kernel for = {(x, y) : x Rⁿ, y > 0} by and set Thus u is the Poisson integral of the potential f = K * F, andwe write u=P_y*(K*F)=P_y*f=P[f]. We are concerned here with the limiting behaviour of such harmonicfunctions at boundary points of , and in particular with the tangential boundary behaviour ofthese functions, outside exceptional sets of capacity zero orHausdorff content zero.     

Isomorphisms of Group Algebras

Let G₁ and G₂ be locally compact groups. If T is an algebraisomorphism of L¹(G₁) onto L¹(G₂) with ||T|| (1+3), then G₁and G₂ are isomorphic. This improves on earlier results, and,in a certain sense, is best possible. However, the main conjecturethat the groups are isomorphic if ||T|| < 2 remains unsolvedexcept for abelian groups and for connected groups. Similarresults are given for the measure algebra M(G) and for the algebraC(G) of continuous functions when the group G is compact.     

The Isolated Points of G{rho} and the w*-Strongly Exposed Points of P{rho}(G)0

Let G be a separable locally compact group and let be its dualspace with Fell's topology. It is well known that the set P(G)of continuous positive-definite functions on G can be identifiedwith the set of positive linear functionals on the group C^*-algebraC^*(G). We show that if is discrete in , then there exists anonzero positive-definite function associated with such that is a w^*-strongly exposed point of P(G)₀, where P(G)₀={f P(G):f(e)1. Conversely, if some nonzero positive-definite function associatedwith is a w^*-strongly exposed point of P(G)₀, then is isolatedin . Consequently, G is compact if and only if, for every ,there exists a nonzero positive-definite function associatedwith that is a w^*-strongly exposed point of P(G)₀. If, in addition,G is unimodular and , then is isolated in if and only if somenonzero positive-definite function associated with is a w^*-stronglyexposed point of P(G)₀, where is the left regular representationof G and is the reduced dual space of G. We prove that if B(G)has the Radon–Nikodym property, then the set of isolatedpoints of (so square-integrable if G is unimodular) is densein . It is also proved that if G is a separable SIN-group, thenG is amenable if and only if there exists a closed point in. In particular, for a countable discrete non-amenable groupG (for example the free group F₂ on two generators), there isno closed point in its reduced dual space .     

On Semihereditary Maximal Orders

Let A be an order integral over a valuation ring V in a centralsimple F-algebra, where F is the fraction field of V. We showthat (a) if (V^h, F^h) is the Henselization of (V, F), then Ais a semihereditary maximal order if and only if A_VV^h is a semihereditarymaximal order, generalizing the result by Haile, Morandi andWadsworth, and (b) if J(V) is a principal ideal of V, then asemihereditary V-order is an intersection of finitely many conjugatesemihereditary maximal orders; if not, then there is only onemaximal order containing the V-order. 1991 Mathematics SubjectClassification 16H05.     

On the Fredholm Alternative for the p-Laplacian in One Dimension

We investigate the existence of a weak solution u to the quasilineartwo-point boundary value problem We assume that 1 < p < p ¬ = 2, 0 < a < , andthat f L¹(0,a) is a given function. The number _k stands forthe k-th eigenvalue of the one-dimensional p-Laplacian. Let_{p p} x/a) denote the eigenfunction associated with ₁; then _p(k_p x/a) is the eigenfunction associated with _k. We show the existenceof solutions to (P) in the following cases. (i) When k=1 and f satisfies the orthogonality condition the set of solutions is bounded. (ii) If k=1 and f_t L¹(0,a) is a continuous family parametrizedby t [0,1], with then there exists some t^* [0,1] such that (P) has a solutionfor f = f_t^*. Moreover, an appropriate choice of t_* yields asolution u with an arbitrarily large L¹(0,a)-norm which meansthat such f cannot be orthogonal to _pp x/a. (iii) When k 2 and f satisfies a set of orthogonality conditionsto _p(k p x/a) on the subintervals , again, the set of solutions is bounded. is a continuous family satisfying either or another related condition, then there exists some t^* [0,1]such that (P) has a solution for f = f_t*. Prüfer's transformation plays the key role in our proofs.2000 Mathematical Subject Classification: primary 34B16, 47J10;secondary 34L40, 47H30.     

The Hausdorff Dimension of Julia Sets of Meromorphic Functions II

A family of transcendental meromorphic functions, f_p(z), p N is considered. It is shown that, if p 6, then the Hausdorffdimension of the Julia set of f_p satisfies dim J(f_p) 1/p, for0 < < 1/6^p, and dim J(f_p) 1–(30 ln ln p/ln p),for p^4p–1/10⁵ ln p < < p^4p–1/10⁴ ln p. Theseresults are used elsewhere to show that, for each d (0, 1),there exists a transcendental meromorphic function for whichdim J(f) = d.     

Normal Families and Shared Values

For f a meromorphic function on the plane domain D and a C,let _f(a) = {z D: f(z) = a}. Let F be a family of meromorphicfunctions on D, all of whose zeros are of multiplicity at leastk. If there exist b 0 and h > 0 such that for every f F,_f(0) = _f^(k)(b) and 0 < |f^(k+1)(z)| h whenever z _f(0), thenF is a normal family on D. The case _f(0) = Ø is a celebratedresult of Gu [5]. 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification 30D45,30D35.     

On approximation theorems for controllability of non-linear parabolic problems

^** Email: anil{at}math.iitb.ac.in^*** Email: mcj{at}math.iitb.ac.in^**** Email: akp{at}math.iitb.ac.in In this paper, we consider the following control system governedby the non-linear parabolic differential equation of the form: [graphic: see PDF] where A is a linear operator with dense domain and f(t, y)is a non-linear function. We have proved that under Lipschitzcontinuity assumption on the non-linear function f(t, y), theset of admissible controls is non-empty. The optimal pair (u^*,y^*) is then obtained as the limit of the optimal pair sequence{(u_n^*, y_n^*)}, where u_n^* is a minimizer of the unconstrainedproblem involving a penalty function arising from the controllabilityconstraint and y_n^* is the solution of the parabolic non-linearsystem defined above. Subsequently, we give approximation theoremswhich guarantee the convergence of the numerical schemes tooptimal pair sequence. We also present numerical experimentwhich shows the applicability of our result.     

The gradient iteration for approximation in reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces

Consider the bounded linear operator, L: F Z, where Z R^N andF are Hilbert spaces defined on a common field X. L is madeup of a series of N bounded linear evaluation functionals, L_i:F R. By the Riesz representation theorem, there exist functionsk(x_i, ^·) F : L_if = f, k(x_i, ^·)_F. The functions,k(x_i, ^·), are known as reproducing kernels and F is areproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS). This is a natural frameworkfor approximating functions given a discrete set of observations.In this paper the computational aspects of characterizing suchapproximations are described and a gradient method presentedfor iterative solution. Such iterative solutions are desirablewhen N is large and the matrix computations involved in thebasic solution become infeasible. This is also exactly the casewhere the problem becomes ill-conditioned. An iterative approachto Tikhonov regularization is therefore also introduced. Unlikeiterative solutions for the more general Hilbert space setting,the proofs presented make use of the spectral representationof the kernel.     

A Geometric Invariant for Metabelian Pro-p Groups

In [2] Bieri and Strebel introduced a geometric invariant forfinitely generated abstract metabelian groups that determineswhich groups are finitely presented. For a valuable survey oftheir results, see [6]; we recall the definition briefly inSection 4. We shall introduce a similar invariant for pro-pgroups. Let F be the algebraic closure of F_p and U be the formal powerseries algebra F[T], with group of units U^x. Let Q be a finitelygenerated abelian pro-p group. We write Z_p[Q] for the completedgroup algebra of Q over Z_p. Let T(Q) be the abelian group Hom(Q,U^x) of continuous homomorphisms from Q to U^x. We write 1 forthe trivial homomorphism. Each vT(Q) extends to a unique continuousalgebra homomorphism from Z_p[Q]to U.     

Best Approximation in an Asymmetrically Weighted L1 Measure

Let f(x) be a given, real-valued, continuous function definedon an interval [a,b]of the real line. Given a set of m real-valued,continuous functions _j(x) defined on [a,b], a linear approximatingfunction can be formed with any real setA = {a₁, a₂,..., a_m}. We present results for determining A sothat F(A, x) is a best approximation to(x) when the measureof goodness of approximation is a weighted sum of |F(A, x)–f(x)|,the weights being positive constants, w, when F(A, x) f(x)and w2 otherwise (when w, = w2 = 1, the measure is the L₁, norm).The results are derived from a linear programming formulationof the problem. In particular, we give a theorem which shows when such bestapproximations interpolate the function at fixed ordinates whichare independent of f(x). We show how the fixed points can becalculated and we present numerical results to indicate thatthe theorem is quite robust.