Are All Uniform Algebras Amnm?

A Banach algebra a is AMNM if whenever a linear functional on a and a positive number satisfy |(ab)–(a)(b)|||a||·||b||for all a, b a, there is a multiplicative linear functional on a such that ||–||=o(1) as 0. K. Jarosz [1] asked whetherevery Banach algebra, or every uniform algebra, is AMNM. B.E. Johnson [3] studied the AMNM property and constructed a commutativesemisimple Banach algebra that is not AMNM. In this note weconstruct uniform algebras that are not AMNM. 1991 MathematicsSubject Classification 46J10.     

Coincidence and The Colouring of Maps

In [8, 6] it was shown that for each k and n such that 2k >n, there exists a contractible k-dimensional complex Y and acontinuous map : Sⁿ Y without the antipodal coincidence property,that is, (x)(–x) for all x Sⁿ. In this paper it is shownthat for each k and n such that 2k > n, and for each fixed-pointfree homeomorphism f of an n-dimensional paracompact Hausdorffspace X onto itself, there is a contractible k-dimensional complexY and a continuous map :X Y such that (x)(f(x)) for all xX.Various results along these lines are obtained. 1991 MathematicsSubject Classication 55M10, 54C05.     

A Continually Descending Endomorphism of a Finitely Generated Residually Finite Group

Let :GG be an endomorphism of a finitely generated residuallyfinite group. R. Hirshon asked if there exists n such that therestriction of to ⁿ(G) is injective. We give an example toshow that this is not always the case. 1991 Mathematics SubjectClassification 20E26.     

A Schwarz Lemma for the Symmetrized Bidisc

Let be an analytic function from D to the symmetrized bidisc We show that if (0) = (0,0) and () = (s, p) in the interiorof , then Moreover, the inequality is sharp: we give an explicit formulafor a suitable in the event that the inequality holds withequality. We show further that the inverse hyperbolic tangentof the left-hand side of the inequality is equal to both theCaratheodory distance and the Kobayashi distance from (0,0)to (s, p) in int      

On the Behaviour of the First Eigenfunction of the p-Laplacian Near its Critical Points

In this paper, the behaviour of the positive eigenfunction of in u_| = 0, p > 1, isstudied near its critical points. Under some convexity and symmetryassumptions on , is seen to have a unique critical point atx = 0; also, the behaviour of both and is determined nearby.Positive solutions u to some general problems –_pu = f(u)in , u_| = 0, are also considered, with some convexity restrictionson u. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification 35B05 (primary),35J65, 35J70 (secondary).     

Approximation of Ground State Eigenvalues and Eigenfunctions of Dirichlet Laplacians

Let be a bounded connected open set in R^N, N 2, and let –0be the Dirichlet Laplacian defined in L²(). Let > 0 be thesmallest eigenvalue of –, and let > 0 be its correspondingeigenfunction, normalized by ||||₂ = 1. For sufficiently small>0 we let R() be a connected open subset of satisfying Let – 0 be the Dirichlet Laplacian on R(), and let >0and >0 be its ground state eigenvalue and ground state eigenfunction,respectively, normalized by ||||₂=1. For functions f definedon , we let Sf denote the restriction of f to R(). For functionsg defined on R(), we let Tg be the extension of g to satisfying 1991 Mathematics SubjectClassification 47F05.     

Extremal Properties of Contraction Semigroups on Hilbert and Banach Spaces

Let f be a unit vector and T = {T(t) = e^tA: t 0} be a (C₀)contraction semigroup generated by A on a complex Hilbert spaceX. If |T(t)f,f| 1 as t then f is an eigenvector of A correspondingto a purely imaginary eigenvalue. If one allows X to be a Banachspace, the same situation can be considered by replacing T(t)f,fby (T(t)f) where is a unit vector in X^* dual to f. If |(T(t)f)| 1, as t , is f an eigenvector of A? The answer is sometimesyes and sometimes no.     

The Dirichlet problem by variational methods

Let ^N be a bounded open set and C( ). Assume that has an extensionC() such that H^–1().Then by the Riesz representation theorem there exists a unique

We show that u+ coincides with the Perron solutionof the Dirichlet problem

This extends recent results by Hildebrandt [Math. Nachr. 278(2005), 141–144] and Simader [Math. Nachr. 279 (2006),415–430], and also gives a possible answer to Hadamard'sobjection against Dirichlet's principle.     

Asymptotically Almost Periodic Solutions of Inhomogeneous Cauchy Problems on The Half-Line

Let u be a bounded, uniformly continuous, mild solution of aninhomogeneous Cauchy problem on R₊: u'(t)+Au(t)+(t)(t0). Supposethat u has uniformly convergent means, (A)iR is countable, and is asymptotically almost periodic. Then u is asymptoticallyalmost periodic. Related results have been obtained by Ruessand V, and by Basit, using different methods. A direct proofis given of a Tauberian theorem of Batty, van Neerven and Räbiger,and applications to Volterra equations are discussed. 1991 MathematicsSubject Classification 34C28, 44A10, 47D03.     

Correction: on the Intersection Matrices of Curves lying on Irregular Algebraic Surfaces

Professor W. F. Hammond has kindly drawn my attention to a blunderin 4 of the above paper. He referred to the ( – 2r) xß submatrix D of the skew-symmetric matrix displayednear the top of page 181, of which it is asserted that it issquare and non-singular, and pointed out that, from the factthat the matrix of which D forms part is regular, it may onlybe deduced that the columns of D are linearly independent; thatis, it only follows that – 2r ß. The validity of the equation – 2r = ß is essentialto the succeeding argument and, fortunately, may be establishedby alternative means. Using the nomenclature of the paper, wehave on F the set ₁^*, ..., _2r^*, ₁^*, ..., _ß^* of independent3-cycles (independent because they cut independent 1-cycleson the curve C), which may be completed, to form a basis forsuch cycles on F, by a further set ₁', ..., _2q–2r–pof independent 3-cycles, each of which meets C in a cycle homologousto zero on C. The cycles ₁^*, ..., ^* are invariant cycles andare independent on F so that, if > 2r + ß, thereis a non-trivial linear combination ^* of these having zero intersectionon C with each of the cycles ₁^*, ..., _2r^*, ₁^*, ..., _ß^*.Thus we have. (^* ._k^*)c = 0 = (^* ._i^*)c i.e. (^* ._k^*) = 0 = (^* ._i^* on F (1 k 2r; 1 i ß). Furthermore, (_j . C) 0 on C and we have (^* ._j .C)_C = 0 i.e. (^* ._j) = 0 on F (1 j 2q – 2r – ß). It now follows that ^* 0 on F (for it has zero intersectionwith every member of a basic set of 3-cycles on F). But thiscondradicts the assumption that ^* is a non-trivial linear combinationof the independent cycles ₁^*, ...,^*; and hence < 2r + ß.     

Elliptic Problems Involving Phase Boundaries Satisfying a Curvature Condition

Two theorems related to equilibrium free-boundary problems arepresented. One arises as a time-independent solution to thephase-field equations. The other is the relevant time-independentproblem for the Stefan model, modified for the surface tensioneffect. It also serves as a preliminary result for the phase-fieldformulation. Under appropriate conditions, we prove that, givenan appropriate positive constant and a smooth function u: R;,where is an annular domain in R², there exists a curve suchthat u(x)=—K(x) for all x , where K is the curvature.Using this result, we prove the existence of solutions to O=²+ ?(—³) + 2u that have a transition layer behaviour (from=—1 to =+1) for small and make the transition on thecurve . This proves there exist solutions to the phase fieldmodel that satisfy a Gibbs-Thompson relation.     

Relation Modules of Infinite Groups

Let F_n be the free group of rank n with basis x₁, x₂, ..., x_n,and let d(G) denote the minimal number of generators of thefinitely generated group G. Suppose that n d(G). There existsan exact sequence and wemay view the free abelian group as a right ZG-module by defining (rR')^g = r^g–1R' for allg G, where g^–1 is any preimage of g under , and = (g^–1)^–1 r(g^–1),the conjugate of r by g^–1. We call the relation module of G associated with the presentation(1), and say that has ambient rank n. Furthermore, we call the group F_n/R' the free abelianizedextension of G associated with (1). 1991 Mathematics SubjectClassification 20F05, 20C07.     

A Classification of Horizontally Homothetic Submersions from Space Forms of Nonnegative Curvature

In this paper, it is proved that for n 2, any horizontallyhomothetic submersion : Rⁿ⁺¹ (Nⁿ, h) is a Riemannian submersionup to a homothety. It is also shown that if : Sⁿ⁺¹ (Nⁿ, h)is a horizontally homothetic submersion, then n = 2m, (Nⁿ, h)is isometric to CP^m and, up to a homothety, is a standard Hopffibration S^2m+1 CP^m. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification53C20, 53C12.     

A Comparison Estimate for the Heat Equation with an Application to the Heat Content of the S-Adic Von Koch Snowflake

Let D be an open set in Euclidean space R^m with boundary D,and let :D[0, ) be a bounded, measurable function. Let u:DDx[0,)[0, ) be the unique weak solution of the heat equation [formula] with initial condition [formula] and with inhomogeneous Dirichlet boundary condition [formula] Then u(x; t) represents the temperature at a point xD at timet if D has initial temperature 0, while the temperature at apoint xD is kept fixed at (x) for all t>0. We define thetotal heat content (or energy) in D at time t by [formula] In this paper we wish to examine the effect of imposing additionalcooling on some subset C on both u and E_D. 1991 MathematicsSubject Classification 35K05, 60J65, 28A80.     

Analytic Discs Attached From the Outside Have Knotted Boundaries

Let be a pseudoconvex domain in C² with smooth boundary, andlet be a smooth embedded analytic disc intersecting transversally along the curve A. Then A isknotted in . 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification 32U99.     

Packing, Tiling, Orthogonality and Completeness

Let R^d be an open set of measure 1. An open set DR^d is calleda ‘tight orthogonal packing region’ for if D–Ddoes not intersect the zeros of the Fourier transform of theindicator function of , and D has measure 1. Suppose that isa discrete subset of R^d. The main contribution of this paperis a new way of proving the following result: D tiles R^d whentranslated at the locations if and only if the set of exponentialsE = {exp 2i, x: } is an orthonormal basis for L²(). (This resulthas been proved by different methods by Lagarias, Reeds andWang [9] and, in the case of being the cube, by Iosevich andPedersen [3]. When is the unit cube in R^d, it is a tight orthogonalpacking region of itself.) In our approach, orthogonality ofE is viewed as a statement about ‘packing’ R^d withtranslates of a certain non-negative function and, additionally,we have completeness of E in L²() if and only if the above-mentionedpacking is in fact a tiling. We then formulate the tiling conditionin Fourier analytic language, and use this to prove our result.2000 Mathematics Subject Classification 52C22, 42B99, 11K70.     

Choquet Integrals, Hausdorff Content and the Hardy-Littlewood Maximal Operator

Using the BMO-H¹ duality (among other things), D. R. Adams provedin [1] the strong type inequality whereC is some positive constant independent of f. Here M is theHardy–Littlewood maximal operator in Rⁿ, H is the -dimensionalHausdorff content, and the integrals are taken in the Choquetsense. The Choquet integral of 0 with respect to a set functionC is defined by Precise definitionsof M and H will be given below. For an application of (1) tothe Sobolev space W^{1, 1} (Rⁿ), see [1, p. 114]. The purpose of this note is to provide a self-contained, directproof of a result more general than (1). 1991 Mathematics SubjectClassification 28A12, 28A25, 42B25.     

On the Ranges of Eigenfunctions on Compact Manifolds

The aim of this note is to give a sharp upper bound on the ratio [formula] where is a nonconstant eigenfunction for the Laplace–Beltramioperator on a connected compact Riemannian manifold withoutboundary. This ratio is always positive, since max>0 andmin<0 for every nonconstant eigenfunction. We assume thatmax–min, in order to simplify the notation. For the caseof a two-dimensional manifold with nonnegative Ricci curvature,our theorem implies that the above ratio is less than the ratioof the maximum divided by the absolute value of the minimumof the Bessel function of order zero. The proof is based on a gradient estimate from a previous paperof the author (see [5]), which in turn was proved using themaximum principle technique. In contrast to the standard applicationsof gradient estimates, which are based on integration alonggeodesics, we arrive at a contradiction by integrating the gradientestimate over small spheres centred at a point where the absolutevalue of the eigenfunction attains its maximum. The main motivation for our work is that the ratio of the maximumand the minimum of an eigenfunction plays a role in estimatesof the corresponding eigenvalues (see [5] and [7]). More precisely,our theorem implies that there are minimizing sequences of compactmanifolds such that the first eigenvalues of the manifolds approachthe corresponding lower bound for the first eigenvalue obtainedin [5, Theorem 2] for every possible ratio of the maximum andthe minimum of the corresponding eigenfunction. 1991 MathematicsSubject Classification 58G25.     

Cardinal Invariants and Eventually Different Functions

In this paper we study several kinds of maximal almost disjointfamilies. In the main result of this paper we show that forsuccessor cardinals , there is an unexpected connection betweeninvariants a_e(), b() and a certain cardinal invariant m_d(⁺)on ⁺. As a corollary we get for example the following result.For a successor cardinal , even assuming that ^< = and 2= ⁺, the following is not provable in Zermelo–Fraenkelset theory. There is a ⁺-cc poset which does not collapse andwhich forces a() = ⁺ < a_e() = ⁺⁺ = 2. We also apply the ideasfrom the proofs of these results to study a = a() and non(M).2000 Mathematics Subject Classification 03E17 (primary), 03E05(secondary).     

Examples of Non-Homeomorphic Harmonic Maps Between Negatively Curved Manifolds

Let M and N be closed non-positively curved manifolds, and letf:MN be a smooth map. Results of Eells and Sampson [1] showthat f is homotopic to a harmonic map , and Hartman [6] showedthat this is unique when N is negatively curved and f_*(₁ M)is not cyclic. Lawson and Yau conjectured that if f:MN is ahomotopy equivalence, where M and N are negatively curved, thenthe unique harmonic map homotopic to f would be a diffeomorphism.Counterexamples to this conjecture appeared in [2], and laterin [7] and [5]. There remains the question of whether a ‘topological’Lawson–Yau conjecture holds. 1991 Mathematics SubjectClassification 53C20, 55P10, 57C25, 58E20.