Mean First-passage Times for a <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-out-of-<Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis> Sytem with Repair

Consider a k-out-of-n system where the lifetimes of the components are independent and identically distributed exponential (λ) random variables. Each component has its own repair facility, the repair times being independent and identically distributed exponential (μ) random variables, independent of the failure times. The mean operating time and mean repair time during the cycle between two successive breakdowns are found using renewal theory and the expression for the system availability. Using these, the mean first-passage times from any of the operating states of the system to the down state, and the mean first-passage times from any of the down states to the operating state are found recursively.     

Optimal (<Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>, <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>) visual cryptographic schemes for general <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>

In (k, n) visual cryptographic schemes (VCS), a secret image is encrypted into n pages of cipher text, each printed on a transparency sheet, which are distributed among n participants. The image can be visually decoded if any k(≥2) of these sheets are stacked on top of one another, while this is not possible by stacking any k − 1 or fewer sheets. We employ a Kronecker algebra to obtain necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a (k, n) VCS with a prior specification of relative contrasts that quantify the clarity of the recovered image. The connection of these conditions with an L ₁-norm formulation as well as a convenient linear programming formulation is explored. These are employed to settle certain conjectures on contrast optimal VCS for the cases k = 4 and 5. Furthermore, for k = 3, we show how block designs can be used to construct VCS which achieve optimality with respect to the average and minimum relative contrasts but require much smaller pixel expansions than the existing ones.     

Facets of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">r</Emphasis>-Stable (<Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>, <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>)-Hypersimplex

Let k, n, and r be positive integers with k < n and \({r \leq \lfloor \frac{n}{k} \rfloor}\). We determine the facets of the r-stable n, k-hypersimplex. As a result, it turns out that the r-stable n, k-hypersimplex has exactly 2n facets for every \({r < \lfloor \frac{n}{k} \rfloor}\). We then utilize the equations of the facets to study when the r-stable hypersimplex is Gorenstein. For every k > 0 we identify an infinite collection of Gorenstein r-stable hypersimplices, consequently expanding the collection of r-stable hypersimplices known to have unimodal Ehrhart \({\delta}\)-vectors.     

Clique matchings in the <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-ary <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-dimensional cube

A clique matching in the k-ary n-dimensional cube (hypercube) is a collection of disjoint one-dimensional faces. A clique matching is called perfect if it covers all vertices of the hypercube. We show that the number of perfect clique matchings in the k-ary n-dimensional cube can be expressed as the k-dimensional permanent of the adjacency array of some hypergraph. We calculate the order of the logarithm of the number of perfect clique matchings in the k-ary n-dimensional cube for an arbitrary positive integer k as n→∞.     

Eigenvalues of the Manifold Sp（n）/U（n）

In this paper, we give the eigenvalues of the manifold Sp(n)/U(n). We prove that an eigenvalue λ _s (f ₂, f ₂, …, f _n ) of the Lie group Sp(n), corresponding to the representation with label (f ₁, f ₂, ..., f _n ), is an eigenvalue of the manifold Sp(n)/U(n), if and only if f ₁, f ₂, …, f _n are all even.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-Flat and <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-FP-injective modules

In this paper, we study the existence of the n-flat preenvelope and the n-FP-injective cover. We also characterize n-coherent rings in terms of the n-FP-injective and n-flat modules.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-Abelian and <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-exact categories

We introduce n-abelian and n-exact categories, these are analogs of abelian and exact categories from the point of view of higher homological algebra. We show that n-cluster-tilting subcategories of abelian (resp. exact) categories are n-abelian (resp. n-exact). These results allow to construct several examples of n-abelian and n-exact categories. Conversely, we prove that n-abelian categories satisfying certain mild assumptions can be realized as n-cluster-tilting subcategories of abelian categories. In analogy with a classical result of Happel, we show that the stable category of a Frobenius n-exact category has a natural \((n+2)\)-angulated structure in the sense of Geiß–Keller–Oppermann. We give several examples of n-abelian and n-exact categories which have appeared in representation theory, commutative algebra, commutative and non-commutative algebraic geometry.     

Groups with less than <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis> subgroups of index <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>

We characterise (residually-finite) groups which possess less than n subgroups of index n for almost all n ∈ ℕ.     

Compound Geometric Distribution of Order <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>

The distribution of the number of trials until the first k consecutive successes in a sequence of Bernoulli trials with success probability p is known as geometric distribution of order k. Let T _k be a random variable that follows a geometric distribution of order k, and Y ₁,Y ₂,… a sequence of independent and identically distributed discrete random variables which are independent of T _k . In the present article we develop some results on the distribution of the compound random variable \(S_{k} =\sum_{t=1}^{T_{k}}Y_{t}\).     

The <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-Adic order of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-Fibonacci and <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-Lucas numbers

Let (F _k,n ) _n and (L _k,n )n be the k-Fibonacci and k-Lucas sequence, respectively, which satisfies the same recursive relation a _n+1 = ka _n + a _n?1 with initial values F _k,0 = 0, F _k,1 = 1, L _k,0 = 2 and L _k,1 = k. In this paper, we characterize the p-adic orders ν _p (F _k,n ) and ν _p (L _k,n ) for all primes p and all positive integers k.     

On <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>- critical 2<Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>- connected graphs

A graph G is called an (n,k)-graph if κ(G-S)=n-|S| for any S ? V(G) with |S| ≤ k, where ?(G) denotes the connectivity of G. Mader conjectured that for k ≥ 3 the graph K_2k+2?(1-factor) is the unique (2k, k)-graph. Kriesell has settled two special cases for k = 3,4. We prove the conjecture for the general case k ≥ 5.     

Cyclotomic Hecke Algebras of <Emphasis Type="Italic">G</Emphasis>(<Emphasis Type="Italic">r</Emphasis>, <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>, <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>)

In this note, we find a monomial basis of the cyclotomic Hecke algebra \({\mathcal{H}_{r,p,n}}\) of G(r,p,n) and show that the Ariki-Koike algebra \({\mathcal{H}_{r,n}}\) is a free module over \({\mathcal{H}_{r,p,n}}\), using the Gröbner-Shirshov basis theory. For each irreducible representation of \({\mathcal{H}_{r,p,n}}\), we give a polynomial basis consisting of linear combinations of the monomials corresponding to cozy tableaux of a given shape.     

Universal Cycle Packings and Coverings for <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-Subsets of an <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-Set

A cyclic sequence of elements of [n] is an (n, k)-Ucycle packing (respectively, (n, k)-Ucycle covering) if every k-subset of [n] appears in this sequence at most once (resp. at least once) as a subsequence of consecutive terms. Let \(p_{n,k}\) be the length of a longest (n, k)-Ucycle packing and \(c_{n,k}\) the length of a shortest (n, k)-Ucycle covering. We show that, for a fixed \(k,p_{n,k}={n\atopwithdelims ()k}-O(n^{\lfloor k/2\rfloor })\). Moreover, when k is not fixed, we prove that if \(k=k(n)\le n^{\alpha }\), where \(0<\alpha <1/3\), then \(p_{n,k}={n\atopwithdelims ()k}-o({n\atopwithdelims ()k}^\beta )\) and \(c_{n,k}={n\atopwithdelims ()k}+o({n\atopwithdelims ()k}^\beta )\), for some \(\beta <1\). Finally, we show that if \(k=o(n)\), then \(p_{n,k}={n\atopwithdelims ()k}(1-o(1))\).     

On the <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-gamma <Emphasis Type="Italic">q</Emphasis>-distribution

We provide combinatorial as well as probabilistic interpretations for the q-analogue of the Pochhammer k-symbol introduced by Díaz and Teruel. We introduce q-analogues of the Mellin transform in order to study the q-analogue of the k-gamma distribution.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-Free-like groups

The following results are proved. In Theorem 1, it is stated that there exist both finitely presented and not finitely presented 2-generated nonfree groups which are k-free-like for any k ⩾ 2. In Theorem 2, it is claimed that every nonvirtually cyclic (resp., noncyclic and torsion-free) hyperbolic m-generated group is k-free-like for every k ⩾ m + 1 (resp., k ⩾ m). Finally, Theorem 3 asserts that there exists a 2-generated periodic group G which is k-free-like for every k ⩾ 3. Supported by NSF (grant Nos. DMS 0455881 and DMS-0700811). (A. Yu. Olshanskii, M. V. Sapir) Supported by RFBR project No. 08-01-00573. (A. Yu. Olshanskii) Supported by BSF grant (USA–Israel). (M. V. Sapir) Translated from Algebra i Logika, Vol. 48, No. 2, pp. 245–257, March–April, 2009.     

On a new property of <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-poised and <Emphasis Type="Italic">G</Emphasis><Emphasis Type="Italic">C</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis></Subscript> sets

In this paper we consider n-poised planar node sets, as well as more special ones, called G C _n sets. For the latter sets each n-fundamental polynomial is a product of n linear factors as it always holds in the univariate case. A line ? is called k-node line for a node set \(\mathcal X\) if it passes through exactly k nodes. An (n + 1)-node line is called maximal line. In 1982 M. Gasca and J. I. Maeztu conjectured that every G C _n set possesses necessarily a maximal line. Till now the conjecture is confirmed to be true for n ≤ 5. It is well-known that any maximal line M of \(\mathcal X\) is used by each node in \(\mathcal X\setminus M, \)meaning that it is a factor of the fundamental polynomial. In this paper we prove, in particular, that if the Gasca-Maeztu conjecture is true then any n-node line of G C _n set \(\mathcal {X}\) is used either by exactly \(\binom {n}{2}\) nodes or by exactly \(\binom {n-1}{2}\) nodes. We prove also similar statements concerning n-node or (n ? 1)-node lines in more general n-poised sets. This is a new phenomenon in n-poised and G C _n sets. At the end we present a conjecture concerning any k-node line.     

Remarks on the <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-error linear complexity of <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis><Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis></Superscript>-periodic sequences

Recently the first author presented exact formulas for the number of 2 ⁿ -periodic binary sequences with given 1-error linear complexity, and an exact formula for the expected 1-error linear complexity and upper and lower bounds for the expected k-error linear complexity, k ≥ 2, of a random 2 ⁿ -periodic binary sequence. A crucial role for the analysis played the Chan–Games algorithm. We use a more sophisticated generalization of the Chan–Games algorithm by Ding et al. to obtain exact formulas for the counting function and the expected value for the 1-error linear complexity for p ⁿ -periodic sequences over prime. Additionally we discuss the calculation of lower and upper bounds on the k-error linear complexity of p ⁿ -periodic sequences over .      

Rate of convergence to stationarity of the system <Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis>/<Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis>/<Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>/<Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>+<Emphasis Type="Italic">R</Emphasis>

We consider the M/M/N/N+R service system, characterized by N servers, R waiting positions, Poisson arrivals and exponential service times. We discuss representations and bounds for the rate of convergence to stationarity of the number of customers in the system, and study its behaviour as a function of R, N and the arrival rate λ, allowing λ to be a function of N.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">C</Emphasis>*-simplicity of <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-periodic products

The C*-simplicity of n-periodic products is proved for a large class of groups. In particular, the n-periodic products of any finite or cyclic groups (including the free Burnside groups) are C*-simple. Continuum-many nonisomorphic 3-generated nonsimple C*-simple groups are constructed in each of which the identity xⁿ = 1 holds, where n ≥ 1003 is any odd number. The problem of the existence of C*-simple groups without free subgroups of rank 2 was posed by de la Harpe in 2007.     

Mappings of preserving <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-distance one in <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-normed spaces

We give a positive answer to the Aleksandrov problem in n-normed spaces under the surjectivity assumption. Namely, we show that every surjective mapping preserving n-distance one is affine, and thus is an n-isometry. This is the first time the Aleksandrov problem is solved in n-normed spaces with only the surjectivity assumption even in the usual case \(n=2\). Finally, when the target space is n-strictly convex, we prove that every mapping preserving two n-distances with an integer ratio is an affine n-isometry.