Factorization of fredholm operators on analytic functions

Let Ω be a simply connected domain in the complex plane, and $\text{A(Ω}{}^{\mathrm{n}}\text{)}$, the space of functions which are defined and analytic on $\text{Ω}{}^{\mathrm{n}}$, if K is the operator on elements $\text{u(t, a}{}_1\text{, …, a}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{)}\text{of}\text{A(Ω}{}^{\mathrm{n\; +\; 1}}\text{)}$ defined in terms of the kernels k_i(t, s, a₁, …, a_n) in $\text{A(Ω}{}^{\mathrm{n\; +\; 2}}\text{)}$ by is the identity operator on $\text{A(Ω}{}^{\mathrm{n\; +\; 1}}\text{)}$, then the operator I ? K may be factored in the form (I ? K)(M ? W) = (I ? ΠK)(M ? ΠW). Here, W is an operator on $\text{A(Ω}{}^{\mathrm{n\; +\; 1}}\text{)}$ defined in terms of a kernel w(t, s, a₁, …, a_n) in $\text{A(Ω}{}^{\mathrm{n\; +\; 2}}\text{)}$ by Wu = ∝_an^tw(t, s, a₁, …, a_n) u(s, a₁, …, a_n) ds. ΠW is the operator; ΠWu = ∝_{an ? 1}w(t, s, a₁, …, a_n) u(s, a₁, …, a_n) ds. ΠK is the operator; ΠKu = ∑_{i = 1}^{n ? 1} ∝_ai^tk_i(t, s, a₁, …, a_n) ds + ∝_{an ? 1}^tk_n(t, s, a₁, …, a_n) u(s, a₁, …, a_n) ds. The operator M is of the form m(t, a₁, …, a_n)I, where $\text{m ? A(Ω}{}^{\mathrm{n\; +\; 1}}\text{)}$ and maps elements of $\text{A(Ω}{}^{\mathrm{n\; +\; 1}}\text{)}$ into itself by multiplication. The function m is uniquely derived from K in the following manner. The operator K defines an operator $\text{K}{}^1$ on functions u in $\text{A(Ω}{}^{\mathrm{n\; +\; 2}}\text{)}$, by . A determinant $\text{δ(I ? K}{}^1\text{)}$ of the operator $\text{I ? K}{}^1$ is defined as an element $\text{m}{}^1\text{(t, a}{}_1\text{, …, a}{}_{\mathrm{n\; +\; 1}}\text{)}$ of $\text{A(Ω}{}^{\mathrm{n\; +\; 2}}\text{)}$. This is mapped into $\text{A(Ω}{}^{\mathrm{n\; +\; 1}}\text{)}$ by setting a_{n + 1} = t to give m(t, a₁, …, a_n). The operator I ? ΠK may be factored in similar fashion, giving rise to a chain factorization of I ? K. In some cases all the matrix kernels k_i defining K are separable in the sense that k_i(t, s, a₁, …, a_n) = P_i(t, a₁, …, a_n) Q_i(s, a₁, …, a_n), where P_i is a 1 × p_i matrix and Q_i is a p_i × 1 matrix, each with elements in $\text{A(Ω}{}_{\mathrm{n\; +\; 1}}\text{)}$, explicit formulas are given for the kernels of the factors W. The various results are stated in a form allowing immediate extension to the vector-matrix case.     

On the rate for uniform strong consistency of empirical distributions of independent nonidentically distributed multivariate random variables

Let X_j = (X_1j ,…, X_pj), j = 1,…, n be n independent random vectors. For x = (x₁ ,…, x_p) in R^p and for α in [0, 1], let F_j${}^1$(x) = αI(X_1j < x₁ ,…, X_pj < x_p) + (1 ? α) I(X_1j ≤ x₁ ,…, X_pj ≤ x_p), where I(A) is the indicator random variable of the event A. Let F_j(x) = E(F_j${}^1$(x)) and D_n = sup_{x, α} max_{1 ≤ N ≤ n} |Σ₀ⁿ(F_j${}^1$(x) ? F_j(x))|. It is shown that P[D_n ≥ L] < 4pL exp{?2(L²n^?1 ? 1)} for each positive integer n and for all L² ≥ n; and, as n → ∞, $\text{D}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{= 0((n}\text{log}\text{n)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{)}$ with probability one.     

A central limit theorem for the sojourn times of strongly ergodic Markov chains

Let X_n be an irreducible aperiodic recurrent Markov chain with countable state space I and with the mean recurrence times having second moments. There is proved a global central limit theorem for the properly normalized sojourn times. More precisely, if $\text{t}{}^{\mathrm{(n}}\text{)}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{=Σ}{}^{\mathrm{n}}{}_{\mathrm{k=1}}\text{i}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{(X}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{)}$, then the probability measures induced by {t⁽ⁿ⁾_i/√n?√nπ_i}_i?I(π_i being the ergotic distribution) on the Hilbert-space of square summable I-sequences converge weakly in this space to a Gaussian measure determined by a certain weak potential operator.     

Strong law for the bootstrap

Let X₁, X₂, X₃, … be i.i.d. r.v. with E|X₁| < ∞, E X₁ = μ. Given a realization X = (X₁,X₂,…) and integers n and m, construct Y_n,i, i = 1, 2, …, m as i.i.d. r.v. with conditional distribution $\text{P}{}^1\text{(Y}{}_{\mathrm{n,i}}\text{= X}{}_{\mathrm{j}}\text{) =}\text{1}\text{n}$ for 1 ? j ? n. ($\text{P}{}^1$ denotes conditional distribution given X). Conditions relating the growth rate of m with n and the moments of X₁ are given to ensure the almost sure convergence of $\text{(}\text{1}\text{m}\text{)Σ}{}^{\mathrm{m}}{}_{\mathrm{i=1}}\text{Y}{}_{\mathrm{n,i}}$ toμ. This equation is of some relevance in the theory of Bootstrap as developed by Efron (1979) and Bickel and Freedman (1981).     

The minimal generating space of a polynomial

Given a polynomial $\text{P(X}{}_1\text{,…,X}{}_{\mathrm{N}}\text{)∈}\text{R}\text{[}\text{X}\text{]}$, we calculate a subspace G_p of the linear space 〈X〉 generated by the indeterminates which is minimal with respect to the property $\text{P∈}\text{R}\text{[}\text{G}{}_{\mathrm{p}}\text{]}$ (the algebra generated by G_p, and prove its uniqueness. Furthermore, we use this result to characterize the pairs (P,Q) of polynomials P(X₁,…,X_n) and Q(X₁,…,X_n) for which there exists an isomorphism T:〈X〉 →〈X〉 that “separates P from Q,” i.e., such that for some k(1<k<n) we can write P and Q as $\text{P}{}^1\text{(Y}{}_1\text{,…,Y}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{)}$ and $\text{Q}{}^1\text{(Y}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>k+</mtext><mtext>1</mtext>}}\text{,…,Y}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{)}$ respectively, where $\text{Y}\text{=T}\text{X}$.     

Positive dependence properties of elliptically symmetric distributions

Let X₁, …, X_p have p.d.f. g(x₁² + … + x_p²). It is shown that (a) X₁, …, X_p are positively lower orthant dependent or positively upper orthant dependent if, and only if, X₁,…, X_p are i.i.d. N(0, σ²); and (b) the p.d.f. of |X₁|,…, |X_p| is TP₂ in pairs if, and only if, In g(u) is convex. Let X₁, X₂ have p.d.f. $\text{f(x}{}_1\text{, x}{}_2\text{) =}\text{|Σ|}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?</mtext><mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{g((x}{}_1\text{, x}{}_2\text{)}\text{Σ}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}\text{(x}{}_1\text{, x}{}_2\text{)′)}$. Necessary and sufficient conditions are given for f(x₁, x₂) to be TP₂ for fixed correlation ?. It is shown that if f is TP₂ for all ? >0. then (X₁, X₂)′ ～ N(0, Σ). Related positive dependence results and applications are also considered.     

Diffusion with interactions between two types of particles and Pressureless gas equations

We construct two d-dimensional independent diffusions $\text{X}{}_{\mathrm{t}}{}^{\mathrm{a}}\text{=a+∫}{}_0{}^{\mathrm{t}}\text{u(X}{}_{\mathrm{s}}{}^{\mathrm{a}}\text{,s)}\text{d}\text{s+νB}{}_{\mathrm{t}}{}^{\mathrm{a}}\text{,}\text{X}{}_{\mathrm{t}}{}^{\mathrm{b}}\text{=b+∫}{}_0{}^{\mathrm{t}}\text{u(X}{}_{\mathrm{s}}{}^{\mathrm{b}}\text{,s)}\text{d}\text{s+νB}{}_{\mathrm{t}}{}^{\mathrm{b}}$, with the same viscosity ν≠0 and the same drift u(x,t)=(pρ_t^a(x)v₁+(1?p)ρ_t^b(x)v₂)/(pρ_t^a(x)+(1?p)ρ_t^b(x)), where ρ_t^a,ρ_t^b are respectively the density of X_t^a and X_t^b. Here $\text{a,b,v}{}_1\text{,v}{}_2\text{∈}\text{R}{}^{\mathrm{d}}$ and p∈(0,1) are given. We show that $\text{(ρ}{}_{\mathrm{t}}\text{(x)=pρ}{}_{\mathrm{t}}{}^{\mathrm{a}}\text{(x)+(1?p)ρ}{}_{\mathrm{t}}{}^{\mathrm{b}}\text{(x),u(x,t):}\text{t?0,}\text{x∈}\text{R}{}^{\mathrm{d}}\text{)}$ is the unique weak solution of the following pressureless gas system

such that $\text{ρ}{}_{\mathrm{t}}\text{(x)}\text{d}\text{x→pδ}{}_{\mathrm{a}}\text{+(1?p)δ}{}_{\mathrm{b}}\text{,}\text{u(x,t)ρ}{}_{\mathrm{t}}\text{(x)}\text{d}\text{x→pv}{}_1\text{δ}{}_{\mathrm{a}}\text{+(1?p)v}{}_2\text{δ}{}_{\mathrm{b}}$ as t→0+. To cite this article: A. Dermoune, S. Filali, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 337 (2003).     

Hermite series estimates of a probability density and its derivatives

The following estimate of the pth derivative of a probability density function is examined: $\text{Σ}{}_{\mathrm{k\; =\; 0}}{}^{\mathrm{N}}\text{a}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{h}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{(x)}$, where h_k is the kth Hermite function and $\text{a}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{= (}\text{(?1)}{}^{\mathrm{p}}\text{n}\text{)}$Σ_{i = 1}ⁿh_k^(p)(X_i) is calculated from a sequence X₁,…, X_n of independent random variables having the common unknown density. If the density has r derivatives the integrated square error converges to zero in the mean and almost completely as rapidly as O(n^?α) and O(n^?α log n), respectively, where $\text{α =}\text{2(r ? p)}\text{(2r + 1)}$. Rates for the uniform convergence both in the mean square and almost complete are also given. For any finite interval they are O(n^?β) and $\text{O(n}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?\beta </mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{log}\text{n)}$, respectively, where $\text{β =}\text{(2(r ? p) ? 1)}\text{(2r + 1)}$.     

On matrix functions which commute with their derivative

We improve several results published from 1950 up to 1982 on matrix functions commuting with their derivative, and establish two results of general interest. The first one gives a condition for a finite-dimensional vector subspace E(t) of a normed space not to depend on t, when t varies in a normed space. The second one asserts that if A is a matrix function, defined on a set ?, of the form A(t)= U diag(B₁(t),…,B_p(t)) U^-1, t ∈ ?, and if each matrix function B_k has the polynomial form

$\text{B}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{(t)=}\text{∑}\text{i=0}\text{α}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{f}{}_{\mathrm{ki}}\text{(t)C}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{i}}\text{, t∈ ?, k∈{1,…,p}}$

then A itself has the polynomial form

$\text{A(t)=}\text{∑}\text{i=0}\text{d?1}\text{f}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{(t)C}{}^{\mathrm{i}}\text{,t∈?}$

, where

$\text{d=}\text{∑}\text{k=1}\text{p}\text{d}{}_{\mathrm{k}}$

, d_k being the degree of the minimal polynomial of the matrix C_k, for every k ∈ {1,…,p}.     

Extension de quelques theoremes sur les densites de series d'elements de n a des series de sous-ensembles finis de n

For a sequence A = {A_k} of finite subsets of N we introduce: $\text{δ(A) =}\text{inf}{}_{\mathrm{m?n}}\text{A(m)}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{n}}$, $\text{d(A) =}\text{lim inf}{}_{\mathrm{n\to \infty }}\text{A(n)}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{n}}$, where A(m) is the number of subsets A_k ? {1, 2, …, m}.The collection of all subsets of {1, …, n} together with the operation $\text{a ∪ b, (a ∩ b), (a 1 b = a ∪ b ? a ∩ b)}$ constitutes a finite semi-group N^∪ (semi-group N^∩) (group $\text{N}{}^1$). For N^∪, N^∩ we prove analogues of the Erdös-Landau theorem: δ(A+B) ? δ(A)(1+(2λ)^?1(1?δ(A>))), where B is a base of N of the average order λ. We prove for $\text{N}{}^{\mathrm{\cup }}\text{, N}{}^{\mathrm{\cap }}\text{, N}{}^1$ analogues of Schnirelmann's theorem (that δ(A) + δ(B) > 1 implies δ(A + B) = 1) and the inequalities λ ? 2h, where h is the order of the base.We introduce the concept of divisibility of subsets: a|b if b is a continuation of a. We prove an analog of the Davenport-Erdös theorem: if d(A) > 0, then there exists an infinite sequence {A_kr}, where A_kr | A_kr+1 for r = 1, 2, …. In Section 6 we consider for $\text{N∪, N∩, N1}$ analogues of Rohrbach inequality: $\text{2n}\text{? g(n) ? 2}\text{n}$, where g(n) = min k over the subsets {a₁ < … < a_k} ? {0, 1, 2, …, n}, such that every m? {0, 1, 2, …, n} can be expressed as m = a_i + a_j.Pour une série A = {A_k} de sous-ensembles finis de N on introduit les densités: $\text{δ(A) =}\text{inf}{}_{\mathrm{m?n}}\text{A(m)}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{m}}$, $\text{d(A) =}\text{lim inf}{}_{\mathrm{n\to \infty }}\text{A(n)}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{n}}$ où A(m) est le nombre d'ensembles A_k ? {1, 2, …, m}. L'ensemble de toutes les parties de {1, 2, …, n} devient, pour les opérations $\text{a ∪ b, a ∩ b, a 1 b = a ∪ b ? a ∩ b}$, un semi-groupe fini N^∪, N^∩ ou un groupe N¹ respectivement. Pour N^∪, N^∩ on démontre l'analogue du théorème de Erdös-Landau: δ(A + B) ? δ(A)(1 + (2λ)^?1(1?δ(A))), où B est une base de N d'ordre moyen λ. On démontre pour $\text{N}{}^{\mathrm{\cup }}\text{, N}{}^{\mathrm{\cap }}\text{, N}{}^1$ l'analogue du théorème de Schnirelmann (si δ(A) + δ(B) > 1, alors δ(A + B) = 1) et les inégalités λ ? 2h, où h est l'ordre de base. On introduit le rapport de divisibilité des enembles: a|b, si b est une continuation de a. On démontre l'analogue du théorème de Davenport-Erdös: si d(A) > 0, alors il existe une sous-série infinie {A_kr}, où A_kr|A_kr+1, pour r = 1, 2, … . Dans le Paragraphe 6 on envisage pour N^∪, $\text{N}{}^{\mathrm{\cap }}\text{, N}{}^1$ les analogues de l'inégalité de Rohrbach: $\text{2n}\text{? g(n) ? 2}\text{n}$, où g(n) = min k pour les ensembles {a₁ < … < a_k} ? {0, 1, 2, …, n} tels que pour tout m? {0, 1, 2, …, n} on a m = a_i + a_j.     

The probability that k positive integers are relatively r-prime

If r, k are positive integers, then $\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{r}}\text{(n)}$ denotes the number of k-tuples of positive integers (x₁, x₂, …, x_k) with 1 ≤ x_i ≤ n and (x₁, x₂, …, x_k)_r = 1. An explicit formula for $\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{r}}\text{(n)}$ is derived and it is shown that $\text{lim}{}_{\mathrm{n\to \infty }}\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{r}}\text{(n)}\text{n}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{=}\text{1}\text{ζ(rk)}$.If S = {p₁, p₂, …, p_a} is a finite set of primes, then 〈S〉 = {p₁^a₁p₂^a₂…p_s^a_s; p_i ∈ S and a_i ≥ 0 for all i} and $\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{r}}\text{(S, n)}$ denotes the number of k-tuples (x₁, x₃, …, x_k) with 1 ≤ x_i ≤ n and (x₁, x₂, …, x_k)_r ∈ 〈S〉. Asymptotic formulas for $\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{r}}\text{(S, n)}$ are derived and it is shown that $\text{lim}{}_{\mathrm{n\to \infty }}\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{r}}\text{(S, n)}\text{n}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{=}\text{(p}{}_1\text{… p}{}_{\mathrm{a}}\text{)}{}^{\mathrm{rk}}\text{ζ(rk)(p}{}_1{}^{\mathrm{rk}}\text{? 1) … (p}{}_{\mathrm{s}}{}^{\mathrm{rk}}\text{? 1)}$.     

Abstract Cauchy problems that involve a product of two Euler-Poisson-Darboux operators

Let X be a Banach space, let B be the generator of a continuous group in X, and let A = B². Assume that D(A^r) is dense in X for r an arbitrarily large positive integer and that a and b are non-negative reals. Solution representations are developed for the abstract differential equation

$\text{(D}{}^2{}_{\mathrm{t}}\text{+}\text{b}\text{t}\text{D}{}_{\mathrm{t}}\text{? A) · (D}{}^2{}_{\mathrm{t}}\text{+}\text{a}\text{t}\text{D}{}_{\mathrm{t}}\text{? A) u(t) = 0, t > 0}$

corresponding to initial conditions of the form: (i) u(0+) = φ, u^(j)(0+) = 0, j = 1, 2, 3 and (ii) u²(0+) = φ, u^j(0+) = 0, j = 0, 1, 3 (with φ∈D(A^r)) for all choices of a and b.     

A new inequality for symmetric functions

Let x_i ≥ 0, y_i ≥ 0 for i = 1,…, n; and let a_j(x) be the elementary symmetric function of n variables given by a_j(x) = ∑_{1 ≤ ii < … <ij ≤ n}x_ii … x_ij. Define the partical ordering x <y if a_j(x) ≤ a_j(y), j = 1,… n. We show that $\text{x}\text{\$}\text{?}\text{y ? x}{}^{\mathrm{\alpha }}\text{\$}\text{?}\text{y}{}^{\mathrm{\alpha }}\text{, 0}\text{\$}\text{?}\text{α ≤ 1}$, where {x^α}_i = x^α_i. We also give a necessary and sufficient condition on a function f(t) such that x <y ? f(x) <f(y). Both results depend crucially on the following: If x <y there exists a piecewise differentiable path z(t), with z_i(t) ≥ 0, such that z(0) = x, z(1) = y, and z(s) <z(t) if 0 ≤ s ≤ t ≤ 1.     

Phase reconstruction from magnitude of band-limited multidimensional signals

In this paper, the problem of phase reconstruction from magnitude of multidimensional band-limited functions is considered. It is shown that any irreducible band-limited function f(z₁…,z_n), z_i ? $\text{C}$, i=1, …, n, is uniquely determined from the magnitude of f(x₁…,x_n): | f(x₁…,x_n)|, x_i ? $\text{R}$, i=1,…, n, except for (1) linear shifts: ^{i(α1z1+…+α_n2n+β}), β, α_i?$\text{R}$, i=1,…, n; and (2) conjugation: $\text{f}{}^1\text{(z}{}_1{}^1\text{,…,z}{}_{\mathrm{n}}{}^1\text{)}$.     

Unitarization of symplectics and stability for causal differential equations in Hilbert space

Let Sp($\text{H}$) be the symplectic group for a complex Hibert space $\text{H}$. Its Lie algebra sp($\text{H}$) contains an open invariant convex cone C₀; each element of C₀ commutes with a unique sympletic complex structure. The Cayley transform $\text{C}$: X∈ sp($\text{H}$)→(I + X)¹∈ Sp($\text{H}$) is analyzed and compared with the exponential mapping. As an application we consider equations of the form $\text{(}\text{d}\text{dt}\text{) S = A(t)S,}\text{where}\text{t → A(t) ?}\text{C}\text{?}{}_0$ is strongly continuous, and show that if ∝_?∞^∞ ∥A(t)∥ dt < 2 and ∝_{? t8}^∞A(t) dt?C₀, the (scattering) operator

, where S_t′(t) is the solution such that S_t′(t′) = I, is in the range of $\text{B}$ restricted to C₀. It follows that S leaves invariant a unique complex structure; in particular, it is conjugate in Sp($\text{H}$) to a unitary operator.     

Estimating functions of canonical correlation coefficients

Let ρ²₁,…,ρ²_p be the squares of the population canonical correlation coefficients from a normal distribution. This paper is concerned with the estimation of the parameters δ₁,…,δ_p, where $\text{δ}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{=}\text{ρ}{}^2{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{(1 ? ρ}{}^2{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{)}$, i = 1,…,p, in a decision theoretic way. The approach taken is to estimate a parameter matrix Δ whose eigenvalues are δ₁,…,δ_p, given a random matrix F whose eigenvalues have the same distribution as $\text{r}{}^2{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{(1 ? r}{}^2{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{)}$, i = 1,…,p, where r₁,…,r_p are the sample canonical correlation coefficients.     

A divided difference inequality for n-convex functions

For a₍₁₎ ? a₍₂₎ ? ··· ? a_(n) ? 0, b₍₁₎ ? b₍₂₎ ? ··· ? b_(n) ? 0, the ordered values of a_i, b_i, i = 1, 2,…, n, m fixed, m ? n, and p ? 1 it is shown that

$\text{∑}\text{1}\text{n}\text{a}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{b}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{?}\text{∑}\text{1}\text{m}\text{a}{}^{\mathrm{p}}{}_{\mathrm{(i)}}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>p</mtext>}}\text{∑}\text{1}\text{m?k?1}\text{b}{}^{\mathrm{q}}{}_{\mathrm{(i)}}\text{+}\text{b}{}^{\mathrm{q}}{}_{\mathrm{[m?k]}}\text{(k+1)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>q</mtext><mtext>p</mtext>}}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>q</mtext>}}$

where $\text{1}\text{p}\text{+}\text{1}\text{q}\text{= 1, b}{}_{\mathrm{[j]}}\text{= b}{}_{\mathrm{(j)}}\text{+ b}{}_{\mathrm{(j\; +\; 1)}}\text{+ ··· + b}{}_{\mathrm{(n)}}\text{,}\text{and}\text{k}$ is the integer such that $\text{b}{}_{\mathrm{(m\; ?\; k\; ?\; 1)}}\text{?}\text{b[m ? k]}\text{(k + 1)}$ and $\text{b}{}_{\mathrm{(m\; ?\; k)}}\text{<}\text{b}{}_{\mathrm{[m\; ?\; k\; +\; 1]}}\text{k}$. The inequality is shown to be sharp. When p < 1 and a_(i)'s are in increasing order then the inequality is reversed.     

On a class of relatively prime sequences

For each natural number n, let a₀(n) = n, and if a₀(n),…,a_i(n) have already been defined, let a_i+1(n) > a_i(n) be minimal with (a_i+1(n), a₀(n) … a_i(n)) = 1. Let g(n) be the largest a_i(n) not a prime or the square of a prime. We show that g(n) ～ n and that $\text{g(n) > n + cn}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{log}\text{(n)}$ for some c > 0. The true order of magnitude of g(n) ? n seems to be connected with the fine distribution of prime numbers. We also show that “most” a_i(n) that are not primes or squares of primes are products of two distinct primes. A result of independent interest comes of one of our proofs: For every sufficiently large n there is a prime $\text{p < n}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ with [$\text{n}\text{p}$] composite.     

Fractional part sums and divisor functions

Elementary methods are used to study sums of the form $\text{Σ}{}_{\mathrm{d\le x}}\text{{}\text{x}\text{d}\text{}}{}^{\mathrm{t}}$ for integers p and t, t > 0, where {x} denotes the fractional part of x. These sums are then used to study sums of the form $\text{Σ}{}_{\mathrm{d\le x}}\text{d}{}^{\mathrm{p}}\text{P}{}_{\mathrm{t}}\text{(}\text{x}\text{d}\text{)}$ for integers p and t, t > 0, where P_t(x) = B_t({x}) and B_t(x) are Bernoulli polynomials. some general results on sums of error terms are used to study sums of the form Σ_n≤xn^tσ_a(n) and Σ_n≤xE_t(n) for integers t and a, a ≥ 0, where σ_a(n) is the sum of the ath powers of the divisors of n and E_t(x) is the error term in the sum Σ_n≤xn^tσ_a(n).