New results on the parametric stability of nonlinear systems

In this paper, we derive some new results on the parametric stability of nonlinear systems. Explicitly, we derive a necessary and sufficient condition for a nonlinear system to be locally parametrically exponentially stable at an equilibrium point. We also derive a necessary condition for the nonlinear system to be locally parametrically asymptotically stable at an equilibrium point. Next, we derive some new results on the parametric stability of discrete-time nonlinear systems. As in the continuous case, we derive a necessary and sufficient condition for a discrete-time nonlinear system to be locally parametrically exponentially stable at an equilibrium point. We also derive a necessary condition for the discrete-time nonlinear system to be locally parametrically asymptotically stable at an equilibrium point. We illustrate our results with some classical examples from the bifurcation theory.     

Preconditioning techniques for the iterative solution of scattering problems

We consider a time-harmonic electromagnetic scattering problem for an inhomogeneous medium. Some symmetry hypotheses on the refractive index of the medium and on the electromagnetic fields allow to reduce this problem to a two-dimensional scattering problem. This boundary value problem is defined on an unbounded domain, so its numerical solution cannot be obtained by a straightforward application of usual methods, such as for example finite difference methods, and finite element methods. A possible way to overcome this difficulty is given by an equivalent integral formulation of this problem, where the scattered field can be computed from the solution of a Fredholm integral equation of second kind. The numerical approximation of this problem usually produces large dense linear systems. We consider usual iterative methods for the solution of such linear systems, and we study some preconditioning techniques to improve the efficiency of these methods. We show some numerical results obtained with two well known Krylov subspace methods, i.e., Bi-CGSTAB and GMRES.     

The inverse function theorem and the Jacobian conjecture for free analysis

We establish an invertibility criterion for free polynomials and free functions evaluated on some tuples of matrices. We show that if the derivative is nonsingular on some domain closed with respect to direct sums and similarity, the function must be invertible. Thus, as a corollary, we establish the Jacobian conjecture in this context. Furthermore, our result holds for commutative polynomials evaluated on tuples of commuting matrices.     

Large deviations estimates for some non-local equations: Fast decaying kernels and explicit bounds

We study large deviations for some non-local parabolic type equations. We show that, under some assumptions on the non-local term, problems defined in a bounded domain converge with an exponential rate to the solution of the problem defined in the whole space. We compute this rate in different examples, with different kernels defining the non-local term, and it turns out that the estimate of convergence depends strongly on the decay at infinity of that kernel.     

The Steiner tree problem I: Formulations,compositions and extension of facets

In this paper we give some integer programming formulations for the Steiner tree problem on undirected and directed graphs and study the associated polyhedra. We give some families of facets for the undirected case along with some compositions and extensions. We also give a projection that relates the Steiner tree polyhedron on an undirected graph to the polyhedron for the corresponding directed graph. This is used to show that the LP-relaxation of the directed formulation is superior to the LP-relaxation of the undirected one.Corresponding author.     

Graphical algebras — a new approach to congruence lattices

In 1970, H. Werner considered the question of which sublattices of partition lattices are congruence lattices for an algebra on the underlying set of the partition lattices. He showed that a complete sublattice of a partition lattice is a congruence lattice if and only if it is closed under a new operation called graphical composition. We study the properties of this new operation, viewed as an operation on an abstract lattice. We obtain some necessary properties, and we also obtain some sufficient conditions for an operation on an abstract lattice L to be this operation on a congruence lattice isomorphic to L. We use this result to give a new proof of Grätzer and Schmidt’s result that any algebraic lattice occurs as a congruence lattice.     

A heuristic method for RCPSP with fuzzy activity times

In this paper, we propose a heuristic method for resource constrained project scheduling problem with fuzzy activity times. This method is based on priority rule for parallel schedule generation scheme. Calculation of critical path in this case requires comparison of fuzzy numbers. Distance based ranking of fuzzy number is used for finding the critical path length and concept of shifting criticality is proposed for some of the special cases. We also propose a measure for finding the non-integer power of a fuzzy number. We discuss some properties of the proposed method. We use an example to illustrate the method.     

Error-correcting codes from permutation groups

We replace the usual setting for error-correcting codes (i.e. vector spaces over finite fields) with that of permutation groups. We give an algorithm which uses a combinatorial structure which we call an uncovering-by-bases, related to covering designs, and construct some examples of these. We also analyse the complexity of the algorithm.We then formulate a conjecture about uncoverings-by-bases, for which we give some supporting evidence and prove for some special cases. In particular, we consider the case of the symmetric group in its action on 2-subsets, where we make use of the theory of graph decompositions. Finally, we discuss the implications this conjecture has for the complexity of the decoding algorithm.     

Spectral analysis for radial sections of some homogeneous vector bundles on certain noncompact Riemannian symmetric spaces

We prove an analogue of Schwartz’s theorem on spectral analysis for radial sections of some homogeneous vector bundles on noncompact Riemannian symmetric spaces. We include some results and observations regarding mean periodic functions in this case. We also observe failure of spectral analysis for various Lorentz spaces and Lebesgue spaces of radial sections and relate it with the failure of the Wiener-Tauberian theorems in this setup.     

Asymptotic linearity of the mapping class group and a homological version of the Nielsen–Thurston classification

We study the action of the mapping class group on the integral homology of finite covers of a topological surface. We use the homological representation of the mapping class to construct a faithful infinite-dimensional representation of the mapping class group. We show that this representation detects the Nielsen–Thurston classification of each mapping class. We then discuss some examples that occur in the theory of braid groups and develop an analogous theory for automorphisms of free groups. We close with some open problems.     

An Algorithm to Compute Bounds for the Star Discrepancy

We propose an algorithm to compute upper and lower bounds for the star discrepancy of an arbitrary sequence of points in the s-dimensional unit cube. The method is based on a particular partition of the unit cube into subintervals and on a specialized procedure for orthogonal range counting. The cardinality of the partition depends on the dimension and on an accuracy parameter that has to be specified. We have implemented this method and here we present results of some computational experiments obtained with this implementation.     

General decay rate for a class of weakly dissipative second‐order systems with memory

In this paper, we study an abstract class of weakly dissipative second‐order systems with finite memory. We establish a new general decay rate for the solution of the system under some appropriate conditions on the memory kernel (relaxation function). Our result improves and generalizes many existing results in the literature. We also give some examples to illustrate our abstract result.     

On partitioning of hypergraphs

We study edge-isoperimetric problems (EIP) for hypergraphs and extend some technique in this area from graphs to hypergraphs. In particular, we establish some new results on a relationship between the EIP and some extremal poset problems, and apply them to obtain an exact solution of the EIP for certain hypergraph families. We also show how to solve the EIP on hypergraphs in some cases when the link to posets does not work. Another outcome of our results is a new series of hypergraphs admitting nested solutions in the EIP.     

A Plasticity Principle of Convex Quadrilaterals on a Convex Surface of Bounded Specific Curvature

We derive the plasticity equations for convex quadrilaterals on a complete convex surface with bounded specific curvature and prove a plasticity principle which states that: Given four shortest arcs which meet at the weighted Fermat-Torricelli point their endpoints form a convex quadrilateral and the weighted Fermat-Torricelli point belongs to the interior of this convex quadrilateral, an increase of the weight corresponding to a shortest arc causes a decrease of the two weights that correspond to the two neighboring shortest arcs and an increase of the weight corresponding to the opposite shortest arc by solving the inverse weighted Fermat-Torricelli problem for quadrilaterals on a convex surface of bounded specific curvature. The invariance of the weighted Fermat-Torricelli point(geometric plasticity principle) and the plasticity principle of quadrilaterals characterize the evolution of quadrilaterals on a complete convex surface. Furthermore, we show a connection between the plasticity of convex quadrilaterals on a complete convex surface with bounded specific curvature with the plasticity of some generalized convex quadrilaterals on a manifold which is certainly composed by triangles. We also study some cases of symmetrization of weighted convex quadrilaterals by introducing a new symmetrization technique which transforms some classes of weighted geodesic convex quadrilaterals on a convex surface to parallelograms in the tangent plane at the weighted Fermat-Torricelli point of the corresponding quadrilateral. This geometric method provides some pattern for the variable weights with respect to the 4-inverse weighted Fermat-Torricelli problem such that the weighted Fermat-Torricelli point remains invariant. By introducing the notion of superplasticity, we derive as an application of plasticity the connection between the Fermat-Torricelli point for some weighted kites with the fundamental equation of P. de Fermat for real exponents in the two dimensional Euclidean space. By using as an initial condition to the 3 body problem the solution of the 3-inverse weighted Fermat-Torricelli problem we give some future perspectives in plasticity, in order to derive new periodic solutions (chronotrees). We conclude with some philosophical ideas regarding Leibniz geometric monad in the sense of Euclid which use as an internal principle the plasticity of quadrilaterals.     

A generalized central limit theorem in infinite ergodic theory

We prove a generalized central limit theorem for dynamical systems with an infinite ergodic measure which induce a Gibbs–Markov map on some subset, provided the return time to this subset has regularly varying tails. We adapt a method designed by Csáki and Földes for observables of random walks to show that the partial sums of some functions of the system—the return time and the observable—are asymptotically independent. Some applications to random walks and Pomeau–Manneville maps are discussed.     

Ghost length, cone length and complete level of DG modules

In this paper, we introduce a new numerical invariant complete level for a DG module over a local chain DG algebra and give a characterization of it in terms of ghost length. We also study some of its upper bounds. The cone length of a DG module is an invariaut closely related with the invariant level. We discover some important results on it.     

Graev metric groups and Polishable subgroups

We prove a conjecture of Hjorth: There is an uncountable Polish group all of whose abelian subgroups are discrete. We first construct directly a witness to Hjorth's conjecture. Then we consider an existing example in the literature. The example is the metric completion of a free topological group constructed by Graev. We give a definition slightly more general than Graev's and prove some properties of the Graev metrics which seem to be unknown previously. We also consider the problem of finding Polishable subgroups of the Graev metric groups with arbitrarily high Borel rank. In doing this we prove some general theorems on extensions of Polish groups with this property.     

Hadamard product submultiplicativity of certain induced norms

In this paper we ask which norms on M_d induced by an absolute vector norm are sub-multiplicative with respect to the Hadamard product. We provide a simple necessary condition for submultiplicativity. We demonstrate that each norm on M_d induced by an l_p norm Hadamard submultiplicative and that the norms induced by certain polyhedral norms are Hadamard submultiplicative. We also consider some related inequalities.     

Aggregation and consensus for preference relations based on fuzzy partial orders

We propose a framework for eliciting and aggregating pairwise preference relations based on the assumption of an underlying fuzzy partial order. We also propose some linear programming optimization methods for ensuring consistency either as part of the aggregation phase or as a pre- or post-processing task. We contend that this framework of pairwise-preference relations, based on the Kemeny distance, can be less sensitive to extreme or biased opinions and is also less complex to elicit from experts. We provide some examples and outline their relevant properties and associated concepts.