Homoclinic and heteroclinic orbits for a class of Hamiltonian systems

The existence of a rich structure of homoclinic and heteroclinic solutions is established for a family of Hamiltonian systems that serve as a simpler model for the multiple pendulum system. The proof is based on recently developed arguments from the calculus of variations that have proved useful in finding actual solutions of an equation near approximate solution.This research was sponsorted in part by the National Science Foundation under grant #MCS-8110556 and the U. S. Army Research Office under Contract #DAAL03-87-K-0043. Any reproduction for the purpose of the United States Government is permitted.     

Linearizability of planar polynomial Hamiltonian systems

Isochronicity and linearizability of two-dimensional polynomial Hamiltonian systems are revisited and new results are presented. We give a new computational procedure to obtain the necessary and sufficient conditions for the linearization of a polynomial system. Using computer algebra systems we provide necessary and sufficient conditions for linearizability of Hamiltonian systems with homogeneous non-linearities of degrees 5, 6 and 7. We also present some sufficient conditions for systems with nonhomogeneous nonlinearities of degrees two, three and five.     

Spanning trees and a conjecture of Kontsevich

Kontsevich conjectured that the number of zeros over the fieldF _q of a certain polynomialQ _G associated with the spanning trees of a graphG is a polynomial function ofq. We show the connection between this conjecture, the Matrix-Tree Theorem, and orthogonal geometry. We verify the conjecture in certain cases, such as the complete graph, and discuss some modifications and extensions.Partially supported by NSF grant #DMS-9743966.     

Hamiltonian nilpotent centers of linear plus cubic homogeneous polynomial vector fields

We provide normal forms and the global phase portraits in the Poincaré disk for all Hamiltonian nilpotent centers of linear plus cubic homogeneous planar polynomial vector fields.     

Non-isochronicity of the center in polynomial Hamiltonian systems

In 2002 Jarque and Villadelprat proved that planar polynomial Hamiltonian systems of degree 4 have no isochronous centers and raised an open question for general planar polynomial Hamiltonian systems of even degree. Recently, it was proved that a planar polynomial Hamiltonian system is non-isochronous if a quantity, denoted by M_2m−2, can be computed such that M_2m−2≤0. As a corollary of this criterion, the open question was answered for those systems with only even degree nonlinearities. In this paper we consider the case of M_2m−2>0 and give a new criterion for non-isochronicity. Applying the new criterion, we also answer the open question for some cases in which some terms of odd degree are included.     

Hamiltonian linear type centers of linear plus cubic homogeneous polynomial vector fields

We provide normal forms and the global phase portraits in the Poincaré disk for all the Hamiltonian linear type centers of linear plus cubic homogeneous planar polynomial vector fields.     

Isochronous centers of Lienard type equations and applications

In this work we study Eq. (E) with a center at 0 and investigate conditions of its isochronicity. When f and g are analytic (not necessary odd) a necessary and sufficient condition for the isochronicity of 0 is given. This approach allows us to present an algorithm for obtained conditions for a point of (E) to be an isochronous center. In particular, we find again by another way the isochrones of the quadratic Loud systems (LD,F). We also classify a 5-parameters family of reversible cubic systems with isochronous centers.     

On minimal decomposition of p-adic polynomial dynamical systems

A polynomial of degree ?2 with coefficients in the ring of p-adic numbers Zp is studied as a dynamical system on Zp. It is proved that the dynamical behavior of such a system is totally described by its minimal subsystems. For an arbitrary quadratic polynomial on Z₂, we exhibit all its minimal subsystems.     

Classification of the centers and isochronicity for a class of quartic polynomial differential systems

In this paper, the conditions of center and isochronous center at the origin for a class of planar quartic differential systems are studied. At first, a constructive theorem of singular point quantities is presented, which plays an important role in simplifying periodic constants. The sufficient and necessary conditions for the origin of the systems being a center are obtained. Then a complete classification of the sufficient and necessary conditions are given for the origin of the systems being an isochronous center.     

A counterexample to a conjecture of Matsaev

We present an effective algorithm for estimating the norm of an operator mapping a low-dimensional ?^p space to a Banach space with an easily computable norm. We use that algorithm to show that Matsaev’s proposed extension of the inequality of John von Neumann is false in case p=4. Matsaev conjectured that for every contraction T on L^p (1<p<∞) one has for any polynomial P

‖P(T)‖_L^p→L^p?‖P(S)‖_{?^p(Z⁺)→?^p(Z⁺)}     

Mathematical statistics and problems of ancient chronology. A new approach

New methods of processing statistically quantitative textual information of a narrative character are introduced. The methods can be used to recognize dependent and independent texts among large collections of texts. The methods are applied to the problem of correct dating of the events in ancient chronology. These results induce conjecture on the redating of some historical events.     

Generalizations of the image conjecture and the Mathieu conjecture

We first propose a generalization of the image conjecture Zhao (submitted for publication) [31] for the commuting differential operators related with classical orthogonal polynomials. We then show that the non-trivial case of this generalized image conjecture is equivalent to a variation of the Mathieu conjecture Mathieu (1997) [21] from integrals of G-finite functions over reductive Lie groups G to integrals of polynomials over open subsets of Rⁿ with any positive measures. Via this equivalence, the generalized image conjecture can also be viewed as a natural variation of the Duistermaat and van der Kallen theorem Duistermaat and van der Kallen (1998) [14] on Laurent polynomials with no constant terms. To put all the conjectures above in a common setting, we introduce what we call the Mathieu subspaces of associative algebras. We also discuss some examples of Mathieu subspaces from other sources and derive some general results on this newly introduced notion.     

W.W. Rouse Ball and the mathematics of string figures

This article examines a chapter of the popular book Mathematical Recreations and Essays (5th to 9th editions) written by the Cambridge mathematician Walter William Rouse Ball (1850–1925). This chapter is devoted to “String Figures”, a procedural activity which consists in producing geometrical forms with a loop of string and which is carried out in many traditional societies throughout the world. By analyzing the way in which Ball selected some string figures within ethnographical publications and conceived the structure of this chapter, it appears that he implicitly brought to light the mathematical dimension of this practice.     

The Conley conjecture for Hamiltonian systems on the cotangent bundle and its analogue for Lagrangian systems

In this paper, the Conley conjecture, which was recently proved by Franks and Handel [J. Franks, M. Handel, Periodic points of Hamiltonian surface diffeomorphism, Geom. Topol. 7 (2003) 713-756] (for surfaces of positive genus), Hingston [N. Hingston, Subharmonic solutions of Hamiltonian equations on tori, Ann. Math., in press] (for tori) and Ginzburg [V.L. Ginzburg, The Conley conjecture, arXiv: math.SG/0610956v1] (for closed symplectically aspherical manifolds), is proved for C¹-Hamiltonian systems on the cotangent bundle of a C³-smooth compact manifold M without boundary, of a time 1-periodic C²-smooth Hamiltonian H:R×T^*M→R which is strongly convex and has quadratic growth on the fibers. Namely, we show that such a Hamiltonian system has an infinite sequence of contractible integral periodic solutions such that any one of them cannot be obtained from others by iterations. If H also satisfies H(−t,q,−p)=H(t,q,p) for any (t,q,p)∈R×T^*M, it is shown that the time-1-map of the Hamiltonian system (if exists) has infinitely many periodic points siting in the zero section of T^*M. If M is C⁵-smooth and dimM>1, H is of C⁴ class and independent of time t, then for any τ>0 the corresponding system has an infinite sequence of contractible periodic solutions of periods of integral multiple of τ such that any one of them cannot be obtained from others by iterations or rotations. These results are obtained by proving similar results for the Lagrangian system of the Fenchel transform of H, L:R×TM→R, which is proved to be strongly convex and to have quadratic growth in the velocities yet.     

Counting solutions of polynomial systems via iterated fibrations

The paper introduces a new polynomial to count the solutions of a system of polynomial equations and inequations over an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero based on the triangular decomposition algorithm by J. M. Thomas of the nineteen-thirties. In the special case of projective varieties examples indicate that it is a finer invariant than the Hilbert polynomial. Received: 8 March 2008; Revised: 12 August 2008     

The lattice of ideals of a polynomial semiring

We show that for a semiringR, the following statements are equivalent: (1)R is a ring, (2) every left ideal ofR[X], the semiring of polynomials overR, is subtractive, (3) the lattice of left ideals ofR[X] is modular.Presented by R. W. Quackenbush.     

Solving systems of polynomial equations by bounded and real homotopy

Summary The homotopy method for solving systems of polynomial equations proposed by Chow, Mallet-Paret and Yorke is modified in two ways. The first modification allows to keep the homotopy solution curves bounded, the second one to work with real polynomials when solving a system of real equations. For the first method numerical results are presented.