Mean field bounds on Lyapunov exponents in Z d at the critical energy

We further develop the supersymmetric formalism initiated in [W1] (see also [SjW]). We obtain the optimal mean field bounds at the critical energy for Lyapunov exponents of random walks in random potentials in Z ^d at weak disorder. This extends some of the results in [W1]. Received: 9 December 1999 / Revised version: 8 May 2000 /?Published online: 15 February 2001     

On the asymptotics of the eigenvalue counting function for random recursive Sierpinski gaskets

We consider natural Laplace operators on random recursive affine nested fractals based on the Sierpinski gasket and prove an analogue of Weyl’s classical result on their eigenvalue asymptotics. The eigenvalue counting function N(λ) is shown to be of order λ ^ds/2 as λ→∞ where we can explicitly compute the spectral dimension d _s . Moreover the limit N(λ) λ ^−ds/2 will typically exist and can be expressed as a deterministic constant multiplied by a random variable. This random variable is a power of the limiting random variable in a suitable general branching process and has an interpretation as the volume of the fractal. Received: 22 January 1999 / Revised version: 2 September 1999 /?Published online: 30 March 2000     

On logarithmic Sobolev inequalities for continuous time random walks on graphs

We establish modified logarithmic Sobolev inequalities for the path distributions of some continuous time random walks on graphs, including the simple examples of the discrete cube and the lattice ZZ ^d . Our approach is based on the Malliavin calculus on Poisson spaces developed by J. Picard and stochastic calculus. The inequalities we prove are well adapted to describe the tail behaviour of various functionals such as the graph distance in this setting. Received: 6 April 1998 / Revised version: 15 March 1999 / Published on line: 14 February 2000     

Random walk on upper triangular matrices mixes rapidly

We present an upper bound O(n ² ) for the mixing time of a simple random walk on upper triangular matrices. We show that this bound is sharp up to a constant, and find tight bounds on the eigenvalue gap. We conclude by applying our results to indicate that the asymmetric exclusion process on a circle indeed mixes more rapidly than the corresponding symmetric process. Received: 25 January 1999 / Revised version: 17 September 1999 / Published online: 14 June 2000     

Invariant manifolds for weak solutions to stochastic equations

Viability and invariance problems related to a stochastic equation in a Hilbert space H are studied. Finite dimensional invariant C ² submanifolds of H are characterized. We derive Nagumo type conditions and prove a regularity result: any weak solution, which is viable in a finite dimensional C ² submanifold, is a strong solution. These results are related to finding finite dimensional realizations for stochastic equations. There has recently been increased interest in connection with a model for the stochastic evolution of forward rate curves. Received: 15 April 1999 / Revised version: 4 February 2000 / Published online: 18 September 2000     

Almost sure asymptotics for the continuous parabolic Anderson model

We consider the parabolic Anderson problem ∂ _t u = κΔu + ξ(x)u on ℝ₊×ℝ ^d with initial condition u(0,x) = 1. Here κ > 0 is a diffusion constant and ξ is a random homogeneous potential. We concentrate on the two important cases of a Gaussian potential and a shot noise Poisson potential. Under some mild regularity assumptions, we derive the second-order term of the almost sure asymptotics of u(t, 0) as t→∞. Received: 26 July 1999 / Revised version: 6 April 2000 / Published online: 22 November 2000     

Convex geometry of max-stable distributions

It is shown that max-stable random vectors in [0, ∞ ) ^d with unit Fréchet marginals are in one to one correspondence with convex sets K in [0, ∞ ) ^d called max-zonoids. The max-zonoids can be characterised as sets obtained as limits of Minkowski sums of cross-polytopes or, alternatively, as the selection expectation of a random cross-polytope whose distribution is controlled by the spectral measure of the max-stable random vector. Furthermore, the cumulative distribution function P ξ ≤ x of a max-stable random vector ξ with unit Fréchet marginals is determined by the norm of the inverse to x, where all possible norms are given by the support functions of (normalised) max-zonoids. As an application, geometrical interpretations of a number of well-known concepts from the theory of multivariate extreme values and copulas are provided.      

On the Hopfield model at the critical temperature

We study the Hopfield model at temperature 1, when thenumber M(N) of patterns grows a bit slower than N. We reach a goodunderstanding of the model whenever M(N)≤N/(log N)¹¹. For example, we show that if M(N)→∞, for two typical configurations σ ¹, σ ², (∑ _{i ≤ N} σ¹ _i σ² _i )² is close to NM(N). Received: 15 December 1999 / Revised version: 8 December 2000 / Published online: 23 August 2001     

A criterion of density for solutions of Poisson-driven SDEs

We construct a Dirichlet structure related to a Poisson measure on ℝ⁺×M, where M is a general measured space, with compensator dt⊗dv. We obtain a criterion of density for variables in the domain of the Dirichlet form and we apply it to S.D.E. driven by this Poisson measure. Received: 15 May 1999 / Revised version: 23 February 2000 / Published online: 12 October 2000     

Asymptotics of random sums of negatively dependent random variables in the presence of dominatedly varying tails

Let X ₁ , X ₂ , . . . be a sequence of negatively dependent and identically distributed random variables, and let N be a counting random variable independent of X _i ’s. In this paper, we study the asymptotics for the tail probability of the random sum S_N = ?_{k = 1}^N X_k {S_N} = \sum\nolimits_{k = 1}^N {{X_k}} in the presence of heavy tails. We consider the following three cases: (i) P(N > x) = o(P(X ₁  > x)), and the distribution function (d.f.) of X ₁ is dominatedly varying; (ii) P(X ₁  > x) = o(P(N > x)), and the d.f. of N is dominatedly varying; (iii) the tails of X ₁ and N are asymptotically comparable and dominatedly varying.     

Diffusive scaling of the spectral gap for the dilute Ising lattice-gas dynamics below the percolation threshold

We consider a conservative stochastic lattice-gas dynamics reversible with respect to the canonical Gibbs measure of the bond dilute Ising model on ℤ ^d at inverse temperature β. When the bond dilution density p is below the percolation threshold we prove that for any particle density and any β, with probability one, the spectral gap of the generator of the dyamics in a box of side L centered at the origin scales like L ⁻². Such an estimate is then used to prove a decay to equilibrium for local functions of the form where ε is positive and arbitrarily small and α = ? for d = 1, α=1 for d≥2. In particular our result shows that, contrary to what happes for the Glauber dynamics, there is no dynamical phase transition when β crosses the critical value β _c of the pure system. Received: 10 April 2000 / Revised version: 23 October 2000 / Published online: 5 June 2001     

The high temperature case for the random K-sat problem

We give a completely rigorous proof that the replica-symmetric solution holds at high enough temperature for the random K-sat problem. The most notable feature of this problem is that the order parameter of the system is a function and not a number. Received: 21 April 1998 / Revised version: 24 April 2000 / Published online: 21 December 2000     

The Karp complexity of unstable classes

A class K of structures is controlled if, for all cardinals λ, the relation of L _∞,λ-equivalence partitions K into a set of equivalence classes (as opposed to a proper class). We prove that the class of doubly transitive linear orders is controlled, while any pseudo-elementary class with the ω-independence property is not controlled. Received: 23 September 1998 / Revised version: 6 July 1999 / Published online: 21 December 2000     

The braid group B4 is linear

We study a linear representation ρ:B _n ? GL _m (Z[q ^±1,t ^±1]) with m=n(n-1)/2. We will show that for n=4, this representation is faithful. We prove a relation with the new Charney length function. We formulate a conjecture implying that ρ is faithful for all n. Oblatum 15-VI-1999 & 24-II-2000?Published online: 18 September 2000     

Nonlinear stochastic wave and heat equations

We study nonlinear wave and heat equations on ℝ ^d driven by a spatially homogeneous Wiener process. For the wave equation we consider the cases of d = 1, 2, 3. The heat equation is considered on an arbitrary ℝ ^d -space. We give necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a function-valued solution in terms of the covariance kernel of the noise. Received: 1 April 1998 / Revised version: 23 June 1999 / Published online: 7 February 2000     

Anomalous behaviour for the random corrections to the cumulants of random walks in fluctuating random media

The Central Limit Theorem for a model of discrete-time random walks on the lattice ℤ^ν in a fluctuating random environment was proved for almost-all realizations of the space-time nvironment, for all ν > 1 in [BMP1] and for all ν≥ 1 in [BBMP]. In [BMP1] it was proved that the random correction to the average of the random walk for ν≥ 3 is finite. In the present paper we consider the cases ν = 1,2 and prove the Central Limit Theorem as T→∞ for the random correction to the first two cumulants. The rescaling factor for theaverage is for ν = 1 and (ln T), for ν=2; for the covariance it is , ν = 1,2. Received: 25 November 1999 / Revised version: 7 June 2000 / Published online: 15 February 2001     

Probabilities of high excursions of Gaussian fields

Let {ξ(t), t ∈ T} be a differentiable (in the mean-square sense) Gaussian random field with E ξ(t) ≡ 0, D ξ(t) ≡ 1, and continuous trajectories defined on the m-dimensional interval T ì \mathbbR^m T \subset {\mathbb{R}^m} . The paper is devoted to the problem of large excursions of the random field ξ. In particular, the asymptotic properties of the probability P = P{−v(t) < ξ(t) < u(t), t ∈ T}, when, for all t ∈ T, u(t), v(t) ⩾ χ, χ → ∞, are investigated. The work is a continuation of Rudzkis research started in [R. Rudzkis, Probabilities of large excursions of empirical processes and fields, Sov. Math., Dokl., 45(1):226–228, 1992]. It is shown that if the random field ξ satisfies certain smoothness and regularity conditions, then P = e^−Q  + Qo(1), where Q is a certain constructive functional depending on u, v, T, and the matrix function R(t) = cov(ξ′(t), ξ′(t)).     

On the cohomology of flows of stochastic and random differential equations

We consider the flow of a stochastic differential equation on d-dimensional Euclidean space. We show that if the Lie algebra generated by its diffusion vector fields is finite dimensional and solvable, then the flow is conjugate to the flow of a non-autonomous random differential equation, i.e. one can be transformed into the other via a random diffeomorphism of d-dimensional Euclidean space. Viewing a stochastic differential equation in this form which appears closer to the setting of ergodic theory, can be an advantage when dealing with asymptotic properties of the system. To illustrate this, we give sufficient criteria for the existence of global random attractors in terms of the random differential equation, which are applied in the case of the Duffing-van der Pol oscillator with two independent sources of noise. Received: 25 May 1999 / Revised version: 19 October 2000 / Published online: 26 April 2001     

On the regularity of the distribution of the maximum of one-parameter Gaussian processes

The main result in this paper states that if a one-parameter Gaussian process has C ^2k paths and satisfies a non-degeneracy condition, then the distribution of its maximum on a compact interval is of class C ^k . The methods leading to this theorem permit also to give bounds on the successive derivatives of the distribution of the maximum and to study their asymptotic behaviour as the level tends to infinity. Received: 14 May 1999 / Revised version: 18 October 1999 / Published online: 14 December 2000     

Distribution of values of bounded generalized polynomials

A generalized polynomial is a real-valued function which is obtained from conventional polynomials by the use of the operations of addition, multiplication, and taking the integer part; a generalized polynomial mapping is a vector-valued mapping whose coordinates are generalized polynomials. We show that any bounded generalized polynomial mapping u: Z ^d  → R ^l has a representation u(n) = f(ϕ(n)x), n ∈ Z ^d , where f is a piecewise polynomial function on a compact nilmanifold X, x ∈ X, and ϕ is an ergodic Z ^d -action by translations on X. This fact is used to show that the sequence u(n), n ∈ Z ^d , is well distributed on a piecewise polynomial surface (with respect to the Borel measure on that is the image of the Lebesgue measure under the piecewise polynomial function defining ). As corollaries we also obtain a von Neumann-type ergodic theorem along generalized polynomials and a result on Diophantine approximations extending the work of van der Corput and of Furstenberg–Weiss.