Reliability formula &; limit law of the failure time of “<Emphasis Type="Italic">m</Emphasis>-consecutive-<Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-out-of-<Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>:<Emphasis Type="Italic">F</Emphasis> system”

An “m-consecutive-k-out-of-n:F system” consists of n components ordered on a line; the system fails if and only if there are at least m nonoverlapping runs of k consecutive failed components. In this paper, we give a recursive formula to compute the reliability of such a system. Thereafter, we state two asymptotic results concerning the failure time Z _n of the system. The first result concerns a limit theorem for Z _n when the failure times of components are not necessarily with identical failure distributions. In the second one, we prove that, for an arbitrary common failure distribution of components, the limit system failure distribution is always of the Poisson class.      

The infinite server queue and heuristic approximations to the multi-server queue with and without retrials

In this paper, properties of the time-dependent state probabilities of theM _t /G/∞ queue, when the queue is assumed to start empty are studied. Those results are compared with corresponding time-dependent results for theM/M/1 queue. Approximation to the time-dependent state probabilities of theM/G/m/m queue by means of the corresponding time-dependent state probabilities of theM/G/∞ queue are discussed. Through a decomposition formula it is shown that the main performance characteristics of the ergodicM/M/m/m+d queue are sums of the corresponding random variables for the ergodicM/M/m/m andM/M/1/1+(d−1) queues, respectively, weighted by the 3-rd Erlang formula (stationary probability of waiting or being lost for theM/M/m/m+d queue). Successful exact and approximation extensions of this kind of decomposition formula to theM/M/m/m+d queue with retrials are presented.     

Duality for <Emphasis Type="Italic">ε</Emphasis>-Variational Inequality

In this paper, following the method in the proof of the composition duality principle due to Robinson and using some basic properties of the ε-subdifferential and the conjugate function of a convex function, we establish duality results for an ε-variational inequality problem. Then, we give Fenchel duality results for the ε-optimal solution of an unconstrained convex optimization problem. Moreover, we present an example to illustrate our Fenchel duality results for the ε-optimal solutions. The authors thank the referees for valuable suggestions and comments. This work was supported by Grant No. R01-2003-000-10825-0 from the Basic Research Program of KOSEF.     

A new geometric condition for Fenchel's duality in infinite dimensional spaces

In 1951, Fenchel discovered a special duality, which relates the minimization of a sum of two convex functions with the maximization of the sum of concave functions, using conjugates. Fenchel's duality is central to the study of constrained optimization. It requires an existence of an interior point of a convex set which often has empty interior in optimization applications. The well known relaxations of this requirement in the literature are again weaker forms of the interior point condition. Avoiding an interior point condition in duality has so far been a difficult problem. However, a non-interior point type condition is essential for the application of Fenchel's duality to optimization. In this paper we solve this problem by presenting a simple geometric condition in terms of the sum of the epigraphs of conjugate functions. We also establish a necessary and sufficient condition for the ε-subdifferential sum formula in terms of the sum of the epigraphs of conjugate functions. Our results offer further insight into Fenchel's duality. Dedicated to Terry Rockafellar on his 70th birthday     

On the Dini-Hadamard subdifferential of the difference of two functions

In this paper we first provide a general formula of inclusion for the Dini-Hadamard ε-subdifferential of the difference of two functions and show that it becomes equality in case the functions are directionally approximately starshaped at a given point and a weak topological assumption is fulfilled. To this end we give a useful characterization of the Dini-Hadamard ε-subdifferential by means of sponges. The achieved results are employed in the formulation of optimality conditions via the Dini-Hadamard subdifferential for cone-constrained optimization problems having the difference of two functions as objective.     

Approximations for the delay probability in the M/G/s queue

This paper develops approximations for the delay probability in an M/G/s queue. For M/G/s queues, it has been well known that the delay probability in the M/M/s queue, i.e., the Erlang delay formula, is usually a good approximation for other service-time distributions. By using an excellent approximation for the mean waiting time in the M/G/s queue, we provide more accurate approximations of the delay probability for small values of s. To test the quality of our approximations, we compare them with the exact value and the Erlang delay formula for some particular cases.     

Lipschitz continuity ofV-subdifferentials of convex operators

It is proved that theV-subdifferential of a convex operator is locally Lipschitzian on the set of points at which it is continuous and subdifferentiable.Proposition 2.2 was originally stated for Holder continuity ofV-subdifferentials. The author would like to thank J. P. Penot for a very helpful suggestion which led to the present form of this proposition.     

About spherical functions onSL(2,ℝ)

In this paper, we will discuss some properties of the (n, m)-spherical functions on the Lie groupG = SL(2,ℝ), and obtain the decomposition off inC _c ⁴ (G) into these functions. Also we give the Fourier inversion formula for the (n, m)-spherical functions inC _c ³ (G).     

Asymptotics of zeros of basic sine and cosine functions

We give an elementary calculus proof of the asymptotic formulas for the zeros of the q-sine and cosine functions which have been recently found numerically by Gosper and Suslov. Monotone convergent sequences of the lower and upper bounds for these zeros are constructed as an extension of our method. Improved asymptotics are found by a different method using the Lagrange inversion formula. Asymptotic formulas for the points of inflection of the basic sine and cosine functions are conjectured. Analytic continuation of the q-zeta function is discussed as an application. An interpretation of the zeros is given.     

On Some Properties of the Quaternionic Functional Calculus

In some recent works we have developed a new functional calculus for bounded and unbounded quaternionic operators acting on a quaternionic Banach space. That functional calculus is based on the theory of slice regular functions and on a Cauchy formula which holds for particular domains where the admissible functions have power series expansions. In this paper, we use a new version of the Cauchy formula with slice regular kernel to extend the validity of the quaternionic functional calculus to functions defined on more general domains. Moreover, we show some of the algebraic properties of the quaternionic functional calculus such as the S-spectral radius theorem and the S-spectral mapping theorem. Our functional calculus is also a natural tool to define the semigroup e ^tA when A is a linear quaternionic operator.      

<Emphasis Type="Italic">K</Emphasis>-subanalytic rectilinearization and uniformization

We prove rectilinearization and uniformization theorems for K-subanalytic (∝ _an ^K -definable) sets and functions using the Lion-Rolin formula. Parallel reasoning gives standard results for the subanalytic case.     

The free spectrum of the variety of bands

In this short note we give an asymptotic formula for the p _n sequence of the variety of bands, namely, for some constant K. This yields a formula for the free spectrum of this variety.     

On the product formulas for <Emphasis Type="Italic">C</Emphasis>-semigroups

In this paper we obtain a Chernoff-type approximation theorem for C-semigroups, from which we derive the Trotter product formula and the Post-Widder inversion formula for C-semigroups. The first author was supported by the NSF of China (Grant No. 10501032) and the NSFC-RFBR Programm (Grant No. 108011120015), and the second author by the NSF of China (Grant No. 10671079).     

The Virtual Waiting Time of the M/G/1 Queue with Impatient Customers

The M/G/1 queue with impatient customers is studied. The complete formula of the limiting distribution of the virtual waiting time is derived explicitly. The expected busy period of the queue is also obtained by using a martingale argument.     

The homogeneous q-difference operator

We introduce a q-differential operator D_xy on functions in two variables which turns out to be suitable for dealing with the homogeneous form of the q-binomial theorem as studied by Andrews, Goldman, and Rota, Roman, Ihrig, and Ismail, et al. The homogeneous versions of the q-binomial theorem and the Cauchy identity are often useful for their specializations of the two parameters. Using this operator, we derive an equivalent form of the Goldman–Rota binomial identity and show that it is a homogeneous generalization of the q-Vandermonde identity. Moreover, the inverse identity of Goldman and Rota also follows from our unified identity. We also obtain the q-Leibniz formula for this operator. In the last section, we introduce the homogeneous Rogers–Szegö polynomials and derive their generating function by using the homogeneous q-shift operator.     

Multiple <Emphasis Type="Italic">q</Emphasis>-zeta functions and multiple <Emphasis Type="Italic">q</Emphasis>-polylogarithms

For every positive integer d we define the q-analog of multiple zeta function of depth d and study its properties, generalizing the work of Kaneko et al. who dealt with the case d=1. We first analytically continue it to a meromorphic function on ℂ ^d with explicit poles. In our Main Theorem we show that its limit when q ↑1 is the ordinary multiple zeta function. Then we consider some special values of these functions when d=2. At the end of the paper we also propose the q-analogs of multiple polylogarithms by using Jackson’s q-iterated integrals and then study some of their properties. Our definition is motivated by those of Koornwinder and Schlesinger although theirs are slightly different from ours. Partially supported by NSF grant DMS0139813 and DMS0348258.     

The Exterior Cube L-Function for GL(6)

We construct a Rankin Selberg integral to represent the exterior cube L function L(,³,s) of an automorphic cuspidal module of GL₆( _F ) (where F is a number field). We determine the poles of this L function and find period conditions for the special value L(,³,1/2). We use the Siegal Weil formula. We also state an analogue of the Gross–Prasad conjecture concerning a criterion for the nonvanishing of L(,³,1/2).     

A generalization of Kawanaka’s identity for Hall-Littlewood polynomials and applications

An infinite summation formula of Hall-Littlewood polynomials due to Kawanaka is generalized to a finite summation formula, which implies, in particular, twelve more multiple q-identities of Rogers-Ramanujan type than those previously found by Stembridge and the last two authors.     

LU factorizations, q = 0 limits, and p-adic interpretations of some q-hypergeometric orthogonal polynomials

For little q-Jacobi polynomials and q-Hahn polynomials we give particular q-hypergeometric series representations in which the termwise q = 0 limit can be taken. When rewritten in matrix form, these series representations can be viewed as LU factorizations. We develop a general theory of LU factorizations related to complete systems of orthogonal polynomials with discrete orthogonality relations which admit a dual system of orthogonal polynomials. For the q = 0 orthogonal limit functions we discuss interpretations on p-adic spaces. In the little 0-Jacobi case we also discuss product formulas. Dedicated to Dick Askey on the occasion of his seventieth birthday. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification Primary—33D45, 33D80 Work done at KdV Institute, Amsterdam and supported by NWO, project number 613.006.573.     

Limiting -subgradient characterizations of constrained best approximation

In this paper, we show that the strong conical hull intersection property (CHIP) completely characterizes the best approximation to any x in a Hilbert space X from the set

K:=C∩{xX:-g(x)S},