Topological games and continuity of group operations

We consider a topological game GΠ involving two players α and β and show that, for a paratopological group, the absence of a winning strategy for player β implies the group is a topological one. We provide a large class of topological spaces X for which the absence of a winning strategy for player β is equivalent to the requirement that X is a Baire space. This allows to extend the class of paratopological or semitopological groups for which one can prove that they are, actually, topological groups.Conditions of the type “existence of a winning strategy for the player α” or “absence of a winning strategy for the player β” are frequently used in mathematics. Though convenient and satisfactory for theoretical considerations, such conditions do not reveal much about the internal structure of the topological space where they hold. We show that the existence of a winning strategy for any of the players in all games of Banach-Mazur type can be expressed in terms of “saturated sieves” of open sets.     

On finite lattice coverings

We consider finite lattice coverings of strictly convex bodies K. For planar centrally symmetric K we characterize the finite arrangements C _n such that conv , where C _n is a subset of a covering lattice for K (which satisfies some natural conditions). We prove that for a fixed lattice the optimal arrangement (measured with the parametric density) is either a sausage, a so-called double sausage or tends to a Wulff-shape, depending on the parameter. This shows that the Wulff-shape plays an important role for packings as well as for coverings. Further we give a version of this result for variable lattices. For the Euclidean d-ball we characterize the lattices, for which the optimal arrangement is a sausage, for large parameter. Received 19 May 1999.     

Retractions onto series-parallel posets

The poset retraction problem for a poset P is whether a given poset Q containing P as a subposet admits a retraction onto P, that is, whether there is a homomorphism from Q onto P which fixes every element of P. We study this problem for finite series-parallel posets P. We present equivalent combinatorial, algebraic, and topological charaterisations of posets for which the problem is tractable, and, for such a poset P, we describe posets admitting a retraction onto P.     

Genus polynomials and crosscap‐number polynomials for ring‐like graphs

An H‐linear graph is obtained by transforming a collection of copies of a fixed graph H into a chain. An H‐ring‐like graph is formed by binding the two end‐copies of H in such a chain to each other. Genus polynomials have been calculated for bindings of several kinds. In this paper, we substantially generalize the rules for constructing sequences of H‐ring‐like graphs from sequences of H‐linear graphs, and we give a general method for obtaining a recursion for the genus polynomials of the graphs in a sequence of ring‐like graphs. We use Chebyshev polynomials to obtain explicit formulas for the genus polynomials of several such sequences. We also give methods for obtaining recursions for partial genus polynomials and for crosscap‐number polynomials of a bar‐ring of a sequence of disjoint graphs.     

The evolution of invariant manifolds in Hamiltonian-Hopf bifurcations

We consider the evolution of the stable and unstable manifolds of an equilibrium point of a Hamiltonian system of two degrees of freedom which depends on a parameter, ν. The eigenvalues of the linearized system are complex for ν<0 and pure imaginary for ν>0. Thus, for ν<0 the equilibrium has a two-dimensional stable manifold and a two-dimensional unstable manifold, but for ν>0 these stable and unstable manifolds are gone. If the sign of a certain term in the normal form is positive then for small negative ν the stable and unstable manifolds of the system are either identical or must have transverse intersection. Thus, either the system is totally degenerate or the system admits a suspended Smale horseshoe as an invariant set.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">K</Emphasis><Subscript>4</Subscript>-free subgraphs of random graphs revisited

In Combinatorica 17(2), 1997, Kohayakawa, ?uczak and Rödl state a conjecture which has several implications for random graphs. If the conjecture is true, then, for example, an application of a version of Szemerédi’s regularity lemma for sparse graphs yields an estimation of the maximal number of edges in an H-free subgraph of a random graph G _{n, p} . In fact, the conjecture may be seen as a probabilistic embedding lemma for partitions guaranteed by a version of Szemerédi’s regularity lemma for sparse graphs. In this paper we verify the conjecture for H = K ₄, thereby providing a conceptually simple proof for the main result in the paper cited above.     

Steiner trees for fixed orientation metrics

We consider the problem of constructing Steiner minimum trees for a metric defined by a polygonal unit circle (corresponding to σ ≥ 2 weighted legal orientations in the plane). A linear-time algorithm to enumerate all angle configurations for degree three Steiner points is given. We provide a simple proof that the angle configuration for a Steiner point extends to all Steiner points in a full Steiner minimum tree, such that at most six orientations suffice for edges in a full Steiner minimum tree. We show that the concept of canonical forms originally introduced for the uniform orientation metric generalises to the fixed orientation metric. Finally, we give an O(σ n) time algorithm to compute a Steiner minimum tree for a given full Steiner topology with n terminal leaves.     

Necessity of a Wiener type condition for boundary regularity of quasiminimizers and nonlinear elliptic equations

We use variational methods to obtain a pointwise estimate near a boundary point for quasisubminimizers of the p-energy integral and other integral functionals in doubling metric measure spaces admitting a p-Poincaré inequality. It implies a Wiener type condition necessary for boundary regularity for p-harmonic functions on metric spaces, as well as for (quasi)minimizers of various integral functionals and solutions of nonlinear elliptic equations on R ⁿ .     

Weyl’s theorem and thin spectra

Using the notion of thin sets we prove a theorem of Weyl type for the Wolf essential spectrum ofT ∈β (H). *Further we show that Weyl’s theorem holds for a restriction convexoid operator and consequently modify some results of Berberian. Finally we show that Weyl’s theorem holds for a paranormal operator and that a polynomially compact paranormal operator is a compact perturbation of a diagnoal normal operator. A structure theorem for polynomially compact paranormal operators is also given.     

Exhausters af a positively homogeneous function *

Notions of upper exhauster and lower exhauster of a positively homogeneous (of the first degree) function h: ? ⁿ →? are introduced. They are linked to exhaustive families of upper convex and lower concave approximations of the function h. The pair of an upper exhauster and a lower exhauster is called a biexhauster of h. A calculus for biexhausters is described (in particular, a composition theorem is formulated). The problem of minimality of exhausters is stated. Necessary and sufficient conditions for a constrained minimum and a constrained maximum of a directionally differentiable function f: ? ⁿ →? are formulated in terms of exhausters of the directional derivative of f. In general, they are described by means of exhausters of the Hadamard upper and lower directional derivatives of the function f. To formulate conditions for a minimum, an upper exhauster is employed while conditions for a maximum are formulated via a lower exhauster of the respective directional derivative (the Hadamard lower derivative for a minimum and the Hadamard upper derivative for a maximum).

If a point x _o is not stationary then directions of steepest ascent and descent can also be calculated by means of exhausters.     

-Operator frames for a Banach space

In this paper, (p,Y)-Bessel operator sequences, operator frames and (p,Y)-Riesz bases for a Banach space X are introduced and discussed as generalizations of the usual concepts for a Hilbert space and of the g-frames. It is proved that the set of all (p,Y)-Bessel operator sequences for a Banach space X is a Banach space and isometrically isomorphic to the operator space B(X,ℓ^p(Y)). Some necessary and sufficient conditions for a sequence of operators to be a (p,Y)-Bessel operator sequence are given. Also, a characterization of an independent (p,Y)-operator frame for X is obtained. Lastly, it is shown that an independent (p,Y)-operator frame for X is just a (p,Y)-Riesz basis for X and has a unique dual (q,Y^*)-operator frame for X^*.     

An algorithm for the difference between set covers

A set cover for a set S is a collection C of special subsets whose union is S. Given covers A and B for two sets, the set-cover difference problem is to construct a new cover for the elements covered by A but not B. Applications include testing equivalence of set covers and maintaining a set cover dynamically. In this paper, we solve the set-cover difference problem by defining a difference operation A-B, which turns out to be a pseudocomplement on a distributive lattice. We give an algorithm for constructing this difference, and show how to implement the algorithm for two examples with applications in computer science: face covers on a hypercube, and rectangle covers on a grid. We derive an upper bound on the time complexity of the algorithm, and give upper and lower bounds on complexity for face covers and rectangle covers.     

Estimation of rating classes and default probabilities in credit risk models with dependencies

Let Y = m(X) + ε be a regression model with a dichotomous output Y and a one‐step regression function m . In the literature, estimators for the three parameters of m , that is, the breakpoint θ and the levels a and b , are proposed for independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) observations. We show that these standard estimators also work in a non‐i.i.d. framework, that is, that they are strongly consistent under mild conditions. For that purpose, we use a linear one‐factor model for the input X and a Bernoulli mixture model for the output Y . The estimators for the split point and the risk levels are applied to a problem arising in credit rating systems. In particular, we divide the range of individuals' creditworthiness into two groups. The first group has a higher probability of default and the second group has a lower one. We also stress connections between the standard estimator for the cutoff θ and concepts prevalent in credit risk modeling, for example, receiver operating characteristic. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the convergence of sequences of stationary jump Markov processes

This paper presents two main results: first, a Liapunov type criterion for the existence of a stationary probability distribution for a jump Markov process; second, a Liapunov type criterion for existence and tightness of stationary probability distributions for a sequence of jump Markov processes. If the corresponding semigroups T_N(t) converge, under suitable hypotheses on the limit semigroup, this last result yields the weak convergence of the sequence of stationary processes (T_N(t), π_N) to the stationary limit one.     

On the modulus of continuity for spectral measures in substitution dynamics

The paper gives first quantitative estimates on the modulus of continuity of the spectral measure for weak mixing suspension flows over substitution automorphisms, which yield information about the “fractal” structure of these measures. The main results are, first, a Hölder estimate for the spectral measure of almost all suspension flows with a piecewise constant roof function; second, a log-Hölder estimate for self-similar suspension flows; and, third, a Hölder asymptotic expansion of the spectral measure at zero for such flows. Our second result implies log-Hölder estimates for the spectral measures of translation flows along stable foliations of pseudo-Anosov automorphisms. A key technical tool in the proof of the second result is an “arithmetic-Diophantine” proposition, which has other applications. In Appendix A this proposition is used to derive new decay estimates for the Fourier transforms of Bernoulli convolutions.     

Factorizing τ-spectra of mappings

In this paper by a spectrum of mappings we mean a morphism of spectra of spaces. However, using the notion of a mapping of mappings, we give the definition of a spectrum of mappings similar to that of a spectrum of spaces. In this case, the formulations of the given results are also similar to the formulations of the corresponding results concerning the spectra of spaces.For the spectra of mappings we define the notion of a τ-spectrum of mappings factorizing in a special sense and prove a version of the Spectral Theorem for such spectra. Furthermore, to a given indexed collection F of mapping we associate a τ-spectrum factorizing in the above special sense whose mappings are Containing Mappings for F constructed in Iliadis (2005) [4]. These associated τ-spectra and the corresponding version of the Spectral Theorem imply that for a given indexed collection F of mappings any so-called “natural” τ-spectrum for F factorizing in the special sense contains a cofinal and τ-closed subspectrum whose mappings are Containing Mapping for F. Thus, Containing Mappigs for F appear here without any concrete construction. The associated τ-spectra are used also in order to define and characterize the so-called second-type saturated classes of mappings (which are “saturated” by universal elements).     

Best constant in critical Sobolev inequalities of second-order in the presence of symmetries

Let (M,g) be a smooth compact Riemannian manifold. We first give the value of the best first constant for the critical embedding H²(M)?L^2?(M) for second-order Sobolev spaces of functions invariant by some subgroup of the isometry group of (M,g). We also prove that we can take ?=0 in the corresponding inequality under some geometric assumptions. As an application we give a sufficient condition for the existence of a smooth positive symmetric solution to a critical equation with a symmetric Paneitz-Branson-type operator. A sufficient condition for the existence of a nodal solution to such an equation is also derived. We eventually prove a multiplicity result for such an equation.     

Distributed personnel scheduling—negotiation among scheduling agents

This paper introduces a model for Distributed Employee Timetabling Problems (DisETPs) and proposes a general architecture for solving DisETPs by using a Multi Agent System (MAS) paradigm. The architecture is composed of a set of autonomous software Scheduling Agents (SAs) that solve the Employee Timetabling Problems (ETP) for each department. Each agent has its own local ETP problem and its own goals. The Scheduling Agents must coordinate their local solution with the other agents in order to achieve a global solution for the whole organization that yields a better result with respect to the organization’s global targets. To achieve a coherent and consistent global solution, the SAs make use of a sophisticated negotiation protocol among scheduling agents that always ends in an agreement (not ensured to be optimal). The main functionalities of this protocol are agent to agent relation definition, a mechanism to approve a chain of Request for Changes and an electronic marketplace for bidding on preferred common time slots. Experimental analysis of the implemented Multi Agent System for the Soroka medical center is presented. The results of our study indicate that the proposed framework has the potential to reduce the cost of transportation for the nurses that traveling to and from the hospital.     

Optimal location with equitable loads

The problem considered in this paper is to find p locations for p facilities such that the weights attracted to each facility will be as close as possible to one another. We model this problem as minimizing the maximum among all the total weights attracted to the various facilities. We propose solution procedures for the problem on a network, and for the special cases of the problem on a tree or on a path. The complexity of the problem is analyzed, O(n) algorithms and an O(pn ³) dynamic programming algorithm are proposed for the problem on a path respectively for p=2 and p>2 facilities. Heuristic algorithms (two types of a steepest descent approach and tabu search) are proposed for its solution. Extensive computational results are presented.