Skew Derivations and Engel Conditions

It is known that for a nonzero derivation d of a prime ring R, if a nonzero ideal I of R satisfies the Engel-type identity [[…[[d(x ^{k ₀} ), x ^{k ₁} ], x ^{k ₂} ],…], x ^{k _n} ], then R is commutative. Here we extend this result to a skew derivation of R for a Lie ideal I, which has an immediate corollary that replaces d by an automorphism of R. A related result in two variables is obtained for d a (θ, ?)-derivation.     

Successive minima,intrinsic volumes,and lattice determinants

In Euclideand-spaceE ^d we prove a lattice-point inequality for arbitrary lattices and for the intrinsic volumesV _i (i.e., normalized quermassintegrals) of convex bodies. TheV _i are not equi-affine invariant (except the volume), hence suitable functionals of the lattice have to be introduced. The result generalizes an earlier result of Henk for the integer lattice ℤ ^d .     

Stabbing Simplices by Points and Flats

The following result was proved by Bárány in 1982: For every d≥1, there exists c _d >0 such that for every n-point set S in ℝ ^d , there is a point p∈ℝ ^d contained in at least c _d n ^d+1−O(n ^d ) of the d-dimensional simplices spanned by S. We investigate the largest possible value of c _d . It was known that c _d ≤1/(2 ^d (d+1)!) (this estimate actually holds for every point set S). We construct sets showing that c _d ≤(d+1)^−(d+1), and we conjecture that this estimate is tight. The best known lower bound, due to Wagner, is c _d ≥γ _d :=(d ²+1)/((d+1)!(d+1) ^d+1); in his method, p can be chosen as any centerpoint of S. We construct n-point sets with a centerpoint that is contained in no more than γ _d n ^d+1+O(n ^d ) simplices spanned by S, thus showing that the approach using an arbitrary centerpoint cannot be further improved.     

A Volume Formual for Medial Sections of Simplices

Let S _d be a d-dimensional simplex in R ^d , and let H be an affine hyperplane of R ^d . We say that H is a medial hyperplane of S _d if the distance between H and any vertex of S _d is the same constant. The intersection of S _d and a medial hyperplane is called a medial section of S _d . In this paper we give a simple formula for the (d-1)-volume of any medial section of S _d in terms of the lengths of the edges of S _d . This extends the result of Yetter from the three-dimensional case to arbitrary dimension. We also show that a generalization of the obtained formula measures the volume of the intersection of some analogously chosen medial affine subspace of R ^d and the simplex.     

Logarithmic mean oscillation on the polydisc,endpoint results for multi-parameter paraproducts,and commutators on BMO

We study boundedness properties of a class ofmultiparameter paraproducts on the dual space of the dyadic Hardy space H _d ¹ (T ^N ), the dyadic product BMO space BMO ^d (T ^N ). For this, we introduce a notion of logarithmic mean oscillation on the polydisc. We also obtain a result on the boundedness of iterated commutators on BMO [0, 1] ^N ).     

Kolmogorov Width of Classes of Smooth Functions on the Sphere

Let ^d−1{(x₁,…,x_d) ^d:x²₁+···+x²_d=1} be the unit sphere of the d-dimensional Euclidean space ^d. For r>0, we denote by B^r_p (1p∞) the class of functions f on ^d−1 representable in the formwhere dσ(y) denotes the usual Lebesgue measure on ^d−1, and P^λ_k(t) is the ultraspherical polynomial.For 1p,q∞, the Kolmogorov N-width of B^r_p in L^q( ^d−1) is given bythe left-most infimum being taken over all N-dimensional subspaces X_N of L^q( ^d−1).The main result in this paper is that for r2(d−1)²,where A_NB_N means that there exists a positive constant C, independent of N, such that C⁻¹A_NB_NCA_N.This extends the well-known Kashin theorem on the asymptotic order of the Kolmogorov widths of the Sobolev class of the periodic functions.     

Summability of orthogonal expansions of several variables

Summability of spherical h-harmonic expansions with respect to the weight function ∏_j=1^d |x_j|^2κ_j (κ_j0) on the unit sphere S^d−1 is studied. The main result characterizes the critical index of summability of the Cesàro (C,δ) means of the h-harmonic expansion; it is proved that the (C,δ) means of any continuous function converge uniformly in the norm of C(S^d−1) if and only if δ>(d−2)/2+∑_j=1^d κ_j−min_1jd κ_j. Moreover, it is shown that for each point not on the great circles defined by the intersection of the coordinate planes and S^d−1, the (C,δ) means of the h-harmonic expansion of a continuous function f converges pointwisely to f if δ>(d−2)/2. Similar results are established for the orthogonal expansions with respect to the weight functions ∏_j=1^d |x_j|^2κ_j(1−|x|²)^μ−1/2 on the unit ball B^d and ∏_j=1^d x_j^κ_j−1/2(1−|x|₁)^μ−1/2 on the simplex T^d. As a related result, the Cesàro summability of the generalized Gegenbauer expansions associated to the weight function |t|^2μ(1−t²)^λ−1/2 on [−1,1] is studied, which is of interest in itself.     

Deforming Curves in Jacobians to Non-Jacobians II: Curves in <Emphasis Type="Italic">C</Emphasis><Superscript>(<Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis>)</Superscript>, 3⩽ <Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis> ⩽ <Emphasis Type="Italic">g</Emphasis>−3*

We introduce deformation theoretic methods for determining when a curve X in a nonhyperelliptic Jacobian JC will deform with JC to a non-Jacobian. We apply these methods to a particular class of curves in symmetric powers C^(e) of C where 3⩽ e ⩽ g−3. More precisely, given a pencil g¹_d of degree d on C, let X be the curve parametrizing divisors of degree e in divisors of g¹_d (see the paper for the precise scheme-theoretical definition). Under certain genericity assumptions on the pair (C, g¹_d), we prove that if X deforms infinitesimally out of the Jacobian locus with JC then either d=2e, dim H⁰ (g¹_d)=e or d=2e+1, dim H⁰ (g¹_d)=e+1. The analogous result in the case e=2 without genericity assumptions was proved earlier. *This material is based upon work partially supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DMS-0071795. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.     

On convolution powers on semidirect products

LetK be a compact group of linear operators of thed-dimensional spaceR ^d andG _K,d denote the semidirect productK byR ^d . It is shown that if an adapted probability measureμ onG _K,d is not scattered (i.e. for some compactF we havex ₀ ∈ R ^d (gF)>0), then there exists a nonzero vectorx ₀ ∈R ^d such thatk ₁(x ₀)=k ₂(x ₀) holds for all (k ₁,x ₁) and (k ₂,x ₂) belonging to the topological supportS(μ) of the measureμ. As a result we obtain that every adapted and strictly aperiodic probability measure on the group of all rigid motions of thed-dimensional Euclidian space is scattered. I thank the Foundation for Research Development for financial support.     

Energy of Flows on Percolation Clusters

It is well known for which gauge functions H there exists a flow in Z ^d with finite H energy. In this paper we discuss the robustness under random thinning of edges of the existence of such flows. Instead of Z ^d we let our (random) graph cal C cal (Z ^d,p) be the graph obtained from Z ^d by removing edges with probability 1–p independently on all edges. Grimmett, Kesten, and Zhang (1993) showed that for d3,p>p _c(Z ^d), simple random walk on cal C cal (Z ^d,p) is a.s. transient. Their result is equivalent to the existence of a nonzero flow f on the infinite cluster such that the x ² energy _e f(e)² is finite. Levin and Peres (1998) sharpened this result, and showed that if d3 and p>p _c(Z ^d), then cal C cal (Z ^d,p) supports a nonzero flow f such that the x ^q energy is finite for all q>d/(d–1). However, for general gauge functions, there is a gap between the existence of flows with finite energy which results from the work of Levin and Peres and the known results on flows for Z ^d. In this paper we close the gap by showing that if d3 and Z ^d supports a flow of finite H energy then the infinite percolation cluster on Z ^d also support flows of finite H energy. This disproves a conjecture of Levin and Peres.     

The convergence of multidimensional fourier-bessel series

We study the convergence of series of eigenfunctions of the Laplacian in the unit ballB ^d. The problem is posed in the spacesL _rad ^p (L _ang ² ). A convergence result is obtained in the sharp range2d/(d + 1) <p <2d/(d-1). There is a close connection with the spherical summation of classical trigonometric expansions. The proofs involve weighted inequalities for singular integrals, as well as a precise decomposition of oscillatory integrals using van der Corput’s method.     

A Smaller Sleeping Bag for a Baby Snake

By a sleeping bag for a baby snake in d dimensions we mean a subset of R ^d which can cover, by rotation and translation, every curve of unit length. We construct sleeping bags which are smaller than any previously known in dimensions 3 and higher. In particular, we construct a three-dimensional sleeping bag of volume approximately 0.075803. For large d we construct d -dimensional sleeping bags with volume less than (c\sqrt log d ) ^d / d ^3d/2 for some constant c . To obtain the last result, we show that every curve of unit length in R ^d lies between two parallel hyperplanes at distance at most c ₁ d ^-3/2 \sqrt log d , for some constant c ₁ . Received March 24, 1999, and in revised form July 26, 2000. Online publication April 6, 2001.     

The gonality of smooth curves with plane models

LetC be the normalization of an integral plane curve of degreed with δ ordinary nodes or cusps as its singularities. If δ=0, then Namba proved that there is no linear seriesg _d ^−2/1 and that everyg _d ^−1/1 is cut out by a pencil of lines passing through a point onC. The main purpose of this paper is to generalize his result to the case δ>0. A typical one is as follows: Ifd≥2(k+1), and δ<kd−(k+1)²+3 for somek>0, thenC has no linear seriesg _d ^−3/1 . We also show that ifd≥2k+3 and δ<kd−(k+1)²+2, then each linear seriesg _d ^−2/1 onC is cut out by a pencil of lines. We have similar results forg _d ^−1/1 andg _2d ^−9/1 . Furthermore, we also show that all of our theorems are sharp.     

Hitting Simplices with Points in ℝ3

The so-called first selection lemma states the following: given any set P of n points in ℝ ^d , there exists a point in ℝ ^d contained in at least c _d n ^d+1−O(n ^d ) simplices spanned by P, where the constant c _d depends on d. We present improved bounds on the first selection lemma in ℝ³. In particular, we prove that c ₃≥0.00227, improving the previous best result of c ₃≥0.00162 by Wagner (On k-sets and applications. Ph.D. thesis, ETH Zurich, 2003). This makes progress, for the three-dimensional case, on the open problems of Bukh et al. (Stabbing simplices by points and flats. Discrete Comput. Geom., 2010) (where it is proven that c ₃≤1/4⁴≈0.00390) and Boros and Füredi (The number of triangles covering the center of an n-set. Geom. Dedic. 17(1):69–77, 1984) (where the two-dimensional case was settled).     

Tractability of Multivariate Integration for Weighted Korobov Classes

We study the worst-case error of multivariate integration in weighted Korobov classes of periodic functions of d coordinates. This class is defined in terms of weights γ_j which moderate the behavior of functions with respect to successive coordinates. We study two classes of quadrature rules. They are quasi-Monte Carlo rules which use n function values and in which all quadrature weights are 1/n and rules for which all quadrature weights are non-negative. Tractability for these two classes of quadrature rules means that the minimal number of function values needed to guarantee error in the worst-case setting is bounded by a polynomial in d and ⁻¹. Strong tractability means that the bound does not depend on d and depends polynomially on ⁻¹. We prove that strong tractability holds iff ∑^∞_j=1 γ_j<∞, and tractability holds iff lim sup_d→∞ ∑^d_j=1 γ_j/log d<∞. Furthermore, strong tractability or tractability results are achieved by the relatively small class of lattice rules. We also prove that if ∑^∞_j=1 γ^1/α_j<∞, where α measures the decay of Fourier coefficients in the weighted Korobov class, then for d1, n prime and δ>0 there exist lattice rules that satisfy an error bound independent of d and of order n^−α/2+δ. This is almost the best possible result, since the order n^−α/2 cannot be improved upon even for d=1. A corresponding result is deduced for weighted non-periodic Sobolev spaces: if ∑^∞_j=1 γ^1/2_j<∞, then for d1, n prime and δ>0 there exist shifted lattice rules that satisfy an error bound independent of d and of order n^−1+δ. We also check how the randomized error of the (classical) Monte Carlo algorithm depends on d for weighted Korobov classes. It turns out that Monte Carlo is strongly tractable iff ∑^∞_j=1 log γ_j<∞ and tractable iff lim sup_d→∞ ∑^d_j=1 log γ_j/log d<∞. Hence, in particular, for γ_j=1 we have the usual Korobov space in which integration is intractable for the two classes of quadrature rules in the worst-case setting, whereas Monte Carlo is strongly tractable in the randomized setting.     

Frobenius problem for semigroups \mathsf{S}(d_{1},d_{2},d_{3})

We find the matrix representation of the set Δ(d ³), where d ³=(d ₁,d ₂,d ₃), of integers that are unrepresentable by d ₁,d ₂,d ₃ and develop a diagrammatic procedure for calculating the generating function Φ(d ³;z) for the set Δ(d ³). We find the Frobenius number F(d ³), the genus G(d ³), and the Hilbert series H(d ³;z) of a graded subring for nonsymmetric and symmetric semigroups and enhance the lower bounds of F(d ³) for symmetric and nonsymmetric semigroups.      

Analytic representations in the three-dimensional Frobenius problem

We consider the Diophantine problem of Frobenius for the semigroup , where d ³ denotes the triple (d ₁,d ₂,d ₃), gcd (d ₁,d ₂,d ₃)=1. Based on the Hadamard product of analytic functions, we find the analytic representation of the diagonal elements a _kk (d ³) of Johnson’s matrix of minimal relations in terms of d ₁, d ₂, and d ₃. With our recent results, this gives the analytic representation of the Frobenius number F(d ³), genus G(d ³), and Hilbert series H(d ³;z) for the semigroups . This representation complements Curtis’s theorem on the nonalgebraic representation of the Frobenius number F(d ³). We also give a procedure for calculating the diagonal and off-diagonal elements of Johnson’s matrix.      

On a Class of Factorizable Inverse Monoids Associated with Braid Groups

We prove that a constructible nilpotent-by-abelian group G can be obtained from a polycyclic group by forming d successive properly ascending HNN-extensions if and only if d is the dimension of the linear subspace of Hom(G, R) spanned by the geometric invariant Σ¹ (G, Z) ^c . We also obtain a result on the finiteness properties “type FP _m ” of certain subgroups of G     

On the Degree of Approximation by Manifolds of Finite Pseudo-Dimension

The pseudo-dimension of a real-valued function class is an extension of the VC dimension for set-indicator function classes. A class of finite pseudo-dimension possesses a useful statistical smoothness property. In [10] we introduced a nonlinear approximation width = which measures the worst-case approximation error over all functions by the best manifold of pseudo-dimension n . In this paper we obtain tight upper and lower bounds on ρ _n (W ^r,d _p , L _q ) , both being a constant factor of n ^-r/d , for a Sobolev class W ^r,d _p , . As this is also the estimate of the classical Alexandrov nonlinear n -width, our result proves that approximation of W ^r,d _p by the family of manifolds of pseudo-dimension n is as powerful as approximation by the family of all nonlinear manifolds with continuous selection operators. March 12, 1997. Dates revised: August 26, 1997, October 24, 1997, March 16, 1998, June 15, 1998. Date accepted: June 25, 1998.     

Ternary codes of steiner triple systems

The code over a finite field F^q of a design ?? is the space spanned by the incidence vectors of the blocks. It is shown here that if ?? is a Steiner triple system on v points, and if the integer d is such that 3^d ≤ v < 3^d+1, then the ternary code C of ?? contains a subcode that can be shortened to the ternary generalized Reed-Muller code ?_F3(2(d ? 1),d) of length 3^d. If v = 3^d and d ≥ 2, then C_? ? ?_F3(1,d)? ? _F3(2(d ? 1),d) ? C. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.