Iterated function systems on multifunctions and inverse problems

In this paper, we first consider the problem of defining IFS operators on the space of non-empty compact and convex subsets of . After defining a complete metric on , we construct an IFS operator and show some properties. A notable feature is the definition of a type of weak inner product on . We then define a family of complete metrics on the space of all measurable set-valued functions (with values in ), and extend the weak inner product to this space. Following this, we construct IFS operators on these spaces. We close with a brief discussion of the inverse problem of approximating an arbitrary multifunction by the attractor of an IFS.     

A comparative simulation study on the IFS distribution function estimator

In this paper, we do a comparative simulation study of the standard empirical distribution function estimator versus a new class of nonparametric estimators of a distribution function F, called the iterated function system (IFS) estimator. The target distribution function F is supposed to have compact support. The IFS estimator of a distribution function F is considered as the fixed point of a contractive operator T defined in terms of a vector of parameters p and a family of affine maps which can be both dependent on the sample (X₁,X₂,…,X_n). Given , the problem consists in finding a vector p such that the fixed point of T is “sufficiently near” to F. It turns out that this is a quadratic constrained optimization problem that we propose to solve by penalization techniques. Analytical results prove that IFS estimators for F are asymptotically equivalent to the empirical distribution function (EDF) estimator. We will study the relative efficiency of the IFS estimators with respect to the empirical distribution function for small samples via the Monte Carlo approach.For well-behaved distribution functions F and for a particular family of the so-called wavelet maps the IFS estimators can be dramatically better than the empirical distribution function in the presence of missing data, i.e. when it is only possible to observe data on subsets of the whole support of F.     

Forbidden configurations and repeated induction

For a given k×? matrix F, we say a matrix A has no configurationF if no k×? submatrix of A is a row and column permutation of F. We say a matrix is simple if it is a (0,1)-matrix with no repeated columns. We define as the maximum number of columns in an m-rowed simple matrix which has no configuration F. A fundamental result of Sauer, Perles and Shelah, and Vapnik and Chervonenkis determines exactly, where K_k denotes the k×2^k simple matrix. We extend this in several ways. For two matrices G,H on the same number of rows, let [G∣H] denote the concatenation of G and H. Our first two sets of results are exact bounds that find some matrices B,C where and . Our final result provides asymptotic boundary cases; namely matrices F for which is O(m^p) yet for any choice of column α not in F, we have is Ω(m^p+1). This is evidence for a conjecture of Anstee and Sali. The proof techniques in this paper are dominated by repeated use of the standard induction employed in forbidden configurations. Analysis of base cases tends to dominate the arguments. For a k-rowed (0,1)-matrix F, we also consider a function which is the minimum number of columns in an m-rowed simple matrix for which each k-set of rows contains F as a configuration.     

On value sets of polynomials over a field

Let F be any field. Let p(F) be the characteristic of F if F is not of characteristic zero, and let p(F)=+∞ otherwise. Let A₁,…,A_n be finite nonempty subsets of F, and let

with k{1,2,3,…}, a₁,…,a_nF{0} and degg<k. We show that

When kn and |A_i|i for i=1,…,n, we also have

consequently, if nk then for any finite subset A of F we have

In the case n>k, we propose a further conjecture which extends the Erdős–Heilbronn conjecture in a new direction.     

The packing measure of the Cartesian product of the middle third Cantor set with itself

For the packing measure of the Cartesian product of the middle third Cantor set with itself, the exact value

     

Multiplicatively badly approximable numbers and generalised Cantor sets

Let p be a prime number. The p-adic case of the Mixed Littlewood Conjecture states that for all α∈R. We show that with the additional factor of the statement is false. Indeed, our main result implies that the set of α for which is of full dimension. The result is obtained as an application of a general framework for Cantor sets developed in this paper.     

Complete solutions to the Oberwolfach problem for an infinite set of orders

Let n3 and let F be a 2-regular graph of order n. The Oberwolfach problem OP(F) asks for a 2-factorisation of K_n if n is odd, or of K_n−I if n is even, in which each 2-factor is isomorphic to F. We show that there is an infinite set of primes congruent to such that OP(F) has a solution for any 2-regular graph F of order . We also show that for each of the infinitely many with prime, OP(F) has a solution for any 2-regular graph F of order n.     

Orthogonal exponentials, translations, and Bohr completions

We are concerned with an harmonic analysis in Hilbert spaces L²(μ), where μ is a probability measure on . The unifying question is the presence of families of orthogonal (complex) exponentials e_λ(x)=exp(2πiλx) in L²(μ). This question in turn is connected to the existence of a natural embedding of L²(μ) into an L²-space of Bohr almost periodic functions on . In particular we explore when L²(μ) contains an orthogonal basis of e_λ functions, for λ in a suitable discrete subset in ; i.e, when the measure μ is spectral. We give a new characterization of finite spectral sets in terms of the existence of a group of local translation. We also consider measures μ that arise as fixed points (in the sense of Hutchinson) of iterated function systems (IFSs), and we specialize to the case when the function system in the IFS consists of affine and contractive mappings in . We show in this case that if μ is then assumed spectral then its partitions induced by the IFS at hand have zero overlap measured in μ. This solves part of the Łaba–Wang conjecture. As an application of the new non-overlap result, we solve the spectral-pair problem for Bernoulli convolutions advancing in this way a theorem of Ka-Sing Lau. In addition we present a new perspective on spectral measures and orthogonal Fourier exponentials via the Bohr compactification.     

Generic erasure correcting sets: Bounds and constructions

A generic (r,m)-erasure correcting set generates for each binary linear code of codimension r a collection of parity check equations that enables iterative decoding of all potentially correctable erasure patterns of size at most m. As we have shown earlier, such a set essentially is just a parity check collection with this property for the Hamming code of codimension r.We prove non-constructively that for fixed m the minimum size F(r,m) of a generic (r,m)-erasure correcting set is linear in r. Moreover, we show constructively that F(r,3)?3(r−1)^log₂3+1, which is a major improvement on a previous construction showing that .In the course of this work we encountered the following problem that may be of independent interest: what is the smallest size of a collection such that, given any set of s independent vectors in , there is a vector c∈C that has inner product 1 with all of these vectors? We show non-constructively that, for fixed s, this number is linear in n.     

Partial regularity for solutions of a nonlinear elliptic equation with singular nonlinearity

We consider the following nonlinear elliptic equation with singular nonlinearity:

where α>β>1, a>0, and Ω is an open subset of , n2. Let uH¹(Ω) with and be a nonnegative stationary solution. If we denote the zero set of u by

we shall prove that the Hausdorff dimension of Σ is less than or equal to .     

Random induced subgraphs of Cayley graphs induced by transpositions

In this paper we study random induced subgraphs of Cayley graphs of the symmetric group induced by an arbitrary minimal generating set of transpositions. A random induced subgraph of this Cayley graph is obtained by selecting permutations with independent probability, λ_n. Our main result is that for any minimal generating set of transpositions, for probabilities where and δ>0, a random induced subgraph has a.s. a unique largest component of size . Here x(?_n) is the survival probability of a Poisson branching process with parameter λ=1+?_n.     

Sequential definitions of compactness

A subset F of a topological space is sequentially compact if any sequence of points in F has a convergent subsequence whose limit is in F. We say that a subset F of a topological group X is G-sequentially compact if any sequence of points in F has a convergent subsequence such that where G is an additive function from a subgroup of the group of all sequences of points in X. We investigate the impact of changing the definition of convergence of sequences on the structure of sequentially compactness of sets in the sense of G-sequential compactness. Sequential compactness is a special case of this generalization when G=lim.     

Semifields of order with left nucleus and center

In [G. Marino, O. Polverino, R. Trombetti, On -linear sets of PG(3,q³) and semifields, J. Combin. Theory Ser. A 114 (5) (2007) 769–788] it has been proven that there exist six non-isotopic families (i=0,…,5) of semifields of order q⁶ with left nucleus and center , according to the different geometric configurations of the associated -linear sets. In this paper we first prove that any semifield of order q⁶ with left nucleus , right and middle nuclei and center is isotopic to a cyclic semifield. Then, we focus on the family by proving that it can be partitioned into three further non-isotopic families: , , and we show that any semifield of order q⁶ with left nucleus , right and middle nuclei and center belongs to the family .     

Extremal fullerene graphs with the maximum Clar number

A fullerene graph is a cubic 3-connected plane graph with (exactly 12) pentagonal faces and hexagonal faces. Let F_n be a fullerene graph with n vertices. A set of mutually disjoint hexagons of F_n is a sextet pattern if F_n has a perfect matching which alternates on and off every hexagon in . The maximum cardinality of sextet patterns of F_n is the Clar number of F_n. It was shown that the Clar number is no more than . Many fullerenes with experimental evidence attain the upper bound, for instance, C₆₀ and C₇₀. In this paper, we characterize extremal fullerene graphs whose Clar numbers equal . By the characterization, we show that there are precisely 18 fullerene graphs with 60 vertices, including C₆₀, achieving the maximum Clar number 8 and we construct all these extremal fullerene graphs.