On pairs of multidimensional matrices

Recently Bapat applied a topological theorem of Kronecker and generalized a theorem of Sinkhorn on positive matrices. Here we give an alternative proof of a slightly stronger version of his generalization. This proof combines Kakutani's fixed point theorem and the duality theorem of linear programming and gives yet another proof of a theorem of Bacharach and Menon on pairs of nonnegative matrices.     

The unit theorem for finite-dimensional algebras

The unit theorem that forms the subject of the present article, is a theorem from algebra that has a combinatorial flavour, and that originated in fact from algebraic combinatorics. Beyond a proof, we also address applications, one of which is a proof of the normal basis theorem from Galois theory.     

On quantitative versions of theorems due to F.E. Browder and R. Wittmann

This paper is another case study in the program of logically analyzing proofs to extract new (typically effective) information (‘proof mining’). We extract explicit uniform rates of metastability (in the sense of T. Tao) from two ineffective proofs of a classical theorem of F.E. Browder on the convergence of approximants to fixed points of nonexpansive mappings as well as from a proof of a theorem of R. Wittmann which can be viewed as a nonlinear extension of the mean ergodic theorem. The first rate is extracted from Browder's original proof that is based on an application of weak sequential compactness (in addition to a projection argument). Wittmann's proof follows a similar line of reasoning and we adapt our analysis of Browder's proof to get a quantitative version of Wittmann's theorem as well. In both cases one also obtains totally elementary proofs (even for the strengthened quantitative forms) of these theorems that neither use weak compactness nor the existence of projections anymore. In this way, the present article also discusses general features of extracting effective information from proofs based on weak compactness. We then extract another rate of metastability (of similar nature) from an alternative proof of Browder's theorem essentially due to Halpern that already avoids any use of weak compactness. The paper is concluded by general remarks concerning the logical analysis of proofs based on weak compactness as well as a quantitative form of the so-called demiclosedness principle. In a subsequent paper these results will be utilized in a quantitative analysis of Baillon's nonlinear ergodic theorem.     

The chords theorem recalled to life at the turn of the eighteenth century

This paper is a historical account of the chords theorem, for conic sections from Apollonius to Boscovich. We comment the most significant proofs and applications, focusing on Newton's solution of the Pappus four lines problem. Newton's geometrical achievements drew L'Hospital's attention to the chords theorem as a fundamental one, and led him to search for a simple and direct proof, that he finally obtained by the method of projection. Stirling gave a very elegant algebraic proof; then Boscovich succeeded in finding an almost immediate geometrical proof, and showed how to develop the elements of conic sections starting from this theorem.     

Selections and topological convexity

A simple natural proof of van de Vel's selection theorem for topological convex structures is given. The technique developed to achieve this proof allows to give also a direct simple proof of the classical Michael's selection theorem in Fréchet spaces, and the Horvath's selection theorem in metric l.c.-spaces.     

A Simpler Proof of the Excluded Minor Theorem for Higher Surfaces

We give a simple proof of the fact (which follows from the Robertson–Seymour theory) that a graph which is minimal of genusgcannot contain a subdivision of a large grid. Combining this with the tree-width theorem and the quasi-wellordering of graphs of bounded tree-width in the Robertson–Seymour theory, we obtain a simpler proof of the generalized Kuratowski theorem for each fixed surface. The proof requires no previous knowledge of graph embeddings.     

A proof of Markov's theorem for polynomials on Banach spaces

Our object is to present an independent proof of the extension of V.A. Markov's theorem to Gâteaux derivatives of arbitrary order for continuous polynomials on any real normed linear space. The statement of this theorem differs little from the classical case for the real line except that absolute values are replaced by norms. Our proof depends only on elementary computations and explicit formulas and gives a new proof of the classical theorem as a special case. Our approach makes no use of the classical polynomial inequalities usually associated with Markov's theorem. Instead, the essential ingredients are a Lagrange interpolation formula for the Chebyshev nodes and a Christoffel-Darboux identity for the corresponding bivariate Lagrange polynomials. We use these tools to extend a single variable inequality of Rogosinski to the case of two real variables. The general Markov theorem is an easy consequence of this.     

A note on Laplace's expansion theorem

A short proof of Laplace's expansion theorem is given. The proof is elementary and can be presented at any level of undergraduate studies where determinants are taught. It is derived directly from the definition so that the theorem may be used as a starting point for further investigation of determinants.     

The computational content of Walras’ existence theorem

In [Y. Tanaka, Undecidability of the Uzawa equivalence theorem and LLPO, Appl. Math. Comput. 201 (2008) 378-383] Yasuhito Tanaka showed that Walras’ existence theorem implies the nonconstructive lesser limited principle of omniscience (LLPO); it follows that Walras’ existence theorem does not admit a constructive proof. We give a constructive proof of an approximate version of Walras’ existence theorem from which the full theorem can be recovered with an application of LLPO. We then push Uzawa’s equivalence theorem to the level of approximate solutions, before considering economies with at most one equilibrium.     

Hahn–Banach extension theorems for multifunctions revisited

Several generalizations of the Hahn–Banach extension theorem to K-convex multifunctions were stated recently in the literature. In this note we provide an easy direct proof for the multifunction version of the Hahn–Banach–Kantorovich theorem and show that in a quite general situation it can be obtained from existing results. Then we derive the Yang extension theorem using a similar proof as well as a stronger version of it using a classical separation theorem. Moreover, we give counterexamples to several extension theorems stated in the literature. Dedicated to Jean-Paul Penot with the occasion of his retirement.     

A finitization of Littlewood's Tauberian theorem and an application in Tauberian remainder theory

In this paper we study Littlewood's Tauberian theorem from a proof theoretic perspective. We first use the Dialectica interpretation to produce an equivalent, finitary formulation of the theorem, and then carry out an analysis of Wielandt's proof to extract concrete witnessing terms. We argue that our finitization can be viewed as a generalized Tauberian remainder theorem, and we instantiate it to produce two concrete remainder theorems as a corollary, in terms of rates of convergence and rates metastability, respectively. We rederive the standard remainder estimate for Littlewood's theorem as a special case of the former.     

A short proof of Kneser's conjecture

In the paper a short proof is given for Kneser's conjecture. The proof is based on Borsuk's theorem and on a theorem of Gale.     

Tverberg’s theorem via number fields

We show that Tverberg’s theorem follows easily from a theorem of which Bárány [1] has given a very short proof.     

关于“费尔马最后定理的证明”一文的评注

本文对“费尔马最后定理的证明”一文作出几点评注，主要结论是该证明仅仅是对费尔马最后定理的部分情形的证明，即并没有完全证明费尔马最后定理     

A Study Guide for the l2 Decoupling Theorem

This paper contains a detailed, self contained and more streamlined proof of the l ² decoupling theorem for hypersurfaces from the paper of Bourgain and Demeter in 2015. The authors hope this will serve as a good warm up for the readers interested in understanding the proof of Vinogradov’s mean value theorem from the paper of Bourgain, Demeter and Guth in 2015.     

Hurwitz' theorem implies Rouché's theorem

It is well known that Hurwitz's theorem is easily proved from Rouché's theorem. We show that conversely, Rouché's theorem is readily proved from Hurwitz' theorem. Since Hurwitz' theorem is easily proved from the formula giving the number of roots of an analytic function, our result thus gives also a simple proof of Rouché's theorem.     

Extending the Greene-Kleitman theorem to directed graphs

The celebrated Dilworth theorem (Ann. of Math. 51 (1950), 161–166) on the decomposition of finite posets was extended by Greene and Kleitman (J. Combin. Theory Ser. A 20 (1976), 41–68). Using the Gallai-Milgram theorem (Acta Sci. Math. 21 (1960), 181–186) we prove a theorem on acyclic digraphs which contains the Greene-Kleitman theorem. The method of proof is derived from M. Saks' elegant proof (Adv. in Math. 33 (1979), 207–211) of the Greene-Kleitman theorem.     

A simple proof of some ergodic theorems

Some ideas of T. Kamae’s proof using nonstandard analysis are employed to give a simple proof of Birkhoff’s theorem in a classical setting as well as Kingman’s subadditive ergodic theorem.     

A simple and elementary proof of the Karush–Kuhn–Tucker theorem for inequality-constrained optimization

We present an elementary proof of the Karush–Kuhn–Tucker Theorem for the problem with nonlinear inequality constraints and linear equality constraints. Most proofs in the literature rely on advanced optimization concepts such as linear programming duality, the convex separation theorem, or a theorem of the alternative for systems of linear inequalities. By contrast, the proof given here uses only basic facts from linear algebra and the definition of differentiability.