Homotopy Conley index for discrete multivalued dynamical systems

We define an index of Conley type for a certain class of upper semicontinuous multivalued dynamical systems. We use the Szymczak functor and apply techniques introduced by Reineck, Mrozek and Srzednicki for the index over the base. Moreover we introduce the notion of the homotopy partial functor for the usc maps. We show that the index possesses Wa?ewski and homotopy properties. We also give four examples that exhibit the benefits of our index over the cohomological index defined by Mrozek and Kaczyński.     

The minimum sum representation as an index of voting power

We propose a new power index based on the minimum sum representation (MSR) of a weighted voting game. The MSR offers a redesign of a voting game, such that voting power as measured by the MSR index becomes proportional to voting weight. The MSR index is a coherent measure of power that is ordinally equivalent to the Banzhaf, Shapley–Shubik and Johnston indices. We provide a characterization for a bicameral meet as a weighted game or a complete game, and show that the MSR index is immune to the bicameral meet paradox. We discuss the computation of the MSR index using a linear integer program and the inverse MSR problem of designing a weighted voting game with a given distribution of power.     

The index for Fredholm elements in a Banach algebra via a trace II

We show that the index defined via a trace for Fredholm elements in a Banach algebra has the property that an index zero Fredholm element can be decomposed as the sum of an invertible element and an element in the socle. We identify the set of index zero Fredholm elements as an upper semiregularity with the Jacobson property. The Weyl spectrum is then characterized in terms of the index.     

Indexing text with approximate q-grams

We present a new index for approximate string matching. The index collects text q-samples, that is, disjoint text substrings of length q, at fixed intervals and stores their positions. At search time, part of the text is filtered out by noticing that any occurrence of the pattern must be reflected in the presence of some text q-samples that match approximately inside the pattern. Hence the index points out the text areas that could contain occurrences and must be verified. The index parameters permit load balancing between filtering and verification work, and provide a compromise between the space requirement of the index and the error level for which the filtration is still efficient. We show experimentally that the index is competitive against others that take more space, being in fact the fastest choice for intermediate error levels, an area where no current index is useful.     

Mixed-integer programming approaches for index tracking and enhanced indexation

We consider the problem of reproducing the performance of a stock market index, but without purchasing all of the stocks that make up the index, index tracking. We also consider the problem of out-performing the index, enhanced indexation. We present mixed-integer linear programming formulations of these problems. Our formulations include transaction costs, a constraint limiting the number of stocks that can be purchased and a limit on the total transaction cost that can be incurred. As our formulations of these problems are mixed-integer linear programs we can use a standard solver (Cplex). Numeric results are presented for eight data sets drawn from major markets. The largest of these data sets involves over 2000 stocks.     

Optimal Control of the Viscous Burgers Equation Using an Equivalent Index Method

We develop a technique to utilize the Cole–Hopf transformation to solve an optimal control problem for Burgers' equation. While the Burgers' equation is transformed into a simpler linear equation, the performance index is transformed to a complicated rational expression. We show that a simpler performance index, that retains the behavior of the original performance index near optimal values of the functional, can be used.     

On the strong chromatic index and maximum induced matching of tree-cographs,permutation graphs and chordal bipartite graphs

We show that there exist linear-time algorithms that compute the strong chromatic index and a maximum induced matching of tree-cographs when the decomposition tree is a part of the input. We also show that there exist efficient algorithms for the strong chromatic index of (bipartite) permutation graphs and of chordal bipartite graphs.     

Dynamic Index Tracking and Risk Exposure Control Using Derivatives

We develop a methodology for index tracking and risk exposure control using financial derivatives. Under a continuous-time diffusion framework for price evolution, we present a pathwise approach to construct dynamic portfolios of derivatives in order to gain exposure to an index and/or market factors that may be not directly tradable. Among our results, we establish a general tracking condition that relates the portfolio drift to the desired exposure coefficients under any given model. We also derive a slippage process that reveals how the portfolio return deviates from the targeted return. In our multi-factor setting, the portfolio’s realized slippage depends not only on the realized variance of the index but also the realized covariance among the index and factors. We implement our trading strategies under a number of models, and compare the tracking strategies and performances when using different derivatives, such as futures and options.     

Asymptotic behaviors of the Lorenz curve and Gini index in sampling from a length-biased distribution

In this work, we consider the nonparametric estimators of the Lorenz curve and Gini index based on a sample from the corresponding length-biased distribution. We show that this estimators are strongly consistent for the associated Lorenz curve and Gini index. Strong Gaussian approximations for the associated Lorenz process are established under appropriate assumptions. We apply the strong Gaussian approximation technique to obtain a functional law for the iterated logarithm for the Lorenz curve. Also, we obtain an asymptotic normality for the corresponding Gini index.     

Inverse subsemigroups of finite index in finitely generated inverse semigroups

We study some aspects of Schein’s theory of cosets for closed inverse subsemigroups of inverse semigroups. We establish an index formula for chains of subsemigroups, and an analogue of M. Hall’s Theorem on the number of cosets of a fixed finite index. We then investigate the relationships between the following properties of a closed inverse submonoid of an inverse monoid: having finite index; being a recognizable subset; being a rational subset; being finitely generated (as a closed inverse submonoid). A remarkable result of Margolis and Meakin shows that these properties are equivalent for a closed inverse submonoid of a free inverse monoid.     

The fixed point index for local condensing maps

Summary We define below a fixed point index for local condensing maps f defined on open subset of ?nice? metricANR’s. We prove that all the properties of classical fixed point index for continuous maps defined in compact polyhedra have appropriate generalizations. If our map is compact (a special case of a condensing map) and defined on an open subset of a Banach space, we prove that our fixed point index agrees with Leray-Schauder degree. Entrata in Redazione il 12 ottobre 1970.     

Disconnected graphs with magic labelings

We characterise edges in mixed graphs that get a label 0 for every labeling with a constant index (index 0, respectively). We use this to investigate the magicity of disconnected mixed graphs with magic components. For the undirected case a necessary and sufficient condition is derived.     

Why indexing works

We develop a simple stock selection model to explain why active equity managers tend to underperform a benchmark index. We motivate our model with the empirical observation that the best performing stocks in a broad market index often perform much better than the other stocks in the index. Randomly selecting a subset of securities from the index may dramatically increase the chance of underperforming the index. The relative likelihood of underperformance by investors choosing active management likely is much more important than the loss those same investors take due to the higher fees of active management relative to passive index investing. Thus, active management may be even more challenging than previously believed, and the stakes for finding the best active managers may be larger than previously assumed.     

Random walk centrality and a partition of Kemeny’s constant

We consider an accessibility index for the states of a discrete-time, ergodic, homogeneous Markov chain on a finite state space; this index is naturally associated with the random walk centrality introduced by Noh and Reiger (2004) for a random walk on a connected graph. We observe that the vector of accessibility indices provides a partition of Kemeny’s constant for the Markov chain. We provide three characterizations of this accessibility index: one in terms of the first return time to the state in question, and two in terms of the transition matrix associated with the Markov chain. Several bounds are provided on the accessibility index in terms of the eigenvalues of the transition matrix and the stationary vector, and the bounds are shown to be tight. The behaviour of the accessibility index under perturbation of the transition matrix is investigated, and examples exhibiting some counter-intuitive behaviour are presented. Finally, we characterize the situation in which the accessibility indices for all states coincide.     

Tree wavelet approximations with applications

We construct a tree wavelet approximation by using a constructive greedy scheme (CGS). We define a function class which contains the functions whose piecewise polynomial approximations generated by the CGS have a prescribed global convergence rate and establish embedding properties of this class. We provide sufficient conditions on a tree index set and on bi-orthogonal wavelet bases which ensure optimal order of convergence for the wavelet approximations encoded on the tree index set using the bi-orthogonal wavelet bases. We then show that if we use the tree index set associated with the partition generated by the CGS to encode a wavelet approximation, it gives optimal order of convergence.     

Edge coloring nearly bipartite graphs

We give a simple polynomial time algorithm to compute the chromatic index of graphs which can be made bipartite by deleting a vertex. An analysis of this algorithm shows that for such graphs, the chromatic index is the roundup of the fractional chromatic index.     

A symplectic perspective on constrained eigenvalue problems

The Maslov index is a powerful tool for computing spectra of selfadjoint, elliptic boundary value problems. This is done by counting intersections of a fixed Lagrangian subspace, which designates the boundary conditions, with the set of Cauchy data for the differential operator. We apply this methodology to constrained eigenvalue problems, in which the operator is restricted to a (not necessarily invariant) subspace. The Maslov index is defined and used to compute the Morse index of the constrained operator. We then prove a constrained Morse index theorem, which says that the Morse index of the constrained problem equals the number of constrained conjugate points, counted with multiplicity, and give an application to the nonlinear Schrödinger equation.     

Cobordism invariance of the index of Callias-type operators

We introduce a notion of cobordism of Callias-type operators overcomplete Riemannian manifolds and prove that the index is preserved by such a cobordism. As an application, we prove a gluing formula for Callias-type index. In particular, a usual index of an elliptic operator on a compact manifold can be computed as a sum of indexes of Callias-type operators on two noncompact but topologically simpler manifolds. As another application, we give a new proof of the relative index theorem for Callias-type operators, which also leads to a new proof of the Callias index theorem.     

The line index and minimum cut of weighted graphs

In this paper we discuss the line index and the minimum capacity, sum of the weights in a minimum cut, of weighted graphs, relationships between the line index and the minimum capacity, between the two kinds of minimum capacities, and between graphs with only negative weights and graphs with both positive weights and negative weights. We provide linear algorithms for both the line index and the minimum capacity of series-parallel graphs. We discuss simplifications in computing the line index and the minimum capacity of weighted graphs. We show that the generalization of algorithm of Orlova and Dorfman, and Hadlock to mixed graphs is just one step. We also discuss the k-approximation of the minimum capacity.