On homothetic balanced metrics

In this article, we study the set of balanced metrics given in Donaldson’s terminology (J. Diff. Geometry 59:479–522, 2001) on a compact complex manifold M which are homothetic to a given balanced one. This question is related to various properties of the Tian-Yau-Zelditch approximation theorem for Kähler metrics. We prove that this set is finite when M admits a non-positive Kähler–Einstein metric, in the case of non-homogenous toric Kähler-Einstein manifolds of dimension ≤ 4 and in the case of the constant scalar curvature metrics found in Arezzo and Pacard (Acta. Math. 196(2):179–228, 2006; Ann. Math. 170(2):685–738, 2009).     

An Assmus–Mattson theorem for codes over commutative association schemes

We prove an Assmus–Mattson-type theorem for block codes where the alphabet is the vertex set of a commutative association scheme (say, with s classes). This in particular generalizes the Assmus–Mattson-type theorems for \(\mathbb {Z}_4\)-linear codes due to Tanabe (Des Codes Cryptogr 30:169–185, 2003) and Shin et al. (Des Codes Cryptogr 31:75–92, 2004), as well as the original theorem by Assmus and Mattson (J Comb Theory 6:122–151, 1969). The weights of a code are s-tuples of non-negative integers in this case, and the conditions in our theorem for obtaining t-designs from the code involve concepts from polynomial interpolation in s variables. The Terwilliger algebra is the main tool to establish our results.     

On the maximum TSP with <Emphasis Type="Italic">γ</Emphasis>-parameterized triangle inequality

The maximum TSP with γ-parameterized triangle inequality is defined as follows. Given a complete graph G = (V, E, w) in which the edge weights satisfy w(uv) ≤ γ · (w(ux) + w(xv)) for all distinct nodes \({u,x,v \in V}\), find a tour with maximum weight that visits each node exactly once. Recently, Zhang et al. (Theor Comput Sci 411(26–28):2537–2541, 2010) proposed a \({\frac{\gamma+1}{3\gamma}}\)-approximation algorithm for \({\gamma\in\left[\frac{1}{2},1\right)}\). In this paper, we show that the approximation ratio of Kostochka and Serdyukov’s algorithm (Upravlyaemye Sistemy 26:55–59, 1985) is \({\frac{4\gamma+1}{6\gamma}}\), and the expected approximation ratio of Hassin and Rubinstein’s randomized algorithm (Inf Process Lett 81(5):247–251, 2002) is \({\frac{3\gamma+\frac{1}{2}}{4\gamma}-O\left(\frac{1}{\sqrt{n}}\right)}\), for \({\gamma\in\left[\frac{1}{2},+\infty\right)}\). These improve the result in Zhang et al. (Theor Comput Sci 411(26–28):2537–2541, 2010) and generalize the results in Hassin and Rubinstein and Kostochka and Serdyukov (Inf Process Lett 81(5):247–251, 2002; Upravlyaemye Sistemy 26:55–59, 1985).     

Vanishing of Rabinowitz Floer homology on negative line bundles

Following Frauenfelder (Rabinowitz action functional on very negative line bundles, Habilitationsschrift, Munich/München, 2008), Albers and Frauenfelder (Bubbles and onis, 2014. arXiv:1412.4360) we construct Rabinowitz Floer homology for negative line bundles over symplectic manifolds and prove a vanishing result. Ritter (Adv Math 262:1035–1106, 2014) showed that symplectic homology of these spaces does not vanish, in general. Thus, the theorem \(\mathrm {SH}=0\Leftrightarrow \mathrm {RFH}=0\) (Ritter in J Topol 6(2):391–489, 2013), does not extend beyond the symplectically aspherical situation. We give a conjectural explanation in terms of the Cieliebak–Frauenfelder–Oancea long exact sequence Cieliebak et al. (Ann Sci Éc Norm Supér (4) 43(6):957–1015, 2010).     

Fourier transforms and bent functions on faithful actions of finite abelian groups

Let G be a finite abelian group acting faithfully on a finite set X. The G-bentness and G-perfect nonlinearity of functions on X are studied by Poinsot and co-authors (Discret Appl Math 157:1848–1857, 2009; GESTS Int Trans Comput Sci Eng 12:1–14, 2005) via Fourier transforms of functions on G. In this paper we introduce the so-called \(G\)-dual set \(\widehat{X}\) of X, which plays the role similar to the dual group \(\widehat{G}\) of G, and develop a Fourier analysis on X, a generalization of the Fourier analysis on the group G. Then we characterize the bentness and perfect nonlinearity of functions on X by their own Fourier transforms on \(\widehat{X}\). Furthermore, we prove that the bentness of a function on X can be determined by its distance from the set of G-linear functions. As direct consequences, many known results in Logachev et al. (Discret Math Appl 7:547–564, 1997), Carlet and Ding (J Complex 20:205–244, 2004), Poinsot (2009), Poinsot et al. (2005) and some new results about bent functions on G are obtained. In order to explain the theory developed in this paper clearly, examples are also presented.     

The Reich–Zaslavski property and fixed points of non-self multivalued mappings

Let (X, d) be a metric space, Y be a nonempty subset of X, and let \(T:Y \rightarrow P(X)\) be a non-self multivalued mapping. In this paper, by a new technique we study the fixed point theory of multivalued mappings under the assumption of the existence of a bounded sequence \((x_n)_n\) in Y such that \(T^nx_n\subseteq Y,\) for each \(n \in \mathbb {N}\). Our main result generalizes fixed point theorems due to Matkowski (Diss. Math. 127, 1975), W?grzyk (Diss. Math. (Rozprawy Mat.) 201, 1982), Reich and Zaslavski (Fixed Point Theory 8:303–307, 2007), Petru?el et al. (Set-Valued Var. Anal. 23:223–237, 2015) and provides a solution to the problems posed in Petru?el et al. (Set-Valued Var. Anal. 23:223–237, 2015) and Rus and ?erban (Miskolc Math. Notes 17:1021–1031, 2016).     

Symmetry axioms and perceived ambiguity

Since at least de Finetti (Annales de l’Institut Henri Poincare 7:1–68, 1937), preference symmetry assumptions have played an important role in models of decision making under uncertainty. In the current paper, we explore (1) the relationship between the symmetry assumption of Klibanoff et al. (KMS) (Econometrica 82:1945–1978, 2014) and alternative symmetry assumptions in the literature, and (2) assuming symmetry, the relationship between the set of relevant measures, shown by KMS (2014) to reflect only perceived ambiguity, and the set of measures (which we will refer to as the Bewley set) developed by Ghirardato et al. (J Econ Theory 118:133–173, 2004), Nehring (Ambiguity in the context of probabilistic beliefs, working paper, 2001, Bernoulli without Bayes: a theory of utility-sophisticated preference, working paper, 2007) and Ghirardato and Siniscalchi (A more robust definition of multiple priors, working paper, 2007, Econometrica 80:2827–2847, 2012). This Bewley set is the main alternative offered in the literature as possibly representing perceived ambiguity. Regarding symmetry assumptions, we show that, under relatively mild conditions, a variety of preference symmetry conditions from the literature [including that in KMS (2014)] are equivalent. In KMS (2014), we showed that, under symmetry, the Bewley set and the set of relevant measures are not always the same. Here, we establish a preference condition, No Half Measures, that is necessary and sufficient for the two to be the same under symmetry. This condition is rather stringent. Only when it is satisfied may the Bewley set be interpreted as reflecting only perceived ambiguity and not also taste aspects such as ambiguity aversion.     

Congruences of two-variable <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-adic <Emphasis Type="Italic">L</Emphasis>-functions of congruent modular forms of different weights

Vatsal (Duke Math J 98(2):397–419, 1999) proved that there are congruences between the p-adic L-functions (constructed by Mazur and Swinnerton-Dyer in Invent Math 25:1–61, 1974) of congruent modular forms of the same weight under some conditions. On the other hand, Kim (J Number Theory 144: 188–218, 2014), the second author, constructed two-variable p-adic L-functions of modular forms attached to imaginary quadratic fields generalizing Hida’s work (Invent Math 79:159–195, 1985), and the novelty of his construction was that it works whether p is an ordinary prime or not. In this paper, we prove congruences between the two-variable p-adic L-functions (of the second author) of congruent modular forms of different but congruent weights under some conditions when p is a nonordinary prime for the modular forms. This result generalizes the work of Emerton et al. (Invent Math 163(3): 523–580, 2006), who proved similar congruences between the p-adic L-functions of congruent modular forms of congruent weights when p is an ordinary prime.     

Spectral transfer morphisms for unipotent affine Hecke algebras

We classify the spectral transfer morphisms (cf. Opdam in Adv Math 286:912–957, 2016) between affine Hecke algebras associated to the unipotent types of the various inner forms of an unramified absolutely simple algebraic group G defined over a non-archimedean local field k. This turns out to characterize Lusztig’s classification (Lusztig in Int Math Res Not 11:517–589, 1995; in Represent Theory 6:243–289, 2002) of unipotent characters of G in terms of the Plancherel measure, up to diagram automorphisms. As an application of these results, the spectral correspondences associated with such morphisms (Opdam 2016), and some results of Ciubotaru, Kato and Kato [CKK] (also see Ciubotaru and Opdam in A uniform classification of the discrete series representations of affine Hecke algebras. arXiv:1510.07274) we prove a conjecture of Hiraga, Ichino and Ikeda [HII] on formal degrees and adjoint gamma factors in the special case of unipotent discrete series characters of inner forms of unramified simple groups of adjoint type defined over k.     

Stark points and the Hida–Rankin <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-adic <Emphasis Type="Italic">L</Emphasis>-function

This article is devoted to the elliptic Stark conjecture formulated by Darmon (Forum Math Pi 3:e8, 2015), which proposes a formula for the transcendental part of a p-adic avatar of the leading term at \(s=1\) of the Hasse–Weil–Artin L-series \(L(E,\varrho _1\otimes \varrho _2,s)\) of an elliptic curve \(E/\mathbb {Q}\) twisted by the tensor product \(\varrho _1\otimes \varrho _2\) of two odd 2-dimensional Artin representations, when the order of vanishing is two. The main ingredient of this formula is a \(2\times 2\) p-adic regulator involving the p-adic formal group logarithm of suitable Stark points on E. This conjecture was proved by Darmon (Forum Math Pi 3:e8, 2015) in the setting where \(\varrho _1\) and \(\varrho _2\) are induced from characters of the same imaginary quadratic field K. In this note, we prove a refinement of this result that was discovered experimentally by Darmon (Forum Math Pi 3:e8, 2015, [Remark 3.4]) in a few examples. Namely, we are able to determine the algebraic constant up to which the main theorem of Darmon (Forum Math Pi 3:e8, 2015) holds in a particular setting where the Hida–Rankin p-adic L-function associated to a pair of Hida families can be exploited to provide an alternative proof of the same result. This constant encodes local and global invariants of both E and K.     

A note on uncountable groups with modular subgroup lattice

In this paper, we obtain a rigidity theorem by modifying Cheng–Yau’s technique to linear Weingarten submanifolds in the unit sphere S^n+p(1) with parallel normalized mean curvature vector. As a corollary, we have Theorem 1.3 in Guo and Li (Tohoku Math J 65:331–339, 2013) and Theorem 2 in Li (Math Ann 305:665–672, 1996).     

Elementary and combinatorial methods for counting prime numbers

Although prime numbers are elementary objects in number theory, the first non-trivial results about their distribution in history rely on analytical methods (see [10]). It was a big surprise when Erd?s [5] and Selberg [12] discovered new proofs of the celebrated prime number theorem without the help of advanced tools from (complex) analysis. However, both approaches, which are not completely unrelated (see [8]), still make use of limits, in particular the real logarithm. In this article we shall introduce a rational logarithm without using any limit, and then derive classical results first due to Euler, Chebyshev and Mertens. Moreover, we revisit all necessary elementary results about prime numbers, sometimes proven in a more combinatorial fashion than usual.     

Rigid Binary Relations on a 4-Element Domain

An n-ary relation ρ on a set U is strongly rigid if it is preserved only by trivial operations. It is projective if the only idempotent operations in P o l ρ are projections. Rosenberg, (Rocky Mt. J. Math. 3, 631–639, 1973) characterized all strongly rigid relations on a set with two elements and found a strongly rigid binary relation on every domain U of at least 3 elements. Larose and Tardif (Mult.-Valued Log. 7(5-6), 339–362, 2001) studied the projective and strongly rigid graphs and constructed large families of strongly rigid graphs. ?uczak and Ne?et?il (J. Graph Theory. 47, 81–86, 2004) settled in the affirmative a conjecture of Larose and Tardif that most graphs on a large set are projective, and characterized all homogenous graphs that are projective. ?uczak and Ne?et?il (SIAM J. Comput. 36(3), 835–843, 2006) confirmed a conjecture of Rosenberg that most relations on a big set are strongly rigid. In this paper, we characterize all strongly rigid relations on a set with at least three elements to answer an open question by Rosenberg, (Rocky Mt. J. Math. 3, 631–639, 1973) and we classify the binary relations on the 4-element domain by rigidity and demonstrate that there are merely 40 pairwise nonisomorphic rigid binary relations on the same domain (among them 25 are pairwise nonisomorphic strongly rigid).     

Nonlinear functions and difference sets on group actions

There are many generalizations of the classical Boolean bent functions. Let G, H be finite groups and let X be a finite G-set. G-perfect nonlinear functions from X to H have been studied in several papers. They are generalizations of perfect nonlinear functions from G itself to H. By introducing the concept of a (G, H)-related difference family of X, we obtain a characterization of G-perfect nonlinear functions on X in terms of a (G, H)-related difference family. When G is abelian, we prove that there is a normalized G-dual set \(\widehat{X}\) of X, and characterize a G-difference set of X by the Fourier transform on a normalized G-dual set \({{\widehat{X}}}\). We will also investigate the existence and constructions of G-perfect nonlinear functions and G-bent functions. Several known results (IEEE Trans Inf Theory 47(7):2934–2943, 2001; Des Codes Cryptogr 46:83–96, 2008; GESTS Int Trans Comput Sci Eng 12:1–14, 2005; Linear Algebra Appl 452:89–105, 2014) are direct consequences of our results.     

Arc-Transitive Pentavalent Graphs of Square-Free Order

Hua et al. (Discrete Math 311, 2259–2267, 2011) and Yang et al. (Discrete Math. 339, 522–532, 2016) classify arc-transitive pentavalent graphs of order 2pq and of order 2pqr (with p, q, r distinct odd primes), respectively. In this paper, we extend their results by giving a classification of arc-transitive pentavalent graphs of any square-free order.     

An hp finite element method for 4th order singularly perturbed problems

We present the analysis for the hp finite element approximation of the solution to singularly perturbed fourth order problems, using a balanced norm. In Panaseti et al. (2016) it was shown that the hp version of the Finite Element Method (FEM) on the so-called Spectral Boundary Layer Mesh yields robust exponential convergence when the error is measured in the natural energy norm associated with the problem. In the present article we sharpen the result by showing that the same hp-FEM on the Spectral Boundary Layer Mesh gives robust exponential convergence in a stronger, more balanced norm. As a corollary we also get robust exponential convergence in the maximum norm. The analysis is based on the ideas in Roos and Franz (Calcolo 51, 423–440, 2014) and Roos and Schopf (ZAMM 95, 551–565, 2015) and the recent results in Melenk and Xenophontos (2016). Numerical examples illustrating the theory are also presented.     

O $$\varvec{}$$-orm preservers ad the Aleksadrov coservative $$\varvec{}$$-distace problem

The goal of this paper is to point out that the results obtained in the recent papers (Chen and Song in Nonlinear Anal 72:1895–1901, 2010; Chu in J Math Anal Appl 327:1041–1045, 2007; Chu et al. in Nonlinear Anal 59:1001–1011, 2004a, J. Math Anal Appl 289:666–672, 2004b) can be seriously strengthened in the sense that we can significantly relax the assumptions of the main results so that we still get the same conclusions. In order to do this first, we prove that for \(n \ge 3\) any transformation which preserves the n-norm of any n vectors is automatically plus-minus linear. This will give a re-proof of the well-known Mazur–Ulam-type result that every n-isometry is automatically affine (\(n \ge 2\)) which was proven in several papers, e.g. in Chu et al. (Nonlinear Anal 70:1068–1074, 2009). Second, following the work of Rassias and ?emrl (Proc Am Math Soc 118:919–925, 1993), we provide the solution of a natural Aleksandrov-type problem in n-normed spaces, namely, we show that every surjective transformation which preserves the unit n-distance in both directions (\(n\ge 2\)) is automatically an n-isometry.     

Every 3-connected $$\{K_{1,3},N_{1,2,3}\}$$-free graph is Hamilton-connected

A graph G is \(\{X,Y\}\)-free if it contains neither X nor Y as an induced subgraph. Pairs of connected graphs X, Y such that every 3-connected \(\{X,Y\}\)-free graph is Hamilton-connected have been investigated recently in (2002, 2000, 2012). In this paper, it is shown that every 3-connected \(\{K_{1,3},N_{1,2,3}\}\)-free graph is Hamilton-connected, where \(N_{1,2,3}\) is the graph obtained by identifying end vertices of three disjoint paths of lengths 1, 2, 3 to the vertices of a triangle.     

Dependence structure and test of independence for some well-known bivariate distributions

In this paper, we study the dependence structure of some bivariate distribution functions based on dependence measures of Kochar and Gupta (Biometrika 74(3):664–666, 1987) and Shetty and Pandit (Stat Methods Appl 12:5–17, 2003) and then compare these measures with Spearman’s rho and Kendall’s tau. Moreover, the empirical power of the class of distribution-free tests introduced by Kochar and Gupta (1987) and Shetty and Pandit (2003) is computed based on exact and asymptotic distribution of U-statistics. Our results are obtained from simulation work in some continuous bivariate distributions for the sample of sizes \(n=6,8,15,20\) and 50. Also, we apply some examples to illustrate the results. Finally, we compare the common estimators of dependence parameter based on empirical MSE.