Semicontinuity of the solution set of parametric multivalued vector quasiequilibrium problems

In this paper we establish sufficient conditions for the solution set of parametric multivalued vector quasiequilibrium problems to be semicontinuous. All kinds of semicontinuity are considered: lower semicontinuity, upper semicontinuity, Hausdorff upper semicontinuity and closedness. Moreover, we investigate both the “weak” and “strong” solutions of quasiequilibrium problems.     

Nonlinear boundary value problems for second order differential inclusions

In this paper, we study a class of nonlinear value boundary problems for second order differential inclusions with nonlinear perturbations, which satisfy the generalized Hartman condition weaker than that considered in some papers. Using techniques from multivalued analysis, theory of monotone operators and fixed points, we prove the existence of solutions in both “convex” and “nonconvex” cases. Our framework can be incorporated with Dirichlet, Neumann, and mixed boundary problems.     

Long time behavior for the weakly damped driven long-wave-short-wave resonance equations

In this paper, we consider the Cauchy problem of the long-wave-short-wave resonance equations. By making use of a Strichartz-type inequality for the solutions, decomposing suitably the solution semigroup into a decay parts and a more regular parts, and ruling out the “vanishing” and “dichotomy” of the solutions, we prove the existence of the global attractor and the asymptotic smoothing effect of the solutions.     

On the blow-up of solutions of the Benjamin-Bona-Mahony-Burgers and Rosenau-Burgers equations

In this paper, we study sufficient conditions of the blow-up of solutions of initial-boundary-value problems for the well-known Benjamin-Bona-Mahony-Burgers and Rosenau-Burgers equations on a segment. Note that this is the first result for these equations in the “blow-up” area.     

Local and global solutions for some parabolic nonlocal problems

We study local and global existence of solutions for some semilinear parabolic initial boundary value problems with autonomous nonlinearities having a “Newtonian” nonlocal term.     

Beginners’ progress in early arithmetic in the Swedish compulsory school

This article focuses on spontaneous knowledge-building in the field of “the arithmetic of the child.” The aim is to investigate the conceptual progress of fifteen children during their early school years in the compulsory school. The study is based on the epistemology of radical constructivism and the methodology of “multiple clinical interviews”. A model of “the arithmetic of the child” elucidates mental structures used by the child in solving problems. The individual interviews are video-recorded. The results show that the children's solutions are compatible with the model. When the researcher adapts problems to the children's available concepts to bring out their capability, they all solve them in their own ways. Further, the conceptual levels of the children differ to a great extent at school start and do not all show conceptual progress after 2 years of traditional teaching. An implication for an alternative teaching process is suggested, namely “the arithmetic for the child”, accomplished in a triadic teaching process.     

Heteroclinic and Periodic Cycles in a Perturbed Convection Model

Vivancos and Minzoni (New Choatic behaviour in a singularly perturbed model, preprint) proposed a singularly perturbed rotating convection system to model the Earth's dynamo process. Numerical simulation shows that the perturbed system is rich in chaotic and periodic solutions. In this paper, we show that if the perturbation is sufficiently small, the system can only have simple heteroclinic solutions and two types of periodic solutions near the simple heteroclinic solutions. One looks like a figure “Delta” and the other looks like a figure “Eight”. Due to the fast - slow characteristic of the system, the reduced slow system has a relay nonlinearity (“Asymptotic Method in Singularly Perturbed Systems,” Consultants Bureau, New York and London, 1994) - solutions to the slow system are continuous but their derivative changes abruptly at certain junction surfaces. We develop new types of Melnikov integral and Lyapunov-Schmidt reduction methods which are suitable to study heteroclinic and periodic solutions for systems with relay nonlinearity.     

Arithmetic partial differential equations, II

We continue the study of arithmetic partial differential equations initiated in [7] by classifying “arithmetic convection equations” on modular curves, and by describing their space of solutions. Certain of these solutions involve the Fourier expansions of the Eisenstein modular forms of weight 4 and 6, while others involve the Serre-Tate expansions (Mori, 1995 [13], Buium, 2003 [4]) of the same modular forms; in this sense, our arithmetic convection equations can be seen as “unifying” the two types of expansions. The theory can be generalized to one of “arithmetic heat equations” on modular curves, but we prove that they do not carry “arithmetic wave equations.” Finally, we prove an instability result for families of arithmetic heat equations converging to an arithmetic convection equation.     

A McLean Theorem for the moduli space of Lie solutions to mass transport equations

On compact manifolds which are not simply connected, we prove the existence of “fake” solutions to the optimal transportation problem. These maps preserve volume and arise as the exponential of a closed 1-form, hence appear geometrically like optimal transport maps. The set of such solutions forms a manifold with dimension given by the first Betti number of the manifold. In the process, we prove a Hodge–Helmholtz decomposition for vector fields. The ideas are motivated by the analogies between special Lagrangian submanifolds and solutions to optimal transport problems.     

A comparison of different quantity discount pricing policies in a two-echelon channel with stochastic and asymmetric demand information

In this paper, we study quantity discount pricing policies in a channel of one manufacturer and one retailer. The paper assumes that the channel faces a stochastic price-sensitive demand but the retailer can privately observe the realization of an uncertain demand parameter. The problem is analyzed as a Stackelberg game in which the manufacturer declares quantity discount pricing schemes to the retailer and then the retailer follows by selecting the retail price and associated quantity. Proposed in the paper are four quantity-discount pricing policies: “regular quantity discount”; “fixed percentage discount”; “incremental volume discount” and “fixed marginal-profit-rate discount”. Optimal solutions are derived, and numerical examples are presented to illustrate the efficiency of each discount policy.     

Alexandroff-Bakelman-Pucci estimate and Harnack inequality for degenerate/singular fully non-linear elliptic equations

In this paper, we study fully non-linear elliptic equations in non-divergence form which can be degenerate or singular when “the gradient is small”. Typical examples are either equations involving the m-Laplace operator or Bellman-Isaacs equations from stochastic control problems. We establish an Alexandroff-Bakelman-Pucci estimate and we prove a Harnack inequality for viscosity solutions of such non-linear elliptic equations.     

Nonmonotone systems decomposable into monotone systems with negative feedback

Motivated by the work of Angeli and Sontag [Monotone control systems, IEEE Trans. Automat. Control 48 (2003) 1684-1698] and Enciso and Sontag [On the global attractivity of abstract dynamical systems satisfying a small gain hypothesis, with applications to biological delay systems, Discrete Continuous Dynamical Systems, to appear] in control theory, we show that certain finite and infinite dimensional semi-dynamical systems with “negative feedback” can be decomposed into a monotone “open-loop” system with “inputs” and a decreasing “output” function. The original system is reconstituted by “plugging the output into the input”. Employing a technique of Gouzé [A criterion of global convergence to equilibrium for differential systems with an application to Lotka-Volterra systems, Rapport de Recherche 894, INRIA] and Cosner [Comparison principles for systems that embed in cooperative systems, with applications to diffusive Lotka-Volterra models, Dynam. Cont., Discrete Impulsive Systems 3 (1997) 283-303] of imbedding the system into a larger symmetric monotone system, we are able to obtain information on the asymptotic behavior of solutions, including existence of positively invariant sets and global convergence.     

Gevrey regularity for the supercritical quasi-geostrophic equation

In this paper, following the techniques of Foias and Temam, we establish suitable Gevrey class regularity of solutions to the supercritical quasi-geostrophic equations in the whole space, with initial data in “critical” Sobolev spaces. Moreover, the Gevrey class that we obtain is “near optimal” and as a corollary, we obtain temporal decay rates of higher order Sobolev norms of the solutions. Unlike the Navier–Stokes or the subcritical quasi-geostrophic equations, the low dissipation poses a difficulty in establishing Gevrey regularity. A new commutator estimate in Gevrey classes, involving the dyadic Littlewood–Paley operators, is established that allow us to exploit the cancellation properties of the equation and circumvent this difficulty.     

Multiple solutions for a semilinear boundary value problem: a computational multiplicity proof

We prove the first genuine “partial differential equation” result on a conjecture concerning the number of solutions of second-order elliptic boundary value problems with a nonlinearity which grows superlinearly at +∞. The proof makes massive use of computer assistance: After approximate solutions have been computed by a numerical mountain pass algorithm, combined with a Newton iteration to improve accuracy, a fixed point argument is used to show the existence of exact solutions close to the approximations.     

On the average order of a class of arithmetical functions,II

We consider a large class of arithmetical functions generated by Dirichlet series satisfying a very general functional equation with gamma factors. In our previous paper we obtained a “one-sided” Ω result, but here a “two-sided” Ω result is obtained in most cases. Unfortunately, the method fails in the classical circle and Dirichlet divisor problems.     

On a problem of Eidelheit from The Scottish Book concerning absolutely continuous functions

A negative solution of Problem 188 posed by Max Eidelheit in the Scottish Book concerning superpositions of separately absolutely continuous functions is presented. We discuss here this and some related problems which have also negative solutions. Finally, we give an explanation of such negative answers from the “embeddings of Banach spaces” point of view.     

A class of degenerate diffusion equations with mixed boundary conditions

This paper is concerned with a class of degenerate diffusion equations subject to mixed boundary conditions. Under some structure conditions, we discuss the blow-up property of local solutions and estimate the bounds of “blow-up time.”     

The efficient solution of the (quietly constrained) noisy, linear regulator problem

In a previous paper we gave a new, natural extension of the calculus of variations/optimal control theory to a (strong) stochastic setting. We now extend the theory of this most fundamental chapter of optimal control in several directions. Most importantly we present a new method of stochastic control, adding Brownian motion which makes the problem “noisy.” Secondly, we show how to obtain efficient solutions: direct stochastic integration for simpler problems and/or efficient and accurate numerical methods with a global a priori error of O(h3/2) for more complex problems. Finally, we include “quiet” constraints, i.e. deterministic relationships between the state and control variables. Our theory and results can be immediately restricted to the non “noisy” (deterministic) case yielding efficient, numerical solution techniques and an a priori error of O(h²). In this event we obtain the most efficient method of solving the (constrained) classical Linear Regulator Problem. Our methods are different from the standard theory of stochastic control. In some cases the solutions coincide or at least are closely related. However, our methods have many advantages including those mentioned above. In addition, our methods more directly follow the motivation and theory of classical (deterministic) optimization which is perhaps the most important area of physical and engineering science. Our results follow from related ideas in the deterministic theory. Thus, our approximation methods follow by guessing at an algorithm, but the proof of global convergence uses stochastic techniques because our trajectories are not differentiable. Along these lines, a general drift term in the trajectory equation is properly viewed as an added constraint and extends ideas given in the deterministic case by the first author.     

Time-adaptive and history-adaptive multicriterion routing in stochastic, time-dependent networks

We compare two different models for multicriterion routing in stochastic time-dependent networks: the classic “time-adaptive” model and the more flexible “history-adaptive” one. We point out several properties of the sets of efficient solutions found under the two models. We also devise a method for finding supported history-adaptive solutions.