Rational approximation to Lipschitz and Zygmund classes

In this paper, characterizations for lim _n(R _n (f)/(n ^–1)=0 inH and for lim _n(n ^r+ R _n (f)=0 inW ^r Lip ,r1, are given, while, forZ, a generalization to a related result of Newman is established.Communicated by Ronald A. DeVore.     

Fourier series of functions whose Hankel transform is supported on [0, 1]

LetJ denote the Bessel function of order . For >–1, the system x^–/2–1/2J_+2n+1(x^1/2, n=0, 1, 2,..., is orthogonal onL ²((0, ),x dx). In this paper we study the mean convergence of Fourier series with respect to this system for functions whose Hankel transform is supported on [0, 1].Communicated by Mourad Ismail.     

Asymptotic estimates for Laguerre polynomials

We give a brief summary of recent results concerning the asymptotic behaviour of the Laguerre polynomialsL _n ⁽⁾ (x). First we summarize the results of a paper of Frenzen and Wong in whichn and >–1 is fixed. Two different expansions are needed in that case, one with aJ-Bessel function and one with an Airy function as main approximant. Second, three other forms are given in which is not necessarily fixed. These results follow from papers of Dunster and Olver, who considered the expansion of Whittaker functions. Again Bessel and Airy functions are used, and in another form the comparison function is a Hermite polynomial. A numerical verification of the new expansion in terms of the Hermite polynomial is given by comparing the zeros of the approximant with the related zeros of the Laguerre polynomial.     

Sturmian Words and the Permutation that Orders Fractional Parts

A Sturmian word is a map W : {0,1} for which the set of {0, 1}-vectors F _n(W) {(W(i), W(i + 1),...,W(i + n – 1)) ^T : i } has cardinality exactly n + 1 for each positive integer n. Our main result is that the volume of the simplex whose n + 1 vertices are the n + 1 points in F _n(W) does not depend on W. Our proof of this motivates studying algebraic properties of the permutation _,n (where is any irrational and n is any positive integer) that orders the fractional parts {}, {2},...,{n}, i.e., 0 < {_,n (1)} < {_,n (2)} < ··· < {_,n (n)} < 1. We give a formula for the sign of _,n , and prove that for every irrational there are infinitely many n such that the order of _,n (as an element of the symmetric group S _n) is less than n.     

Norm behavior and zero distribution for orthogonal polynomials with nonsymmetric weights

The asymptotic behavior of thenth root of the leading coefficient of orthogonal polynomials on (–,) and the distribution of their zeros is studied for nonsymmetric weights that behave like exp(–2B|x|) whenx>0 and exp(–2Ax ) whenx<0,>AB. These results generalize previous investigations of Rakhmanov and Mhaskar and Saff who handle the symmetric caseA=B.Communicated by Paul Nevai.     

Some numerical results on best uniform rational approximation ofx α on [0,1]

Let be a positive number, and letE _n,n (x ;[0,1]) denote the error of best uniform rational approximation from _n,n tox on the interval [0,1]. We rigorously determined the numbers {E _n,n (x ;[0,1])} _n ^=1/30 for six values of in the interval (0, 1), where these numbers were calculated with a precision of at least 200 significant digits. For each of these six values of , Richardson's extrapolation was applied to the products to obtain estimates of

Algorithms for confluent Vandermonde systems

Two compact algorithms are developed for solving systems of linear equationsV x=b andV ^T a=f, whereV=V( ₀, ₁, ..., _n ) is a confluent Vandermonde matrix of Hermite type. The solution is obtained by one forward and one backward vector recursion, starting with the right hand side. The total amount of storage is only 2n. The number of arithmetic operations needed isO(n ²) and compares favourably with other proposed methods.     

On computing the number of subgroups of a finite Abelian group

We consider the numberN _A (r) of subgroups of orderp ^r ofA, whereA is a finite Abelianp-group of type =₁,₂,..., _l ()), i.e. the direct sum of cyclic groups of order ⁱⁱ. Formulas for computingN _A (r) are well known. Here we derive a recurrence relation forN _A (r), which enables us to prove a conjecture of P. E. Dyubyuk about congruences betweenN _A (r) and the Gaussian binomial coefficient .     

Some limit theorems for partial sums of quadratic forms in stationary Gaussian variables

Summary Limit theorems with a non-Gaussian limiting distribution have been obtained, under appropriate conditions for partial sums of instantaneous nonlinear functions of stationary Gaussian sequences with long range dependence by a number of people. The normalization has typically been n , with 1/2<<1 where n is the sample size. Here examples of limit theorems are given for quadratic functions with long range memory (not instantaneous) with a normalization n , 0<<1/2.Research supported in part by the Office of Naval Research     

Invariant equations defining coincident root loci

Let F(x) = xⁿ+₁ x^n-1+₂ x^n-2+ ··· +_n be a polynomial with complex coefficients, and suppose we are given a partition (₁,...,_r) of n. It is a classical problem to determine explicit algebraic conditions on the _i so that F may have roots with multiplicities ₁,...,_r. We give an invariant theoretic solution to this problem, to wit, we exhibit a set of covariants of F whose vanishing is a necessary and sufficient condition. The construction of such covariants is combinatorial, and involves associating a set of graphs on n vertices (called decisive graphs) to each .Received: 28 September 2003     

On monotone and convex approximation by algebraic polynomials

The following results are obtained: If >0, 2, [3, 4], andf is a nondecreasing (convex) function on [–1, 1] such thatE _n (f) n ^– for any n>, then E _n ⁽¹⁾ (f)Cn ^– (E _n ⁽²⁾ (f)Cn ^–) for n>, where C=C(), E_n(f) is the best uniform approximation of a continuous function by polynomials of degree (n–1), and E _n ⁽¹⁾ (f) (E _n ⁽²⁾ (f)) are the best monotone and convex approximations, respectively. For =2 ( [3, 4]), this result is not true.Published in Ukrainskii Matematicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 46, No. 9, pp. 1266–1270, September, 1994.     

On the Uniform Distribution of Certain Sequences

We investigate the uniform distribution of the sequence n as n ranges over the natural numbers and is a fixed positive real number which is not an integer. We then apply this in conjunction with the Linnik-Vaughan method to study the uniform distribution of the sequence p as p ranges over the prime numbers.     

Black holes on the plane drawn by a Wiener process

Summary We say that the discD()R ², of radius , located around the origin isp-covered in timeT by a Wiener processW(·) if for anyzD() there exists a 0tT such thatW(t) is a point of the disc of radiusp, located aroundz. The supremum of those 's (0) is studied for which,D() isp-covered inT.     

A Bernstein result for energy minimizing hypersurfaces

We show that there are no entire, positive, stable solutions in ⁿ of the Euler equation corresponding to the singular variational integral ,>0, if+n<5.236.... Furthermore we prove a related result for smooth boundaries of least-energy |x _n+1||D _U | in ⁿ⁺¹.     

Solution of Some Weight Problems for the Riemann–Liouville and Weyl Operators

The necessary and sufficient conditions are found for the weight function v, which provide the boundedness and compactness of the Riemann–Liouville operator R from L ^p to . The criteria are also established for the weight function w, which guarantee the boundedness and compactness of the Weyl operator W from to L ^q.     

Large-time behavior of perturbed diffusion markov processes with applications to the second eigenvalue problem for fokker-planck operators and simulated annealing

We study the large-time behavior and rate of convergence to the invariant measures of the processes dX (t)=b(X) (t)) dt + (X (t)) dB(t). A crucial constant appears naturally in our study. Heuristically, when the time is of the order exp( – )/² , the transition density has a good lower bound and when the process has run for about exp( – )/², it is very close to the invariant measure. LetL =(²/2) – U · be a second-order differential operator on ^d. Under suitable conditions,L ^z has the discrete spectrum

Differentiability properties of the minimal average action

Given aZ ⁿ⁺¹-periodic variational principle onR ⁿ⁺¹ we look for solutionsu:R ⁿ R minimizing the variational integral with respect to compactly supported variations. To every vector R ⁿ we consider a subset of solutions which have an average slope when averaging overR ⁿ. The minimal average action A() is defined by the average value of the variational integral given by a solution with average slope . Our main result is:A is differentiable at if and only if the set is totally ordered (in the natural sense). In case that is not totally ordered,A is differentiable at in some direction R ⁿ{0} if and only if is orthogonal to the subspace defined by the rational dependency of . Assuming that the i^th component of is rational with denominator sⁱ N in lowest terms, we show: The difference of right- and left-sided derivative in the i^th standard unit direction is bounded by const · .     

On the a.s. Cesàro-α convergence for stationary or orthogonal random variables

We give a new direct proof of the a.s. convergence of the Cesàro- means of a stationary process (X _n) when 0<<1 andE(X _n ^p )<+ with p>1 and we show that this result does not hold in general for p=1. We also consider similar questions for orthogonal random variables. Finally, we study the a.s. convergence of Riesz harmonic means.     

Geography of the level sets of the Brownian sheet

Summary We describe geometric properties of {W>}, whereW is a standard real-valued Brownian sheet, in the neighborhood of the first hitP of the level set {W>} along a straight line or smooth monotone curveL. In such a neighborhood we use a decomposition of the formW(s, t)=–b(s)+B(t)+x(s, t), whereb(s) andB(t) are particular diffusion processes andx(s, t) is comparatively small, to show thatP is not on the boundary of any connected component of {W>}. Rather, components of this set form clusters nearP. An integral test for thorn-shaped neighborhoods ofL with tip atP that do not meet {W>} is given. We then analyse the position and size of clusters and individual connected components of {W>} near such a thorn, giving upper bounds on their height, width and the space between clusters. This provides a local picture of the level set. Our calculations are based on estimates of the length of excursions ofB andb and an accounting of the error termx.The research of this author was partially supported by NSF grant DMS-9103962, and, during the period of revision, by grant DAAL03-92-6-0323 from the Army Research Office