The Number of Generations Entirely Visited for Recurrent Random Walks in a Random Environment

In this paper we deal with a random walk in a random environment on a super-critical Galton–Watson tree. We focus on the recurrent cases already studied by Hu and Shi (Ann. Probab. 35:1978–1997, 2007; Probab. Theory Relat. Fields 138:521–549, 2007), Faraud et al. (Probab. Theory Relat. Fields, 2011, in press), and Faraud (Electron. J. Probab. 16(6):174–215, 2011). We prove that the largest generation entirely visited by these walks behaves like logn, and that the constant of normalization, which differs from one case to another, is a function of the inverse of the constant of Biggins’ law of large numbers for branching random walks (Biggins in Adv. Appl. Probab. 8:446–459, 1976).     

Small tight sets of hyperbolic quadrics

An x-tight set of a hyperbolic quadric Q ⁺(2n + 1, q) can be described as a set M of points with the property that the number of points of M in the tangent hyperplanes of points of M is as big as possible. We show that such a set is necessarily the union of x mutually disjoint generators provided that x ≤ q and n ≤ 3, or that x < q, n ≥ 4 and q ≥ 71. This unifies and generalizes many results on x-tight sets that are presently known, see (J Comb Theory Ser A 114(7):1293–1314 [1], J Comb Des 16(4):342–349 [5], Des Codes Cryptogr 50:187–201 [4], Adv Geom 4(3):279–286 [8], Bull Lond Math Soc 42(6):991–996 [11]).     

L p -theory for second-order elliptic operators with unbounded coefficients

Second-order elliptic operators with unbounded coefficients of the form ${Au := -{\rm div}(a\nabla u) + F . \nabla u + Vu}$ in ${L^{p}(\mathbb{R}^{N}) (N \in \mathbb{N}, 1 < p < \infty)}$ are considered, which are the same as in recent papers Metafune et?al. (Z Anal Anwendungen 24:497–521, 2005), Arendt et?al. (J Operator Theory 55:185–211, 2006; J Math Anal Appl 338: 505–517, 2008) and Metafune et?al. (Forum Math 22:583–601, 2010). A new criterion for the m-accretivity and m-sectoriality of A in ${L^{p}(\mathbb{R}^{N})}$ is presented via a certain identity that behaves like a sesquilinear form over L ^p ×?L ^p'. It partially improves the results in (Metafune et?al. in Z Anal Anwendungen 24:497–521, 2005) and (Metafune et?al. in Forum Math 22:583–601, 2010) with a different approach. The result naturally extends Kato’s criterion in (Kato in Math Stud 55:253–266, 1981) for the nonnegative selfadjointness to the case of p ≠?2. The simplicity is illustrated with the typical example ${Au = -u\hspace{1pt}'' + x^{3}u\hspace{1pt}' + c |x|^{\gamma}u}$ in ${L^p(\mathbb{R})}$ which is dealt with in (Arendt et?al. in J Operator Theory 55:185–211, 2006; Arendt et?al. in J Math Anal Appl 338: 505–517, 2008).     

More about λ-support iterations of (<λ)-complete forcing notions

This article continues Ros?anowski and Shelah (Int J Math Math Sci 28:63–82, 2001; Quaderni di Matematica 17:195–239, 2006; Israel J Math 159:109–174, 2007; 2011; Notre Dame J Formal Logic 52:113–147, 2011) and we introduce here a new property of (<λ)-strategically complete forcing notions which implies that their λ-support iterations do not collapse λ ⁺ (for a strongly inaccessible cardinal λ).     

Some Recent Developments on Hopf��s Holomorphic Form

Hopf??s theorem on surfaces in ${\mathbb{R}^3}$ with constant mean curvature (Hopf in Math Nach 4:232?C249, 1950-51) was a turning point in the study of such surfaces. In recent years, Hopf-type theorems appeared in various ambient spaces, (Abresch and Rosenberg in Acta Math 193:141?C174, 2004 and Abresch and Rosenberg in Mat Contemp Sociedade Bras Mat 28:283-298, 2005). The simplest case is the study of surfaces with parallel mean curvature vector in ${M_k^n \times \mathbb{R}, n \ge 2}$ , where ${M_k^n}$ is a complete, simply-connected Riemannian manifold with constant sectional curvature k ?? 0. The case n?=?2 was solved in Abresch and Rosenberg 2004. Here we describe some new results for arbitrary n.     

On the functional codes defined by quadrics and Hermitian varieties

In recent years, functional codes have received much attention. In his PhD thesis, F.A.B. Edoukou investigated various functional codes linked to quadrics and Hermitian varieties defined in finite projective spaces (Edoukou, PhD Thesis, 2007). This work was continued in (Edoukou et al., Des Codes Cryptogr 56:219–233, 2010; Edoukou et al., J Pure Appl Algebr 214:1729–1739, 2010; Hallez and Storme, Finite Fields Appl 16:27–35, 2010), where the results of the thesis were improved and extended. In particular, Hallez and Storme investigated the functional codes ${C_2(\mathcal{H})}$ , with ${\mathcal{H}}$ a non-singular Hermitian variety in PG(N, q ²). The codewords of this code are defined by evaluating the points of ${\mathcal{H}}$ in the quadratic polynomials defined over ${\mathbb{F}_{q^2}}$ . We now present the similar results for the functional code ${C_{Herm}(\mathcal{Q})}$ . The codewords of this code are defined by evaluating the points of a non-singular quadric ${\mathcal{Q}}$ in PG(N, q ²) in the polynomials defining the Hermitian varieties of PG(N, q ²).     

Group-Theoretic Dimension of Stationary Symmetric α-Stable Random Fields

The growth rate of the partial maximum of a stationary stable process was first studied in the works of Samorodnitsky (Ann. Probab. 32:1438–1468, 2004; Adv. Appl. Probab. 36:805–823, 2004), where it was established, based on the seminal works of Rosiński (Ann. Probab. 23:1163–1187, 1995; 28:1797–1813, 2000), that the growth rate is connected to the ergodic-theoretic properties of the flow that generates the process. The results were generalized to the case of stable random fields indexed by ? ^d in Roy and Samorodnitsky (J. Theor. Probab. 21:212–233, 2008), where properties of the group of nonsingular transformations generating the stable process were studied as an attempt to understand the growth rate of the partial maximum process. This work generalizes this connection between stable random fields and group theory to the continuous parameter case, that is, to fields indexed by ? ^d .     

Almost sure convergence for stochastically biased random walks on trees

We are interested in the biased random walk on a supercritical Galton?CWatson tree in the sense of Lyons (Ann. Probab. 18:931?C958, 1990) and Lyons, Pemantle and Peres (Probab. Theory Relat. Fields 106:249?C264, 1996), and study a phenomenon of slow movement. In order to observe such a slow movement, the bias needs to be random; the resulting random walk is then a tree-valued random walk in random environment. We investigate the recurrent case, and prove, under suitable general integrability assumptions, that upon the system??s non-extinction, the maximal displacement of the walk in the first n steps, divided by (log n)³, converges almost surely to a known positive constant.     

A remark on Feuerbach hyperbolas

Recently many authors have studied properties of triangles and the theory of perspective triangles in the Euclidean plane (see Kimberling et al. J Geom Graph 14:1–14, 2010; Kimberling et al. http://faculty.evansville.edu/ck6/encyclopedia/ETC.html, 2012; Moses and Kimberling J Geom Graph 13:15–24, 2009; Moses and Kimberling Forum Geom 11:83–93, 2011; Odehnal Elem Math 61:74–80, 2006; Odehnal Forum Geom 10:35–40, 2010; Odehnal J Geom Graph 15: 45–67, 2011). The aim of this paper is to present a new approach to the construction of points on the Feuerbach hyperbola. Surprisingly, these points can be obtained as centers of perspectivity of a triangle ABC and a certain one-parametric set of triangles A′B′C′. The presented construction is based on partitions of the triangle’s sides and—in a way—dual to the construction of points on the Kiepert hyperbola. It can also be generalized to spherical triangles. The proofs are based on an affine property of triangles, which amazingly can also be used for the proof of the spherical theorem.     

Improved sparse fourier approximation results: faster implementations and stronger guarantees

We study the problem of quickly estimating the best k-term Fourier representation for a given periodic function f: [0, 2π] → ?. Solving this problem requires the identification of k of the largest magnitude Fourier series coefficients of f in worst case k ² · log ^O(1) N time. Randomized sublinear-time Monte Carlo algorithms, which have a small probability of failing to output accurate answers for each input signal, have been developed for solving this problem (Gilbert et al. 2002, 2005). These methods were implemented as the Ann Arbor Fast Fourier Transform (AAFFT) and empirically evaluated in Iwen et al. (Commun Math Sci 5(4):981–998, 2007). In this paper we present a new implementation, called the Gopher Fast Fourier Transform (GFFT), of more recently developed sparse Fourier transform techniques (Iwen, Found Comput Math 10(3):303–338, 2010, Appl Comput Harmon Anal, 2012). Experiments indicate that GFFT is faster than AAFFT. In addition to our empirical evaluation, we also consider the existence of sublinear-time Fourier approximation methods with deterministic approximation guarantees for functions whose sequences of Fourier series coefficents are compressible. In particular, we prove the existence of sublinear-time Las Vegas Fourier Transforms which improve on the recent deterministic Fourier approximation results of Iwen (Found Comput Math 10(3):303–338, 2010, Appl Comput Harmon Anal, 2012) for Fourier compressible functions by guaranteeing accurate answers while using an asymptotically near-optimal number of function evaluations.     

On the pure critical exponent problem for the p-Laplacian

In this paper we prove existence and multiplicity of positive and sign-changing solutions to the pure critical exponent problem for the $p$ -Laplacian operator with Dirichlet boundary conditions on a bounded domain having nontrivial topology and discrete symmetry. Pioneering works related to the case $p=2$ are Brezis and Nirenberg (Comm Pure Appl Math 36, 437–477, 1983), Coron (C R Acad Sci Paris Sr I Math 299, 209–212, 1984), and Bahri and Coron (Comm. Pure Appl. Math. 41, 253–294, 1988). A global compactness analysis is given for the Palais-Smale sequences in the presence of symmetries.     

A solution to a problem of Grünbaum and Motzkin and of Erdős and Purdy about bichromatic configurations of points in the plane

Let P be a set of n blue points in the plane, not all on a line. Let R be a set of m red points such that P ∩ R = ? and every line determined by P contains a point from R. We provide an answer to an old problem by Grünbaum and Motzkin [9] and independently by Erd?s and Purdy [6] who asked how large must m be in terms of n in such a case? More specifically, both [9] and [6] were looking for the best absolute constant c such that m ≥ cn. We provide an answer to this problem and show that m ≥ (n?1)/3.     

Stationary points of O’Hara’s knot energies

In this article we study the regularity of stationary points of the knot energies E ^(α) introduced by O’Hara (Topology 30(2):241–247, 1991; Topol Appl 48(2):147–161, 1992; Topol Appl 56(1):45–61, 1994) in the range ${\alpha\in(2,3)}$ . In a first step we prove that E ^(α) is C ¹ on the set of all regular embedded curves belonging to ${{H^{(\alpha+1)/2,2}(\mathbb {R}{/}\mathbb {Z}, \mathbb {R}^n)}}$ and calculate its derivative. After that we use the structure of the Euler-Lagrange equation to study the regularity of stationary points of E ^(α) plus a positive multiple of the length. We show that stationary points of finite energy are of class C ^∞—so especially all local minimizers of E ^(α) among curves with fixed length are smooth.     

Classification of radial solutions to the Emden–Fowler equation on the hyperbolic space

We study the Emden–Fowler equation ?Δu = |u| ^p?1 u on the hyperbolic space ${{\mathbb H}^n}$ . We are interested in radial solutions, namely solutions depending only on the geodesic distance from a given point. The critical exponent for such equation is p = (n + 2)/(n ? 2) as in the Euclidean setting, but the properties of the solutions show striking differences with the Euclidean case. While the papers (Bhakta and Sandeep, Poincaré Sobolev equations in the hyperbolic space, 2011; Mancini and Sandeep, Ann Sci Norm Sup Pisa Cl Sci 7(5):635–671, 2008) consider finite energy solutions, we shall deal here with infinite energy solutions and we determine the exact asymptotic behavior of wide classes of finite and infinite energy solutions.     

Directional Lipschitzness of Minimal Time Functions in Hausdorff Topological Vector Spaces

In a general Hausdorff topological vector space E, we associate to a given nonempty closed set S???E and a bounded closed set Ω???E, the minimal time function T _S,Ω defined by $T_{S,\Omega}(x):= \inf \{ t> 0: S\cap (x+t\Omega)\not = \emptyset\}$ . The study of this function has been the subject of various recent works (see Bounkhel (2012, submitted, 2013, accepted); Colombo and Wolenski (J Global Optim 28:269–282, 2004, J Convex Anal 11:335–361, 2004); He and Ng (J Math Anal Appl 321:896–910, 2006); Jiang and He (J Math Anal Appl 358:410–418, 2009); Mordukhovich and Nam (J Global Optim 46(4):615–633, 2010) and the references therein). The main objective of this work is in this vein. We characterize, for a given Ω, the class of all closed sets S in E for which T _S,Ω is directionally Lipschitz in the sense of Rockafellar (Proc Lond Math Soc 39:331–355, 1979). Those sets S are called Ω-epi-Lipschitz. This class of sets covers three important classes of sets: epi-Lipschitz sets introduced in Rockafellar (Proc Lond Math Soc 39:331–355, 1979), compactly epi-Lipschitz sets introduced in Borwein and Strojwas (Part I: Theory, Canad J Math No. 2:431–452, 1986), and K-directional Lipschitz sets introduced recently in Correa et al. (SIAM J Optim 20(4):1766–1785, 2010). Various characterizations of this class have been established. In particular, we characterize the Ω-epi-Lipschitz sets by the nonemptiness of a new tangent cone, called Ω-hypertangent cone. As for epi-Lipschitz sets in Rockafellar (Canad J Math 39:257–280, 1980) we characterize the new class of Ω-epi-Lipschitz sets with the help of other cones. The spacial case of closed convex sets is also studied. Our main results extend various existing results proved in Borwein et al. (J Convex Anal 7:375–393, 2000), Correa et al. (SIAM J Optim 20(4):1766–1785, 2010) from Banach spaces and normed spaces to Hausdorff topological vector spaces.     

An improved local convergence analysis for a two-step Steffensen-type method

We study a class of Steffensen-type algorithm for solving nonsmooth variational inclusions in Banach spaces. We provide a local convergence analysis under ω-conditioned divided difference, and the Aubin continuity property. This work on the one hand extends the results on local convergence of Steffensen’s method related to the resolution of nonlinear equations (see Amat and Busquier in Comput. Math. Appl. 49:13–22, 2005; J. Math. Anal. Appl. 324:1084–1092, 2006; Argyros in Southwest J. Pure Appl. Math. 1:23–29, 1997; Nonlinear Anal. 62:179–194, 2005; J. Math. Anal. Appl. 322:146–157, 2006; Rev. Colomb. Math. 40:65–73, 2006; Computational Theory of Iterative Methods, 2007). On the other hand our approach improves the ratio of convergence and enlarges the convergence ball under weaker hypotheses than one given in Hilout (Commun. Appl. Nonlinear Anal. 14:27–34, 2007).     

Poisson and compound Poisson approximations in conventional and nonconventional setups

It was shown in Kifer (Israel J Math, 2013) that for any subshift of finite type considered with a Gibbs invariant measure the numbers of multiple recurrencies to shrinking cylindrical neighborhoods of almost all points are asymptotically Poisson distributed. Here we not only extend this result to all \(\psi \) -mixing shifts with countable alphabet but actually show that for all points the distributions of these numbers are asymptotically close either to Poisson or to compound Poisson distributions. It turns out that for all nonperiodic points a limiting distribution is always Poisson while at the same time for periodic points there may be no limiting distribution at all unless the shift invariant measure is Bernoulli in which case the limiting distribution always exists. Thus we describe, essentially completely, limiting distributions of multiple recurrence numbers in this setup. As a corollary we obtain also that the first occurence time of the multiple recurrence event is asymptotically exponentially distributed. Most of the results are new also for the widely studied single recurrencies case (see, for instance, Haydn and Vaienti Discret Contin Dyn Syst A 10:589–616, 2004; Probab Theory Relat Fields 144:517–542, 2009; Abadi and Saussol Stoch Process Appl 121:314–323, 2011; Abadi and Vergne Nonlinearity 21:2871–2885, 2008), as well.     

3-Nets realizing a group in a projective plane

In a projective plane $\mathit{PG}(2,\mathbb{K})$ defined over an algebraically closed field $\mathbb{K}$ of characteristic 0, we give a complete classification of 3-nets realizing a finite group. An infinite family, due to Yuzvinsky (Compos. Math. 140:1614–1624, 2004), arises from plane cubics and comprises 3-nets realizing cyclic and direct products of two cyclic groups. Another known infinite family, due to Pereira and Yuzvinsky (Adv. Math. 219:672–688, 2008), comprises 3-nets realizing dihedral groups. We prove that there is no further infinite family. Urzúa’s 3-nets (Adv. Geom. 10:287–310, 2010) realizing the quaternion group of order 8 are the unique sporadic examples. If p is larger than the order of the group, the above classification holds in characteristic p>0 apart from three possible exceptions $\rm{Alt}_{4}$ , $\rm{Sym}_{4}$ , and $\rm{Alt}_{5}$ . Motivation for the study of finite 3-nets in the complex plane comes from the study of complex line arrangements and from resonance theory; see (Falk and Yuzvinsky in Compos. Math. 143:1069–1088, 2007; Miguel and Buzunáriz in Graphs Comb. 25:469–488, 2009; Pereira and Yuzvinsky in Adv. Math. 219:672–688, 2008; Yuzvinsky in Compos. Math. 140:1614–1624, 2004; Yuzvinsky in Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 137:1641–1648, 2009).     

Immersed Solutions of Plateau’s Problem for Piecewise Smooth Boundary Curves with Small Total Curvature

We provide a new proof of the classical result that any closed rectifiable Jordan curve ${\Gamma \subset \mathbb{R}^3}$ being piecewise of class C ² bounds at least one immersed minimal surface of disc-type, under the additional assumption that the total curvature of Γ is smaller than 6π. In contrast to the methods due to Osserman (Ann Math 91(2):550–569, 1970), Gulliver (Ann Math 97(2):275–305, 1973) and Alt (Math Z 127:333–362, 1972, Math Ann 201:33–35, 1973), our proof relies on a polygonal approximation technique, using the existence of immersed solutions of Plateau’s problem for polygonal boundary curves, provided by the first author’s accomplishment (The Plateau problem, Fuchsian equations and the Riemann–Hilbert problem. Mémoires de la Soc. Math. Fr. (to appear) arXiv: 1003.0978) of Garnier’s ideas in (Annales scientifiques de l’É.N.S. 45:53–144, 1928).