Conditional extremals in complete Riemannian manifolds

Conditional extremal curves in a complete Riemannian manifold M are defined as the critical points of the squared L² distance between the tangent vector field of a curve and a so-called prior vector field. We prove that this L² distance satisfies the Palais-Smale condition on the space of absolutely continuous curves joining two submanifolds of M, and thus establish the existence of critical points. We also prove a Morse index theorem in the case where the two submanifolds are single points, and use the Morse inequalities to place lower bounds on the number of critical points of each index.     

Bahri-Coron type theorem for the scalar curvature problem on high dimensional spheres

We consider the existence and multiplicity results for the prescribed scalar curvature problem on the standard spheres of high dimension n ?? 7. Given a C ² positive function K, using the theory of critical points at infinity, we prove an existence result as Bahri-Coron theorem. Our case is a generalization of Li (J Differ Equ 120:319?C410, 1995). Indeed, here the function K is flat near some critical points as in Li (J Differ Equ 120:319?C410, 1995) and it can have some nondegenerate critical points with ?? K ?? 0. Furthermore, using some topological arguments, we prove another kind of result.     

Lemniscates and inequalities for the logarithmic capacities of continua

It is shown that if P(z) = z ⁿ + ? is a polynomial with connected lemniscate E(P) = {z: ¦P(z)¦ ≤ 1} and m critical points, then, for any n? m+1 points on the lemniscate E(P), there exists a continuum γ ? E(P) of logarithmic capacity cap γ ≤ 2^?1/n which contains these points and all zeros and critical points of the polynomial. As corollaries, estimates for continua of minimum capacity containing given points are obtained.     

The Webster scalar curvature problem on the three dimensional CR manifolds

In this paper, we prove some existence results for the Webster scalar curvature problem on the three dimensional CR compact manifolds locally conformally CR equivalent to the unit sphere S³ of C². Our methods are based on the techniques related to the theory of critical points at infinity.     

Quasi-energy function for diffeomorphisms with wild separatrices

We consider the class G ₄ of Morse—Smale diffeomorphisms on $ \mathbb{S} $ ³ with nonwandering set consisting of four fixed points (namely, one saddle, two sinks, and one source). According to Pixton, this class contains a diffeomorphism that does not have an energy function, i.e., a Lyapunov function whose set of critical points coincides with the set of periodic points of the diffeomorphism itself. We define a quasi-energy function for any Morse—Smale diffeomorphism as a Lyapunov function with the least number of critical points. Next, we single out the class G _4,1 ? G ₄ of diffeomorphisms inducing a special Heegaard splitting of genus 1 of the sphere $ \mathbb{S} $ ³. For each diffeomorphism in G _4,1, we present a quasi-energy function with six critical points.     

On the stability of the CMC Clifford Tori as constrained Willmore surfaces

The tori ${T_r = r\, \mathbb{S}^1 \times s\mathbb{S}^1 \subset \mathbb{S}^3}$ , where r ² + s ² = 1 are constrained Willmore surfaces, i.e., critical points of the Willmore functional among tori of the same conformal type. We compute which of the T _r are stable critical points.     

Pseudospectra, critical points and multiple eigenvalues of matrix polynomials

We develop a general framework for perturbation analysis of matrix polynomials. More specifically, we show that the normed linear space L_m(C^n×n) of n-by-n matrix polynomials of degree at most m provides a natural framework for perturbation analysis of matrix polynomials in L_m(C^n×n). We present a family of natural norms on the space L_m(C^n×n) and show that the norms on the spaces C^m+1 and C^n×n play a crucial role in the perturbation analysis of matrix polynomials. We define pseudospectra of matrix polynomials in the general framework of the normed space L_m(C^n×n) and show that the pseudospectra of matrix polynomials well known in the literature follow as special cases. We analyze various properties of pseudospectra in the unified framework of the normed space L_m(C^n×n). We analyze critical points of backward errors of approximate eigenvalues of matrix polynomials and show that each critical point is a multiple eigenvalue of an appropriately perturbed polynomial. We show that common boundary points of components of pseudospectra of matrix polynomials are critical points. As a consequence, we show that a solution of Wilkinson’s problem for matrix polynomials can be read off from the pseudospectra of matrix polynomials.     

Periodic solutions for a class of superquadratic Hamiltonian systems

We prove the existence of nontrivial critical points for a class of superquadratic nonautonomous second-order Hamiltonian systems by applying condition ^∗(C) to critical point theory, and some new solvability conditions of nontrivial periodic solutions are obtained.     

Critical points of solutions of degenerate elliptic equations in the plane

We study the minimizer u of a convex functional in the plane which is not Gâteaux-differentiable. Namely, we show that the set of critical points of any C ¹-smooth minimizer can not have isolated points. Also, by means of some appropriate approximating scheme and viscosity solutions, we determine an Euler–Lagrange equation that u must satisfy. By applying the same approximating scheme, we can pair u with a function v which may be regarded as the stream function of u in a suitable generalized sense.     

Detectability of critical points of smooth functionals from their finite-dimensional approximations

Given a critical point of a C²-functional on a separable Hilbert space, we obtain sufficient conditions for it to be detectable (i.e. ‘visible’) from finite-dimensional Rayleigh-Ritz-Galerkin (RRG) approximations. While examples show that even nondegenerate critical points are, without any further restriction, not visible, we single out relevant classes of smooth functionals, e.g. the Hamiltonian action on the loop space or the functionals associated with boundary value problems for some semilinear elliptic equations, such that their nondegenerate critical points are visible from their RRG approximations.     

Two-point Taylor expansions in the asymptotic approximation of double integrals. Application to the second and fourth Appell functions

The main difficulty in Laplace's method of asymptotic expansions of double integrals is originated by a change of variables. We consider a double integral representation of the second Appell function F₂(a,b,b^′,c,c^′;x,y) and illustrate, over this example, a variant of Laplace's method which avoids that change of variables and simplifies the computations. Essentially, the method only requires a Taylor expansion of the integrand at the critical point of the phase function. We obtain in this way an asymptotic expansion of F₂(a,b,b^′,c,c^′;x,y) for large b, b^′, c and c^′. We also consider a double integral representation of the fourth Appell function F₄(a,b,c,d;x,y). We show, in this example, that this variant of Laplace's method is uniform when two or more critical points coalesce or a critical point approaches the boundary of the integration domain. We obtain in this way an asymptotic approximation of F₄(a,b,c,d;x,y) for large values of a,b,c and d. In this second example, the method requires a Taylor expansion of the integrand at two points simultaneously. For this purpose, we also investigate in this paper Taylor expansions of two-variable analytic functions with respect to two points, giving Cauchy-type formulas for the coefficients of the expansion and details about the regions of convergence.     

Retarded equations on the sphere induced by linear equations

Using a Poincaré compactification, the linear homogeneous system of delay equations {x = Ax(t ? 1) (A is an n × n real matrix) induces a delay system π(A) on the sphere Sⁿ. The points at infinity belong to an invariant submanifold S^{n ? 1} of Sⁿ. For an open and dense set of 2 × 2 matrices A with distinct eigenvalues, the system π(A) has only hyperbolic critical points (including the critical points at infinity). For an open and dense set of 2 × 2matrices $\text{A}$ with complex eigenvalues, the nonwandering set at infinity is the union of an odd number of hyperbolic periodic orbits; if $\text{(}\text{det}\text{A}\text{)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{<}\text{3π}\text{2}$, the restriction of $\text{π(}\text{A}\text{)}$ to S¹ is Morse-Smale. For n = 1 there exist periodic orbits of period 4 provided that $\text{?A >}\text{π}\text{2}$ and Hopf bifurcation of a center occurs for ?A near $\text{(}\text{π}\text{2}\text{) + 2kπ, k ? Z}$.     

Rational maps as Schwarzian primitives

We examine when a meromorphic quadratic differential φ with prescribed poles is the Schwarzian derivative of a rational map. We give a necessary and sufficient condition: In the Laurent series of φ around each pole c, the most singular term should take the form(1- d2)/(2(z- c)2), where d is an integer, and then a certain determinant in the next d coefficients should vanish. This condition can be optimized by neglecting some information on one of the poles(i.e., by only requiring it to be a double pole). The case d = 2 was treated by Eremenko(2012). We show that a geometric interpretation of our condition is that the complex projective structure induced by φ outside the poles has a trivial holonomy group. This statement was suggested to us by Thurston in a private communication. Our work is related to the problem of finding a rational map f with a prescribed set of critical points, since the critical points of f are precisely the poles of its Schwarzian derivative.Finally, we study the pole-dependency of these Schwarzian derivatives. We show that, in the cubic case with simple critical points, an analytic dependency fails precisely when the poles are displaced at the vertices of a regular ideal tetrahedron of the hyperbolic 3-ball.     

Fekete configuration, quantitative equidistribution and wandering critical orbits in non-archimedean dynamics

Let f be a rational function of degree d > 1 on the projective line over a possibly non-archimedean algebraically closed field. A well-known process initiated by Brolin considers the pullbacks of points under iterates of f, and produces an important equilibrium measure. We define the asymptotic Fekete property of pullbacks of points, which means that they mirror the equilibrium measure appropriately. As application, we obtain an error estimate of equidistribution of pullbacks of points for C ¹-test functions in terms of the proximity of wandering critical orbits to the initial points, and show that the order is ${O(\sqrt{kd^{-k}})}$ upto a specific exceptional set of capacity 0 of initial points, which is contained in the set of superattracting periodic points and the omega-limit set of wandering critical points from the Julia set or the presingular domains of f. As an application in arithmetic dynamics, together with a dynamical Diophantine approximation, these estimates recover Favre and Rivera-Letelier’s quantitative equidistribution in a purely local manner.     

The existence and uniqueness of trajectories joining critical points for differential equations in R3

In this paper, we prove the existence and uniqueness of trajectories joining critical points for differential equations in R³ by constructing the index pair of the isolated invariant set and using Conley index theory.     

Gaudin models with irregular singularities

We introduce a class of quantum integrable systems generalizing the Gaudin model. The corresponding algebras of quantum Hamiltonians are obtained as quotients of the center of the enveloping algebra of an affine Kac-Moody algebra at the critical level, extending the construction of higher Gaudin Hamiltonians from B. Feigin et al. (1994) [17] to the case of non-highest weight representations of affine algebras. We show that these algebras are isomorphic to algebras of functions on the spaces of opers on P¹ with regular as well as irregular singularities at finitely many points. We construct eigenvectors of these Hamiltonians, using Wakimoto modules of critical level, and show that their spectra on finite-dimensional representations are given by opers with trivial monodromy. We also comment on the connection between the generalized Gaudin models and the geometric Langlands correspondence with ramification.     

Minimum L ∞ accelerations in Riemannian manifolds

Riemannian cubics are curves in Riemannian manifolds M that are critical points for the L ² norm of covariant acceleration, and are already rather well studied as elementary curves for interpolation problems in engineering. In the present paper the L ² norm is replaced by the L ^∞ norm, which may be more appropriate for some applications. However it is more difficult to derive the analogue of the Euler-Lagrange equation for the L ^∞ norm, requiring techniques from optimal control, and the resulting necessary conditions take a different form. These necessary conditions are examined when M is a sphere or a bi-invariant Lie group, and some examples are given.     

Bifurcation set and distribution of limit cycles for a class of cubic Hamiltonian system with higher-order perturbed terms

A class of cubic Hamiltonion system with the higher-order perturbed term of degree n=5, 7, 9, 11, 13 is investigated. We find that there exist at least 13 limit cycles with the distribution C¹₉⊃2[C²₃⊃2C²₂] (let C_m^k denote a nest of limit cycles which encloses m singular points, and the symbol `⊂' is used to show the enclosing relations between limit cycles, while the sign `+' is used to divide limit cycles enclosing different critical points. Denote simply C_m^k+C_m^k=2C_m^k, etc.) in the Hamiltonian system under the perturbed term of degree 7, and give the complete bifurcation diagrams and classification of the phase portraits by using bifurcation theory and qualitative method and numerical simulations. These results in this paper are useful for the study of the weaken Hilbert 16th problem.     

An analog of Sard’s theorem for C 1-smooth functions of two variables

The main result of the article is Theorem 1. Let v: Ω → ? be a C¹-smooth function on a domain Ω → ?². Suppose that 0 ? Cl Int Dv(Ω). Then the measure of the image of the set of critical points equals zero.     

Diophantine equations in separated variables

We study Diophantine equations of type \(f(x)=g(y)\), where both f and g have at least two distinct critical points (roots of the derivative) and equal critical values at at most two distinct critical points. Various classical families of polynomials \((f_n)_n\) are such that \(f_n\) satisfies these assumptions for all n. Our results cover and generalize several results in the literature on the finiteness of integral solutions to such equations. In doing so, we analyse the properties of the monodromy groups of such polynomials. We show that if f has coefficients in a field K of characteristic zero, and at least two distinct critical points and all distinct critical values, then the monodromy group of f is a doubly transitive permutation group. In particular, f cannot be represented as a composition of lower degree polynomials. Several authors have studied monodromy groups of polynomials with some similar properties. We further show that if f has at least two distinct critical points and equal critical values at at most two of them, and if \(f(x)=g(h(x))\) with \(g, h\in K[x]\) and \(\deg g>1\), then either \(\deg h\le 2\), or f is of special type. In the latter case, in particular, f has no three simple critical points, nor five distinct critical points.