Explicit sparse almost‐universal graphs for ${\bf {{\cal G}(n, {k \over n})}}$

For any integer n, let be a probability distribution on the family of graphs on n vertices (where every such graph has nonzero probability associated with it). A graph Γ is ‐almost‐universal if Γ satisifies the following: If G is chosen according to the probability distribution , then G is isomorphic to a subgraph of Γ with probability 1 ‐ . For any p ∈ [0,1], let (n,p) denote the probability distribution on the family of graphs on n vertices, where two vertices u and v form an edge with probability p, and the events {u and v form an edge}; u,v ∈ V (G) are mutually independent. For k ≥ 4 and n sufficiently large we construct a ‐almost‐universal‐graph on n vertices and with O(n)polylog(n) edges, where q = ? ? for such k ≤ 6, and where q = ? ? for k ≥ 7. The number of edges is close to the lower bound of Ω( ) for the number of edges in a universal graph for the family of graphs with n vertices and maximum degree k. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 2010     

Strengths and Weaknesses of LH Arithmetic

In this paper we provide a new arithmetic characterization of the levels of the og‐time hierarchy (LH). We define arithmetic classes and that correspond to ‐LOGTIME and ‐LOGTIME, respectively. We break and into natural hierarchies of subclasses and . We then define bounded arithmetic deduction systems ′ whose ‐definable functions are precisely B( ‐LOGTIME). We show these theories are quite strong in that (1) LIOpen proves for any fixed m that , (2) TAC, a theory that is slightly stronger than ′ whose (LH)‐definable functions are LH, proves LH is not equal to ‐TIME(s) for any m> 0, where 2^s ∈L, s(n) ∈ ω(log n), and (3) TAC proves LH ≠ for all k and m. We then show that the theory TAC cannot prove the collapse of the polynomial hierarchy. Thus any such proof, if it exists, must be argued in a stronger systems than ours.     

Small degree out‐branchings

Using a suitable orientation, we give a short proof of a strengthening of a result of Czumaj and Strothmann 4 : Every 2‐edge‐connected graph G contains a spanning tree T with the property that for every vertex v. As an analogue of this result in the directed case, we prove that every 2‐arc‐strong digraph D has an out‐branching B such that . A corollary of this is that every k‐arc‐strong digraph D has an out‐branching B such that , where . We conjecture that in this case would be the right (and best possible) answer. If true, this would again imply a strengthening of a result from 4 concerning spanning trees with small degrees in k‐connected graphs when k ≥ 2. We prove that for acyclic digraphs the existence of an out‐branching satisfying prescribed bounds on the out‐degrees of each vertex can be checked in polynomial time. A corollary of this is that the existence of arc‐disjoint branchings , , where the first is an out‐branching rooted at s and the second an in‐branching rooted at t, can be checked in polynomial time for the class of acyclic digraphs © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 42: 297–307, 2003     

Quasilinear degenerate parabolic equations of Kirchhoff type

We investigate the evolution problem where H is a Hilbert space, A is a self‐adjoint linear non‐negative operator on H with domain D(A), and is a continuous function. We prove that if , and , then there exists at least one global solution, which is unique if either m never vanishes, or m is locally Lipschitz continuous. Moreover, we prove that if for all , then this problem is well posed in H. On the contrary, if for some it happens that for all , then this problem has no solution if with β small enough. We apply these results to degenerate parabolic PDEs with non‐local non‐linearities. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A generalization of a result of Tran Van Trung on t-designs

We prove that if there exists a t − (v, k, λ) design satisfying the inequality for some positive integer j (where m = min{j, v − k} and n = min {i, t}), then there exists a t − (v + j, k, λ ()) design. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Combin Designs 7: 107–112, 1999     

A list analogue of equitable coloring

Given lists of available colors assigned to the vertices of a graph G, a list coloring is a proper coloring of G such that the color on each vertex is chosen from its list. If the lists all have size k, then a list coloring is equitable if each color appears on at most vertices. A graph is equitably k-choosable if such a coloring exists whenever the lists all have size k. We prove that G is equitably k-choosable when unless G contains or k is odd and . For forests, the threshold improves to . If G is a 2-degenerate graph (given k ≥ 5) or a connected interval graph (other than ), then G is equitably k-choosable when . © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 44: 166–177, 2003     

Circular choosability via combinatorial Nullstellensatz

A p‐list assignment L of a graph G assigns to each vertex v of G a set of permissible colors. We say G is L‐(P, q)‐colorable if G has a (P, q)‐coloring h such that h(v) ? L(v) for each vertex v. The circular list chromatic number of a graph G is the infimum of those real numbers t for which the following holds: For any P, q, for any P‐list assignment L with , G is L‐(P, q)‐colorable. We prove that if G has an orientation D which has no odd directed cycles, and L is a P‐list assignment of G such that for each vertex v, , then G is L‐(P, q)‐colorable. This implies that if G is a bipartite graph, then , where is the maximum average degree of a subgraph of G. We further prove that if G is a connected bipartite graph which is not a tree, then . © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 59: 190–204, 2008     

On asymmetric coverings and covering numbers

An asymmetric covering is a collection of special subsets S of an n‐set such that every subset T of the n‐set is contained in at least one special S with . In this paper we compute the smallest size of any for We also investigate “continuous” and “banded” versions of the problem. The latter involves the classical covering numbers , and we determine the following new values: , , , , and . We also find the number of non‐isomorphic minimal covering designs in several cases. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 11: 218–228, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/jcd.10022     

Infinite games in the Cantor space and subsystems of second order arithmetic

In this paper we study the determinacy strength of infinite games in the Cantor space and compare them with their counterparts in the Baire space. We show the following theorems: 1. RCA₀ ? ‐Det* ? ‐Det* ? WKL₀. 2. RCA₀ ? ( )2‐Det* ? ACA₀. 3. RCA₀ ? ‐Det* ? ‐Det* ? ‐Det ? ‐Det ? ATR₀. 4. For 1 < k < ω, RCA₀ ? ( )_k ‐Det* ? ( )_{k –1}‐Det. 5. RCA₀ ? ‐Det* ? ‐Det. Here, Det* (respectively Det) stands for the determinacy of infinite games in the Cantor space (respectively the Baire space), and ( )_k is the collection of formulas built from formulas by applying the difference operator k – 1 times. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Law of large numbers for increasing subsequences of random permutations

Let the random variable Z_n,k denote the number of increasing subsequences of length k in a random permutation from S_n, the symmetric group of permutations of {1,…,n}. We show that Var(Z) = o((EZ)²) as n → ∞ if and only if . In particular then, the weak law of large numbers holds for Z if ; that is, We also show the following approximation result for the uniform measure U_n on S_n. Define the probability measure μ on S_n by where U denotes the uniform measure on the subset of permutations that contain the increasing subsequence {x₁,x₂,…,x}. Then the weak law of large numbers holds for Z if and only if where ∣∣˙∣∣ denotes the total variation norm. In particular then, (*) holds if . In order to evaluate the asymptotic behavior of the second moment, we need to analyze occupation times of certain conditioned two‐dimensional random walks. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 2006     

Nodes of large degree in random trees and forests

We study the asymptotic behavior of the number N_k,n of nodes of given degree k in unlabeled random trees, when the tree size n and the node degree k both tend to infinity. It is shown that N_k,n is asymptotically normal if and asymptotically Poisson distributed if . If , then the distribution degenerates. The same holds for rooted, unlabeled trees and forests. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 2006     

A Ramsey‐type problem and the Turán numbers*

For each n and k, we examine bounds on the largest number m so that for any k‐coloring of the edges of K_n there exists a copy of K_m whose edges receive at most k?1 colors. We show that for , the largest value of m is asymptotically equal to the Turá number , while for any constant then the largest m is asymptotically larger than that Turá number. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 40: 120–129, 2002     

On the Eigenvalues of Half‐Linear Boundary Value Problems

We consider the half‐linear boundary value problem where and the weight function q is assumed to change sign. We prove the existence of two sequences , of eigenvalues and derive asymptotic estimates for as .     

Uniqueness of Integrable Solutions ∇ζ = Gζ, ζ∣Γ = 0 for Integrable Tensor-Coefficients G and Applications to Elasticity

Let be bounded Lipschitz and relatively open. We show that the solution to the linear first order system 1 : (1) vanishes if and , (e.g. ). We prove to be a norm if with , for some p, q > 1 with 1/p + 1/q = 1 and . We give a new proof for the so called ‘in-finitesimal rigid displacement lemma’ in curvilinear coordinates: Let , satisfy for some with . Then there are and a constant skew-symmetric matrix , such that . (© 2013 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A S(3, {4, 6}, 18) with a subdesign S(3, 4, 8) does not exist

For , a S(t,K,v) design is a pair, , with |V| = v and a set of subsets of V such that each t‐subset of V is contained in a unique and for all . If , , , and is a S(t,K,u) design, then we say has a subdesign on U. We show that a S(3,{4,6},18) design with a subdesign S(3,4,8) does not exist. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 17: 36–38, 2009     

A randomized on–line algorithm for the k–server problem on a line

The k–server problem is one of the most important and well‐studied problems in the area of on–line computation. Its importance stems from the fact that it models many practical problems like multi‐level memory paging encountered in operating systems, weighted caching used in the management of web caches, head motion planning of multi‐headed disks, and robot motion planning. In this paper, we investigate its randomized version for which Θ(log k)–competitiveness is conjectured and yet hardly any <k competitive algorithms are known, even for the simplest of metric spaces of O(k) size. We present a –competitive randomized k–server algorithm against an oblivious adversary when the underlying metric space is given by n equally spaced points on a line . This algorithm is <k competitive for . Thus, it provides a super–linear bound for n with o(k)–competitiveness for the first time and improves the best results known so far for the range on . © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 2006     

On the Points on the Unit Circle with Finite b–Adic Expansions

Let be an arbitrary integer base and let be the number of different prime factors of with , . Further let be the set of points on the unit circle with finite –adic expansions of their coordinates and let be the set of angles of the points . Then is an additive group which is the direct sum of infinite cyclic groups and of the finite cyclic group . If in case of the points of are arranged according to the number of digits of their coordinates, then the arising sequence is uniformly distributed on the unit circle. On the other hand, in case of the only points in are the exceptional points (1, 0), (0, 1), (–1, 0), (0, –1). The proofs are based on a canonical form for all integer solutions of .     

On (ε,k)‐min‐wise independent permutations

A family of permutations of [n] = {1,2,…,n} is (ε,k)‐min‐wise independent if for every nonempty subset X of at most k elements of [n], and for any x ∈ X, the probability that in a random element π of , π(x) is the minimum element of π(X), deviates from 1/∣X∣ by at most ε/∣X∣. This notion can be defined for the uniform case, when the elements of are picked according to a uniform distribution, or for the more general, biased case, in which the elements of are chosen according to a given distribution D. It is known that this notion is a useful tool for indexing replicated documents on the web. We show that even in the more general, biased case, for all admissible k and ε and all large n, the size of must satisfy as well as This improves the best known previous estimates even for the uniform case. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 2007     

Energy Estimates and Cavity Interaction for a Critical‐Exponent Cavitation Model

We consider the minimization of in a perforated domain of among maps that are incompressible (det ) and invertible, and satisfy a Dirichlet boundary condition u = g on ?Ω. If the volume enclosed by g (?Ω) is greater than |Ω|, any such deformation u is forced to map the small holes B_ε( a _i) onto macroscopically visible cavities (which do not disappear as ε → 0). We restrict our attention to the critical exponent p = n, where the energy required for cavitation is of the order of and the model is suited, therefore, for an asymptotic analysis (v₁,…, v_M denote the volumes of the cavities). In the spirit of the analysis of vortices in Ginzburg‐Landau theory, we obtain estimates for the “renormalized” energy showing its dependence on the size and the shape of the cavities, on the initial distance between the cavitation points a ₁,…, a _M, and on the distance from these points to the outer boundary ?Ω. Based on those estimates we conclude, for the case of two cavities, that either the cavities prefer to be spherical in shape and well separated, or to be very close to each other and appear as a single equivalent round cavity. This is in agreement with existing numerical simulations and is reminiscent of the interaction between cavities in the mechanism of ductile fracture by void growth and coalescence. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Hamilton decompositions of complete multipartite graphs with any 2-factor leave

For m ≥ 1 and p ≥ 2, given a set of integers s₁,…,s_q with for and , necessary and sufficient conditions are found for the existence of a hamilton decomposition of the complete p-partite graph , where U is a 2-factor of consisting of q cycles, the jth cycle having length s_j. This result is then used to completely solve the problem when p = 3, removing the condition that . © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 44: 208–214, 2003