Polygonal invariant curves for a planar piecewise isometry

We investigate a remarkable new planar piecewise isometry whose generating map is a permutation of four cones. For this system we prove the coexistence of an infinite number of periodic components and an uncountable number of transitive components. The union of all periodic components is an invariant pentagon with unequal sides. Transitive components are invariant curves on which the dynamics are conjugate to a transitive interval exchange. The restriction of the map to the invariant pentagonal region is the first known piecewise isometric system for which there exist an infinite number of periodic components but the only aperiodic points are on the boundary of the region. The proofs are based on exact calculations in a rational cyclotomic field. We use the system to shed some light on a conjecture that PWIs can possess transitive invariant curves that are not smooth.

     

Conjugacy invariant pseudo-norms,representability and RNA secondary structures

To a reasonable approximation, a secondary structures of RNA is determined by Watson-Crick pairing without pseudo-knots in such a way as to minimise the number of unpaired bases. We show that this minimal number is determined by the maximal conjugacy-invariant pseudo-norm on the free group on two generators subject to bounds on the generators. This allows us to construct lower bounds on the minimal number of unpaired bases by constructing conjugacy invariant pseudo-norms.     

Avoiding abelian squares in partial words

Erd?s raised the question whether there exist infinite abelian square-free words over a given alphabet, that is, words in which no two adjacent subwords are permutations of each other. It can easily be checked that no such word exists over a three-letter alphabet. However, infinite abelian square-free words have been constructed over alphabets of sizes as small as four. In this paper, we investigate the problem of avoiding abelian squares in partial words, or sequences that may contain some holes. In particular, we give lower and upper bounds for the number of letters needed to construct infinite abelian square-free partial words with finitely or infinitely many holes. Several of our constructions are based on iterating morphisms. In the case of one hole, we prove that the minimal alphabet size is four, while in the case of more than one hole, we prove that it is five. We also investigate the number of partial words of length n with a fixed number of holes over a five-letter alphabet that avoid abelian squares and show that this number grows exponentially with n.     

Invariant measures of Hamiltonian systems with prescribed asymptotic Maslov index

We study the properties of the asymptotic Maslov index of invariant measures for time-periodic Hamiltonian systems on the cotangent bundle of a compact manifold M. We show that if M has finite fundamental group and the Hamiltonian satisfies some general growth assumptions on the momenta, then the asymptotic Maslov indices of periodic orbits are dense in the half line [0,+∞). Furthermore, if the Hamiltonian is the Fenchel dual of an electromagnetic Lagrangian, then every non-negative number r is the limit of the asymptotic Maslov indices of a sequence of periodic orbits which converges narrowly to an invariant measure with asymptotic Maslov index r. We discuss the existence of minimal ergodic invariant measures with prescribed asymptotic Maslov index by the analogue of Mather’s theory of the beta function, the asymptotic Maslov index playing the role of the rotation vector. Dedicated to Vladimir Igorevich Arnold     

The structure of shift invariant spaces on a locally compact abelian group

We investigate shift invariant subspaces of L²(G), where G is a locally compact abelian group. We show, among other things, that every shift invariant space can be decomposed as an orthogonal sum of spaces each of which is generated by a single function whose shifts form a Parseval frame.     

Ekedahl–Oort and Newton strata for Shimura varieties of PEL type

We study the Ekedahl–Oort stratification for good reductions of Shimura varieties of PEL type. These generalize the Ekedahl–Oort strata defined and studied by Oort for the moduli space of principally polarized abelian varieties (the “Siegel case”). They are parameterized by certain elements $w$ in the Weyl group of the reductive group of the Shimura datum. We show that for every such $w$ the corresponding Ekedahl–Oort stratum is smooth, quasi-affine, and of dimension $\ell (w)$ (and in particular non-empty). Some of these results have previously been obtained by Moonen, Vasiu, and the second author using different methods. We determine the closure relations of the strata. We give a group-theoretical definition of minimal Ekedahl–Oort strata generalizing Oort’s definition in the Siegel case and study the question whether each Newton stratum contains a minimal Ekedahl–Oort stratum. As an interesting application we determine which Newton strata are non-empty. This criterion proves conjectures by Fargues and by Rapoport generalizing a conjecture by Manin for the Siegel case. We give a necessary criterion when a given Ekedahl–Oort stratum and a given Newton stratum meet.     

On the Shunkov groups acting freely on Abelian groups

We prove the existence of a locally finite periodic part in every rank 1 Shunkov group with solvable finite subgroups, in every Shunkov group acting freely on an abelian group, and in the groups of affine transformations of neardomains with finite elements.     

Ergodicity of the absolute period foliation

We show that the absolute period foliation of the principal stratum of abelian differentials on a surface of genus g ≥ 3 is ergodic.     

Multiplication operators on the Bergman space via analytic continuation

In this paper, using the group-like property of local inverses of a finite Blaschke product ?, we will show that the largest C^?-algebra in the commutant of the multiplication operator M? by ? on the Bergman space is finite dimensional, and its dimension equals the number of connected components of the Riemann surface of ?−1°? over the unit disk. If the order of the Blaschke product ? is less than or equal to eight, then every C^?-algebra contained in the commutant of M? is abelian and hence the number of minimal reducing subspaces of M? equals the number of connected components of the Riemann surface of ?−1°? over the unit disk.     

Optimally small sumsets in groups IV. Counting multiplicities and the <Emphasis Type="Italic">λ</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">G</Emphasis></Subscript> functions

We continue our investigation on how small a sumset can be in a given abelian group. Here small takes into account not only the size of the sumset itself but also the number of elements which are repeated at least twice. A function λ _G (r, s) computing the minimal size (in this sense) of the sum of two sets with respective cardinalities r and s is introduced. (Lower and upper) bounds are obtained, which coincide in most cases. While upper bounds are obtained by constructions, lower bounds follow in particular from the use of a recent theorem by Grynkiewicz.     

Geodesic flow, connecting orbits and almost full foliation

We study in this article a special dynamical behavior of geodesic flow on T2. Our example shows that there is an area-preserving monotone twist map for which all minimal periodic orbits can be connected, and at the same time for a certain rational rotation number the minimal set is almost an invariant curve.     

Characterizing subgroups of compact abelian groups

We prove that every countable subgroup of a compact metrizable abelian group has a characterizing set. As an application, we answer several questions on maximally almost periodic (MAP) groups and give a characterization of the class of (necessarily MAP) abelian topological groups whose Bohr topology has countable pseudocharacter.     

Distributionally scrambled set and minimal set

We investigate the relation between distributional chaos and minimal sets, and discuss how to obtain various distributionally scrambled sets by using least and simplest minimal sets. We show: i) an uncountable extremal distributionally scrambled set can appear in a system with just one simple minimal set: a periodic orbit with period 2; ii) an uncountable dense invariant distributionally scrambled set can occur in a system with just two minimal sets: a fixed point and an infinite minimal set; iii) infinitely many minimal sets are necessary to generate a uniform invariant distributionally scrambled set, and an uncountable dense extremal invariant distributionally scrambled set can be constructed by using just countably infinitely many periodic orbits.     

Invariant measures for non-primitive tiling substitutions

We consider self-affine tiling substitutions in Euclidean space and the corresponding tiling dynamical systems. It is well known that in the primitive case, the dynamical system is uniquely ergodic. We investigate invariant measures when the substitution is not primitive and the tiling dynamical system is non-minimal. We prove that all ergodic invariant probability measures are supported on minimal components, but there are other natural ergodic invariant measures, which are infinite. Under some mild assumptions, we completely characterize σ-finite invariant measures which are positive and finite on a cylinder set. A key step is to establish recognizability of non-periodic tilings in our setting. Examples include the “integer Sierpiński gasket and carpet” tilings. For such tilings, the only invariant probability measure is supported on trivial periodic tilings, but there is a fully supported σ-finite invariant measure that is locally finite and unique up to scaling.     

Stability of triply periodic minimal surfaces

In 1992, Ross proved that some classical triply periodic minimal surfaces in three-dimensional Euclidean space (Schwarz P surface, D surface, and Schoen's gyroid) are stable for volume-preserving variations. This paper extends the result to four one-parameter families of triply periodic minimal surfaces, namely, tP family, tD family, rPD family, and H family. We obtain sufficient conditions for volume-preserving stability, and as their numerical applications, we prove that, for each family, every triply periodic minimal surface with Morse index one is volume-preserving stable.     

Maximal abelian and minimal nonabelian subgroups of some finite two-generator p-groups especially metacyclic

We study the subgroup structure of some two-generator p-groups and apply the obtained results to metacyclic p-groups. For metacyclic p-groups G, p > 2, we do the following: (a) compute the number of nonabelian subgroups with given derived subgroup, show that (ii) minimal nonabelian subgroups have equal order, (c) maximal abelian subgroups have equal order, (d) every maximal abelian subgroup is contained in a minimal nonabelian subgroup and all maximal subgroups of any minimal nonabelian subgroup are maximal abelian in G. We prove the same results for metacyclic 2-groups (e) with abelian subgroup of index p, (f) without epimorphic image ? D₈. The metacyclic p-groups containing (g) a minimal nonabelian subgroup of order p ⁴, (h) a maximal abelian subgroup of order p ³ are classified. We also classify the metacyclic p-groups, p > 2, all of whose minimal nonabelian subgroups have equal exponent. It appears that, with few exceptions, a metacyclic p-group has a chief series all of whose members are characteristic.     

CC-groups with periodic central factor

A group G is said to be a group with Černikov conjugacy classes or a CC-group if it induces on the normal closure of each one of its elements a group of automorphisms which is a Černikov group, that is, a finite extension of an abelian group satisfying the minimal condition on subgroups. This concept is a natural extension of that an FC-group, that is, a group in which every element has a finite number of conjugates. It is known that if G is an FC-group then the central factor G/Z(G) is periodic. This result does not hold for CC-groups and in this paper we study CC-groups G in which the central factor G/Z(G) is periodic, a finiteness condition which has a deep influence on the structure of the group G. In particular, we characterize those CC-groups as above that are FC-groups by imposing some additional conditions on their structure. This research has been supported by DGICYT (Spain) PS88-0085     

Feedback Vertex Sets in Tournaments

We study combinatorial and algorithmic questions around minimal feedback vertex sets (FVS) in tournament graphs. On the combinatorial side, we derive upper and lower bounds on the maximum number of minimal FVSs in an n‐vertex tournament. We prove that every tournament on n vertices has at most 1.6740ⁿ minimal FVSs, and that there is an infinite family of tournaments, all having at least 1.5448ⁿ minimal FVSs. This improves and extends the bounds of Moon (1971). On the algorithmic side, we design the first polynomial space algorithm that enumerates the minimal FVSs of a tournament with polynomial delay. The combination of our results yields the fastest known algorithm for finding a minimum‐sized FVS in a tournament.     

A Teichmüller theoretical construction of¶high genus singly periodic minimal surfaces invariant¶under a translation

We prove the existence of singly periodic minimal surfaces invariant under a translation such that a fundamental piece has arbitrarily many parallel planar ends and arbitrarily high genus. These surfaces generalize the Callahan-Hoffman-Meeks surface. We also discuss briefly the effective computation of the periods and techniques to parameterize these surfaces.