Critical Points Index for Vector Functions and Vector Optimization

In this work, we study the critical points of vector functions from ℝ ⁿ to ℝ ^m with n≥m, following the definition introduced by Smale in the context of vector optimization. The local monotonicity properties of a vector function around a critical point which are invariant with respect to local coordinate changes are considered. We propose a classification of critical points through the introduction of a generalized Morse index for a critical point, consisting of a triplet of nonnegative integers. The proposed index is based on the sign of an appropriate invariant vector-valued second-order differential.     

Critical orbits of symmetric functionals

Let G be a compact Lie group and V a G-module, i.e. a finite-dimensional real vector space on which G acts orthogonally. We are interested in finding G-orbits of critical points of G-invariant C²-functionals f: SV→—, SV the unit sphere of V. Using a generalization of the Borsuk-Ulam theorem by Komiya [15] we give lower bounds for the number of critical orbits with a given orbit type. These results are applied to nonlinear eigenvalue problems which are symmetric with respect to an action of O(3) or a closed subgroup of O(3).     

Critical metrics of the Schouten functional

Given a Riemannian metric on a compact smooth manifold, we consider its Schouten tensor, which is a tensor field of type (0, 2) arising in the remainder of the Weyl part in the standard decomposition of the curvature tensor of the metric. We study extremal properties of the Schouten functional, defined to be the scaling-invariant L ²-norm of the Schouten tensor. It is proved, for instance, that space form metrics are characterized as critical points of the Schouten functional among conformally flat metrics.     

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.     

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.     

Critical sets in 3-space

Given a non-empty compact set C ?R ³, is C the set of critical points for some smooth proper functionf :R ³ →R ₊? In this paper we prove that the answer is “yes” for Antoine’s Necklace and most but not all tame links.     

On fixed points of Knaster continua

Aarts and Fokkink [Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 126 (1998) 881] have shown that any homeomorphism of the bucket handle has at least two fixed points. Using their methods, we determine the minimum number of fixed points homeomorphisms on generalized one-dimensional Knaster continua can have. We show that there is a class of these continua that admit homeomorphisms with a single fixed point. Among the examples is one that shows that Theorem 15 in [Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 126 (1998) 881] is incorrect. We also show that there are generalized Knaster continua on which every homeomorphism has either uncountably many fixed points or uncountably many points of period two.     

Critical configurations of planar robot arms

It is known that a closed polygon P is a critical point of the oriented area function if and only if P is a cyclic polygon, that is, P can be inscribed in a circle. Moreover, there is a short formula for the Morse index. Going further in this direction, we extend these results to the case of open polygonal chains, or robot arms. We introduce the notion of the oriented area for an open polygonal chain, prove that critical points are exactly the cyclic configurations with antipodal endpoints and derive a formula for the Morse index of a critical configuration.     

On Blow-Up of Positive Solutions for A Riharmonic Equation Involving Nearly Critical Exponent

In this paper a biharmonic problem with Navier boundary condition involving nearly critical growth is considered: △²=u^{(n+4)/(n-4)-r} u > 0 inΩ and u=△u=0 on ?Ω, where iΩs a bounded smooth convex domain in Rⁿ (n≥5) and r > 0 is small. We show that any sequence of positive solutions with r→0 has to blow up and concentrate at finitely many points in the interior of the domain ω. With blow-up argument, we also give the energy a priori estimate of positive solutions.     

Critical points and values of complex polynomials

This paper is primarily concerned with complex polynomials which have critical points which are also fixed points. We show that certain perturbations of a critical fixed point satisfy an inequality. This inequality permits us to prove a local version of Smale's mean value conjecture. We also use Thurston's topological characterization of critically finite rational mappings to enumerate explicitly as branched mappings the set of complex polynomials which have all their critical points fixed.     

Critical point theorems and applications to a semilinear elliptic problem

The objective of this article is to establish the existence of critical points for functionals of classC ²defined on real Hilbert spaces. The argument is based on the infinite dimensional Morse theory introduced by Gromoll-Meyer [13]. The abstract results are applied to study the existence of nonzero solutions for a class of semilinear elliptic problems where the nonlinearity possesses a superlinear growth on a direction of the real line.This research was partially supported by CNPq/Brazil     

Critical Points of Real Polynomials and Topology of Real Algebraic T-Surfaces

The paper is devoted to a special class of real polynomials, so-called T-polynomials, which arise in the combinatorial version of the Viro theorem. We study the relation between the numbers of real critical points of a given index of a T-polynomial and the combinatorics of lattice triangulations of Newton polytopes. We obtain upper bounds for the numbers of extrema and saddles of generic T-polynomials of a given degree in three variables, and derive from them upper bounds for Betti numbers of real algebraic surfaces in defined by T-polynomials. The latter upper bounds are stronger than the known upper bounds for arbitrary real algebraic surfaces in . Another result is the existence of an asymptotically maximal family of real polynomials of degree min three variables with 31m ³/36 + O(m ²) saddle points.     

Critical Sets of Elliptic Equations

Given a solution u to a linear, homogeneous, second‐order elliptic equation with Lipschitz coefficients, we introduce techniques for giving improved estimates of the critical set ??(u)u {x :|δu|(x) = 0}, as well as the first estimates on the effective critical set ??_r(u), which roughly consists of points x such that the gradient of u is small somewhere on B_r(x) compared to the nonconstancy of u. The results are new even for harmonic functions on ?ⁿ. Given such a u, the standard first‐order stratification {l^k} of u separates points x based on the degrees of symmetry of the leading‐order polynomial of u‐u(x). In this paper we give a quantitative stratification of u, which separates points based on the number of almost symmetries of approximate leading‐order polynomials of u at various scales. We prove effective estimates on the volume of the tubular neighborhood of each , which lead directly to (n‐2 + ?)‐Minkowski type estimates for the critical set of u. With some additional regularity assumptions on the coefficients of the equation, we refine the estimate to give new proofs of the uniform (n‐2)‐Hausdorff measure estimate on the critical set and singular sets of u.© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Normal Vectors on Manifolds of Critical Points for Parametric Robustness of Equilibrium Solutions of ODE Systems

Summary. {Equilibrium solutions of systems of parameterized ordinary differential equations \dot x = f(x, α) , x ∈ R ⁿ , α∈ R ^m can be characterized by their parametric distance to manifolds of critical solutions at which the behavior of the system changes qualitatively. Critical points of interest are bifurcation points and points at which state variable constraints or output constraints are violated. We use normal vectors on manifolds of critical points to measure the distance between these manifolds and equilibrium solutions as suggested in I. Dobson [J. Nonlinear Sci., 3:307-327, 1993], where systems of equations to calculate normal vectors on codimension-1 bifurcations were presented. We present a scheme to derive systems of equations to calculate normal vectors on manifolds of critical points which (i) generalizes to bifurcations of arbitrary codimension, (ii) can be applied to state variable constraints and output constraints, (iii) implies that the normal vector defining system of equations is of size c ₁ n+ c ₂ m+ c ₃ , c _i ∈ R , i.e., no bilinear terms nm or higher-order terms occur, (iv) reduces the number of equations for normal vectors on Hopf bifurcation manifolds compared to previous work, and (v) simplifies the proof of regularity of the normal vector system. As an application of this scheme, we present systems of equations for normal vectors to manifolds of output/state variable constraints, to manifolds of saddle-node, Hopf, cusp, and isola bifurcations, and we give illustrative examples of their use in engineering applications.} Received September 27, 2000; accepted December 10, 2001 Online publication March 11, 2002 Communicated by Y. G. Kevrekidis Communicated by Y. G. Kevrekidis rid="     

Higher Critical Points in an Elliptic Free Boundary Problem

We study higher critical points of the variational functional associated with a free boundary problem related to plasma confinement. Existence and regularity of minimizers in elliptic free boundary problems have already been studied extensively. But because the functionals are not smooth, standard variational methods cannot be used directly to prove the existence of higher critical points. Here we find a nontrivial critical point of mountain pass type and prove many of the same estimates known for minimizers, including Lipschitz continuity and nondegeneracy. We then show that the free boundary is smooth in dimension 2 and prove partial regularity in higher dimensions.     

Non-Bicritical Critical Snarks

 Snarks are cubic graphs with chromatic index χ^′=4. A snark G is called critical if χ^′ (G−{v,w})=3 for any two adjacent vertices v and w, and it is called bicritical if χ^′ (G−{v,w})=3 for any two vertices v and w. We construct infinite families of critical snarks which are not bicritical. This solves a problem stated by Nedela and Škoviera. Revised: January 11, 1999     

Stability of Critical Points with Interval Persistence

Scalar functions defined on a topological space are at the core of many applications such as shape matching, visualization and physical simulations. Topological persistence is an approach to characterizing these functions. It measures how long topological structures in the sub-level sets persist as c changes. Recently it was shown that the critical values defining a topological structure with relatively large persistence remain almost unaffected by small perturbations. This result suggests that topological persistence is a good measure for matching and comparing scalar functions. We extend these results to critical points in the domain by redefining persistence and critical points and replacing sub-level sets with interval sets . With these modifications we establish a stability result for critical points. This result is strengthened for maxima that can be used for matching two scalar functions.     

An Integral Formula for Lipschitz-Killing Curvature and the Critical Points of Height Functions

We have established (see Shiohama and Xu in J. Geom. Anal. 7:377–386, 1997; Lemma) an integral formula on the absolute Lipschitz-Killing curvature and critical points of height functions of an isometrically immersed compact Riemannian n-manifold into R ^n+q . Making use of this formula, we prove a topological sphere theorem and a differentiable sphere theorem for hypersurfaces with bounded L ^n/2 Ricci curvature norm in R ⁿ⁺¹. We show that the theorems of Gauss-Bonnet-Chern, Chern-Lashof and the Willmore inequality are all its consequences.     

Unstable manifold,Conley index and fixed points of flows

We study dynamical and topological properties of the unstable manifold of isolated invariant compacta of flows. We show that some parts of the unstable manifold admit sections carrying a considerable amount of information. These sections enable the construction of parallelizable structures which facilitate the study of the flow. From this fact, many nice consequences are derived, specially in the case of plane continua. For instance, we give an easy method of calculation of the Conley index provided we have some knowledge of the unstable manifold and, as a consequence, a relation between the Brouwer degree and the unstable manifold is established for smooth vector fields. We study the dynamics of non-saddle sets, properties of existence or non-existence of fixed points of flows and conditions under which attractors are fixed points, Morse decompositions, preservation of topological properties by continuation and classify the bifurcations taking place at a critical point.