Lower Bounds for Dimensions of Sums of Sets

We study lower bounds for the Minkowski and Hausdorff dimensions of the algebraic sum E+K of two sets E,K⊂ℝ ^d .     

Convergent Interpolation to Cauchy Integrals over Analytic Arcs

We consider multipoint Padé approximation to Cauchy transforms of complex measures. We show that if the support of a measure is an analytic Jordan arc and if the measure itself is absolutely continuous with respect to the equilibrium distribution of that arc with Dini-smooth nonvanishing density, then the diagonal multipoint Padé approximants associated with appropriate interpolation schemes converge locally uniformly to the approximated Cauchy transform in the complement of the arc. This asymptotic behavior of Padé approximants is deduced from the analysis of underlying non-Hermitian orthogonal polynomials, for which we use classical properties of Hankel and Toeplitz operators on smooth curves. A construction of the appropriate interpolation schemes is explicit granted the parametrization of the arc.     

Stochastic Integrals and Evolution Equations with Gaussian Random Fields

The paper studies stochastic integration with respect to Gaussian processes and fields. It is more convenient to work with a field than a process: by definition, a field is a collection of stochastic integrals for a class of deterministic integrands. The problem is then to extend the definition to random integrands. An orthogonal decomposition of the chaos space of the random field, combined with the Wick product, leads to the Itô-Skorokhod integral, and provides an efficient tool to study the integral, both analytically and numerically. For a Gaussian process, a natural definition of the integral follows from a canonical correspondence between random processes and a special class of random fields. Also considered are the corresponding linear stochastic evolution equations.     

The Norm of the Laplace Operator Restriction to a Homogeneous Polynomial Space

We investigate the restriction Δ _r,μ of the Laplace operator Δ onto the space of r-variate homogeneous polynomials F of degree μ. In the uniform norm on the unit ball of ℝ ^r , and with the corresponding operator norm, ‖Δ _r,μ F‖≤‖Δ _r,μ ‖⋅‖F‖ holds, where, for arbitrary F, the ‘constant’ ‖Δ _r,μ ‖ is the best possible. We describe ‖Δ _r,μ ‖ with the help of the family T _μ (σ x), , of scaled Chebyshev polynomials of degree μ. On the interval [−1,+1], they alternate at least (μ−1)-times, as the Zolotarev polynomials do, but they differ from them by their symmetry. We call them Zolotarev polynomials of the second kind, and calculate ‖Δ _r,μ ‖ with their help. We derive upper and lower bounds, as well as the asymptotics for μ→∞. For r≥5 and sufficiently large μ, we just get ‖Δ _r,μ ‖=(r−2)μ(μ−1). However, for 2≤r≤4 or lower values of μ, the result is more complicated. This gives the problem a particular flavor. Some Bessel functions and the φcot φ-expansion are involved.      

Fast Linear Homotopy to Find Approximate Zeros of Polynomial Systems

We prove a new complexity bound, polynomial on the average, for the problem of finding an approximate zero of systems of polynomial equations. The average number of Newton steps required by this method is almost linear in the size of the input (dense encoding). We show that the method can also be used to approximate several or all the solutions of non-degenerate systems, and prove that this last task can be done in running time which is linear in the Bézout number of the system and polynomial in the size of the input, on the average.     

New Exceptional Sets and Convergence of the Square Partial Sums of Walsh–Fourier Series

For double Walsh–Fourier series and with f ∈ L~2([0, 1) × [0, 1)) we prove two almost orthogonality results relative to the linearized maximal square partial sums operator S_(N(x,y))f(x, y).Assumptions are N(x, y) non-decreasing as a function of x and of y and, roughly speaking, partial derivatives with approximately constant ratio ■≌2~(n_0) for all x and y, where n_0 is any fixed non-negative integer. Estimates, independent of N(x, y) and n_0, are then extended to L~r, 1 r 2.We give an application to the family N(x, y) = λxy on [0, 1) × [0, 1), any λ 10.     

Weak Type Estimates for Singular Integrals Related to a Dual Problem of Muckenhoupt–Wheeden

A well-known open problem of Muckenhoupt–Wheeden says that any Calderón–Zygmund singular integral operator T is of weak type (1,1) with respect to a couple of weights (w,Mw). In this paper, we consider a somewhat “dual” problem:

Calderón-Zygmund Capacities and Wolff Potentials on Cantor Sets

We show that, for some Cantor sets in ℝ ^d , the capacity γ _s associated with the s-dimensional Riesz kernel x/|x| ^s+1 is comparable to the capacity [(C)dot]_{frac23(d-s),frac32}dot{C}_{frac{2}{3}(d-s),frac{3}{2}} from non-linear potential theory. It is an open problem to show that, when s is positive and non-integer, they are comparable for all compact sets in ℝ ^d . We also discuss other open questions in the area.     

Polynomial Hierarchy, Betti Numbers, and a Real Analogue of Toda’s Theorem

Toda (in SIAM J. Comput. 20(5):865–877, 1991) proved in 1989 that the (discrete) polynomial time hierarchy, PH, is contained in the class P ^#P , namely the class of languages that can be decided by a Turing machine in polynomial time given access to an oracle with the power to compute a function in the counting complexity class #P. This result, which illustrates the power of counting, is considered to be a seminal result in computational complexity theory. An analogous result in the complexity theory over the reals (in the sense of Blum–Shub–Smale real machines in Bull. Am. Math. Soc. (NS) 21(1): 1–46, 1989) has been missing so far. In this paper we formulate and prove a real analogue of Toda’s theorem. Unlike Toda’s proof in the discrete case, which relied on sophisticated combinatorial arguments, our proof is topological in nature. As a consequence of our techniques, we are also able to relate the computational hardness of two extremely well-studied problems in algorithmic semi-algebraic geometry: the problem of deciding sentences in the first-order theory of the reals with a constant number of quantifier alternations, and that of computing Betti numbers of semi-algebraic sets. We obtain a polynomial time reduction of the compact version of the first problem to the second. This latter result may be of independent interest to researchers in algorithmic semi-algebraic geometry.     

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Convergence of Weighted Sums for Arrays of Negatively Dependent Random Variables and Its Applications

We discuss the complete convergence of weighted sums for arrays of rowwise negatively dependent random variables (ND r.v.’s) to linear processes. As an application, we obtain the complete convergence of linear processes based on ND r.v.’s which extends the result of Li et al. (Stat. Probab. Lett. 14:111–114, 1992), including the results of Baum and Katz (Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 120:108–123, 1965), from the i.i.d. case to a negatively dependent (ND) setting. We complement the results of Ahmed et al. (Stat. Probab. Lett. 58:185–194, 2002) and confirm their conjecture on linear processes in the ND case.     

Uppers to Zero in Polynomial Rings and Prüfer-Like Domains

Let D be an integral domain and X an indeterminate over D. It is well known that (a) D is quasi-Prüfer (i.e., its integral closure is a Prüfer domain) if and only if each upper to zero Q in D[X] contains a polynomial g ∈ D[X] with content c _D (g) = D; (b) an upper to zero Q in D[X] is a maximal t-ideal if and only if Q contains a nonzero polynomial g ∈ D[X] with c _D (g) ^v  = D. Using these facts, the notions of UMt-domain (i.e., an integral domain such that each upper to zero is a maximal t-ideal) and quasi-Prüfer domain can be naturally extended to the semistar operation setting and studied in a unified frame. In this article, given a semistar operation ☆ in the sense of Okabe–Matsuda, we introduce the ☆-quasi-Prüfer domains. We give several characterizations of these domains and we investigate their relations with the UMt-domains and the Prüfer v-multiplication domains.     

Some Inequalities Related to Transience and Recurrence of Markov Processes and Their Applications

For an irreducible symmetric Markov process on a (not necessarily compact) state space associated with a symmetric Dirichlet form, we give Poincaré-type inequalities. As an application of the inequalities, we consider a time-inhomogeneous diffusion process obtained by a time-dependent drift transformation from a diffusion process and give general conditions for the transience or recurrence of some sets. As a particular case, the diffusion process appearing in the theory of simulated annealing is considered.     

A Sampling-and-Discarding Approach to Chance-Constrained Optimization: Feasibility and Optimality

In this paper, we study the link between a Chance-Constrained optimization Problem (CCP) and its sample counterpart (SP). SP has a finite number, say N, of sampled constraints. Further, some of these sampled constraints, say k, are discarded, and the final solution is indicated by x^*_N,kx^{ast}_{N,k}. Extending previous results on the feasibility of sample convex optimization programs, we establish the feasibility of x^*_N,kx^{ast}_{N,k} for the initial CCP problem.     

On the Wave Equation Associated to the Hermite and the Twisted Laplacian

The dispersive properties of the wave equation u _tt +Au=0 are considered, where A is either the Hermite operator −Δ+|x|² or the twisted Laplacian −(∇ _x −iy)²/2−(∇ _y +ix)²/2. In both cases we prove optimal L ¹−L ^∞ dispersive estimates. More generally, we give some partial results concerning the flows exp (itL ^ν ) associated to fractional powers of the twisted Laplacian for 0<ν<1.     

Symmetric and quasi-symmetric functions associated to polymatroids

To every subspace arrangement X we will associate symmetric functions ℘[X] and ℋ[X]. These symmetric functions encode the Hilbert series and the minimal projective resolution of the product ideal associated to the subspace arrangement. They can be defined for discrete polymatroids as well. The invariant ℋ[X] specializes to the Tutte polynomial . Billera, Jia and Reiner recently introduced a quasi-symmetric function ℱ[X] (for matroids) which behaves valuatively with respect to matroid base polytope decompositions. We will define a quasi-symmetric function for polymatroids which has this property as well. Moreover, specializes to ℘[X], ℋ[X], and ℱ[X]. The author is partially supported by the NSF, grant DMS 0349019.     

Computational and mathematical approaches to societal transitions

After an introduction of the theoretical framework and concepts of transition studies, this article gives an overview of how structural change in social systems has been studied from various disciplinary perspectives. This overview first leads to the conclusion that computational and mathematical approaches and their practical form, modeling, up till now, have been almost absent in the research and theorizing of structural change or transitions in social systems. Second, this review of the social science literature suggests numerous theoretical constructs relevant for transition modeling. Relevant concepts include the conceptualization of the micro-to-macro link, the importance of explaining both stability and change, quantitative and qualitative definitions of structural change, the use of dichotomies, synchronic and diachronic reasoning in explaining structural change, definitions of basic patterns of social change, the conceptualization of resistance to change and intentional and normative aspects of social change. This article employs these theoretical concepts to describe and discuss the models presented in this special issue in order to develop an understanding of what exactly entails a computational or mathematical approach to societal transitions.

Decomposition Algorithm Model for Singly Linearly-Constrained Problems Subject to Lower and Upper Bounds

Many real applications can be formulated as nonlinear minimization problems with a single linear equality constraint and box constraints. We are interested in solving problems where the number of variables is so huge that basic operations, such as the evaluation of the objective function or the updating of its gradient, are very time consuming. Thus, for the considered class of problems (including dense quadratic programs), traditional optimization methods cannot be applied directly. In this paper, we define a decomposition algorithm model which employs, at each iteration, a descent search direction selected among a suitable set of sparse feasible directions. The algorithm is characterized by an acceptance rule of the updated point which on the one hand permits to choose the variables to be modified with a certain degree of freedom and on the other hand does not require the exact solution of any subproblem. The global convergence of the algorithm model is proved by assuming that the objective function is continuously differentiable and that the points of the level set have at least one component strictly between the lower and upper bounds. Numerical results on large-scale quadratic problems arising in the training of support vector machines show the effectiveness of an implemented decomposition scheme derived from the general algorithm model.     

Endpoint Properties of Localized Riesz Transforms and Fractional Integrals Associated to Schrödinger Operators

Let \({\mathcal L}\equiv-\Delta+V\) be the Schrödinger operator in \({{\mathbb R}^n}\), where V is a nonnegative function satisfying the reverse Hölder inequality. Let ρ be an admissible function modeled on the known auxiliary function determined by V. In this paper, the authors characterize the localized Hardy spaces \(H^1_\rho({{\mathbb R}^n})\) in terms of localized Riesz transforms and establish the boundedness on the BMO-type space \({\mathop\mathrm{BMO_\rho({\mathbb R}^n)}}\) of these operators as well as the boundedness from \({\mathop\mathrm{BMO_\rho({\mathbb R}^n)}}\) to \({\mathop\mathrm{BLO_\rho({\mathbb R}^n)}}\) of their corresponding maximal operators, and as a consequence, the authors obtain the Fefferman–Stein decomposition of \({\mathop\mathrm{BMO_\rho({\mathbb R}^n)}}\) via localized Riesz transforms. When ρ is the known auxiliary function determined by V, \({\mathop\mathrm{BMO_\rho({\mathbb R}^n)}}\) is just the known space \(\mathop\mathrm{BMO}_{\mathcal L}({{\mathbb R}^n})\), and \({\mathop\mathrm{BLO_\rho({\mathbb R}^n)}}\) in this case is correspondingly denoted by \(\mathop\mathrm{BLO}_{\mathcal L}({{\mathbb R}^n})\). As applications, when n?≥?3, the authors further obtain the boundedness on \(\mathop\mathrm{BMO}_{\mathcal L}({{\mathbb R}^n})\) of Riesz transforms \(\nabla{\mathcal L}^{-1/2}\) and their adjoint operators, as well as the boundedness from \(\mathop\mathrm{BMO}_{\mathcal L}({{\mathbb R}^n})\) to \(\mathop\mathrm{BLO}_{\mathcal L}({{\mathbb R}^n})\) of their maximal operators. Also, some endpoint estimates of fractional integrals associated to \({\mathcal L}\) are presented.     

Existence and Uniqueness of Fixed Point in Partially Ordered Sets and Applications to Ordinary Differential Equations

We prove some fixed point theorems in partially ordered sets, providing an extension of the Banach contractive mapping theorem. Having studied previously the nondecreasing case, we consider in this paper nonincreasing mappings as well as non monotone mappings. We also present some applications to first–order ordinary differential equations with periodic boundary conditions, proving the existence of a unique solution admitting the existence of a lower solution. Research partially supported by Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia and FEDER, Project MTM2004-06652-C03-01, and by Xunta de Galicia and FEDER, Projects PGIDIT02PXIC20703PN and PGIDIT05PXIC20702PN