On connectedness of sets in the real spectra of polynomial rings

Let R be a real closed field. The Pierce–Birkhoff conjecture says that any piecewise polynomial function f on R ⁿ can be obtained from the polynomial ring R[x ₁,..., x _n ] by iterating the operations of maximum and minimum. The purpose of this paper is threefold. First, we state a new conjecture, called the Connectedness conjecture, which asserts, for every pair of points , the existence of connected sets in the real spectrum of R[x ₁,..., x _n ], satisfying certain conditions. We prove that the Connectedness conjecture implies the Pierce–Birkhoff conjecture. Secondly, we construct a class of connected sets in the real spectrum which, though not in itself enough for the proof of the Pierce–Birkhoff conjecture, is the first and simplest example of the sort of connected sets we really need, and which constitutes the first step in our program for a proof of the Pierce–Birkhoff conjecture in dimension greater than 2. Thirdly, we apply these ideas to give two proofs that the Connectedness conjecture (and hence also the Pierce–Birkhoff conjecture in the abstract formulation) holds locally at any pair of points , one of which is monomial. One of the proofs is elementary while the other consists in deducing this result as an immediate corollary of the main connectedness theorem of this paper.     

Contracting endomorphisms and Gorenstein modules

A finite module M over a noetherian local ring R is said to be Gorenstein if Extⁱ(k, M) = 0 for all i ≠ dim R. An endomorphism φ: R → R of rings is called contracting if for some i ≥ 1. Letting ^φR denote the R-module R with action induced by φ, we prove: A finite R-module M is Gorenstein if and only if Hom_R(^φR, M) ≅ M and Extⁱ_R(^φR, M) = 0 for 1 ≤ i ≤ depth R. Received: 7 December 2007     

The associated primes of local cohomology modules over rings of small dimension

Let R be a commutative Noetherian local ring of dimension d, I an ideal of R, and M a finitely generated R-module. We prove that the set of associated primes of the local cohomology module H ⁱ _I (M) is finite for all i≥ 0 in the following cases: (1) d≤ 3; (2) d= 4 and $R$ is regular on the punctured spectrum; (3) d= 5, R is an unramified regular local ring, and M is torsion-free. In addition, if $d>0$ then H ^{d − 1} _I (M) has finite support for arbitrary R, I, and M. Received: 31 October 2000 / Revised version: 8 January 2001     

The action of S n on the cohomology of \overline{M}_{0,n}(\mathbb{R})

In recent work by Etingof, Henriques, Kamnitzer, and the author, a presentation and explicit basis was given for the rational cohomology of the real locus of the moduli space of stable genus 0 curves with n marked points. We determine the graded character of the action of S_n on this space (induced by permutations of the marked points), both in the form of a plethystic formula for the cycle index, and as an explicit product formula for the value of the character on a given cycle type.      

On the quantum homology algebra of toric Fano manifolds

We study certain algebraic properties of the small quantum homology algebra for the class of symplectic toric Fano manifolds. In particular, we examine the semisimplicity of this algebra, and the more general property of containing a field as a direct summand. Our main result provides an easily verifiable sufficient condition for these properties which is independent of the symplectic form. Moreover, we answer two questions of Entov and Polterovich negatively by providing examples of toric Fano manifolds with non-semisimple quantum homology, and others in which the Calabi quasi-morphism is not unique.      

On bianchi identities

Résumé  Après un bref bilan concernant preuves et applications des identités de Bianchi, nous complétons l’approche récentevia la naturalité, due à Kazdan, en l’étendant des connexions riemanniennes aux connexions linéaires; puis nous proposons pour ces connexions une nouvelle approche basée seulement sur l’identitéd ²=0 appliquée aux 1-formes.

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Chargé de recherches, UMR 6621 du CNRS.     

On the cancellation problem

Let k be an algebraically closed field. For every n ≥ 8 we give examples of Zariski open, dense, affine subsets of the affine space A ⁿ (k) which do not have the cancellation property. Dedicated to Professor Mikhail Zaidenberg. The author was partially supported by the grant of Polish Ministry of Science, 2006–2009.     

A generalization of a theorem of Foxby

In this paper, it is proved that a commutative noetherian local ring admitting a finitely generated module of finite projective and injective dimensions with respect to a semidualizing module is Gorenstein. This result recovers a celebrated theorem of Foxby.      

A note on families of hyperelliptic curves

We give a stack-theoretic proof for some results on families of hyperelliptic curves. Received: 5 February 2008     

Submodules of minimal Buchsbaum–Rim multiplicity and applications

We give a characterization, in terms of an equality of integral closures, of a class of submodules having minimal Buchsbaum–Rim multiplicity with respect to a family of ideals. This is a notion motivated by an inequality of multiplicities. We apply our study to the computation of a known invariant in singularity theory. Work supported by DGICYT Grant MTM2006–06027.     

A simple example of two p-groups with the same automorphism group

It is an open problem whether there exist two different p-groups with the same automorphism group. In this paper, we give a positive answer to this problem by constructing a simple example. Received: 30 September 2008     

Motives of some Fano varieties

We study the Fano varieties of projective k-planes lying in hypersurfaces and investigate the associated motives. The first author is partially supported by a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. The second author is partially supported by TüBİTAK-BDP funds and Bilkent University research development funds.     

On the Multiplicity of Nodal Solutions to a Singularly Perturbed Neumann Problem

We consider the problem

On <Emphasis Type="Italic">pq</Emphasis>-hyperelliptic Klein surfaces

In this paper we study compact Klein surfaces of algebraic genus d > 1 admitting p- and q-hyperelliptic involutions by which we mean involutions with the orbit spaces having algebraic genera p and q. We give necessary and sufficient conditions for p, q and d to exist such surfaces. It turns out that these conditions are also sufficient for the existence of such surfaces with commuting involutions what allow us to study this class also. We study the spectrum of hyperellipticity degrees of the product of these involutions and topological type of these surfaces. G. Gromadzki was supported by the grant SAB 2005-0049 of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Sciences. E. Tyszkowska was supported by BW 5100-5-0198-6.     

On linear operators preserving the set of positive polynomials

Following the classical approach of Pólya-Schur theory [13] we initiate in this paper the study of linear operators acting on and preserving either the set of positive univariate polynomials or similar sets of non-negative and elliptic polynomials. To Vladimir Igorevich Arnold with admiration     

Affine restriction for radial surfaces

Suppose dμ is affine surface measure on a convex radial surface Γ(x) = (x, γ(|x|)), a ≤ |x| < b, in . Under appropriate smoothness and growth conditions on γ, we prove and Fourier restriction estimates for Γ.     

Some algebraic invariants related to mixed product ideals

We compute some algebraic invariants (e.g. depth, Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity) for a special class of monomial ideals, namely the ideals of mixed products. As a consequence, we characterize the Cohen-Macaulay ideals of mixed products. Received: 25 October 2007     

On orbits of automorphism groups II

Let G be a finite group, let A be a group of automorphisms of G and let C_G(A) denote the subgroup of fixed points of A in G. If the order of C_G(A) is coprime to the number of orbits of A in G, then C_G(A) is contained in the autocommutator subgroup [G, A]. The notion of class-avoiding automorphism is used to extend theorems of J. Thompson and P. Rowley. Received: 3 November 2008, Revised: 1 December 2008     

On the Minkowski planes constructed by Artzy and Groh

The Minkowski planes constructed by R. Artzy and H. Groh [1] are characterized among the locally, connected and finite dimensional Minkowski planes as strongly semi-(p, w)-transitive Minkowski planes (see Theorem 2). The types of the Artzy-Groh planes in the typification of the Minkowski planes by M. Klein are determined (see Proposition 4). The second author was supported by a DAAD scholarship for a research visit at TU München. He sincerely thanks the Zentrum Mathematik der TU München for their hospitality.     

The first Hochschild cohomology group of a schurian cluster-tilted algebra

Given a cluster-tilted algebra B we study its first Hochschild cohomology group HH¹(B) with coefficients in the B-B-bimodule B. We find several consequences when B is representation-finite, and also in the case where B is cluster-tilted of type . M. J. Redondo is a researcher from CONICET, Argentina.