On the order of the error function of the (k,r)-integers

Let k and r be fixed integers such that 1 < r < k. Any positive integer n of the form n = a^kb, where b is r-free, is called a (k, r)-integer. In this paper we prove that if Q_k,r(x) denotes the number of (k, r)-integers ≤ x, then $\text{Q}{}_{\mathrm{k,r}}\text{(x) =}\text{xζ(k)}\text{ζ(r)}\text{+ Δ}{}_{\mathrm{k,r}}\text{(x)}$, where $\text{Δ}{}_{\mathrm{k,r}}\text{(x) = O(x}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>r</mtext>}}\text{exp}\text{[?B}\text{log}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>3</mtext><mtext>5</mtext>}}\text{x (}\text{log log}\text{x)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?</mtext><mtext>1</mtext><mtext>5</mtext>}}\text{])}$, B being a positive constant depending on r and the O-estimate is uniform in k. On the assumption of the Riemann hypothesis, we improve the above order estimate of Δ_k,r(x) and prove that

$\text{1}\text{x}\text{∫}\text{1}\text{α}\text{δ}{}_{\mathrm{k,r}}\text{(t)dt=0(x}\text{1}\text{k}\text{ω(x))}\text{or}\text{0(x}{}^{\mathrm{3/(4r+1)}}\text{ω(x))}$

, according as $\text{k ≤}\text{(4r + 1)}\text{3}$ or $\text{k >}\text{(4r + 1)}\text{3}$, where ω(x) = exp [B log x(log log x)^?1].     

The sum of aΩ(n) over integers n ≤ x with all prime factors between a and y

For a > 0 let $\text{ψ}{}_{\mathrm{a}}\text{(x, y) =}\text{Σ}\text{a}{}^{\mathrm{\Omega (n)}}$, the sum taken over all n, 1 ≤ n ≤ x such that if p is prime and p|n then a < p ≤ y. It is shown for u < about ($\text{log log}\text{x}\text{log log log}\text{x}$) that $\text{ψ}{}_{\mathrm{a}}\text{(x, x}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>u</mtext>}}\text{) ? x(}\text{log}\text{x)}{}^{\mathrm{a?1}}\text{p}{}_{\mathrm{a}}\text{(u)}$, where p_a(u) solves a delay differential equation much like that for the Dickman function p(u), and the asymptotic behavior of p_a(u) is worked out.     

The probability that k positive integers are relatively r-prime

If r, k are positive integers, then $\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{r}}\text{(n)}$ denotes the number of k-tuples of positive integers (x₁, x₂, …, x_k) with 1 ≤ x_i ≤ n and (x₁, x₂, …, x_k)_r = 1. An explicit formula for $\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{r}}\text{(n)}$ is derived and it is shown that $\text{lim}{}_{\mathrm{n\to \infty }}\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{r}}\text{(n)}\text{n}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{=}\text{1}\text{ζ(rk)}$.If S = {p₁, p₂, …, p_a} is a finite set of primes, then 〈S〉 = {p₁^a₁p₂^a₂…p_s^a_s; p_i ∈ S and a_i ≥ 0 for all i} and $\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{r}}\text{(S, n)}$ denotes the number of k-tuples (x₁, x₃, …, x_k) with 1 ≤ x_i ≤ n and (x₁, x₂, …, x_k)_r ∈ 〈S〉. Asymptotic formulas for $\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{r}}\text{(S, n)}$ are derived and it is shown that $\text{lim}{}_{\mathrm{n\to \infty }}\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{r}}\text{(S, n)}\text{n}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{=}\text{(p}{}_1\text{… p}{}_{\mathrm{a}}\text{)}{}^{\mathrm{rk}}\text{ζ(rk)(p}{}_1{}^{\mathrm{rk}}\text{? 1) … (p}{}_{\mathrm{s}}{}^{\mathrm{rk}}\text{? 1)}$.     

The existence,uniqueness, and instability of spherically symmetric solutions of a system of reaction—Diffusion equations

The system $\text{?x}\text{?t}\text{= Δx + F(x,y),}\text{?y}\text{?t}\text{= G(x,y)}$ is investigated, where x and y are scalar functions of time (t ? 0), and n space variables $\text{(ξ}{}_1\text{,…, ξ}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{), Δx ≡ ∑}{}_{\mathrm{i\; =\; 1}}{}^{\mathrm{n}}\text{?}{}^2\text{x}\text{?ξ}{}_{\mathrm{i}}{}^2$, and F and G are nonlinear functions. Under certain hypotheses on F and G it is proved that there exists a unique spherically symmetric solution $\text{(x(r),y(r)),}\text{where}\text{r = (ξ}{}_1{}^2\text{+ … + ξ}{}_{\mathrm{n}}{}^2\text{)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$, which is bounded for r ? 0 and satisfies x(0) >x₀, y(0) > y₀, x′(0) = 0, y′(0) = 0, and x′ < 0, y′ > 0, ?r > 0. Thus, (x(r), y(r)) represents a time independent equilibrium solution of the system. Further, the linearization of the system restricted to spherically symmetric solutions, around (x(r), y(r)), has a unique positive eigenvalue. This is in contrast to the case n = 1 (i.e., one space dimension) in which zero is an eigenvalue. The uniqueness of the positive eigenvalue is used in the proof that the spherically symmetric solution described is unique.     

Two-parameter Turan inequalities for ultraspherical and Laguerre polynomials

It is known that the classical orthogonal polynomials satisfy inequalities of the form U_n²(x) ? U_{n + 1}(x) U_{n ? 1}(x) > 0 when x lies in the spectral interval. These are called Turan inequalities. In this paper we will prove a generalized Turan inequality for ultraspherical and Laguerre polynomials. Specifically if P_n^λ(x) and L_n^α(x) are the ultraspherical and Laguerre polynomials and $\text{F}{}_{\mathrm{n}}{}^{\mathrm{\lambda }}\text{(x) =}\text{P}{}_{\mathrm{n}}{}^{\mathrm{\lambda }}\text{(x)}\text{P}{}_{\mathrm{n}}{}^{\mathrm{\lambda }}\text{(1)}\text{, G}{}_{\mathrm{n}}{}^{\mathrm{\alpha }}\text{(x) =}\text{L}{}_{\mathrm{n}}{}^{\mathrm{\alpha }}\text{(x)}\text{L}{}_{\mathrm{n}}{}^{\mathrm{\alpha }}\text{(0)}\text{,}\text{then}\text{F}{}_{\mathrm{n}}{}^{\mathrm{\alpha }}\text{(x) F}{}_{\mathrm{n}}{}^{\mathrm{\beta }}\text{(x) ? F}{}_{\mathrm{n\; +\; 1}}{}^{\mathrm{\alpha }}\text{(x) F}{}_{\mathrm{n\; ?\; 1}}{}^{\mathrm{\beta }}\text{(x) > 0, ? 1 < x < 1, ?}\text{1}\text{2}\text{< α ? β ? α + 1}\text{and}\text{G}{}_{\mathrm{n}}{}^{\mathrm{\alpha }}\text{(x) G}{}_{\mathrm{n}}{}^{\mathrm{\beta }}\text{(x) ? G}{}_{\mathrm{n\; +\; 1}}{}^{\mathrm{\alpha }}\text{(x) G}{}_{\mathrm{n\; ?\; 1}}{}^{\mathrm{\beta }}\text{(x) > 0, x > 0, 0 < α ? β ? α + 1}$. We also prove the inequality $\text{(n + 1) F}{}_{\mathrm{n}}{}^{\mathrm{\alpha }}\text{(x) F}{}_{\mathrm{n}}{}^{\mathrm{\beta }}\text{(x) ? nF}{}_{\mathrm{n\; +\; 1}}{}^{\mathrm{\alpha }}\text{(x) F}{}_{\mathrm{n\; ?\; 1}}{}^{\mathrm{\beta }}\text{(x) > A}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{[F}{}_{\mathrm{n}}{}^{\mathrm{\alpha }}\text{(x)]}{}^2\text{, ?1 < x < 1, ?}\text{1}\text{2}\text{< α ? β < α + 1,}\text{where}\text{A}{}_{\mathrm{n}}$ is a positive constant depending on α and β.     

The asymptotic eigenvalue-distribution for a certain class of random matrices

For an n × n Hermitean matrix A with eigenvalues λ₁, …, λ_n the eigenvalue-distribution is defined by $\text{G(x, A) :=}\text{1}\text{n}$ · number {λ_i: λ_i ? x} for all real x. Let A_n for n = 1, 2, … be an n × n matrix, whose entries a_ik are for i, k = 1, …, n independent complex random variables on a probability space (Ω, $\text{R}$, p) with the same distribution F_a. Suppose that all moments $\text{E}$ | a | ^k, k = 1, 2, … are finite, $\text{E}$a=0 and $\text{E}$ | a | ². Let

$\text{M(A)=}\text{∑}\text{σ=1}\text{s}\text{θ}{}_{\mathrm{\sigma }}\text{P}{}_{\mathrm{\sigma }}\text{(A,A}{}^1\text{)}$

with complex numbers θ_σ and finite products P_σ of factors A and $\text{A}{}^1$ (= Hermitean conjugate) be a function which assigns to each matrix A an Hermitean matrix M(A). The following limit theorem is proved: There exists a distribution function G₀(x) = G₁x) + G₂(x), where G₁ is a step function and G₂ is absolutely continuous, such that with probability $\text{1 G(x, M(}\text{A}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{n}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{))}$ converges to G₀(x) as n → ∞ for all continuity points x of G₀. The density g of G₂ vanishes outside a finite interval. There are only finitely many jumps of G₁. Both, G₁ and G₂, can explicitly be expressed by means of a certain algebraic function f, which is determined by equations, which can easily be derived from the special form of M(A). This result is analogous to Wigner's semicircle theorem for symmetric random matrices (E. P. Wigner, Random matrices in physics, SIAM Review9 (1967), 1–23). The examples $\text{A}{}_{\mathrm{r}}\text{A}{}^{\mathrm{1r}}$, $\text{A}{}^{\mathrm{r}}\text{+ A}{}^{\mathrm{1r}}$, $\text{A}{}^{\mathrm{r}}\text{A}{}^{\mathrm{1r}}\text{± A}{}^{\mathrm{1r}}\text{A}{}^{\mathrm{r}}$, r = 1, 2, …, are discussed in more detail. Some inequalities for random matrices are derived. It turns out that with probability 1 the sharpened form

$\text{lim sup}\text{n→∞}\text{∑}\text{i=1}{}^{\mathrm{n}}\text{|γ}{}_{\mathrm{i}}{}^{\mathrm{(n)}}\text{|}{}^2\text{?6A}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{6}{}^2\text{? 0.8228…}$

of Schur's inequality for the eigenvalues λ_i⁽ⁿ⁾ of A_n holds. Consequently random matrices do not tend to be normal matrices for large n.     

Arnold's canonical matrices and the asymptotic simplification of ordinary differential equations

Let A(x,ε) be an n×n matrix function holomorphic for |x|?x₀, 0<ε?ε₀, and possessing, uniformly in x, an asymptotic expansion $\text{A(x,ε)?Σ}{}^{\mathrm{\infty }}{}_{\mathrm{r=0}}\text{A}{}_{\mathrm{r}}\text{(x) ε}{}^{\mathrm{r}}$, as ε→0⁺. An invertible, holomorphic matrix function P(x,ε) with an asymptotic expansion $\text{P(x,ε)?Σ}{}^{\mathrm{\infty }}{}_{\mathrm{r=0}}\text{P}{}_{\mathrm{r}}\text{(x)ε}{}^{\mathrm{r}}$, as ε→0⁺, is constructed, such that the transformation y = P(x,ε)z takes the differential equation $\text{ε}{}^{\mathrm{h}}\text{dy}\text{dx}\text{= A(x,ε)y,h}$ a positive integer, into $\text{ε}{}^{\mathrm{h}}\text{dz}\text{dx}\text{= B(x,ε)z}$, where B(x,ε) is asymptotically equal, to all orders, to a matrix in a canonical form for holomorphic matrices due to V.I. Arnold.     

On the probability that k positive integers are relatively prime II

Given a set S of positive integers let $\text{Z}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{S}}\text{(t)}$ denote the number of k-tuples 〈m₁, …, m_k〉 for which $\text{m}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{∈ S ? [1, t]}$ and (m₁, …, m_k) = 1. Also let $\text{P}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{S}}\text{(n)}$ denote the probability that k integers, chosen at random from $\text{S ? [1, n]}$, are relatively prime. It is shown that if P = {p₁, …, p_r} is a finite set of primes and S = {m : (m, p₁ … p_r) = 1}, then $\text{Z}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{S}}\text{(t) = (td(S))}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{Π}{}_{\mathrm{\nu ?P}}\text{(1 ?}\text{1}\text{p}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{) + O(t}{}^{\mathrm{k?1}}\text{)}$ if k ≥ 3 and $\text{Z}{}_2{}^{\mathrm{S}}\text{(t) = (td(S))}{}^2\text{Π}{}_{\mathrm{p?P}}\text{(1 ?}\text{1}\text{p}{}^2\text{) + O(t}\text{log}\text{t)}$ where d(S) denotes the natural density of S. From this result it follows immediately that $\text{P}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{S}}\text{(n) → Π}{}_{\mathrm{p?P}}\text{(1 ?}\text{1}\text{p}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{) = (ζ(k))}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}\text{Π}{}_{\mathrm{p\in P}}\text{(1 ?}\text{1}\text{p}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{)}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$ as n → ∞. This result generalizes an earlier result of the author's where $\text{P = ?}$ and S is then the whole set of positive integers. It is also shown that if S = {p₁^x₁ … p_r^x_r : x_i = 0, 1, 2,…}, then $\text{P}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{S}}\text{(n) → 0}$ as n → ∞.     

Elementary proof of the transformation formula for Lambert series involving generalized Dedekind sums

An elementary proof is given of the author's transformation formula for the Lambert series $\text{G}{}_{\mathrm{p}}\text{(x) =}\text{Σ}{}_{\mathrm{n?1}}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>\infty </mtext>}}\text{n}{}^{\mathrm{?p}}\text{x}{}^{\mathrm{n}}\text{(1?x}{}^{\mathrm{n}}\text{)}$ relating G_p(e^2πiτ) to G_p(e^2πiAτ), where p > 1 is an odd integer and $\text{Aτ =}\text{(aτ + b)}\text{(cτ + d)}$ is a general modular substitution. The method extends Sczech's argument for treating Dedekind's function $\text{log}\text{η(τ) =}\text{πiτ}\text{12}\text{? G}{}_1\text{(e}{}^{\mathrm{2\pi i\tau }}\text{)}$, and uses Carlitz's formula expressing generalized Dedekind sums in terms of Eulerian functions.     

A completeness theorem for a nonlinear multiparameter eigenvalue problem

In this paper we study the linked nonlinear multiparameter system

$\text{y}{}_{\mathrm{r}}{}^{\mathrm{n}}\text{(X}{}_{\mathrm{r}}\text{) + M}{}_{\mathrm{r}}\text{Y}{}_{\mathrm{r}}\text{+}\text{∑}\text{s=1}\text{k}\text{λ}{}_{\mathrm{s}}\text{(a}{}_{\mathrm{rs}}\text{(X}{}_{\mathrm{r}}\text{) + P}{}_{\mathrm{rs}}\text{) Y}{}_{\mathrm{r}}\text{(X}{}_{\mathrm{r}}\text{) = 0, r = l,…, k}$

, where x_r? [a_r, b_r], y_r is subject to Sturm-Liouville boundary conditions, and the continuous functions a_rs satisfy ¦ $\text{A ¦ (x) =}\text{det}\text{a}{}_{\mathrm{rs}}\text{(x}{}_{\mathrm{r}}\text{) > 0}$. Conditions on the polynomial operators M_r, P_rs are produced which guarantee a sequence of eigenfunctions for this problem yⁿ(x) = Π_r=1^ky_rⁿ(x_r), n ? 1, which form a basis in $\text{L}{}^2\text{([a, b], ¦ A ¦)}$. Here [a, b] = [a₁, b₁ × … × [a_k, b_k].     

Connected matroids with the smallest whitney numbers

In “The Slimmest Geometric Lattices” (Trans. Amer. Math. Soc.). Dowling and Wilson showed that if G is a combinatorial geometry of rank r(G) = n, and if _X(G) = Σμ(0, x)λ^{r ? r(x)} = Σ (?1)^{r ? k}W_kλ^k is the characteristic polynomial of G, then

$\text{w}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{?}\text{r}\text{k}\text{+n}\text{r?1}\text{k}$

Thus γ(G) ? 2^{r ? 1} (n+2), where γ(G) = Σw_k. In this paper we sharpen these lower bounds for connected geometries: If G is connected, r(G) ? 3, and n(G) ? 2 ((r, n) ≠ (4,3)), then

$\text{w}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{?}\text{r}\text{i}\text{+ n}\text{r}\text{i+1}\text{for i>1; w}{}_1\text{?r+n}\text{r}\text{2}\text{? 1;}$

|μ| ? (r? 1)n; and γ ? (2^{r ? 1} ? 1)(2n + 2). These bounds are all achieved for the parallel connection of an r-point circuit and an (n + 1)point line. If G is any series-parallel network, $\text{r(G) = r(}\text{G}\text{?}\text{) = 4}$, and $\text{n(G) = n(}\text{G}\text{?}\text{) = 3}$ then $\text{(w}{}_1\text{(G))}{}^4{}_{\mathrm{t-G}}\text{? (w}{}_1\text{(}\text{G}\text{?}\text{)) = (8, 20, 18, 7, 1)}$. Further, if β is the Crapo invariant,

$\text{β(G)=}\text{d}{}_{\mathrm{X}}\text{(G)}\text{dλ}\text{(1)}\text{,}$

then β(G) ? max(1, n ? r + 2). This lower bound is achieved by the parallel connection of a line and a maximal size series-parallel network.     

An asymptotic evaluation of the cycle index of a symmetric group

Let $\text{Z(S}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{;?(x))}$ denote the polynomial obtained from the cycle index of the symmetric group Z(S_n) by replacing each variable s_i by f(x¹). Let f(x) have a Taylor series with radius of convergence ? of the form f(x)=x^k + a_k+1x^k+1 + a_k+2x^k+2+? with every a₁?0. Finally, let 0<x<1 and let x??. We prove that

This limit is used to estimate the probability (for n and p both large) that a point chosen at random from a random p-point tree has degree n + 1. These limiting probabilities are independent of p and decrease geometrically in n, contrasting with the labeled limiting probabilities of $\text{1}\text{n!e}$.In order to prove the main theorem, an appealing generalization of the principle of inclusion and exclusion is presented.     

A canonical decomposition of the probability measure of sets of isotropic random points in Rn

The probability measure of X = (x₀,…, x_r), where x₀,…, x_r are independent isotropic random points in $\text{R}$ⁿ (1 ≤ r ≤ n ? 1) with absolutely continuous distributions is, for a certain class of distributions of X, expressed as a product measure involving as factors the joint probability measure of (ω, ?), the probability measure of p, and the probability measure of $\text{Y}{}^1\text{= (y}{}_0{}^1\text{,…, y}{}_{\mathrm{r}}{}^1\text{)}$. Here ω is the r-subspace parallel to the r-flat η determined by X, ? is a unit vector in ω^⊥ with ‘initial’ point at the origin [ω^⊥ is the (n ? r)-subspace orthocomplementary to ω], p is the norm of the vector z from the origin to the orthogonal projection of the origin on η, and $\text{y}{}_{\mathrm{i}}{}^1\text{=}\text{(x}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{? z)}\text{α(p}{}^2\text{)}$, where α is a scale factor determined by p. The probability measure for ω is the unique probability measure on the Grassmann manifold of r-subspaces in $\text{R}$ⁿ invariant under the group of rotations in $\text{R}$ⁿ, while the conditional probability measure of ? given ω is uniform on the boundary of the unit (n ? r)-ball in ω^⊥ with centre at the origin. The decomposition allows the evaluation of the moments, for a suitable class of distributions of X, of the r-volume of the simplicial convex hull of {x₀,…, x_r} for 1 ≤ r ≤ n.     

On a conjecture of S. Chowla and of S. Chowla and H. Walum,II

In 1965, Chowla and Walum conjectured that, $\text{G}{}_{\mathrm{a,k}}\text{(x):=}\text{Σ}{}_{\mathrm{n\; \le \; \surd x}}\text{n}{}^{\mathrm{a}}\text{P}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{(}\text{x}\text{n}\text{) = O(x}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>a</mtext><mtext>2</mtext><mtext>\; +\; </mtext><mtext>1</mtext><mtext>4</mtext><mtext>\; +\; \epsilon </mtext>}}\text{)}$ holds for each ε > 0 and x → ∞, where integers a ≥ 0 and k ≥ 1 are given and P_k is the periodic Bernoulli function of order k. Recently, the authors established this conjecture in case k ≥ 2 and $\text{a >}\text{1}\text{2}$ with ε = 0 while if $\text{a =}\text{1}\text{2}$, with a log factor. In this paper, it is proven that the conjecture, in case $\text{|a| <}\text{1}\text{2}$, k = 2, is true “on average”.     

On Berry-Esséen rates,a law of the iterated logarithm and an invariance principle for the proportion of the sample below the sample mean

Let F_n(x) be the empirical distribution function based on n independent random variables X₁,…,X_n from a common distribution function F(x), and let $\text{X}\text{= Σ}{}_{\mathrm{i=1}}{}^{\mathrm{n}}\text{X}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{n}$ be the sample mean. We derive the rate of convergence of $\text{F}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{(}\text{X}\text{)}$ to normality (for the regular as well as nonregular cases), a law of iterated logarithm, and an invariance principle for $\text{F}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{(}\text{X}\text{)}$.     

Canonical localizers and nonmaximal orders in the Witt setting

Let d(n) denote the number of positive integers dividing the positive integer n. We show that as x approaches ∞, $\text{\#{n ≤ x: d(n)}\text{divides}\text{n} = (}\text{x}\text{√}\text{log}\text{x)(}\text{log log}\text{x)}{}^{\mathrm{?1\; +\; 0(1)}}$.     

On the length of optimal TSP circuits in sets of bounded diameter

Let V be a set of n points in R^k. Let d(V) denote the diameter of V, and l(V) denote the length of the shortest circuit which passes through all the points of V. (Such a circuit is an “optimal TSP circuit”.) l^k(n) are the extremal values of l(V) defined by l^k(n)=max{l(V)|V∈V_n^k}, where V_n^k={V|V?R^k,|V|=n, d(V)=1}. A set V∈V_n^k is “longest” if l(V)=l^k(n). In this paper, first some geometrical properties of longest sets in R² are studied which are used to obtain l²(n) for small n′s, and then asymptotic bounds on l^k(n) are derived. Let δ(V) denote the minimal distance between a pair of points in V, and let: δ^k(n)=max{δ(V)|V∈V_n^k}. It is easily observed that $\text{δ}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{(n)=O(n}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?1</mtext><mtext>k</mtext>}}\text{)}$. Hence, $\text{c}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{=}\text{lim sup}{}_{\mathrm{n\to \infty }}\text{δ}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{(n)n}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>k</mtext>}}$ exists. It is shown that for all $\text{n, c}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{n}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?1</mtext><mtext>k</mtext>}}\text{≤δ}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{(n)}$, and hence, for all $\text{n, l}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{(n)≥ c}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{n}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1?1</mtext><mtext>k</mtext>}}$. For k=2, this implies that $\text{l}{}^2\text{(n)≥(}\text{π}{}^2\text{12}\text{)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>4</mtext>}}\text{n}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$, which generalizes an observation of Fejes-Toth that $\text{lim}{}_{\mathrm{n\to \infty }}\text{l}{}^2\text{(n)n}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{≥(}\text{π}{}^2\text{12}\text{)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>4</mtext>}}$. It is also shown that $\text{l}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{(n) ≤ [}\text{(3?√3)k}\text{(k?1)}\text{]nδ}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{(n) + o(n}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1?</mtext><mtext>1</mtext><mtext>k</mtext>}}\text{) ≤ [}\text{(3?√3)k}\text{(k?1)}\text{]n}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1?</mtext><mtext>1</mtext><mtext>k</mtext>}}\text{+ o(n}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1?</mtext><mtext>1</mtext><mtext>k</mtext>}}\text{)}$. The above upper bound is used to improve related results on longest sets in k-dimensional unit cubes obtained by Few (Mathematika2 (1955), 141–144) for almost all k′s. For k=2, Few's technique is used to show that $\text{l}{}^2\text{(n)≤(}\text{πn}\text{2}\text{)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{+ O(1)}$.     

Hermite series estimates of a probability density and its derivatives

The following estimate of the pth derivative of a probability density function is examined: $\text{Σ}{}_{\mathrm{k\; =\; 0}}{}^{\mathrm{N}}\text{a}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{h}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{(x)}$, where h_k is the kth Hermite function and $\text{a}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{= (}\text{(?1)}{}^{\mathrm{p}}\text{n}\text{)}$Σ_{i = 1}ⁿh_k^(p)(X_i) is calculated from a sequence X₁,…, X_n of independent random variables having the common unknown density. If the density has r derivatives the integrated square error converges to zero in the mean and almost completely as rapidly as O(n^?α) and O(n^?α log n), respectively, where $\text{α =}\text{2(r ? p)}\text{(2r + 1)}$. Rates for the uniform convergence both in the mean square and almost complete are also given. For any finite interval they are O(n^?β) and $\text{O(n}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?\beta </mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{log}\text{n)}$, respectively, where $\text{β =}\text{(2(r ? p) ? 1)}\text{(2r + 1)}$.     

Comparaison de deux indicateurs de la régularité en variation des queues de distributionsComparison between two indicators for the variation regularity of tails of distributions

We compare assumptions used in [4] in order to study the rate of convergence to 0, as u→s₊(F), of , where $\text{F}{}_{\mathrm{u}}$ is the survival function of the excesses over u, s₊(F)=sup{x,F(x)<1} is the upper end point of the distribution function (d.f.) F and $\text{G}{}_{\mathrm{\gamma }}$ is the survival function of the Generalized Pareto Distribution, with assumptions used in [2] in order to study the rate of convergence to 0, as n→+∞, of $\text{d}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{=}\text{sup}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>x\in </mtext><mtext>R</mtext>}}\text{|F}{}^{\mathrm{n}}\text{(x)?H}{}_{\mathrm{\gamma }}\text{(}\text{x?α}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{σ}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{)|}$, where H_γ is the d.f. of an extreme value distribution. In each case, an indicator linked to regular variation assumptions had been introduced. We characterize situations where these two indicators coincide, and others where they are different. To cite this article: R. Worms, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 334 (2002) 709–712.     

On a theorem of Titchmarch-Kodaira-Weidmann concerning absolutely continuous operators, I

For the Favard class F_r in the space C_2π of continuous 2π-periodic functions we solve the following problem. Given x∈$\text{R}$ and knots x₀< x₁ < ··· < x_v?1., x_u? 2π we determine weights x_ki(0 ?k · n, 0 ? j < r) such that

$\text{sup}\text{f∈F}{}_{\mathrm{r}}\text{f(x)?}\text{∑}\text{k=0}\text{n?1}\text{∑}\text{j=0}\text{r?1}\text{α}{}_{\mathrm{kj}}\text{f}{}^{\mathrm{(i)}}\text{(X}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{)}$

is minimal. The optimal weights are unique (except for a trivial case) and we obtain them from a system of periodic polynomial splines u_kj(0 ? k < n, 0 ?j< r): α_kj = u_kj(x). These splines induce an interpolation operator whose degree of approximation with respect to the class F_r is minimal if the knots are equidistant. Finally, we describe an efficient numerical procedure which shows how to compute the interpolation spline in the equidistant case.