Limits Along Parallel Lines and the Classical Fine Topology

The fine topology on Rⁿ (n2) is the coarsest topology for whichall superharmonic functions on Rⁿ are continuous. We refer toDoob [11, 1.XI] for its basic properties and its relationshipto the notion of thinness. This paper presents several theoremsrelating the fine topology to limits of functions along parallellines. (Results of this nature for the minimal fine topologyhave been given by Doob – see [10, Theorem 3.1] or [11,1.XII.23] – and the second author [15].) In particular,we will establish improvements and generalizations of resultsof Lusin and Privalov [18], Evans [12], Rudin [20], Bagemihland Seidel [6], Schneider [21], Berman [7], and Armitage andNelson [4], and will also solve a problem posed by the latterauthors. An early version of our first result is due to Evans [12, p.234], who proved that, if u is a superharmonic function on R³,then there is a set ER²x{0}, of two-dimensional measure 0, suchthat u(x, y,·) is continuous on R whenever (x, y, 0)E.We denote a typical point of Rⁿ by X=(X' x), where X'R^n–1and xR. Let :RⁿR^n–1x{0} denote the projection map givenby (X', x) = (X', 0). For any function f:Rⁿ[–, +] andpoint X we define the vertical and fine cluster sets of f atX respectively by C_V(f;X)={l[–, +]: there is a sequence (t_m) of numbersin R\{x} such that t_mx and f(X', t_m)l}| and C_F(f;X)={l[–, +]: for each neighbourhood N of l in [–,+], the set f^–1(N) is non-thin at X}. Sets which are open in the fine topology will be called finelyopen, and functions which are continuous with respect to thefine topology will be called finely continuous. Corollary 1(ii)below is an improvement of Evans' result.     

A Mean Value Property of Poly-Temperatures on a Strip Domain

We consider the iterates of the heat operator on Rⁿ⁺¹={(X, t); X=(x₁, x₂, ..., x_n)Rⁿ, tR}. Let Rⁿ⁺¹ be a domain,and let m1 be an integer. A lower semi-continuous and locallyintegrable function u on is called a poly-supertemperatureof degree m if (–H)^mu0 on (in the sense of distribution). If u and –u are both poly-supertemperatures of degreem, then u is called a poly-temperature of degree m. Since His hypoelliptic, every poly-temperature belongs to C(), andhence (–H)^m u(X, t)=0 (X, t). For the case m=1, we simply call the functions the supertemperatureand the temperature. In this paper, we characterise a poly-temperature and a poly-supertemperatureon a strip D={(X, t);XRⁿ, 0<t<T} by an integral mean on a hyperplane. To state our result precisely,we define a mean A[·, ·]. This plays an essentialrole in our argument.     

Betti Numbers of Semialgebraic and Sub-Pfaffian Sets

Let X be a subset in [–1,1]^n₀R^n₀ defined by the formula X={x₀|Q₁x₁Q₂x₂...Qx ((x₀,x₁,...x)X)}, where Q_i{ }, Q_i Q_i+1, x_i [–1, 1]^n_i, and X may be eitheran open or a closed set in [–1,1]^n₀+...+n, being the differencebetween a finite CW-complex and its subcomplex. An upper boundon each Betti number of X is expressed via a sum of Betti numbersof some sets defined by quantifier-free formulae involving X. In important particular cases of semialgebraic and semi-Pfaffiansets defined by quantifier-free formulae with polynomials andPfaffian functions respectively, upper bounds on Betti numbersof X are well known. The results allow to extend the boundsto sets defined with quantifiers, in particular to sub-Pfaffiansets.     

A Strong Law for the Largest Nearest-Neighbour Link between Random Points

Suppose that X₁, X₂, X₃, ... are independent random points inR^d with common density f, having compact support with smoothboundary , with f| continuous. Let Rⁿ_{i, k} denote the distancefrom X_i to its kth nearest neighbour amongst the first n points,and let M_{n, k} = max_in Rⁿ_{i, k}. Let denote the volume of theunit ball. Then as n , , almost surely If instead the points lie in a compact smooth d-dimensionalRiemannian manifold K, then nM^d_{n, k}/log n (min_Kf)^–1,almost surely.     

An extension of the recursively enumerable Turing degrees

Consider the countable semilattice _T consisting of the recursivelyenumerable Turing degrees. Although _T is known to be structurallyrich, a major source of frustration is that no specific, naturaldegrees in _T have been discovered, except the bottom and topdegrees, 0 and 0'. In order to overcome this difficulty, weembed _T into a larger degree structure which is better behaved.Namely, consider the countable distributive lattice _w consistingof the weak degrees (also known as Muchnik degrees) of massproblems associated with non-empty ₀¹ subsets of 2. It is knownthat _w contains a bottom degree 0 and a top degree 1 and isstructurally rich. Moreover, _w contains many specific, naturaldegrees other than 0 and 1. In particular, we show that in _wone has 0 < d < r₁ < f(r₂, 1) < 1. Here, d is theweak degree of the diagonally non-recursive functions, and r_nis the weak degree of the n-random reals. It is known that r₁can be characterized as the maximum weak degree of a ₀¹ subsetof 2 of positive measure. We now show thatf(r₂, 1) can be characterizedas the maximum weak degree of a ₀¹ subset of 2, the Turing upwardclosure of which is of positive measure. We exhibit a naturalembedding of _T into _w which is one-to-one, preserves the semilatticestructure of _T, carries 0 to 0, and carries 0' to 1. Identifying_T with its image in _w, we show that all of the degrees in _Texcept 0 and 1 are incomparable with the specific degrees d,r₁, andf(r₂, 1) in _w.     

Necessary and Sufficient Conditions for Exponential Stability and Ultimate Boundedness of Systems Governed by Stochastic Partial Differential Equations

Consider the following infinite dimensional stochastic evolutionequation over some Hilbert space H with norm |·|: It is proved that under certain mild assumptions, the strongsolution X_t(x₀)VHV*, t 0, is mean square exponentially stableif and only if there exists a Lyapunov functional (·,·):HxR₊R¹ which satisfies the following conditions: (i)c₁|x|²–k₁e^–µ₁t(x,t)c₂|x|²+k₂+k₂e^–µ₂t; (ii) L(x,t)–c₃(x,t)+k₃e^–µ₃t, xV, t0; where L is the infinitesimal generator of the Markov processX_t and c_i, k_i, µ_i, i = 1, 2, 3, are positive constants.As a by-product, the characterization of exponential ultimateboundedness of the strong solution is established as the nulldecay rates (that is, µ_i = 0) are considered.     

On Positive Multipeak Solutions of a Nonlinear Elliptic Problem

In this paper we continue our investigation in [5, 7, 8] onmultipeak solutions to the problem –²u+u=Q(x)|u|^q–2u, xR^N, uH¹(R^N) (1.1) where = ^N_i=1²/x²_i is the Laplace operator in R^N, 2 < q < for N = 1, 2, 2 < q < 2N/(N–2) for N3, and Q(x)is a bounded positive continuous function on R^N satisfying thefollowing conditions. (Q₁) Q has a strict local minimum at some point x₀R^N, that is,for some > 0 Q(x)>Q(x₀) for all 0 < |x–x₀| < . (Q₂) There are constants C, > 0 such that |Q(x)–Q(y)|C|x–y| for all |x–x₀| , |y–y₀| . Our aim here is to show that corresponding to each strict localminimum point x₀ of Q(x) in R^N, and for each positive integerk, (1.1) has a positive solution with k-peaks concentratingnear x₀, provided is sufficiently small, that is, a solutionwith k-maximum points converging to x₀, while vanishing as 0 everywhere else in R^N.     

Asymptotics for Fractional Nonlinear Heat Equations

The Cauchy problem is studied for the nonlinear equations withfractional power of the negative Laplacian where (0,2), with critical = /n and sub-critical (0,/n)powers of the nonlinearity. Let u₀ L^1,a L C, u₀(x) 0 in Rⁿ, = . The case of not small initial data is of interest. It is proved that the Cauchy problemhas a unique global solution u C([0,); L L^1,a C) and the largetime asymptotics are obtained.     

Piecewise Absolutely Continuous Cocycles Over Irrational Rotations

For an irrational rotation of the circle group T=R/Z and apiecewise absolutely continuous function f:TR, the unitary operatorVh(x)=e^2if(x)h(x+) on L²(T) is studied. It is shown that iff has a single discontinuity with non-integer jump then V is-weakly mixing for some with 0<||<1. In particular Vhas continuous singular spectrum. The property of -weak mixing(with possible change of the value of , 0<||<1) holdsfor all irrational rotations and, given , is stable under perturbationsof f by functions with sufficiently small O(1/n)-norm. On theother hand, there exists a piecewise linear function f withtwo non-integer jumps such that the spectrum of V is continuoussingular for one value of and Lebesgue for another.     

A Class of Infinite Dimensional Simple Lie Algebras

Let A be an abelian group, F be a field of characteristic 0,and , ß be linearly independent additive maps fromA to F, and let ker()\{0}. Then there is a Lie algebra L = L(A,, ß, ) = _xA Fe_x under the product [e_x, e_y]]=(x–y)e_x+y+(ß) (x, y) e_x+y–. If, further, ß() = 1, and ß(A) = Z, thereis a subalgebra L⁺:=L(A⁺, , ß, ) = _xA⁺ Fe_x, whereA⁺ = {xA|ß(x)0}. The necessary and sufficient conditionsare given for L' = [L, L] and L⁺ to be simple, and all semi-simpleelements in L' and L⁺ are determined. It is shown that L' andL⁺ cannot be isomorphic to any other known Lie algebras andL' is not isomorphic to any L⁺, and all isomorphisms betweentwo L' and all isomorphisms between two L⁺ are explicitly described.     

Sandwiching C0-Semigroups

Let T = {T(t)}_t0 be a C₀-semigroup on a Banach space X. Thefollowing results are proved. (i) If X is separable, there exist separable Hilbert spacesX₀ and X₁, continuous dense embeddings j₀:X₀ X and j₁:X X₁,and C₀-semigroups T₀ and T₁ on X₀ and X₁ respectively, suchthat j₀ T₀(t) = T(t) j₀ and T₁(t) j₁ = j₁ T(t) for all t 0. (ii) If T is -reflexive, there exist reflexive Banach spacesX₀ and X₁ , continuous dense embeddings j:D(A²) X₀, j₀:X₀ X, j₁:X X₁, and C₀-semigroups T₀ and T₁ on X₀ and X₁ respectively,such that T₀(t) j = j T(t), j₀ T₀(t) = T(t) j₀ and T(t) j₁ = j₁ T(t) for all t 0, and such that (A₀) = (A) = (A₁),where A_k is the generator of T_k, k = 0, Ø, 1.     

The Hausdorff Dimension of Julia Sets of Meromorphic Functions II

A family of transcendental meromorphic functions, f_p(z), p N is considered. It is shown that, if p 6, then the Hausdorffdimension of the Julia set of f_p satisfies dim J(f_p) 1/p, for0 < < 1/6^p, and dim J(f_p) 1–(30 ln ln p/ln p),for p^4p–1/10⁵ ln p < < p^4p–1/10⁴ ln p. Theseresults are used elsewhere to show that, for each d (0, 1),there exists a transcendental meromorphic function for whichdim J(f) = d.     

On Borel Sets in Function Spaces with the Weak Topology

It is proved that the duality map ,:(, weak)x(()*, weak*)R isnot Borel. More generally, the evaluation e:(C)(K),x KR, e(f,x) = f(x), is not Borel for any function space C(K) on a compactF-space. It is also shown that a non-coincidence of norm-Boreland weak-Borel sets in a function space does not imply thatthe duality map is non-Borel.     

Geometry of Critical Loci

Let :(Z,z)(U,0) be the germ of a finite (that is, proper with finite fibres)complex analytic morphism from a complex analytic normal surfaceonto an open neighbourhood U of the origin 0 in the complexplane C². Let u and v be coordinates of C² defined on U. Weshall call the triple (, u, v) the initial data. Let stand for the discriminant locus of the germ , that is,the image by of the critical locus of . Let ()_A be the branches of the discriminant locus at O whichare not the coordinate axes. For each A, we define a rational number d by where I(–, –) denotes the intersection number at0 of complex analytic curves in C². The set of rational numbersd, for A, is a finite subset D of the set of rational numbersQ. We shall call D the set of discriminantal ratios of the initialdata (, u, v). The interesting situation is when one of thetwo coordinates (u, v) is tangent to some branch of , otherwiseD = {1}. The definition of D depends not only on the choiceof the two coordinates, but also on their ordering. In this paper we prove that the set D is a topological invariantof the initial data (, u, v) (in a sense that we shall definebelow) and we give several ways to compute it. These resultsare first steps in the understanding of the geometry of thediscriminant locus. We shall also see the relation with thegeometry of the critical locus.     

On the Greatest Prime Divisor of the Sum of Two Squares of Primes

One of the most famous theorems in number theory states thatthere are infinitely many positive prime numbers (namely p =2 and the primes p 1 mod4) that can be represented in the formx²₁+x²₂, where x₁ and x₂ are positive integers. In a recentpaper, Fouvry and Iwaniec [2] have shown that this statementremains valid even if one of the variables, say x₂, is restrictedto prime values only. In the sequel, the letter p, possiblywith an index, is reserved to denote a positive prime number.As p²₁=p²₂ = p is even for p₁, p₂ > 2, it is reasonable toconjecture that the equation p²₁=p²₂ = 2p has an infinity ofsolutions. However, a proof of this statement currently seemsfar beyond reach. As an intermediate step in this direction,one may quantify the problem by asking what can be said aboutlower bounds for the greatest prime divisor, say P(N), of thenumbers p²₁=p²₂, where p₁, p₂ N, as a function of the realparameter N 1. The well-known Chebychev–Hooley methodcombined with the Barban–Davenport–Halberstam theoremalmost immediately leads to the bound P(N) N^1–, if N N_o(); here, denotes some arbitrarily small fixed positivereal number. The first estimate going beyond the exponent 1has been achieved recently by Dartyge [1, Théorème1], who showed that P(N) N^10/9–. Note that Dartyge'sproof provides the more general result that for any irreduciblebinary form f of degree d 2 with integer coefficients the greatestprime divisor of the numbers |f(p₁, p₂)|, p₁, p₂ N, exceedsN^_d–, where _d = 2 – 8/(d = 7). We in particular wantto point out that Dartyge does not make use of the specificfeatures provided by the form x²₁+x²₂. By taking advantage ofsome special properties of this binary form, we are able toimprove upon the exponent ₂ = 10/9 considerably.     

Support Varieties of Non-Restricted Modules over Lie Algebras of Reductive Groups

Let G be a connected semisimple group over an algebraicallyclosed field K of characteristic p>0, and g=Lie (G). Fixa linear function g* and let Z_g() denote the stabilizer of in g. Set N_p(g)={xg|x^[p]=0}. Let C(g) denote the category offinite-dimensional g-modules with p-character . In [7], Friedlanderand Parshall attached to each MOb(C(g)) a Zariski closed, conicalsubset V_g(M)N_p(g) called the support variety of M. Suppose thatG is simply connected and p is not special for G, that is, p2if G has a component of type B_n, C_n or F₄, and p3 if G has acomponent of type G₂. It is proved in this paper that, for anynonzero MOb(C(g)), the support variety V_g(M) is contained inN_p(g)Z_g(). This allows one to simplify the proof of the Kac–Weisfeilerconjecture given in [18].     

Gauge Fixing for Logarithmic Connections Over Curves and the Riemann-Hilbert Problem

Let be a compact Riemann surface of genus g, X={x₁, ..., x_n} a finite set of points, and ¹(log X) be the sheaf of 1-forms,holomorphic over \X and generated near x_j by dz_j/z_j for a coordinatez_j centred at x_j.     

Herman Rings and Arnold Disks

For (,a) C* x C, let f_,a be the rational map defined by f_,a(z)= z² (az+1)/(z+a). If R/Z is a Brjuno number, we let D bethe set of parameters (,a) such that f_,a has a fixed Hermanring with rotation number (we consider that (e²ⁱ,0) D). Resultsobtained by McMullen and Sullivan imply that, for any g D, theconnected component of D(C* x (C/{0,1})) that contains g isisomorphic to a punctured disk. We show that there is a holomorphic injection F:DD such thatF(0) = (e²ⁱ ,0) and , where r is the conformal radius at 0 of the Siegel disk of the quadraticpolynomial z e²ⁱ z(1+z). As a consequence, we show that for a (0,1/3), if f_l,a has afixed Herman ring with rotation number and if m_a is the modulusof the Herman ring, then, as a0, we have e m_a=(r/a) + O(a). We finally explain how to adapt the results to the complex standardfamily z e^(a/2)(z-1/z).     

The Finite Subsets of Z2 Having the Extension Property

The paper considers finite subsets Z^d which possess the extensionproperty, namely that every collection {c_k}_k– of complexnumbers which is positive definite with respect to is the restrictionof the Fourier coefficients of some positive measure on T^d.All finite subsets of Z² which possess the extension propertyare described.     

Metrical Theorems on Prime Values of the Integer Parts of Real Sequences II

Let [ ] denote the integer part. Among other results in [3]we gave a complete solution to the following problem. PROBLEM. Given an increasing sequence a_n R⁺, n = 1, 2, ...,where a_n as n , are there infinitely many primes in the sequence[a_n] for almost all ?