The critical exponent for continuous conventional powers of doubly nonnegative matrices

We prove that there exists an exponent beyond which all continuous conventional powers of n-by-n doubly nonnegative matrices are doubly nonnegative. We show that this critical exponent cannot be less than n-2 and we conjecture that it is always n-2 (as it is with Hadamard powering). We prove this conjecture when n<6 and in certain other special cases. We establish a quadratic bound for the critical exponent in general.     

Positive and unbounded solution of stochastic delayed evolution equations

This article is concerned with the blowup phenomenon of stochastic delayed evolution equations. We first establish the sufficient condition to ensure the existence of a unique nonnegative solution of stochastic parabolic equations. Then the problem of blow-up solutions in mean L^q-norm, q ? 1, in a finite time is considered. The main aim in this article is to investigate the effect of time delay and stochastic term. A new result shows that the stochastic delayed term can induce singularities.     

The critical exponent conjecture for powers of doubly nonnegative matrices

Doubly nonnegative matrices arise naturally in many setting including Markov random fields (positively banded graphical models) and in the convergence analysis of Markov chains. In this short note, we settle a recent conjecture by C.R. Johnson et al. [Charles R. Johnson, Brian Lins, Olivia Walch, The critical exponent for continuous conventional powers of doubly nonnegative matrices, Linear Algebra Appl. 435 (9) (2011) 2175–2182] by proving that the critical exponent beyond which all continuous conventional powers of n-by-n   doubly nonnegative matrices are doubly nonnegative is exactly n−2$n-2$. We show that the conjecture follows immediately by applying a general characterization from the literature. We prove a stronger form of the conjecture by classifying all powers preserving doubly nonnegative matrices, and proceed to generalize the conjecture for broad classes of functions. We also provide different approaches for settling the original conjecture.     

Continuation of blowup solutions of nonlinear heat equations in several space dimensions

The possible continuation of solutions of the nonlinear heat equation in R^N × R₊ u_t = Δu^m + u^p with m > 0, p > 1, after the blowup time is studied and the different continuation modes are discussed in terms of the exponents m and p. Thus, for m + p ≤ 2 we find a phenomenon of nontrivial continuation where the region {x : u(x, t) = ∞} is bounded and propagates with finite speed. This we call incomplete blowup. For N ≥ 3 and p > m(N + 2)/(N − 2) we find solutions that blow up at finite t = T and then become bounded again for t > T. Otherwise, we find that blowup is complete for a wide class of initial data. In the analysis of the behavior for large p, a list of critical exponents appears whose role is described. We also discuss a number of related problems and equations. We apply the same technique of analysis to the problem of continuation after the onset of extinction, for example, for the equation u_t = Δu^m − u^p, m > 0. We find that no continuation exists if p + m ≤ 0 (complete extinction), and there exists a nontrivial continuation if p + m > 0 (incomplete extinction). © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A doubly critical degenerate parabolic problem

It is shown that the Dirichlet problem for where Ω??ⁿ is critical in that it has first eigenvalue one, is globally solvable for any continuous positive initial datum vanishing at ?Ω. Moreover, for p<3 all solutions are bounded and tend to some nonnegative eigenfunction of the Laplacian as t→∞, while if p?3 then there are both bounded and unbounded solutions. Finally, it is shown that unlike the case p∈[0,1), all steady states are unstable if p?1. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the number of non-isomorphic matroids

Let f(n) denote the number of non-isomorphic matroids on an n-element set. In 1969, Welsh conjectured that, for all non-negative integers m and n, f(m+n)f(m)f(n). In this paper, we prove this conjecture.     

A gradually turning curve must come near a lattice point

Leo Moser conjectured that given ε > 0 there is a δ > 0 such that any closed convex plane curve whose curvature is bounded by δ must come within ε of a lattice point. In this note we prove this conjecture and indeed we show that the “correct” order of δ is around ε².     

A uniqueness result for a semilinear parabolic system

We prove that for nonnegative, continuous, bounded and nonzero initial data we have a unique solution of the reaction-diffusion system described by three differential equations with non-Lipschitz nonlinearity. We also find the set of all nonnegative solutions of the system when the initial data is zero and in the last section we briefly discuss a generalization of the theorem to a system of n equations.     

Blowup of solutions for a class of non‐linear evolution equations with non‐linear damping and source terms

We consider the blowup of solutions of the initial boundary value problem for a class of non‐linear evolution equations with non‐linear damping and source terms. By using the energy compensation method, we prove that when p>max{m, α}, where m, α and p are non‐negative real numbers and m+1, α+1, p+1 are, respectively, the growth orders of the non‐linear strain terms, damping term and source term, under the appropriate conditions, any weak solution of the above‐mentioned problem blows up in finite time. Comparison of the results with the previous ones shows that there exist some clear condition boundaries similar to thresholds among the growth orders of the non‐linear terms, the states of the initial energy and the existence and non‐existence of global weak solutions. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On Nonexistence of type II blowup for a supercritical nonlinear heat equation

In this paper we study blowup of radially symmetric solutions of the nonlinear heat equation u_t = Δu + |u|^p?1u either on ?^N or on a finite ball under the Dirichlet boundary conditions. We assume that the exponent p is supercritical in the Sobolev sense, that is, We prove that if p_s < p < p^*, then blowup is always of type I, where p^* is a certain (explicitly given) positive number. More precisely, the rate of blowup in the L^∞ norm is always the same as that for the corresponding ODE dv/dt = |v|^p?1v. Because it is known that “type II” blowup (or, equivalently, “fast blowup”) can occur if p > p^*, the above range of exponent p is optimal. We will also derive various fundamental estimates for blowup that hold for any p > p_s and regardless of type of blowup. Among other things we classify local profiles of type I and type II blowups in the rescaled coordinates. We then establish useful estimates for the so‐called incomplete blowup, which reveal that incomplete blowup solutions belong to nice function spaces even after the blowup time. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Symmetry of solutions for quasimonotone second-order elliptic systems in ordered Banach spaces

We consider symmetry properties of solutions to nonlinear elliptic boundary value problems defined on bounded symmetric domains of \mathbb Rⁿ{\mathbb R^n} . The solutions take values in ordered Banach spaces E, e.g. E=\mathbb R^N{E=\mathbb R^N} ordered by a suitable cone. The nonlinearity is supposed to be quasimonotone increasing. By considering cones that are different from the standard cone of componentwise nonnegative elements we can prove symmetry of solutions to nonlinear elliptic systems which are not covered by previous results. We use the method of moving planes suitably adapted to cover the case of solutions of nonlinear elliptic problems with values in ordered Banach spaces.     

On the conjecture of Kochar and Korwar

In this article, we partially solve a conjecture by Kochar and Korwar (1996) [9] in relation to the normalized spacings of the order statistics of a sample of independent exponential random variables with different scale parameters. In the case of a sample of size n=3, they proved the ordering of the normalized spacings and conjectured that result holds for all n. We prove this conjecture for n=4 for both spacings and normalized spacings and generalize some results to n>4.     

Self-Reciprocal Irreducible Pentanomials Over \mathbb{F}_2

Joseph Yucas and Gary Mullen conjectured that there is no self-reciprocal irreducible pentanomial of degree n over if n is divisible by 6. In this note we prove this conjecture for the case n ≡ 0, and disprove the conjecture for the case n ≡ 6 (mod 12) AMS Classifications: 11T55     

Some properties of the distance function and a conjecture of De Giorgi

In the article [2] Ennio De Giorgi conjectured that any compact n-dimensional regular submanifold M of ℝ ^n+m ,moving by the gradient of the functional

Large solutions of coupled sublinear/superlinear elliptic equations

We show that large positive solutions exist for the semilinear elliptic equation Δu = p(x)u ^α + q(x)v ^β on bounded domains in R ⁿ , n ≥ 3, for the superlinear case 0 < α ≤ β, β > 1, but not the sublinear case 0 < α ≤ β ≤ 1. We also show that entire large positive solutions exist for both the superlinear and sublinear cases provided the nonnegative continuous functions p and q satisfy certain decay conditions at infinity. Existence and nonexistence of entire bounded solutions are established as well.     

Rational, Log Canonical, Du Bois Singularities: On the Conjectures of Kollár and Steenbrink

Let X be a proper complex variety with Du Bois singularities. Then H(X, ⁱ) H ⁱ(X, _X) is surjective for all i. This property makes this class of singularities behave well with regard to Kodaira type vanishing theorems. Steenbrink conjectured that rational singularities are Du Bois and Kollér conjectured that log canonical singularities are Du Bois. Kollér also conjectured that under some reasonable extra conditions Du Bois singularities are log canonical. In this article Steenbrink's conjecture is proved in its full generality, Kollér's first conjecture is proved under some extra conditions and Kollér's second conjecture is proved under a set of reasonable conditions, and shown that these conditions cannot be relaxed.     

Weak Solutions of Nonlinear Elliptic Equations with Prescribed Singular Set

GivenΩany open and bounded subset of $\text{R}$ⁿ,n⩾4, with smooth boundary and givenΣany (n−m)-dimensional compact submanifold ofΩwithout boundary,n>m>2, we prove the existence of weak solutions to the problem[formula]which are singular onΣ, whenpis a realp>m/(m−2), close to this value.     

A proof of Parisi’s conjecture on the random assignment problem

An assignment problem is the optimization problem of finding, in an m by n matrix of nonnegative real numbers, k entries, no two in the same row or column, such that their sum is minimal. Such an optimization problem is called a random assignment problem if the matrix entries are random variables. We give a formula for the expected value of the optimal k-assignment in a matrix where some of the entries are zero, and all other entries are independent exponentially distributed random variables with mean 1. Thereby we prove the formula 1+1/4+1/9+...+1/k ² conjectured by G. Parisi for the case k=m=n, and the generalized conjecture of D. Coppersmith and G. B. Sorkin for arbitrary k, m and n. AcknowledgementWe thank Mireille Bousquet-Mélou and Gilles Schaeffer for introducing the problem to us. We also thank an anonymous referee for suggesting some improvements of the exposition.     

Singularities, Shocks, and Instabilities in Interface Growth

Two-dimensional interface motion is examined in the setting of geometric crystal growth. We focus on the relationships between local curvature and global shape evolution displaying the dual role of singularities and shocks depending on the parameterization of the curve—the crystal surface. Discontinuities in surface slope accompany regions of asymptotically decreasing curvature during transient growth, whereas an absence of discontinuities preempts such asymptotic curvature evolution. In one parameterization, these discontinuities manifest themselves as a finite-time continuous blowup of curvature, and in another, as a shock and hence a localized divergence of curvature. Previously, it has been conjectured, based on numerical evidence, that the minimum blowup time is preempted by shock formation. We prove this conjecture in the present paper. Additionally we prove that a class of local geometric models preserves the convexity of the surface. These results are connected to experiments on crystal growth.     

A Liouville theorem and blowup behavior for a vector‐valued nonlinear heat equation with no gradient structure

We prove a Liouville theorem for the following heat system whose nonlinearity has no gradient structure: where pq, > 1, p ≥ 1, q ≥ 1, and |p−q| small. We then deduce a localization property and uniform L^∞ estimates of blowup solutions of this system. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.