Corrigenda: Mackey Functors And Control of Fusion

In the introduction to [3] it is mistakenly claimed that Mislin'sproof uses Carlsson's proof of Segal's Burnside ring conjecture.In fact, Mislin uses instead the work of Carlsson, Miller andLannes on Sullivan's fixed-point conjecture, and work of Dwyerand Zabrodski [1]. There is, however, a proof by Snaith [2]that depends on a version of the Segal conjecture. 2000 MathematicsSubject Classification 20J06 (primary), 20C05 (secondary).     

Sullivan's local Euler characteristic theorem

Using a certain cell decomposition of a closed neighborhood of a point a in a real analytic set A and the orientability modulo 2 of A ([1,3.7] or [5,7.3]), we obtain a short proof, by counting cells, of D. Sullivan's theorem ([9]) that X(A,A {a})) is odd.Research partially supported by NSF Grant GP29321.     

Quasisymmetric distortion and rigidity of expanding endomorphisms of

In this paper we examine a result of D. Sullivan according to which two expanding endomorphisms of the circle are conjugate as soon as they are symmetrically conjugate. We develop general a priori estimates on the local distortion of quasisymmetric mappings and combine them with the classical naive distortion lemma to present a complete proof of Sullivan's result. A new proof is offered at the end that renders unnecessary the use of Markov partitions or the control of eigenvalues at periodic points.

     

Local homological properties of analytic sets

Using Milnor's fibration theorem [5] for analytic hypersurfaces and the conic structure lemma, one gets informations on local homological properties of analytic spaces, as also on the topological behaviour of algebraic sets at . A simple proof of D. Sullivan's theorem about the Euler-Poincaré characteristic of (X, X-x), for X a real or complex analytic space, as well as some extensions and generalisations are given.     

A propos de conjectures de Serre et Sullivan

Summary We first give a new proof of a conjecture of J.-P. Serre on the homotopy of finite complexes, which was recently proved by C. McGibbon and J. Neisendorfer. The emphasis is on a property of the mod. 2 homology of certain spaces: their quasi-boundedness as right modules over the Steenrod algebra. This property is preserved when one goes from a simply connected space to its loop space and also when one takes a covering of anH-space. Then we show that this notion of quasi-boundedness simplifies H. Miller's proof of D. Sullivan's conjecture on the contractibility of the space of pointed maps from the classifying space of the groupe /2 into a finite complex.     

A circle packing measurable Riemann mapping theorem

We prove a circle packing version of the Measurable Riemann Mapping Theorem in the spirit of Rodin and Sullivan's Circle Packing Riemann Mapping Theorem. We also construct circle packing maps of the plane onto itself with prescribed dilatation.

     

On conformal distortion and Sullivan's sector theorem

Using general bounds on the conformal distortion of univalent maps, we prove a strong version of Sullivan's sector theorem, which gives certain sufficient conditions for an arbitrarily long composition of univalent Herglotz functions to map the upper half-plane into a proper sub-sector.

     

A note on geometric upper bounds for the exponent of convergence of convex cocompact Kleinian groups

In this note we obtain by purely geometric means that for convex cocompact Kleinian groups the exponent of convergence is bounded from above by an expression which depends mainly on the diameter of the convex core of the associated infinite-volume hyperbolic manifold. This result is derived via refinements of Sullivan's shadow lemma and of estimates for the growth of the orbital counting function and Poincaré series. We finally obtain spectral and fractal implications, such as lower bounds for the bottom of the spectrum of the Laplacian on these manifolds, and upper bounds for the decay of the area of neighbourhoods of the associated limit sets.     

Lorenz like Smale flows on three-manifolds

In this paper, we discuss how to realize Lorenz like Smale flows (LLSF) on 3-manifolds. It is an extension of M. Sullivan's work about Lorenz Smale flows on S³. We focus on two questions: (1) Classify the topological conjugate classes of LLSF which can be realized on S³; (2) Which 3-manifolds admit LLSF? If some 3-manifold admits LLSF, how does it admit LLSF? This paper is in some sense parallel to the work of J. Morgan and M. Wada on Morse–Smale flows on 3-manifolds.     

Deformations of algebras and cohomology of fixed point sets

In [13] it is shown that under certain conditions the cohomology algebra of the fixed point set of a space with group action is in an algebraic sense a deformation of the cohomology algebra of the space itself. Here we attempt to prove a converse of the above statement, i.e. we try to realize geometrically a given algebraic deformation of a (commutative) graded algebras as the cohomology algebra of the fixed point set of a suitable space with group action. The first part of this note in a sense reduces this realization problem in equivariant topology to a non-equivariant problem while the second part uses Sullivan's theory of minimal models to actually obtain a converse for S¹-actions, where cohomology is taken with rational coefficients.     

Stiefel-Whitney classes and the conormal cycle of a singular variety

A geometric construction of Sullivan's Stiefel-Whitney homology classes of a real analytic variety is given by means of the conormal cycle of an embedding of in a smooth variety. We prove that the Stiefel-Whitney classes define additive natural transformations from certain constructible functions to homology. We also show that, for a complex analytic variety, these classes are the mod 2 reductions of the Chern-MacPherson classes.

     

Investigating undergraduate students’ proof schemes and perspectives about combinatorial proof

Combinatorics is an area of mathematics with accessible, rich problems and applications in a variety of fields. Combinatorial proof is an important topic within combinatorics that has received relatively little attention within the mathematics education community, and there is much to investigate about how students reason about and engage with combinatorial proof. In this paper, we use Harel and Sowder’s (1998) proof schemes to investigate ways that students may characterize combinatorial proofs as different from other types of proof. We gave five upper-division mathematics students combinatorial-proof tasks and asked them to reflect on their activity and combinatorial proof more generally. We found that the students used several of Harel and Sowder’s proof schemes to characterize combinatorial proof, and we discuss whether and how other proof schemes may emerge for students engaging in combinatorial proof. We conclude by discussing implications and avenues for future research.     

关于“费尔马最后定理的证明”一文的评注

本文对“费尔马最后定理的证明”一文作出几点评注，主要结论是该证明仅仅是对费尔马最后定理的部分情形的证明，即并没有完全证明费尔马最后定理     

Impacts of inquiry pedagogy on undergraduate students conceptions of the function of proof

Mathematicians and mathematics educators agree that proof is an important tool in mathematics, yet too often undergraduate students see proof as a superficial part of the discipline. While proof is often used by mathematicians to justify that a theorem is true, many times proof is used for another purpose entirely such as to explain why a particular statement is true or to show mathematics students a particular proof technique. This paper reports on a study that used a form of inquiry-based learning (IBL) in an introduction to proof course and measured the beliefs of students in this course about the different functions of proof in mathematics as compared to students in a non-IBL course. It was found that undergraduate students in an introduction to proof course had a more robust understanding of the functions of proof than previous studies would suggest. Additionally, students in the course taught using inquiry pedagogy were more likely to appreciate the communication, intellectual challenge, and providing autonomy functions of proof. It is hypothesized that these results are a response to the pedagogy of the course and the types of student activity that were emphasized.     

Integrating Algebra and Proof in High School: Students' Work with Multiple Variables and a Single Parameter in a Proof Context

In the United States, researchers argue that proof is largely concentrated in the domain of high school geometry, thus providing students a distorted image of what proof entails, which is at odds with the central role that proof plays in mathematics. Despite the centrality of proof, there is a lack of studies addressing how to integrate proof into other mathematical domains. In this article, we discuss a teaching experiment designed to integrate algebra and proof in the high school curriculum. Algebraic proof was envisioned as the vehicle that would provide high school students the opportunity to learn not only about proof in a context other than geometry but also about aspects of algebra. Results from the experiment indicate that students meaningfully learned about aspects of both algebra and proof in that they produced algebraic proofs involving multiple variables and a single parameter, based on conjectures they themselves generated.     

对一个基于身份的代理签名方案的密码学分析和改进

分析了一个在格理论框架下构建的基于身份的代理签名方案,指出方案的安全性证明存在缺陷,并没有实现其所声称的签名不可伪造性的证明,针对方案证明中存在的问题,引入新的参量,重新设定系统参数,改变相应的查询应答方式,弥补了证明缺陷,完成了签名不可伪造性的证明。     

Finite quaternion-free 2-groups

We present an elementary proof of the classification theorem for finite nonmodular quaternion-free 2-groups. This proof does not involve the structure theory of powerful 2-groups. Such a new proof is also necessary, since there are several gaps in the original proof given in [5].     

Cognitive trajectory of proof by contradiction for transition-to-proof students

History and research on proof by contradiction suggests proof by contradiction is difficult for students in a number of ways. Students’ comprehension of already-written proofs by contradiction is one such aspect that has received relatively little attention. Applying the cognitive lens of Action-Process-Object-Schema (APOS) Theory to proof by contradiction, we constructed and tested a cognitive model that describes how a student might construct the concept ‘proof by contradiction’ in an introduction to proof course. Data for this study was collected from students in a series of five teaching interventions focused on proof by contradiction. This paper will report on two participants as case studies to illustrate that our cognitive trajectory for proof by contradiction is a useful model for describing how students may come to understand the proof method.     

Proof schemes combined: mapping secondary students’ multi-faceted and evolving first encounters with mathematical proof

In this paper, we propose an enriched and extended application of Harel and Sowder’s proof schemes taxonomy that can be used as a diagnostic tool for characterizing secondary students’ emergent learning of proof and proving. We illustrate this application in the analysis of data collected from 85 Year 9 (age 14–15) secondary students. We capture these students’ first encounters with proof and proving in an educational context (mixed ability, state schools in Greece) where mathematical proof is explicitly present in algebra and geometry lessons and where proving skills are typically expected, and rewarded, in key national examinations. We analyze student written responses to six questions, soon after the students had been introduced to proof and we identify evidence of six of the seven proof schemes proposed by Harel and Sowder as well as a further eight combinations of the six. We observed these combinations often within the response of the same student and to the same item. Here, we illustrate the eight combinations and we claim that a dynamic use of the proof schemes taxonomy that encompasses sole and combined proof schemes is a potent theoretical and pedagogical tool for mapping students’ multi-faceted and evolving competence in, and appreciation for, proof and proving.