Coalescence in the recent past in rapidly growing populations

In a rapidly growing population one expects that two individuals chosen at random from the n$n$th generation are unlikely to be closely related if n$n$ is large. In this paper it is shown that for a broad class of rapidly growing populations this is not the case. For a Galton–Watson branching process with an offspring distribution {_pj}$\left\{p_j\right\}$ such that _p0=0$p_0=0$ and ψ(x)=_{∑jpjI{j≥x}}$\psi \left(x\right)={\sum }_j{p}_j{I}_{\{j\ge x\}}$ is asymptotic to x^−αL(x)$x^{-\alpha }L\left(x\right)$ as x→∞$x\to \infty$ where L(⋅)$L(\cdot )$ is slowly varying at ∞$\infty$ and 0<α<1$0<\alpha <1$ (and hence the mean m=∑j_pj=∞$m=\sum j{p}_j=\infty$) it is shown that if _Xn$X_n$ is the generation number of the coalescence of the lines of descent backwards in time of two randomly chosen individuals from the n$n$th generation then n−_Xn$n-X_n$ converges in distribution to a proper distribution supported by N={1,2,3,…}$\mathbb{N}=\{1,2,3,\dots \}$. That is, in such a rapidly growing population coalescence occurs in the recent past rather than the remote past. We do show that if the offspring mean m$m$ satisfies 1<m≡∑j_pj<∞$1<m\equiv \sum j{p}_j<\infty$ and _p0=0$p_0=0$ then coalescence time _Xn$X_n$ does converge to a proper distribution as n→∞$n\to \infty$, i.e., coalescence does take place in the remote past.     

Nonparametric estimation for stochastic differential equations with random effects

We consider N$N$ independent stochastic processes (_Xj(t),t∈[0,T])$(X_j\left(t\right),t\in [0,T])$, j=1,…,N$j=1,\dots ,N$, defined by a one-dimensional stochastic differential equation with coefficients depending on a random variable _?j${?}_j$ and study the nonparametric estimation of the density of the random effect _?j${?}_j$ in two kinds of mixed models. A multiplicative random effect and an additive random effect are successively considered. In each case, we build kernel and deconvolution estimators and study their L²$L^2$-risk. Asymptotic properties are evaluated as N$N$ tends to infinity for fixed T$T$ or for T=T(N)$T=T\left(N\right)$ tending to infinity with N$N$. For T(N)=N²$T\left(N\right)=N^2$, adaptive estimators are built. Estimators are implemented on simulated data for several examples.     

On the general excess bound for binary codes with covering radius one

Let K(n,1)$K(n,1)$ denote the minimal cardinality of a binary code of length n$n$ and covering radius one. Fundamental for the theory of lower bounds for K(n,1)$K(n,1)$ is the covering excess method introduced by Johnson and van Wee. Let _δi${\delta }_i$ denote the covering excess on a sphere of radius i$i$, 0≤i≤n$0\le i\le n$. Generalizing an earlier result of van Wee, Habsieger and Honkala showed _δp−1≥p−1${\delta }_{p-1}\ge p-1$ whenever n≡−1$n\equiv -1$ (mod p$p$) for an odd prime p$p$ and _δ0=_δ1=?=_δp−2=0${\delta }_0={\delta }_1=?={\delta }_{p-2}=0$ holds. In the present paper we give the new estimation _δp−1≥(p−2)p−1${\delta }_{p-1}\ge (p-2)p-1$ instead. This answers a question of Habsieger and yields a “general improvement of the general excess bound” for binary codes with covering radius one. The proof uses a classification theorem for certain subset systems as well as new congruence properties for the δ$\delta$-function, which were conjectured by Habsieger.     

Crossing number additivity over edge cuts

Consider a graph G$G$ with a minimal edge cut F$F$ and let _G1$G_1$, _G2$G_2$ be the two (augmented) components of G−F$G-F$. A long-open question asks under which conditions the crossing number of G$G$ is (greater than or) equal to the sum of the crossing numbers of _G1$G_1$ and _G2$G_2$—which would allow us to consider those graphs separately. It is known that crossing number is additive for |F|∈{0,1,2}$\left|F\right|\in \{0,1,2\}$ and that there exist graphs violating this property with |F|≥4$\left|F\right|\ge 4$. In this paper, we show that crossing number is additive for |F|=3$\left|F\right|=3$, thus closing the final gap in the question.     

Ordered partitions and drawings of rooted plane trees

We study the bounded regions in a generic slice of the hyperplane arrangement in Rⁿ${\mathbb{R}}^n$ consisting of the hyperplanes defined by _xi$x_i$ and _xi+_xj$x_i+x_j$. The bounded regions are in bijection with several classes of combinatorial objects, including the ordered partitions of [n]$\left[n\right]$ all of whose left-to-right minima occur at odd locations and the drawings of rooted plane trees with n+1$n+1$ vertices. These are sequences of rooted plane trees such that each tree in a sequence can be obtained from the next one by removing a leaf.     

Structural instability of cookie-cutter sets

It is proved that the cookie-cutter set in R$\mathbb{R}$ is structurally instable in C¹$C^1$ topology, that means for the invariant set E$E$ of the IFS _{fi}i${\left\{f_i\right\}}_i$, we can always perturb _{fi}i${\left\{f_i\right\}}_i$ arbitrarily small in C¹$C^1$ topology to provide an IFS _{gi}i${\left\{g_i\right\}}_i$ with its invariant set F$F$, such that _dimHE=_dimHF${dim}_{H}E={dim}_{H}F$ and E,F$E,F$ are not Lipschitz equivalent.     

Minimum degree and disjoint cycles in generalized claw-free graphs

For s≥3$s\ge 3$ a graph is _K1,s$K_{1,s}$-free if it does not contain an induced subgraph isomorphic to _K1,s$K_{1,s}$. Cycles in _K1,3$K_{1,3}$-free graphs, called claw-free graphs, have been well studied. In this paper we extend results on disjoint cycles in claw-free graphs satisfying certain minimum degree conditions to _K1,s$K_{1,s}$-free graphs, normally called generalized claw-free graphs. In particular, we prove that if G$G$ is _K1,s$K_{1,s}$-free of sufficiently large order n=3k$n=3k$ with δ(G)≥n/2+c$\delta \left(G\right)\ge n/2+c$ for some constant c=c(s)$c=c\left(s\right)$, then G$G$ contains k$k$ disjoint triangles. Analogous results with the complete graph _K3$K_3$ replaced by a complete graph _Km$K_m$ for m≥3$m\ge 3$ will be proved. Also, the existence of 2$2$-factors for _K1,s$K_{1,s}$-free graphs with minimum degree conditions will be shown.     

A note on distance-regular graphs with a small number of vertices compared to the valency

In this note we study distance-regular graphs with a small number of vertices compared to the valency. We show that for a given α>2$\alpha >2$, there are finitely many distance-regular graphs Γ$\Gamma$ with valency k$k$, diameter D≥3$D\ge 3$ and v$v$ vertices satisfying v≤αk$v\le \alpha k$ unless (D=3$D=3$ and Γ$\Gamma$ is imprimitive) or (D=4$D=4$ and Γ$\Gamma$ is antipodal and bipartite). We also show, as a consequence of this result, that there are finitely many distance-regular graphs with valency k≥3$k\ge 3$, diameter D≥3$D\ge 3$ and _c2≥εk$c_2\ge \epsilon k$ for a given 0<ε<1$0<\epsilon <1$ unless (D=3$D=3$ and Γ$\Gamma$ is imprimitive) or (D=4$D=4$ and Γ$\Gamma$ is antipodal and bipartite).     

On functional limits of short- and long-memory linear processes with GARCH(1,1) noises

This paper considers the short- and long-memory linear processes with GARCH (1,1) noises. The functional limit distributions of the partial sum and the sample autocovariances are derived when the tail index α$\alpha$ is in (0,2)$(0,2)$, equal to 2, and in (2,∞)$(2,\infty )$, respectively. The partial sum weakly converges to a functional of α$\alpha$-stable process when α<2$\alpha <2$ and converges to a functional of Brownian motion when α≥2$\alpha \ge 2$. When the process is of short-memory and α<4$\alpha <4$, the autocovariances converge to functionals of α/2$\alpha /2$-stable processes; and if α≥4$\alpha \ge 4$, they converge to functionals of Brownian motions. In contrast, when the process is of long-memory, depending on α$\alpha$ and β$\beta$ (the parameter that characterizes the long-memory), the autocovariances converge to either (i) functionals of α/2$\alpha /2$-stable processes; (ii) Rosenblatt processes (indexed by β$\beta$, 1/2<β<3/4$1/2<\beta <3/4$); or (iii) functionals of Brownian motions. The rates of convergence in these limits depend on both the tail index α$\alpha$ and whether or not the linear process is short- or long-memory. Our weak convergence is established on the space of càdlàg functions on [0,1]$[0,1]$ with either (i) the _J1$J_1$ or the _M1$M_1$ topology (Skorokhod, 1956); or (ii) the weaker form S$S$ topology (Jakubowski, 1997). Some statistical applications are also discussed.     

Disjoint paths in tournaments

Given k   pairs of vertices (_si,_ti)$(s_i,t_i)$(1≤i≤k)$(1\le i\le k)$ of a digraph G, how can we test whether there exist k   vertex-disjoint directed paths from _si$s_i$ to _ti$t_i$ for 1≤i≤k$1\le i\le k$? This is NP-complete in general digraphs, even for k=2$k=2$ [2], but for k=2$k=2$ there is a polynomial-time algorithm when G is a tournament (or more generally, a semicomplete digraph), due to Bang-Jensen and Thomassen [1]. Here we prove that for all fixed k there is a polynomial-time algorithm to solve the problem when G is semicomplete.     

Which finite simple groups are unit groups?

We prove that if G$G$ is a finite simple group which is the unit group of a ring, then G$G$ is isomorphic to: (a) a cyclic group of order 2; or (b) a cyclic group of prime order 2^k−1$2^k-1$ for some k$k$; or (c) a projective special linear group _PSLn(_F2)${PSL}_n\left({\mathbb{F}}_2\right)$ for some n≥3$n\ge 3$. Moreover, these groups do all occur as unit groups. We deduce this classification from a more general result, which holds for groups G$G$ with no non-trivial normal 2-subgroup.     

Positional graphs and conditional structure of weakly null sequences

We prove that, unless assuming additional set theoretical axioms, there are no reflexive spaces without unconditional sequences of the density continuum. We show that for every integer n$n$ there are normalized weakly-null sequences of length _ωn${\omega }_n$ without unconditional subsequences. This together with a result of Dodos et al. (2011) [7] shows that _ωω${\omega }_{\omega }$ is the minimal cardinal κ$\kappa$ that could possibly have the property that every weakly null κ$\kappa$-sequence has an infinite unconditional basic subsequence. We also prove that for every cardinal number κ$\kappa$ which is smaller than the first ω$\omega$-Erd?s cardinal there is a normalized weakly-null sequence without subsymmetric subsequences. Finally, we prove that mixed Tsirelson spaces of uncountable densities must always contain isomorphic copies of either _c0$c_0$ or _?p${?}_p$, with p≥1$p\ge 1$.     

Discrete Tomography and plane partitions

A plane partition   is a p×q$p\times q$ matrix A=(_aij)$A=(a_{ij})$, where 1?i?p$1?i?p$ and 1?j?q$1?j?q$, with non-negative integer entries, and whose rows and columns are weakly decreasing. From a geometric point of view plane partitions are equivalent to pyramids  , subsets of the integer lattice Z³${\mathbb{Z}}^3$ which play an important role in Discrete Tomography. As a consequence, some typical problems concerning the tomography of discrete lattice sets can be rephrased and considered via plane partitions. In this paper we focus on some of them. In particular, we get a necessary and sufficient condition for additivity, a canonical procedure for checking the existence of (weakly) bad configurations, and an algorithm which constructs minimal pyramids (with respect to the number of levels) with assigned projection of a bad configurations.     

Uniform hypergraphs containing no grids

A hypergraph is called an r×r$r\times r$grid   if it is isomorphic to a pattern of r$r$ horizontal and r$r$ vertical lines, i.e., a family of sets {_A1,…,_Ar,_B1,…,_Br}$\{A_1,\dots ,A_r,B_1,\dots ,B_r\}$ such that _Ai∩_Aj=_Bi∩_Bj=0?$A_i\cap A_j=B_i\cap B_j=0?$ for 1≤i<j≤r$1\le i<j\le r$ and |_Ai∩_Bj|=1$|A_i\cap B_j|=1$ for 1≤i,j≤r$1\le i,j\le r$. Three sets _C1,_C2,_C3$C_1,C_2,C_3$ form a triangle   if they pairwise intersect in three distinct singletons, |_C1∩_C2|=|_C2∩_C3|=|_C3∩_C1|=1$|C_1\cap C_2|=|C_2\cap C_3|=|C_3\cap C_1|=1$, _C1∩_C2≠_C1∩_C3$C_1\cap C_2\ne C_1\cap C_3$. A hypergraph is linear  , if |E∩F|≤1$|E\cap F|\le 1$ holds for every pair of edges E≠F$E\ne F$.     

Reflection principle and Ocone martingales

Let M=_(Mt)t≥0$M={\left(M_t\right)}_{t\ge 0}$ be any continuous real-valued stochastic process. We prove that if there exists a sequence _(an)n≥1${\left(a_n\right)}_{n\ge 1}$ of real numbers which converges to 0 and such that M$M$ satisfies the reflection property at all levels _an$a_n$ and 2_an$2a_n$ with n≥1$n\ge 1$, then M$M$ is an Ocone local martingale with respect to its natural filtration. We state the subsequent open question: is this result still true when the property only holds at levels _an$a_n$? We prove that this question is equivalent to the fact that for Brownian motion, the σ$\sigma$-field of the invariant events by all reflections at levels _an$a_n$, n≥1$n\ge 1$ is trivial. We establish similar results for skip free Z$\mathbb{Z}$-valued processes and use them for the proof in continuous time, via a discretization in space.     

Nonparametric estimation of the stationary density and the transition density of a Markov chain

In this paper, we study first the problem of nonparametric estimation of the stationary density f$f$ of a discrete-time Markov chain (_Xi)$\left(X_i\right)$. We consider a collection of projection estimators on finite dimensional linear spaces. We select an estimator among the collection by minimizing a penalized contrast. The same technique enables us to estimate the density g$g$ of (_Xi,_Xi+1)$(X_i,X_{i+1})$ and so to provide an adaptive estimator of the transition density π=g/f$\pi =g/f$. We give bounds in L²$L^2$ norm for these estimators and we show that they are adaptive in the minimax sense over a large class of Besov spaces. Some examples and simulations are also provided.