Light on the infinite group relaxation I: foundations and taxonomy

This is a survey on the infinite group problem, an infinite-dimensional relaxation of integer linear optimization problems introduced by Ralph Gomory and Ellis Johnson in their groundbreaking papers titled Some continuous functions related to corner polyhedra I, II (Math Program 3:23–85, 359–389, 1972a, b). The survey presents the infinite group problem in the modern context of cut generating functions. It focuses on the recent developments, such as algorithms for testing extremality and breakthroughs for the k-row problem for general \(k\ge 1\) that extend previous work on the single-row and two-row problems. The survey also includes some previously unpublished results; among other things, it unveils piecewise linear extreme functions with more than four different slopes. An interactive companion program, implemented in the open-source computer algebra package Sage, provides an updated compendium of known extreme functions.     

Light on the infinite group relaxation II: sufficient conditions for extremality,sequences, and algorithms

This is the second part of a survey on the infinite group problem, an infinite-dimensional relaxation of integer linear optimization problems introduced by Ralph Gomory and Ellis Johnson in their groundbreaking papers titled Some continuous functions related to corner polyhedra I, II (Math Program 3:23–85, 1972a; Math Program 3:359–389, 1972b). The survey presents the infinite group problem in the modern context of cut generating functions. It focuses on the recent developments, such as algorithms for testing extremality and breakthroughs for the k-row problem for general \(k\ge 1\) that extend previous work on the single-row and two-row problems. The survey also includes some previously unpublished results; among other things, it unveils piecewise linear extreme functions with more than four different slopes. An interactive companion program, implemented in the open-source computer algebra package Sage, provides an updated compendium of known extreme functions.     

Harnack Inequality and Regularity for a Product of Symmetric Stable Process and Brownian Motion

In this paper, we consider a product of a symmetric stable process in ? ^d and a one-dimensional Brownian motion in ?^?+?. Then we define a class of harmonic functions with respect to this product process. We show that bounded non-negative harmonic functions in the upper-half space satisfy Harnack inequality and prove that they are locally Hölder continuous. We also argue a result on Littlewood–Paley functions which are obtained by the α-harmonic extension of an L ^p (? ^d ) function.     

Fractal Perturbation of Shaped Functions: Convergence Independent of Scaling

In this paper, we introduce a new class of fractal approximants as a fixed points of the Read–Bajraktarevi? operator defined on a suitable function space. In the development of our fractal approximants, we used the suitable bounded linear operators defined on the space \({\mathcal {C}}(I)\) of continuous functions and \(\alpha \)-fractal functions. The convergence of the proposed fractal approximants towards the continuous function f does not need any condition on the scaling vector. Owing to this reason, the proposed fractal approximants approximate the function f without losing their fractality. We establish constrained approximation by a new class of fractal polynomials. In particular, our constrained fractal polynomials preserve positivity and fractality of the original function simultaneously whenever the original function is positive and irregular. Calculus of the proposed fractal approximants is studied using suitable bounded linear operators defined on the space \({\mathcal {C}}^r(I)\) of all real-valued functions on the compact interval I that are r-times differentiable with continuous r-th derivative. We identify the IFS parameters so that our \(\alpha \)-fractal functions preserve fundamental shape properties such as monotonicity and convexity in addition to the smoothness of f in the given compact interval.     

Some new results on integration for multifunction

It has been proven in Di Piazza and Musia? (Set Valued Anal 13:167–179, 2005, Vector measures, integration and related topics, Birkhauser Verlag, Basel, vol 201, pp 171–182, 2010) that each Henstock–Kurzweil–Pettis integrable multifunction with weakly compact values can be represented as a sum of one of its selections and a Pettis integrable multifunction. We prove here that if the initial multifunction is also Bochner measurable and has absolutely continuous variational measure of its integral, then it is a sum of a strongly measurable selection and of a variationally Henstock integrable multifunction that is also Birkhoff integrable (Theorem 3.4). Moreover, in case of strongly measurable (multi)functions, a characterization of the Birkhoff integrability is given using a kind of Birkhoff strong property.     

Mock and mixed mock modular forms in the lower half-plane

We study mock and mixed mock modular forms in the lower half-plane. In particular, our results apply to Zwegers’ three-variable mock Jacobi form \({\mu(u,v;\tau)}\), three-variable generalizations of the universal mock modular partition rank generating function, and the quantum and mock modular strongly unimodal sequence rank generating function. We do not rely upon the analytic properties of these functions; we establish our results concisely using the theory of q-hypergeometric series and partial theta functions. We extend related results of Ramanujan, Hikami, and prior work of the author with Bringmann and Rhoades, and also incorporate more recent aspects of the theory pertaining to quantum modular forms and the behavior of these functions at rational numbers when viewed as functions of \({\tau}\) (or equivalently, at roots of unity when viewed as functions of q).     

Covering functions by countably many functions from some families

Let $ \mathcal{A} $ be a nonempty family of functions from $ \mathbb{R} $ to $ \mathbb{R} $ . A function $ f:\mathbb{R}\to \mathbb{R} $ is said to be strongly countably $ \mathcal{A} $ -function if there is a sequence (f _n ) of functions from $ \mathcal{A} $ such that $ \mathrm{Gr}(f)\subset {\cup_n}\mathrm{Gr}\left( {{f_n}} \right) $ (Gr(f) denotes the graph of f). If $ \mathcal{A} $ is the family of all continuous functions, the strongly countable $ \mathcal{A} $ -functions are called strongly countably continuous and were investigated in [Z. Grande and A. Fatz-Grupka, On countably continuous functions, Tatra Mt. Math. Publ., 28:57–63, 2004], [G. Horbaczewska, On strongly countably continuous functions, Tatra Mt. Math. Publ., 42:81–86, 2009], and [T.A. Natkaniec, On additive countably continuous functions, Publ. Math., 79(1–2):1–6, 2011]. In this article, we prove that the families $ \mathcal{A}\left( \mathbb{R} \right) $ of all strongly countably $ \mathcal{A} $ -functions are closed with respect to some operations in dependence of analogous properties of the families $ \mathcal{A} $ , and, in particular, we show some properties of strongly countably differentiable functions, strongly countably approximately continuous functions, and strongly countably quasi-continuous functions.     

Random expected utility theory with a continuum of prizes

This note generalizes Gul and Pesendorfer’s random expected utility theory, a stochastic reformulation of von Neumann–Morgenstern expected utility theory for lotteries over a finite set of prizes, to the circumstances with a continuum of prizes. Let [0, M] denote this continuum of prizes; assume that each utility function is continuous, let \(C_0[0,M]\) be the set of all utility functions which vanish at the origin, and define a random utility function to be a finitely additive probability measure on \(C_0[0,M]\) (associated with an appropriate algebra). It is shown here that a random choice rule is mixture continuous, monotone, linear, and extreme if, and only if, the random choice rule maximizes some regular random utility function. To obtain countable additivity of the random utility function, we further restrict our consideration to those utility functions that are continuously differentiable on [0, M] and vanish at zero. With this restriction, it is shown that a random choice rule is continuous, monotone, linear, and extreme if, and only if, it maximizes some regular, countably additive random utility function. This generalization enables us to make a discussion of risk aversion in the framework of random expected utility theory.     

Extreme functions with an arbitrary number of slopes

For the one dimensional infinite group relaxation, we construct a sequence of extreme valid functions that are piecewise linear and such that for every natural number \(k\ge 2\), there is a function in the sequence with k slopes. This settles an open question in this area regarding a universal bound on the number of slopes for extreme functions. The function which is the pointwise limit of this sequence is an extreme valid function that is continuous and has an infinite number of slopes. This provides a new and more refined counterexample to an old conjecture of Gomory and Johnson stating that all extreme functions are piecewise linear. These constructions are extended to obtain functions for the higher dimensional group problems via the sequential-merge operation of Dey and Richard.     

The Steiner rearrangement in any codimension

We analyze the Steiner rearrangement in any codimension of Sobolev and $BV$ functions. In particular, we prove a Pólya–Szeg? inequality for a large class of convex integrals. Then, we give minimal assumptions under which functions attaining equality are necessarily Steiner symmetric.     

Linear codes from simplicial complexes

In this article we introduce a method of constructing binary linear codes and computing their weights by means of Boolean functions arising from mathematical objects called simplicial complexes. Inspired by Adamaszek (Am Math Mon 122:367–370, 2015) we introduce n-variable generating functions associated with simplicial complexes and derive explicit formulae. Applying the construction (Carlet in Finite Field Appl 13:121–135, 2007; Wadayama in Des Codes Cryptogr 23:23–33, 2001) of binary linear codes to Boolean functions arising from simplicial complexes, we obtain a class of optimal linear codes and a class of minimal linear codes.     

Continued fractions for square series generating functions

We consider new series expansions for variants of the so-termed ordinary geometric square series generating functions originally defined in the recent article titled “Square Series Generating Function Transformations” (arXiv:1609.02803). Whereas the original square series transformations article adapts known generating function transformations to construct integral representations for these square series functions enumerating the square powers of \(q^{n^2}\) for some fixed non-zero q with \(|q| < 1\), we study the expansions of these special series through power series generated by Jacobi-type continued fractions, or J-fractions. We prove new exact expansions of the hth convergents to these continued fraction series and show that the limiting case of these convergent generating functions exists as \(h \rightarrow \infty \). We also prove new infinite q-series representations of special square series expansions involving square-power terms of the series parameter q, the q-Pochhammer symbol, and double sums over the q-binomial coefficients. Applications of the new results we prove within the article include new q-series representations for the ordinary generating functions of the special sequences, \(r_p(n)\), and \(\sigma _1(n)\), as well as parallels to the examples of the new integral representations for theta functions, series expansions of infinite products and partition function generating functions, and related unilateral special function series cited in the first square series transformations article.     

Hermitian decomposition of continuous functions on a fractal surface

In this paper the Théodoresco transform is used to show that, under additional assumptions, each Hölder continuous function f defined on the boundary Γ of a fractal domain Ω ? ?²ⁿ can be expressed as f = Ψ⁺ ? Ψ^?, where Ψ^± are Hölder continuous functions on Γ and Hermitian monogenically extendable to Ω and to ?²ⁿ ? (Ω ∪ Γ) respectively.     

Comparing the <Emphasis Type="Italic">ℤ</Emphasis><Subscript>2</Subscript>-Graded Identities of Two Minimal Superalgebras with the Same Superexponent

Let F be a field of characteristic zero. We study two minimal superalgebras A and B having the same superexponent but such that T ₂ (A) ? T ₂ (B), thus providing the first example of a minimal superalgebra generating a non minimal supervariety. We compare the structures and codimension sequences of A and B.     

Equivariant perturbation in Gomory and Johnson’s infinite group problem—III: foundations for the k-dimensional case with applications to $$ $$

We develop foundational tools for classifying the extreme valid functions for the k-dimensional infinite group problem. In particular, we present the general regular solution to Cauchy’s additive functional equation on restricted lower-dimensional convex domains. This provides a k-dimensional generalization of the so-called Interval Lemma, allowing us to deduce affine properties of the function from certain additivity relations. Next, we study the discrete geometry of additivity domains of piecewise linear functions, providing a framework for finite tests of minimality and extremality. We then give a theory of non-extremality certificates in the form of perturbation functions. We apply these tools in the context of minimal valid functions for the two-dimensional infinite group problem that are piecewise linear on a standard triangulation of the plane, under a regularity condition called diagonal constrainedness. We show that the extremality of a minimal valid function is equivalent to the extremality of its restriction to a certain finite two-dimensional group problem. This gives an algorithm for testing the extremality of a given minimal valid function.     

Reliability Bounds for Multicriteria Systems

This paper deals with general structure functions, where arbitrary degrees of performance between perfect functioning and complete failure are allowed for each component and the n-component system itself. We make the assumption that the n-component system can be modelled as a structure function given by a mapping φ:L ⁿ →L ^k ₀, L and L₀ being two linearly ordered sets, so that the performance of the system is evaluated according to k single criteria. Global concepts of minimal path and minimal cut are discussed for these multicriteria systems; general reliability bounds based on them are deduced and compared with those given in previous papers.     

Rigid Binary Relations on a 4-Element Domain

An n-ary relation ρ on a set U is strongly rigid if it is preserved only by trivial operations. It is projective if the only idempotent operations in P o l ρ are projections. Rosenberg, (Rocky Mt. J. Math. 3, 631–639, 1973) characterized all strongly rigid relations on a set with two elements and found a strongly rigid binary relation on every domain U of at least 3 elements. Larose and Tardif (Mult.-Valued Log. 7(5-6), 339–362, 2001) studied the projective and strongly rigid graphs and constructed large families of strongly rigid graphs. ?uczak and Ne?et?il (J. Graph Theory. 47, 81–86, 2004) settled in the affirmative a conjecture of Larose and Tardif that most graphs on a large set are projective, and characterized all homogenous graphs that are projective. ?uczak and Ne?et?il (SIAM J. Comput. 36(3), 835–843, 2006) confirmed a conjecture of Rosenberg that most relations on a big set are strongly rigid. In this paper, we characterize all strongly rigid relations on a set with at least three elements to answer an open question by Rosenberg, (Rocky Mt. J. Math. 3, 631–639, 1973) and we classify the binary relations on the 4-element domain by rigidity and demonstrate that there are merely 40 pairwise nonisomorphic rigid binary relations on the same domain (among them 25 are pairwise nonisomorphic strongly rigid).