An extremal problem on potentially Kr,s-graphic sequences

We consider a variation of a classical Turán-type extremal problem (F. Chung, R. Graham, Erd s on Graphs: His Legacy of Unsolved Problems, AK Peters Ltd., Wellesley, 1998, Chapter 3) as follows: Determine the smallest even integer σ(K_r,s,n) such that every n-term graphic sequence π=(d₁,d₂,…,d_n) with term sum σ(π)=d₁+d₂++d_nσ(K_r,s,n) is potentially K_r,s-graphic, where K_r,s is a r×s complete bipartite graph, i.e., π has a realization G containing K_r,s as its subgraph. In this paper, we first give sufficient conditions for a graphic sequence being potentially K_r,s-graphic, and then we determine σ(K_r,r,n) for r=3,4.     

Efficient robust estimation of parameter in the random censorship model

For an open set Θ of ^k, let \s{P_θ: θ Θ\s} be a parametric family of probabilities modeling the distribution of i.i.d. random variables X₁,…, X_n. Suppose X_i's are subject to right censoring and one is only able to observe the pairs (min(X_i, Y_i), [X_i Y_i]), i = 1,…, n, where [A] denotes the indicator function of the event A, Y₁,…, Y_n are independent of X₁,…, X_n and i.i.d. with unknown distribution Q₀. This paper investigates estimation of the value θ that gives a fitted member of the parametric family when the distributions of X₁ and Y₁ are subject to contamination. The constructed estimators are adaptive under the semi-parametric model and robust against small contaminations: they achieve a lower bound for the local asymptotic minimax risk over Hellinger neighborhoods, in the Hájel—Le Cam sense. The work relies on Beran (1981). The construction employs some results on product-limit estimators.     

Flat portions on the boundary of the numerical ranges of certain Toeplitz matrices

We give criterions for a flat portion to exist on the boundary of the numerical range of a matrix. A special type of Teoplitz matrices with flat portions on the boundary of its numerical range are constructed. We show that there exist 2 × 2 nilpotent matrices A₁,A₂, an n  × n nilpotent Toeplitz matrix N_n, and an n  × n cyclic permutation matrix S_n(s) such that the numbers of flat portions on the boundaries of W(A₁⊕N_n) and W(A₂⊕S_n(s)) are, respectively, 2(n - 2) and 2n.     

First passage time for some stationary processes

For a 1-dependent stationary sequence {X_n} we first show that if u satisfies p₁=p₁(u)=P(X₁>u)0.025 and n>3 is such that 88np₁³1, then

P{max(X₁,…,X_n)u}=ν·μⁿ+O{p₁³(88n(1+124np₁³)+561)}, n>3,

where

ν=1−p₂+2p₃−3p₄+p₁²+6p₂²−6p₁p₂,μ=(1+p₁−p₂+p₃−p₄+2p₁²+3p₂²−5p₁p₂)⁻¹

with

p_k=p_k(u)=P{min(X₁,…,X_k)>u}, k1

and

|O(x)||x|.

From this result we deduce, for a stationary T-dependent process with a.s. continuous path {Y_s}, a similar, in terms of P{max_0skTY_s<u}, k=1,2 formula for P{max_0stY_su}, t>3T and apply this formula to the process Y_s=W(s+1)−W(s), s0, where {W(s)} is the Wiener process. We then obtain numerical estimations of the above probabilities.     

A sufficient and necessary condition for an OWA bag mapping having the self-identity

A mapping ƒ : _n=1^∞Iⁿ → I is called a bag mapping having the self-identity if for every (x₁,…,x_n) ε _i=1^∞Iⁿ we have (1) ƒ(x₁,…,x_n) = ƒ(x_i1,…,x_in) for any arrangement (i₁,…,i_n) of {1,…,n}; monotonic; (3) ƒ(x₁,…,x_n, ƒ(x₁,…,x_n)) = ƒ(x₁,…,x_n). Let {ω_i,n : I = 1,…,n;n = 1,2,…} be a family of non-negative real numbers satisfying Σ_i=1ⁿω_i,n = 1 for every n. Then one calls the mapping ƒ : _i=1^∞Iⁿ → I defined as follows an OWA bag mapping: for every (x₁,…,x_n) ε _i=1^∞Iⁿ, ƒ(x₁,…,x_n) = Σ_i=1ⁿω_i,ny_i, where y_i is the it largest element in the set {x₁,…,x_n}. In this paper, we give a sufficient and necessary condition for an OWA bag mapping having the self-identity.     

Aspects of semiorders within interval orders

Let s_k(n) be the largest integer such that every n-point interval order with no antichain of more than k points includes an s_k(n)-point semiorder. When k = 1, s₁(n) = n since all interval orders with no two-point antichains are chains. Given (c₁,...,c₅) = (1, 2, 3, 4), it is shown that s₂(n) = c_n for n 4, s₃(n) = c_n for n 5, and for all positive n, s₂ (n+4) =s₂(n)+3, s₃(n+5) = s₃(n)+3. Hence s₂ has a repeating pattern of length 4 [1, 2, 3, 3; 4, 5, 6, 6; 7, 8, 9, 9;...], and s₃ has a repeating pattern of length 5 [1, 2, 3, 3, 4; 4, 5, 6, 6, 7; 7, 8, 9, 9, 10;...].

Let s(n) be the largest integer such that every n-point interval order includes an s(n)-point semiorder. It was proved previously that for even n from 4 to 14, and that s(17) = 9. We prove here that s(15) = s(16) = 9, so that s begins 1, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4,..., 8, 8, 9, 9, 9. Since s(n)/n→0, s cannot have a repeating pattern.     

The smallest degree sum that yields potentially kCℓ-graphic sequences

Gould et al. (Combinatorics, Graph Theory and Algorithms, Vol. 1, 1999, pp. 387–400) considered a variation of the classical Turán-type extremal problems as follows: For a given graph H, determine the smallest even integer σ(H,n) such that every n-term graphic sequence π=(d₁,d₂,…,d_n) with term sum σ(π)=d₁+d₂++d_nσ(H,n) has a realization G containing H as a subgraph. In this paper, for given integers k and ℓ, ℓ7 and 3kℓ, we completely determine the smallest even integer σ(_kC_ℓ,n) such that each n-term graphic sequence π=(d₁,d₂,…,d_n) with term sum σ(π)=d₁+d₂++d_nσ(_kC_ℓ,n) has a realization G containing a cycle of length r for each r, krℓ.     

Stability of Periodic Orbits and Return Trajectories of Continuous Multi-valued Maps on Intervals

Let I be a compact interval of real axis R, and(I, H) be the metric space of all nonempty closed subintervals of I with the Hausdorff metric H and f : I → I be a continuous multi-valued map. Assume that Pn =(x_0, x_1,..., xn) is a return tra jectory of f and that p ∈ [min Pn, max Pn] with p ∈ f(p). In this paper, we show that if there exist k(≥ 1) centripetal point pairs of f(relative to p)in {(x_i; x_i+1) : 0 ≤ i ≤ n-1} and n = sk + r(0 ≤ r ≤ k-1), then f has an R-periodic orbit, where R = s + 1 if s is even, and R = s if s is odd and r = 0, and R = s + 2 if s is odd and r 0. Besides,we also study stability of periodic orbits of continuous multi-valued maps from I to I.     

Subsets of an interval whose product is a power

We form squares from the product of integers in a short interval [n, n + t_n], where we include n in the product. If p is prime, p|n, and (₂^p) > n, we prove that p is the minimum t_n. If no such prime exists, we prove t_n √5n when n> 32. If n = p(2p − 1) and both p and 2p − 1 are primes, then t_n = 3p> 3 √n/2. For n(n + u) a square > n², we conjecture that a and b exist where n < a < b < n + u and nab is a square (except n = 8 and N = 392). Let g₂(n) be minimal such that a square can be formed as the product of distinct integers from [n, g₂(n)] so that no pair of consecutive integers is omitted. We prove that g₂(n) 3n − 3, and list or conjecture the values of g₂(n) for all n. We describe the generalization to kth powers and conjecture the values for large n.     

On the orthogonal rational functions with arbitrary poles and interpolation properties

Let = z_n,mm=1ⁿ with |z_n,m| < 1, n = 1,2,…, be an arbitrary sequence of complex numbers. We generalize the orthogonal rational functions with poles at . We study the weak convergence and the interpolation properties of the orthogonal rational functions.     

Compatibilité entre structures d''intervalles et relations d''orde

Compatibility between interval structures and partial orderings.

If H=(X,E) is a hypergraph, n the cardinality of X,I_n the ordered set {1..n} and < an order relation on X, we call F(X,<) the set of the one-to-one functions from X to I_n which are compatible with <. If AI_n we denote by (A) the length of the smallest interval of I_n which contains A.

We first deal with the following problem: Find ƒF(X,<) which minimise . The a_e, eR are positive coefficients.

This problem can be understood as a scheduling problem and is checked to be NP-complete. We learn how to recognize in polynomial time those hypergraphs H=(X,E) which induce an optimal value of z min equal to .

Next we work on a dual question which arises about interval graphs, when some partial orderings on the vertex set of these graphs intend to represent inclusion, overlapping or anteriority relations between closed intervals of the real line.     

Solution to an extremal problem on bigraphic pairs with a <Emphasis Type="Italic">Z</Emphasis><Subscript>3</Subscript>-connected realization

Let S=(a₁,...,a_m; b₁,...,b_n), where a₁,...,a_m and b₁,...,b_n are two nonincreasing sequences of nonnegative integers. The pair S=(a₁,...,a_m; b₁,...,b_n) is said to be a bigraphic pair if there is a simple bipartite graph G=(X ∪ Y, E) such that a₁,...,a_m and b₁,...,b_n are the degrees of the vertices in X and Y, respectively. Let Z₃ be the cyclic group of order 3. Define σ(Z₃, m, n) to be the minimum integer k such that every bigraphic pair S=(a₁,...,a_m; b₁,...,b_n) with a_m, b_n ≥ 2 and σ(S)=a₁ +... + a_m ≥ k has a Z₃-connected realization. For n=m, Yin[Discrete Math., 339, 2018-2026 (2016)] recently determined the values of σ(Z₃, m, m) for m ≥ 4. In this paper, we completely determine the values of σ(Z₃, m, n) for m ≥ n ≥ 4.     

A note on convergence in Banach spaces of cotype p

Let B be a separable Banach space. The following is one of the results proved in this paper. The Banach space B is of cotype p if and only if

1. d_n, n 1, has no subsequence converging in probability, and

2. ∑_{n 1}|a_n|^p < ∞ whenever ∑_{n 1}a_nd_n converges almost surely are equivalent for every sequence d_n, n 1, of symmetric independent random elements taking values in B.

3-D vertical ray shooting and 2-D point enclosure, range searching, and arc shooting amidst convex fat objects

We present a new data structure for a set of n convex simply-shaped fat objects in the plane, and use it to obtain efficient and rather simple solutions to several problems including (i) vertical ray shooting—preprocess a set of n non-intersecting convex simply-shaped flat objects in 3-space, whose xy-projections are fat, for efficient vertical ray shooting queries, (ii) point enclosure—preprocess a set C of n convex simply-shaped fat objects in the plane, so that the k objects containing a query point p can be reported efficiently, (iii) bounded-size range searching— preprocess a set C of n convex fat polygons, so that the k objects intersecting a “not-too-large” query polygon can be reported efficiently, and (iv) bounded-size segment shooting—preprocess a set C as in (iii), so that the first object (if exists) hit by a “not-too-long” oriented query segment can be found efficiently. For the first three problems we construct data structures of size O(λ_s(n)log³n), where s is the maximum number of intersections between the boundaries of the (xy-projections) of any pair of objects, and λ_s(n) is the maximum length of (n, s) Davenport-Schinzel sequences. The data structure for the fourth problem is of size O(λ_s(n)log²n). The query time in the first problem is O(log⁴n), the query time in the second and third problems is O(log³n + klog²n), and the query time in the fourth problem is O(log³n).

We also present a simple algorithm for computing a depth order for a set as in (i), that is based on the solution to the vertical ray shooting problem. (A depth order for , if exists, is a linear order of , such that, if K₁, K₂ and K₁ lies vertically above K₂, then K₁ precedes K₂.) Unlike the algorithm of Agarwal et al. (1995) that might output a false order when a depth order does not exist, the new algorithm is able to determine whether such an order exists, and it is often more efficient in practical situations than the former algorithm.     

q-distributions and Markov processes

We consider a sequence of integer-valued random variables X_n, n 1, representing a special Markov process with transition probability λ_{n, l}, satisfying P_{n, l} = (1 − λ_{n, l}) P_{n−1, l} + λ_{n, l−1} P_{n−1, l−1}. Whenever the transition probability is given by λ_{n, l} = q^{n + βl + γ} and λ_{n, l} = 1 − q^n+βl+γ, we can find closed forms for the distribution and the moments of the corresponding random variables, showing that they involve functions such as the q-binomial coefficients and the q-Stirling numbers. In general, it turns out that the q-notation, up to now mainly used in the theory of q-hypergeometrical series, represents a powerful tool to deal with these kinds of problems. In this context we speak therefore about q-distributions. Finally, we present some possible, mainly graph theoretical interpretations of these random variables for special choices of , β and γ.     

All trees are 1-embeddable and all except stars are 2-embeddable

A graph G with n vertices is said to be embeddable (in its complement) if there is an automorphism φ of K_n such that E(G) ∩ E(φ(G))=. It is known that all trees T with n (≥2) vertices and T K_1,n−1 are embeddable. We say that G is 1-embeddable if, for every edge e, there is an automorphism φ of K_n such that E(G) ∩ E(φ(G))={e};and that it is 2-embeddable if,for every pair e₁, e₂ of edges, there is an automorphism φ of K_n such that E(G) ∩ E(φ(G))={e₁, e₂}. We prove here that all trees with n (3) vertices are 1-embeddable; and that all trees T with n (4) vertices and T K_1,n−1 are 2-embeddable. In a certain sense, this result is sharp.     

Loopless generation of up–down permutations

An up–down permutation P=(p₁,p₂,…,p_n) is a permutation of the integers 1 to n which satisfies constraints specified by a sequence C=(c₁,c₂,…,c_n−1) of U's and D's of length n−1. If c_i is U then p_i<p_i+1 otherwise p_i−1>p_i. A loopless algorithm is developed for generating all the up–down permutations satisfying any sequence C. Ranking and unranking algorithms are discussed.     

Asymptotic bounds for some bipartite graph: complete graph Ramsey numbers

The Ramsey number r(H,K_n) is the smallest integer N so that each graph on N vertices that fails to contain H as a subgraph has independence number at least n. It is shown that r(K_2,m,K_n)(m−1+o(1))(n/log n)² and r(C_2m,K_n)c(n/log n)^m/(m−1) for m fixed and n→∞. Also r(K_2,n,K_n)=Θ(n³/log² n) and .     

Scheduling starting times for an active redundant system with non-identical lifetimes

Here we examine an active redundant system with scheduled starting times of the units. We assume availability of n non-identical, non-repairable units for replacement or support. The original unit starts its operation at time s₁ = 0 and each one of the (n − 1) standbys starts its operation at scheduled time s_i (i = 2, …, n) and works in parallel with those already introduced and not failed before s_i. The system is up at times s_i (i = 2, …, n), if and only if, there is at least one unit in operation. Thus, the system has the possibility to work with up to n units, in parallel structure. Unit-lifetimes T_i (i = 1, …, n) are independent with cdf F_i, respectively. The system has to operate without inspection for a fixed period of time c and it stops functioning when all available units fail before c. The probability that the system is functioning for the required period of time c depends on the distribution of the unit-lifetimes and on the scheduling of the starting times s_i. The reliability of the system is evaluated via a recursive relation as a function of the starting times s_i (i = 2, …, n). Maximizing with respect to the starting times we get the optimal ones. Analytical results are presented for some special distributions and moderate values of n.     

Oscillation criteria for first-order neutral nonlinear difference equations with variable coefficients

Consider the first-order neutral nonlinear difference equation of the form

, where τ > 0, σ_i ≥ 0 (i = 1, 2,…, m) are integers, {p_n} and {q_n} are nonnegative sequences. We obtain new criteria for the oscillation of the above equation without the restrictions Σ_n=0^∞ q_n = ∞ or Σ_n=0^∞ nq_n Σ_j=n^∞ q_j = ∞ commonly used in the literature.