Beginners’ progress in early arithmetic in the Swedish compulsory school

This article focuses on spontaneous knowledge-building in the field of “the arithmetic of the child.” The aim is to investigate the conceptual progress of fifteen children during their early school years in the compulsory school. The study is based on the epistemology of radical constructivism and the methodology of “multiple clinical interviews”. A model of “the arithmetic of the child” elucidates mental structures used by the child in solving problems. The individual interviews are video-recorded. The results show that the children's solutions are compatible with the model. When the researcher adapts problems to the children's available concepts to bring out their capability, they all solve them in their own ways. Further, the conceptual levels of the children differ to a great extent at school start and do not all show conceptual progress after 2 years of traditional teaching. An implication for an alternative teaching process is suggested, namely “the arithmetic for the child”, accomplished in a triadic teaching process.     

The difficulty of “length × width”: Is a square the unit of measurement?

In individual interviews, 220 students in grades 4, 6, 8, and 9 were given one task, and 72 eighth graders were given three tasks to answer two questions: (a) Is a square the unit of measurement for an area for students in grades 4-8? and (b) Does a square have a space-covering characteristic for students in grade 8? The answers to both questions were No (except for eighth (and ninth) graders in advanced sections of mathematics). The difficulty of “length × width” is explained in light of Piaget's theory, and educational implications are discussed.     

Arithmetic partial differential equations, I

We develop an arithmetic analogue of linear partial differential equations in two independent “space-time” variables. The spatial derivative is a Fermat quotient operator, while the time derivative is the usual derivation. This allows us to “flow” integers or, more generally, points on algebraic groups with coordinates in rings with arithmetic flavor. In particular, we show that elliptic curves carry certain canonical “arithmetic flows” that are arithmetic analogues of the convection, heat, and wave equations, respectively. The same is true for the additive and the multiplicative group.     

Arithmetic partial differential equations, II

We continue the study of arithmetic partial differential equations initiated in [7] by classifying “arithmetic convection equations” on modular curves, and by describing their space of solutions. Certain of these solutions involve the Fourier expansions of the Eisenstein modular forms of weight 4 and 6, while others involve the Serre-Tate expansions (Mori, 1995 [13], Buium, 2003 [4]) of the same modular forms; in this sense, our arithmetic convection equations can be seen as “unifying” the two types of expansions. The theory can be generalized to one of “arithmetic heat equations” on modular curves, but we prove that they do not carry “arithmetic wave equations.” Finally, we prove an instability result for families of arithmetic heat equations converging to an arithmetic convection equation.     

Homological symbols and the Quillen conjecture

We formulate a “correct” version of the Quillen conjecture on linear group homology for certain arithmetic rings and provide evidence for the new conjecture. In this way we predict that the linear group homology has a direct summand looking like an unstable form of Milnor K-theory and we call this new theory “homological symbols algebra”. As a byproduct, we prove the Quillen conjecture in homological degree two for the rank two and the prime 5.     

Beyond Cartesian limits: Leibniz's passage from algebraic to “transcendental” mathematics

This article deals with Leibniz's reception of Descartes' “geometry.” Leibnizian mathematics was based on five fundamental notions: calculus, characteristic, art of invention, method, and freedom. On the basis of methodological considerations Leibniz criticized Descartes' restriction of geometry to objects that could be given in terms of algebraic (i.e., finite) equations: “Descartes's mind was the limit of science.” The failure of algebra to solve equations of higher degree led Leibniz to develop linear algebra, and the failure of algebra to deal with transcendental problems led him to conceive of a science of the infinite. Hence Leibniz reconstructed the mathematical corpus, created new (transcendental) notions, and redefined known notions (equality, exactness, construction), thus establishing “a veritable complement of algebra for the transcendentals”: infinite equations, i.e., infinite series, became inestimable tools of mathematical research.     

The affect heuristic

This paper introduces a theoretical framework that describes the importance of affect in guiding judgments and decisions. As used here, “affect” means the specific quality of “goodness” or “badness” (i) experienced as a feeling state (with or without consciousness) and (ii) demarcating a positive or negative quality of a stimulus. Affective responses occur rapidly and automatically—note how quickly you sense the feelings associated with the stimulus word “treasure” or the word “hate”. We argue that reliance on such feelings can be characterized as “the affect heuristic”. In this paper we trace the development of the affect heuristic across a variety of research paths followed by ourselves and many others. We also discuss some of the important practical implications resulting from ways that this heuristic impacts our daily lives.     

Factoring and decomposing a class of linear functional systems

Within a constructive homological algebra approach, we study the factorization and decomposition problems for a class of linear functional (determined, over-determined, under-determined) systems. Using the concept of Ore algebras of functional operators (e.g., ordinary/partial differential operators, shift operators, time-delay operators), we first concentrate on the computation of morphisms from a finitely presented left module M over an Ore algebra to another one M′, where M (resp., M′) is a module intrinsically associated with the linear functional system Ry = 0 (resp., R′z = 0). These morphisms define applications sending solutions of the system R′z = 0 to solutions of R y = 0. We explicitly characterize the kernel, image, cokernel and coimage of a general morphism. We then show that the existence of a non-injective endomorphism of the module M is equivalent to the existence of a non-trivial factorization R = R₂R₁ of the system matrix R. The corresponding system can then be integrated “in cascade”. Under certain conditions, we also show that the system Ry = 0 is equivalent to a system R′z = 0, where R′ is a block-triangular matrix of the same size as R. We show that the existence of idempotents of the endomorphism ring of the module M allows us to reduce the integration of the system Ry = 0 to the integration of two independent systems R₁y₁ = 0 and R₂y₂ = 0. Furthermore, we prove that, under certain conditions, idempotents provide decompositions of the system Ry = 0, i.e., they allow us to compute an equivalent system R′z = 0, where R′ is a block-diagonal matrix of the same size as R. Applications of these results in mathematical physics and control theory are given. Finally, the different algorithms of the paper are implemented in the Maple package Morphisms based on the library oremodules.     

Assigning resources and targets to an organization’s activities

Each of an organization’s many activities transforms inputs into outputs. Managing these activities involves allocating input resources for some activities and assigning output targets for others. Making these decisions is especially difficult in the presence of uncertainty. In practice, many organizations address these problems by using a fairly simple “proportional allocation” heuristic (e.g., “allocate to each activity the same percentage increase (or decrease) in its resources or targets”). But proportional allocation does not consider the uncertainty inherent in the ability of each activity to make use of its resources (or meet its targets).     

On Montgomery's conjecture and the distribution of Dirichlet sums

A new version of Montgomery's conjecture (1971) on the estimation of Dirichlet sums is disproved by means of a modification of the idea of “short sums” (due to Bourgain, 1991). We also study the distribution of the values of Dirichlet's “long sums”.     

Fractional commensurate, composition, and adding schemes: Learning trajectories of Jason and Laura: Grade 5

A case study of two 5th-Grade children, Jason and Laura, is presented who participated in the teaching experiment, Children’s Construction of the Rational Numbers of Arithmetic. The case study begins on the 29th of November of their 5th-Grade in school and ends on the 5th of April of the same school year. Two basic problems were of interest in the case study. The first was to provide an analysis of the concepts and operations that are involved in the construction of three fractional schemes: a commensurate fractional scheme, a fractional composition scheme, and a fractional adding scheme. The second was to provide an analysis of the contribution of interactive mathematical activity in the construction of these schemes. The phrase, “commensurate factional scheme” refers to the concepts and operations that are involved in transforming a given fraction into another fraction that are both measures of an identical quantity. Likewise, “fractional composition scheme” refers to the concepts and operations that are involved in finding how much, say, 1/3 of 1/4 of a quantity is of the whole quantity, and “fractional adding scheme” refers to the concepts and operations involved in finding how much, say, 1/3 of a quantity joined to 1/4 of a quantity is of the whole quantity. Critical protocols were abstracted from the teaching episodes with the two children that illustrate what is meant by the schemes, changes in the children’s concepts and operations, and the interactive mathematical activity that was involved. The body of the case study consists of an on-going analysis of the children’s interactive mathematical activity and changes in that activity. The last section of the case study consists of an analysis of the constitutive aspects of the children’s constructive activity, including the role of social interaction and nonverbal interactions of the children with each other and with the computer software we used in teaching the children.     

The problem of harmonic analysis on the infinite-dimensional unitary group

The goal of harmonic analysis on a (noncommutative) group is to decompose the most “natural” unitary representations of this group (like the regular representation) on irreducible ones. The infinite-dimensional unitary group U(∞) is one of the basic examples of “big” groups whose irreducible representations depend on infinitely many parameters. Our aim is to explain what the harmonic analysis on U(∞) consists of.We deal with unitary representations of a reasonable class, which are in 1-1 correspondence with characters (central, positive definite, normalized functions on U(∞)). The decomposition of any representation of this class is described by a probability measure (called spectral measure) on the space of indecomposable characters. The indecomposable characters were found by Dan Voiculescu in 1976.The main result of the present paper consists in explicitly constructing a 4-parameter family of “natural” representations and computing their characters. We view these representations as a substitute of the nonexisting regular representation of U(∞). We state the problem of harmonic analysis on U(∞) as the problem of computing the spectral measures for these “natural” representations. A solution to this problem is given in the next paper (Harmonic analysis on the infinite-dimensional unitary group and determinantal point processes, math/0109194, to appear in Ann. Math.), joint with Alexei Borodin.We also prove a few auxiliary general results. In particular, it is proved that the spectral measure of any character of U(∞) can be approximated by a sequence of (discrete) spectral measures for the restrictions of the character to the compact unitary groups U(N). This fact is a starting point for computing spectral measures.     

Using the Relational Paradigm: effects on pupils’ reasoning in solving additive word problems

Pupils’ difficulties in solving word problems continue to attract attention: while researchers highlight the importance of relational reasoning and modelling, school curricula typically use short word problems to develop pupils’ knowledge of arithmetic operations and calculation strategies. The Relational Paradigm attributes the leading role in mathematics learning to the development of relational thinking. Using this perspective, we implemented a new approach to teaching additive word problem-solving in primary school, encouraging relational thinking and modelling. We compared the overall results of additive word problems solved by Grade 2 elementary pupils in the experimental group (N?=?216) and in the control group (N?=?196). Our data show: (a) on average, the experimental group performed significantly better in problem-solving than the control group; and (b) in the control group, there was a considerable lack of success in solving problems that require relational thinking—there was no such effect in the experimental group.     

When the positivity of the leading principal minors implies the positivity of all principal minors of a matrix

An n-by-n real matrix A enjoys the “leading implies all” (LIA) property, if, whenever D   is a diagonal matrix such that A+D$A+D$ has positive leading principal minors (PMs), all PMs of A are positive. Symmetric and Z-matrices are known to have this property. We give a new class of matrices (“mixed matrices”) that both unifies and generalizes these two classes and their special diagonal equivalences by also having the LIA property. “Nested implies all” (NIA) is also enjoyed by this new class.     

Lifted generalized permutahedra and composition polynomials

Generalized permutahedra are the polytopes obtained from the permutahedron by changing the edge lengths while preserving the edge directions, possibly identifying vertices along the way. We introduce a “lifting” construction for these polytopes, which turns an n  -dimensional generalized permutahedron into an (n+1)$(n+1)$-dimensional one. We prove that this construction gives rise to Stasheff ?s multiplihedron from homotopy theory, and to the more general “nestomultiplihedra”, answering two questions of Devadoss and Forcey.     

The effects of meta-cognitive instruction on third and sixth graders solving word problems

This study examined the differential effects of a meta-cognitive instruction, called IMPROVE, on third and sixth graders’ solution of word problems. In particular, the study focused on the solution of two kinds of word problems: with consistent and with inconsistent language. Participants were 194 Israeli students who studied in third (N = 110) and sixth (N = 84) grades. All students were administered pre- and post-tests constructed of 16 word problems with consistent and inconsistent language. About half of the students within each grade level were exposed to IMPROVE and the others studied under a ‘traditional’ teaching method. The findings indicate that at both grade levels the IMPROVE students significantly outperformed their counterparts in the control group, but third graders benefited from IMPROVE more than sixth graders. In addition, the study indicates that the gap in achievement between IMPROVE and control groups was larger on word problems with inconsistent language compared to word problems with consistent language. The theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.     

Comments on “Solving real car sequencing problems with ant colony optimization”

This note corrects the calculation of the utilization rate in the article “Solving real car sequencing problems with ant colony optimization” by Gagné et al. [Gagné, C., Gravel, M., Price, W.L., 2006. Solving real car sequencing problems with ant colony optimization. European Journal of Operational Research 174, 1427–1448] and provides hints on deriving a fast lower bound for the car sequencing problem. It further adjusts a proposed objective function, so that it becomes a viable alternative to the “sliding window” approach.     

On the oscillatory behavior of certain arithmetic functions associated with automorphic forms

We establish the oscillatory behavior of several significant classes of arithmetic functions that arise (at least presumably) in the study of automorphic forms. Specifically, we examine general L-functions conjectured to satisfy the Grand Riemann Hypothesis, Dirichlet series associated with classical entire forms of real weight and multiplier system, Rankin-Selberg convolutions (both “naive” and “modified”), and spinor zeta-functions of Hecke eigenforms on the Siegel modular group of genus two. For the second class we extend results obtained previously and jointly by M. Knopp, W. Kohnen, and the author, whereas for the fourth class we provide a new proof of a relatively recent result of W. Kohnen.     

Canard cycle transition at a slow–fast passage through a jump point

We introduce transitory canard cycles for slow–fast vector fields in the plane. Such cycles separate “canards without head” and “canards with head”, like for example in the Van der Pol equation. We obtain optimal upper bounds on the number of periodic orbits that can appear near the cycle under whatever condition on the related slow divergence integral I  , including the challenging case I=0$I=0$.     

A stochastic and asymmetric-information framework for a dominant-manufacturer supply chain

Consider a dominant manufacturer wholesaling a product to a retailer, who in turn retails it to the consumers at $p/unit. The retail-market demand volume varies with p according to a given demand curve. This basic system is commonly modeled as a manufacturer-Stackelberg ([mS]) game under a “deterministic and symmetric-information” (“det-sym-i”) framework. We first explain the logical flaws of this framework, which are (i) the dominant manufacturer-leader will have a lower profit than the retailer under an iso-elastic demand curve; (ii) in some situations the system’s “correct solution” can be hyper-sensitive to minute changes in the demand curve; (iii) applying volume discounting while keeping the original [mS] profit-maximizing objective leads to an implausible degenerate solution in which the manufacturer has dictatorial power over the channel. We then present an extension of the “stochastic and asymmetric-information” (“sto-asy-i”) framework proposed in Lau and Lau [Lau, A., Lau, H.-S., 2005. Some two-echelon supply-chain games: Improving from deterministic–symmetric-information to stochastic-asymmetric-information models. European Journal of Operational Research 161 (1), 203–223], coupled with the notion that a profit-maximizing dominant manufacturer may implement not only [mS] but also “[pm]”—i.e., using a manufacturer-imposed maximum retail price. We show that this new framework resolves all the logical flaws stated above. Along the way, we also present a procedure for the dominant manufacturer to design a profit-maximizing volume-discount scheme using stochastic and asymmetric demand information.