Interpolation of positive operators

We study problems of interpolation of positive linear operators in couples of ordered Banach spaces. From this viewpoint, we study couples of noncommutative spaces L ₁, L _∞ associated with weights and traces on von Neumann algebras.     

Stability of shock waves in the modified quintic complex Ginzburg-Landau equation

We consider a shock-type wave solution of the modified quintic complex Ginzburg-Landau equation and make a numerical study of its spatiotemporal stability. Discussions related to the behavior of this front wave are introduced and it is shown how the velocities of the wave can be used to collect information concerning the pattern formation in the system. Published in Neliniini Kolyvannya, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 270–276, April–June, 2007.     

Sudoku’s french ancestors

This column is a place for those bits of contagious mathematics that travel from person to person in the community, because they are so elegant, suprising, or appealing that one has an urge to pass them on. Contributions are most welcome.     

Countably compact topological group topologies on free Abelian groups from selective ultrafilters

Tkachenko showed in 1990 the existence of a countably compact group topology on the free Abelian group of size c using CH. Koszmider, Tomita and Watson showed in 2000 the existence of a countably compact group topology on the free Abelian group of size c² using a forcing model in which CH holds.Wallace's question from 1955, asks whether every both-sided cancellative countably compact semigroup is a topological group. A counterexample to Wallace's question has been called a Wallace semigroup. In 1996, Robbie and Svetlichny constructed a Wallace semigroup under CH. In the same year, Tomita constructed a Wallace semigroup from MAcountable.In this note, we show that the examples of Tkachenko, Robbie and Svetlichny, and Koszmider, Tomita and Watson can be obtained using a family of selective ultrafilters. As a corollary, the constructions presented here are compatible with the total failure of Martin's Axiom.