On the complexity of finding first-order critical points in constrained nonlinear optimization

The complexity of finding $\epsilon $ -approximate first-order critical points for the general smooth constrained optimization problem is shown to be no worse that $O(\epsilon ^{-2})$ in terms of function and constraints evaluations. This result is obtained by analyzing the worst-case behaviour of a first-order short-step homotopy algorithm consisting of a feasibility phase followed by an optimization phase, and requires minimal assumptions on the objective function. Since a bound of the same order is known to be valid for the unconstrained case, this leads to the conclusion that the presence of possibly nonlinear/nonconvex inequality/equality constraints is irrelevant for this bound to apply.     

Commutative orders revisited

This article studies commutative orders, that is, commutative semigroups having a semigroup of quotients. In a commutative order \(S\) , the square-cancellable elements \(\mathcal {S}(S)\) constitute a well-behaved separable subsemigroup. Indeed, \(\mathcal {S}(S)\) is also an order and has a maximum semigroup of quotients \(R\) , which is Clifford. We present a new characterisation of commutative orders in terms of semilattice decompositions of \(\mathcal {S}(S)\) and families of ideals of \(S\) . We investigate the role of tensor products in constructing quotients, and show that all semigroups of quotients of \(S\) are homomorphic images of the tensor product \(R\otimes _{\mathcal {S}(S)} S\) . By introducing the notions of generalised order and semigroup of generalised quotients, we show that if \(S\) has a semigroup of generalised quotients, then it has a greatest one. For this we determine those semilattice congruences on \(\mathcal {S}(S)\) that are restrictions of congruences on \(S\) .     

Every group is a maximal subgroup of a naturally occurring free idempotent generated semigroup

The study of the free idempotent generated semigroup IG(E) over a biordered set E has recently received a deal of attention. Let G be a group, let \(n\in\mathbb{N}\) with n≥3 and let E be the biordered set of idempotents of the wreath product \(G\wr \mathcal{T}_{n}\) . We show, in a transparent way, that for e∈E lying in the minimal ideal of \(G\wr\mathcal{T}_{n}\) , the maximal subgroup of e in IG(E) is isomorphic to G. It is known that \(G\wr\mathcal{T}_{n}\) is the endomorphism monoid End F _n (G) of the rank n free G-act F _n (G). Our work is therefore analogous to that of Brittenham, Margolis and Meakin for rank 1 idempotents in full linear monoids. As a corollary we obtain the result of Gray and Ru?kuc that any group can occur as a maximal subgroup of some free idempotent generated semigroup. Unlike their proof, ours involves a natural biordered set and very little machinery.     

Cancellative Orders

left order in Q and Q is a semigroup of left quotients of S if every q∈Q can be written as q=a^*b for some a, b∈S where a^* denotes the inverse of a in a subgroup of Q and if, in addition, every square-cancellable element of S lies in a subgroup of Q. Perhaps surprisingly, a semigroup, even a commutative cancellative semigroup, can have non-isomorphic semigroups of left quotients. We show that if S is a cancellative left order in Q then Q is completely regular and the {\cal D}-classes of Q are left groups. The semigroup S is right reversible and its group of left quotients is the minimum semigroup of left quotients of S. The authors are grateful to the ARC for its generous financial support.     

Twisted parafermions

A new type of nonlocal currents (quasi-particles), which we call twisted parafermions, and its corresponding twisted Z-algebra are found. The system consists of one spin-1 bosonic field and six nonlocal fields of fractional spins. Jacobi-type identities for the twisted parafermions are derived, and a new conformal field theory is constructed from these currents. As an application, a parafermionic representation of the twisted affine current algebra A⁽²⁾₂ is given.     

Idempotent bounded C-semigroups

A semigroup with zero isidempotent bounded (IB) if it is the 0-direct union of idempotent generated principal left ideals and the 0-direct union of idempotent generated principal right ideals. Notable examples are completely 0-simple semigroups and the wider class of primitive abundant semigroups. Significant to the structure of these semigroups is that they are all categorical at zero. In this paper we describe IB semigroups that are categorical at zero in terms ofdouble blocked Rees matrix semigroups. This generalises Fountain's characterisation of primitive abundant semigroups via blocked Rees matrix semigroups [1], which in turn yields the Rees theorem for completely 0-simple semigroups.