Composite sequence transformations

Summary The aim of this work is to introduce the new concept of composite sequence transformations and to show, by very simple examples and theorems, that it can be useful in accelerating the convergence of sequences. Generalizations of classical transformations and results are obtained.Work performed under the Nato Research Grant 027.81.Presented at the International Conference on Numerical Analysis, Munich, March 19–21, 1984     

Un Algorithme pour le Calcul des Syzygies sur V[X] dans le cas où V est un Domaine de Valuation

Soit V un domaine de valuation. Nous donnons un algorithme pour calculer une base du V-saturé d'un sous-module de type fini d'un V-module libre (avec une base éventuellement infinie). Nous l'appliquons pour calculer le V-saturé d'un sous-V[X]-module de type fini de V[X] ⁿ (n ∈ ?*). Ceci permet enfin de calculer un système générateur fini pour les syzygies sur V[X] d'une famille finie de vecteurs de V[X] ^k .

We give an algorithm for computing the V-saturation of any finitely generated submodule of V[X] ⁿ (n ∈ ?*), where V is a valuation domain. This allows us to compute a finite system of generators for the syzygy module of any finitely generated submodule of V[X] ^k .     

Finite-Time Ruin Probabilities for Discrete, Possibly Dependent, Claim Severities

An important question in insurance is how to evaluate the probabilities of (non-) ruin of a company over any given horizon of finite length. This paper aims to present some (not all) useful methods that have been proposed so far for computing, or approximating, these probabilities in the case of discrete claim severities. The starting model is the classical compound Poisson risk model with constant premium and independent and identically distributed claim severities. Two generalized versions of the model are then examined. The former incorporates a non-constant premium function and a non-stationary claim process. The latter takes into account a possible interdependence between the successive claim severities. Special attention will be paid to a recursive computational method that enables us to tackle, in a simple and unified way, the different models under consideration. The approach, still relatively little known, relies on the use of remarkable families of polynomials which are of Appell or generalized Appell (Sheffer) types. The case with dependent claim severities will be revisited accordingly.      

Geometry of Critical Loci

Let :(Z,z)(U,0) be the germ of a finite (that is, proper with finite fibres)complex analytic morphism from a complex analytic normal surfaceonto an open neighbourhood U of the origin 0 in the complexplane C². Let u and v be coordinates of C² defined on U. Weshall call the triple (, u, v) the initial data. Let stand for the discriminant locus of the germ , that is,the image by of the critical locus of . Let ()_A be the branches of the discriminant locus at O whichare not the coordinate axes. For each A, we define a rational number d by where I(–, –) denotes the intersection number at0 of complex analytic curves in C². The set of rational numbersd, for A, is a finite subset D of the set of rational numbersQ. We shall call D the set of discriminantal ratios of the initialdata (, u, v). The interesting situation is when one of thetwo coordinates (u, v) is tangent to some branch of , otherwiseD = {1}. The definition of D depends not only on the choiceof the two coordinates, but also on their ordering. In this paper we prove that the set D is a topological invariantof the initial data (, u, v) (in a sense that we shall definebelow) and we give several ways to compute it. These resultsare first steps in the understanding of the geometry of thediscriminant locus. We shall also see the relation with thegeometry of the critical locus.     

Path homomorphisms,graph colorings,and boolean matrices

We investigate bounds on the chromatic number of a graph G derived from the nonexistence of homomorphisms from some path \begin{eqnarray*}\vec{P}\end{eqnarray*} into some orientation \begin{eqnarray*}\vec{G}\end{eqnarray*} of G. The condition is often efficiently verifiable using boolean matrix multiplications. However, the bound associated to a path \begin{eqnarray*}\vec{P}\end{eqnarray*} depends on the relation between the “algebraic length” and “derived algebraic length” of \begin{eqnarray*}\vec{P}\end{eqnarray*}. This suggests that paths yielding efficient bounds may be exponentially large with respect to G, and the corresponding heuristic may not be constructive. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 63: 198–209, 2010     

A discrete homotopy theory for binary reflexive structures

We present a simple combinatorial construction of a sequence of functors σ_k from the category of pointed binary reflexive structures to the category of groups. We prove that if the relational structure is a poset P then the groups are (naturally) isomorphic to the homotopy groups of P when viewed as a topological space with the topology of ideals, or equivalently, to the homotopy groups of the simplicial complex associated to P. We deduce that the group σ_k(X,x₀) of the pointed structure (X,x₀) is (naturally) isomorphic to the kth homotopy group of the simplicial complex of simplices of X, i.e. those subsets of X which are the homomorphic image of a finite totally ordered set.     

On finite simple images of triangle groups

For a simple algebraic group G in characteristic p, a triple (a, b, c) of positive integers is said to be rigid for G if the dimensions of the subvarieties of G of elements of order dividing a, b, c sum to 2 dim G. In this paper we complete the proof of a conjecture of the third author, that for a rigid triple (a, b, c) for G with p > 0, the triangle group T_a,b,c has only finitely many simple images of the form G(p^r). We also obtain further results on the more general form of the conjecture, where the images G(p^r) can be arbitrary quasisimple groups of type G.     

Any 3-manifold 1-dominates at most finitely many 3-manifolds of -geometry

Any 3-manifold 1-dominates at most finitely many 3-manifolds supporting geometry.

     

Ricci curvature, minimal volumes, and Seiberg-Witten theory

We derive new, sharp lower bounds for certain curvature functionals on the space of Riemannian metrics of a smooth compact 4-manifold with non-trivial Seiberg-Witten invariants. These allow one, for example, to exactly compute the infimum of the L ²-norm of Ricci curvature for any complex surface of general type. We are also able to show that the standard metric on any complex-hyperbolic 4-manifold minimizes volume among all metrics satisfying a point-wise lower bound on sectional curvature plus suitable multiples of the scalar curvature. These estimates also imply new non-existence results for Einstein metrics. Oblatum 14-III-2000 & 8-II-2001?Published online: 4 May 2001     

Computing on-line the lattice of maximal antichains of posets

We consider the on-line computation of the lattice of maximal antichains of a finite poset . This on-line computation satisfies what we call the linear extension hypothesis: the new incoming vertex is always maximal in the current subposet of . In addition to its theoretical interest, this abstraction of the lattice of antichains of a poset has structural properties which give it interesting practical behavior. In particular, the lattice of maximal antichains may be useful for testing distributed computations, for which purpose the lattice of antichains is already widely used. Our on-line algorithm has a run time complexity of , where |P| is the number of elements of the poset, , |MA(P)| is the number of maximal antichains of and (P) is the width of . This is more efficient than the best off-line algorithms known so far.