A Note on the Kissing Numbers of Superballs

The lower bounds for the translative kissing numbers of superballs are studied in this note. We improve the bound given by Larman and Zong. Furthermore, we give a constructive bound based on algebraic-geometry codes that also improves the bound by Larman and Zong in almost all cases.     

A web-based workforce management system for Sainsburys Supermarkets Ltd

Labour scheduling plays an important and critical role in Sainsburys day to day operations and profitability. The integrated workforce management solution for Sainsburys is an intelligent solution for the operational deployment of human resources, integrated business forecasting, generation and calculation of workload and staff scheduling. The workforce management technology has provided Sainsburys with a fully web-based and centralised system that produces optimised schedules for all employees satisfying the forecasted demand of work with granularity of fifteen minutes. The system is configured to respect all operational and business requirements as well as employee contractual constraints. This paper introduces the workforce management solution system designed, developed and implemented for Sainsburys. We concentrate on two modelling structures, namely the work pattern model and optimisation model, and briefly discuss the optimisation process.     

Tail asymptotics for the fundamental period in the MAP/G/1 queue

This paper studies the tail behavior of the fundamental period in the MAP/G/1 queue. We prove that if the service time distribution has a regularly varying tail, then the fundamental period distribution in the MAP/G/1 queue has also regularly varying tail, and vice versa, by finding an explicit expression for the asymptotics of the tail of the fundamental period in terms of the tail of the service time distribution. Our main result with the matrix analytic proof is a natural extension of the result in (de Meyer and Teugels, J. Appl. Probab. 17: 802–813, 1980) on the M/G/1 queue where techniques rely heavily on analytic expressions of relevant functions. I.-S. Wee’s research was supported by the Korea Research Foundation Grant KRF 2003-070-00008.     

Minimax Theorems Involving Two Functions and Strictly Monotone Transformations of Their Values

Two two-function minimax theorems are proved.The concavity-convexity conditions of the twofunctions involve strictly monotone transformations and mixing of the values of the two functions,and aredescribed by the inequalities as upward and weakly downward conditions.     

组合Bose场的分数自旋和分数统计性

对组合Bose子场，采用FS (Faddeev-Senjanovic) 路径积分量子化方法进行量子化.从量子Noether定理出发，给出量子分数自旋和分数统计性质. 关键词： 路径积分量子化 分数自旋 分数统计     

On Basic Constraint Qualifications for Infinite System of Convex Inequalities in Banach Spaces

The BCQ and the Abadie CQ for infinite systems of convex inequalities in Banach spaces are characterized in terms of the upper semi-continuity of the convex cones generated by the subdifferentials of active convex functions. Some relationships with other constraint qualifications such as the CPLV and the Slate condition are also studied. Applications in best approximation theory are provided.     

Homoclinic and Periodic Orbits Arising Near the Heteroclinic Cycle Connecting Saddle-focus and Saddle Under Reversible Condition

In this paper, we study the dynamical behavior for a 4-dimensional reversible system near its heteroclinic loop connecting a saddle-focus and a saddle. The existence of infinitely many reversible 1-homoclinic orbits to the saddle and 2-homoclinic orbits to the saddle-focus is shown. And it is also proved that, corresponding to each 1-homoclinic （resp. 2-homoclinic） orbit F, there is a spiral segment such that the associated orbits starting from the segment are all reversible 1-periodic （resp. 2-periodic） and accumulate onto F. Moreover, each 2-homoclinic orbit may be also accumulated by a sequence of reversible 4-homoclinic orbits.     

单晶和多晶纯铝蠕变过程中的内耗

研究了单晶和多晶纯铝蠕变过程中的低频内耗. 在单晶纯铝中观察到: 内耗在蠕变初期单调下降, 在蠕变第一阶段后期出现了一个显著的时间内耗峰, 在蠕变第二阶段内耗趋于稳定值. 多晶纯铝在类似实验条件下则不出现时间内耗峰. 文中分析了出现时间内耗峰的条件和原因, 认为它是由于蠕变第一阶段中运动位错的阻尼系数逐渐增大所引起的. 文中还从蠕变过程中位错运动的微观机制出发, 推导出了蠕变过程中内耗的表达式, 满意地解释了实验结果. 关键词：     

Second order Runge–Kutta methods for Stratonovich stochastic differential equations

The weak approximation of the solution of a system of Stratonovich stochastic differential equations with a m–dimensional Wiener process is studied. Therefore, a new class of stochastic Runge–Kutta methods is introduced. As the main novelty, the number of stages does not depend on the dimension m of the driving Wiener process which reduces the computational effort significantly. The colored rooted tree analysis due to the author is applied to determine order conditions for the new stochastic Runge–Kutta methods assuring convergence with order two in the weak sense. Further, some coefficients for second order stochastic Runge–Kutta schemes are calculated explicitly. AMS subject classification (2000)  65C30, 65L06, 60H35, 60H10     

Sparse generalized Fourier transforms

Block-diagonalization of sparse equivariant discretization matrices is studied. Such matrices typically arise when partial differential equations that evolve in symmetric geometries are discretized via the finite element method or via finite differences. By considering sparse equivariant matrices as equivariant graphs, we identify a condition for when block-diagonalization via a sparse variant of a generalized Fourier transform (GFT) becomes particularly simple and fast. Characterizations for finite element triangulations of a symmetric domain are given, and formulas for assembling the block-diagonalized matrix directly are presented. It is emphasized that the GFT preserves symmetric (Hermitian) properties of an equivariant matrix. By simulating the heat equation at the surface of a sphere discretized by an icosahedral grid, it is demonstrated that the block-diagonalization is beneficial. The gain is significant for a direct method, and modest for an iterative method. A comparison with a block-diagonalization approach based upon the continuous formulation is made. It is found that the sparse GFT method is an appropriate way to discretize the resulting continuous subsystems, since the spectrum and the symmetry are preserved. AMS subject classification (2000)  43A30, 65T99, 20B25