Artificial boundary conditions for Petrovsky systems of second order in exterior domains and in other domains of conical type

The approximation of solutions to boundary value problems on unbounded domains by those on bounded domains is one of the main applications for artificial boundary conditions. Based on asymptotic analysis, here a new method is presented to construct local artificial boundary conditions for a very general class of elliptic problems where the main asymptotic term is not known explicitly. Existence and uniqueness of approximating solutions are proved together with asymptotically precise error estimates. One class of important examples includes boundary value problems for anisotropic elasticity and piezoelectricity. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mean curvature flows and isotopy of maps between spheres

Let f be a smooth map between unit spheres of possibly different dimensions. We prove the global existence and convergence of the mean curvature flow of the graph of f under various conditions. A corollary is that any area‐decreasing map between unit spheres (of possibly different dimensions) is isotopic to a constant map. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Nowhere zero 4‐flow in regular matroids

Jensen and Toft 8 conjectured that every 2‐edge‐connected graph without a K₅‐minor has a nowhere zero 4‐flow. Walton and Welsh 19 proved that if a coloopless regular matroid M does not have a minor in {M(K_3,3), M*(K₅)}, then M admits a nowhere zero 4‐flow. In this note, we prove that if a coloopless regular matroid M does not have a minor in {M(K₅), M*(K₅)}, then M admits a nowhere zero 4‐flow. Our result implies the Jensen and Toft conjecture. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory     

Astrogeometry: Toward mathematical foundations

Inimage processing (e.g., inastronomy), the desired black-and-white image is, from the mathematical viewpoint, aset. Hence, to process images, we need to process sets. To define a generic set, we need infinitely many parameters; therefore, if we want to represent and process sets in the computer, we must restrict ourselves to finite-parameter families of sets that will be used to approximate the desired sets. The wrong choice of a family can lead to longer computations and worse approximation. Hence, it is desirable to find the family that it isthe best in some reasonable sense. In this paper, we show how the problems of choosing the optimal family of sets can be formalized and solved. As a result of the described general methodology, forastronomical images, we get exactly the geometric shapes that have been empirically used by astronomers and astrophysicists; thus, we have atheoretical explanation for these shapes.     

Rank, term rank, and chromatic number

Let G be a graph with a nonempty edge set, and with rank rk(G), term rank Rk(G), and chromatic number χ(G). We characterize Rk(G) as being the maximum number of colors in certain proper colorings of G. In particular, we observe that χ(G)Rk(G), with equality holding if and only if (besides isolated vertices) G is either complete or a star. For a twin-free graph G, we observe the bound and we show that this bound is sharp.     

Efficient synthesis of an aldehyde‐capped polythiophene containing fluorinated electron‐withdrawing groups

To incorporate an acceptor type polythiophene segment onto a supramolecular block copolymer for potential light harvesting applications, effective synthetic routes for the end‐functionalized and acceptor‐substituted polythiophenes are critical. The Ullmann coupling reaction can be utilized to obtain electron‐deficient polythiophenes and to attach terminal thiophene units that carry functional groups. In this article, the reactions involving a 2,5‐dibromothiophene monomer containing an electron‐withdrawing fluorinated ester and 5‐bromo‐2‐thiophenecarboxaldehyde (the end‐capper) were studied in detail. It was found that the Ullmann coupling reaction of the dibromide is very fast (completed in a few minutes) and the terminal bromine group does not survive long under the reaction condition. These findings lead to the development of an effective procedure for aldehyde end‐capping of electron‐deficient polythiophenes. Polymers with molecular weights around 4000 Da are routinely obtained. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 41–47, 2007     

The set of toric minimal log discrepancies

We describe the set of minimal log discrepancies of toric log varieties, and study its accumulation points. This work is supported by a 21st Century COE Kyoto Mathematics Fellowship, and a JSPS Grant-in-Aid No 17740011.