Comparison of certain value-at-risk estimation methods for the two-parameter Weibull loss distribution

The Weibull distribution is one of the most important distributions that is utilized as a probability model for loss amounts in connection with actuarial and financial risk management problems. This paper considers the Weibull distribution and its quantiles in the context of estimation of a risk measure called Value-at-Risk (VaR). VaR is simply the maximum loss in a specified period with a pre-assigned probability level. We attempt to present certain estimation methods for VaR as a quantile of a distribution and compare these methods with respect to their deficiency (Def) values. Along this line, the results of some Monte Carlo simulations, that we have conducted for detailed investigations on the efficiency of the estimators as compared to MLE, are provided.     

An efficient computational method for a stochastic dynamic lot-sizing problem under service-level constraints

We provide an efficient computational approach to solve the mixed integer programming (MIP) model developed by Tarim and Kingsman [8] for solving a stochastic lot-sizing problem with service level constraints under the static-dynamic uncertainty strategy. The effectiveness of the proposed method hinges on three novelties: (i) the proposed relaxation is computationally efficient and provides an optimal solution most of the time, (ii) if the relaxation produces an infeasible solution, then this solution yields a tight lower bound for the optimal cost, and (iii) it can be modified easily to obtain a feasible solution, which yields an upper bound. In case of infeasibility, the relaxation approach is implemented at each node of the search tree in a branch-and-bound procedure to efficiently search for an optimal solution. Extensive numerical tests show that our method dominates the MIP solution approach and can handle real-life size problems in trivial time.     

On sofic actions and equivalence relations

The notion of sofic equivalence relation was introduced by Gabor Elek and Gabor Lippner. Their technics employ some graph theory. Here we define this notion in a more operator algebraic context, starting from Connes? Embedding Problem, and prove the equivalence of these two definitions. We introduce a notion of sofic action for an arbitrary group and prove that an amalgamated product of sofic actions over amenable groups is again sofic. We also prove that an amalgamated product of sofic groups over an amenable subgroup is again sofic.     

Chaos among self-maps of the Cantor space

Glasner and Weiss have shown that a generic homeomorphism of the Cantor space has zero topological entropy. Hochman has shown that a generic transitive homeomorphism of the Cantor space has the property that it is topologically conjugate to the universal odometer and hence far from being chaotic in any sense. We show that a generic self-map of the Cantor space has zero topological entropy. Moreover, we show that a generic self-map of the Cantor space has no periodic points and hence is not Devaney chaotic nor Devaney chaotic on any subsystem. However, we exhibit a dense subset of the space of all self-maps of the Cantor space each element of which has infinite topological entropy and is Devaney chaotic on some subsystem.     

A sufficient condition of viability for fractional differential equations with the Caputo derivative

In this paper viability results for nonlinear fractional differential equations with the Caputo derivative are proved. We give the sufficient condition that guarantees fractional viability of a locally closed set with respect to nonlinear function. As an example we discuss positivity of solutions, particularly in linear case.     

An improved two-stage optimization-based framework for unequal-areas facility layout

The unequal-areas facility layout problem is concerned with finding the optimal arrangement of a given number of non-overlapping indivisible departments with unequal area requirements within a facility. We present an improved optimization-based framework for efficiently finding competitive solutions for this problem. The framework is based on the combination of two mathematical optimization models. The first model is a nonlinear approximation of the problem that establishes the relative position of the departments within the facility, and the second model is an exact convex optimization formulation of the problem that determines the final layout. Aspect ratio constraints on the departments are taken into account by both models. Our computational results show that the proposed framework is computationally efficient and consistently produces competitive, and often improved, layouts for well-known instances from the literature as well as for new large-scale instances with up to 100 departments.     

The fixed points of the multivariate smoothing transform

Let \((\mathbf {T}_1, \mathbf {T}_2, \ldots )\) be a sequence of random \(d\times d\) matrices with nonnegative entries, and let Q be a random vector with nonnegative entries. Consider random vectors \(X\) with nonnegative entries, satisfying

$$\begin{aligned} X\mathop {=}\limits ^{{\mathcal {L}}}\sum _{i \ge 1} \mathbf {T}_i X_i + Q, \end{aligned}$$

(*)

where \(\mathop {=}\limits ^{{\mathcal {L}}}\) denotes equality of the corresponding laws, \((X_i)_{i \ge 1}\) are i.i.d. copies of \(X\) and independent of \((Q, \mathbf {T}_1, \mathbf {T}_2, \ldots )\). For \(d=1\), this equation, known as fixed point equation of the smoothing transform, has been intensively studied. Under assumptions similar to the one-dimensional case, we obtain a complete characterization of all solutions \(X\) to (*) in the non-critical case, and existence results in the critical case.

     

Hilbert’s Tenth Problem for function fields of varieties over algebraically closed fields of positive characteristic

Let K be the function field of a variety of dimension ?? 2 over an algebraically closed field of odd characteristic. Then Hilbert??s Tenth Problem for K is undecidable. This generalizes the result by Kim and Roush from 1992 that Hilbert??s Tenth Problem for the purely transcendental function field ${{{\overline{\mathbb{F}}_p}}(t_1,t_2)}$ is undecidable when p?>?2.     

Donagi–Morrison’s examples on 2-elementary K3 surfaces

Let X be an algebraic K3 surface, and let L be a base point free and big line bundle on X. If X admits a map of degree 2 to the projective plane branched over a smooth sextic and L is the pullback of the line bundle O_\mathbbP²(3),{\mathcal{O}_{\mathbb{P}^{2}}(3),} then the gonality of the smooth curves of the complete linear system |L| is not constant. The polarized K3 surface (X, L) consisting of the K3 surface X and the line bundle L is called Donagi–Morrison’s example. In this paper, we give a necessary and sufficient condition for the polarized K3 surface (X, L) consisting of a 2-elementary K3 surface X and an ample line bundle L to be Donagi–Morrison’s example.     

Extensions and renormalized traces

It has been shown by Nistor (Doc Math J DMV 2:263–295, 1997) that given any extension of associative algebras over \mathbb C{\mathbb C}, the connecting morphism in periodic cyclic homology is compatible, under the Chern–Connes character, with the index morphism in lower algebraic K-theory. The proof relies on the abstract properties of cyclic theory, essentially excision, which does not provide explicit formulas a priori. Avoiding the use of excision, we explain in this article how to get explicit formulas in a wide range of situations. The method is connected to the renormalization procedure introduced in our previous work on the bivariant Chern character for quasihomomorphisms Perrot (J Geom Phys 60:1441–1473, 2010), leading to “local” index formulas in the sense of non-commutative geometry. We illustrate these principles with the example of the classical family index theorem: we find that the characteristic numbers of the index bundle associated to a family of elliptic pseudodifferential operators are expressed in terms of the (fiberwise) Wodzicki residue.