Sulfur as a supplementary filler for bitumen-silica composites

Summary Dynamic-mechanical properties of bitumen-sulfur mixtures, containing more than 10% sulfur, change with time up to one month ageing. Composites were prepared by adding silica to these mixtures. In general, the time-temperature-superposition principle applies. Moreover, the viscoelastic properties of the bitumen matrix are not significantly altered by the presence of sulfur. However, the triple time-temperature-interfacial area equivalence principle could not be verified, in this instance, since the interfacial area between sulfur, the new filler, and bitumen could not be established.With 11 figures     

Piecewise Constructions of Bent and Almost Optimal Boolean Functions

The first aim of this work was to generalize the techniques used in MacWilliams’ and Sloane’s presentation of the Kerdock code and develop a theory of piecewise quadratic Boolean functions. This generalization led us to construct large families of potentially new bent and almost optimal functions from quadratic forms in this piecewise fashion. We show how our motivating example, the Kerdock code, fits into this setting. These constructions were further generalized to non-quadratic bent functions. The resulting constructions design n-variable bent (resp. almost optimal) functions from n-variable bent or almost optimal functions. Communicated by: T. Helleseth     

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.      

The Schrödinger-Virasoro Lie Group and Algebra: Representation Theory and Cohomological Study

This article is devoted to an extensive study of an infinite-dimensional Lie algebra , introduced in [14] in the context of non-equilibrium statistical physics, containing as subalgebras both the Lie algebra of invariance of the free Schr?dinger equation and the central charge-free Virasoro algebra Vect(S¹). We call the Schr?dinger-Virasoro Lie algebra. We study its representation theory: realizations as Lie symmetries of field equations, coadjoint representation, coinduced representations in connection with Cartan’s prolongation method (yielding analogues of the tensor density modules for Vect(S¹)). We also present a detailed cohomological study, providing in particular a classification of deformations and central extensions; there appears a non-local cocycle. Communicated by Petr Kulish Daniel Arnaudon, in memoriam Submitted: January 17, 2006; Accepted: March 21, 2006     

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     

On the arithmetic Walsh coefficients of Boolean functions

We generalize to the arithmetic Walsh transform (AWT) some results which were previously known for the Walsh–Hadamard transform of Boolean functions. We first generalize the classical Poisson summation formula to the AWT. We then define a generalized notion of resilience with respect to an arbitrary statistical measure of Boolean functions. We apply the Poisson summation formula to obtain a condition equivalent to resilience for one such statistical measure. Last, we show that the AWT of a large class of Boolean functions can be expressed in terms of the AWT of a Boolean function of algebraic degree at most three in a larger number of variables.     

Lexicographic α-robustness: An alternative to min–max criteria

Robustness in Operations Research/Decision Aid is often associated with min–max and min–max regret criteria. This common approach to determine robust solutions consists in finding a solution which minimizes the maximal cost or regret. Nevertheless, these criteria are known to be too conservative. In this paper, we present and study a new robustness approach, called lexicographic α-robustness, which compensates for this major drawback and many others. Furthermore, we establish a link between lexicographic α-robustness and a third robustness approach called p-robustness.     

Some perfect coloring properties of graphs

A Grundy n-coloring of a finite graph is a coloring of the points of the graph with the non-negative integers smaller than n such that each point is adjacent to some point of each smaller color but to none of the same color. The Grundy number of a graph is the maximum n for which it has a Grundy n-coloring. Characterizations are given of the families of finite graphs G such that for each induced subgraph H of G: (1) the Grundy number of H is equal to the chromatic number of H; (2) the Grundy number of H is equal to the maximum clique size of H; (3) the achromatic number of H is equal to the chromatic number of H; (4) the achromatic number of H is equal to the maximum clique size of H. The definitions are further extended to infinite graphs, and some of the above characterizations are shown to be true for denumerable graphs and locally finite graphs.     

Polynomials,random walks and risk processes: a multivariate framework

This paper is concerned with two families of multivariate polynomials: the Appell polynomials and the Abel-Gontcharoff polynomials. Both families are well-known in the univariate case, but their multivariate version is much less standard. We first provide a simple interpretation of these polynomials through particular constrained random walks on a lattice. We then derive nice analytical results for two special cases where the parameters of the polynomials are randomized. Thanks to the interpretation and randomization of the polynomials, we can derive new results and give other insights for the study of two different risk problems: the ruin probability in a multiline insurance model and the size distribution in a multigroup epidemic.