Semidefinite representation of convex sets

Let be a semialgebraic set defined by multivariate polynomials g _i (x). Assume S is convex, compact and has nonempty interior. Let , and ∂ S (resp. ∂ S _i ) be the boundary of S (resp. S _i ). This paper, as does the subject of semidefinite programming (SDP), concerns linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). The set S is said to have an LMI representation if it equals the set of solutions to some LMI and it is known that some convex S may not be LMI representable (Helton and Vinnikov in Commun Pure Appl Math 60(5):654–674, 2007). A question arising from Nesterov and Nemirovski (SIAM studies in applied mathematics. Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), Philadelphia, 1994), see Helton and Vinnikov in Commun Pure Appl Math 60(5):654–674, 2007 and Nemirovski in Plenary lecture, International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM), Madrid, Spain, 2006, is: given a subset S of , does there exist an LMI representable set Ŝ in some higher dimensional space whose projection down onto equals S. Such S is called semidefinite representable or SDP representable. This paper addresses the SDP representability problem. The following are the main contributions of this paper: (i) assume g _i (x) are all concave on S. If the positive definite Lagrange Hessian condition holds, i.e., the Hessian of the Lagrange function for optimization problem of minimizing any nonzero linear function ℓ ^T x on S is positive definite at the minimizer, then S is SDP representable. (ii) If each g _i (x) is either sos-concave ( − ∇² g _i (x) = W(x) ^T W(x) for some possibly nonsquare matrix polynomial W(x)) or strictly quasi-concave on S, then S is SDP representable. (iii) If each S _i is either sos-convex or poscurv-convex (S _i is compact convex, whose boundary has positive curvature and is nonsingular, i.e., ∇g _i (x) ≠ 0 on ∂ S _i ∩ S), then S is SDP representable. This also holds for S _i for which ∂ S _i ∩ S extends smoothly to the boundary of a poscurv-convex set containing S. (iv) We give the complexity of Schmüdgen and Putinar’s matrix Positivstellensatz, which are critical to the proofs of (i)–(iii).      

A note on approximation properties of q-Durrmeyer operators

In this paper, the approximation properties of q-Durrmeyer operators D_n,q(f;x) for f∈C[0,1] are discussed. The exact class of continuous functions satisfying approximation process lim_n→∞D_n,q(f;x)=f(x) is determined. The results of the paper provide an elaboration of the previously-known ones on operators D_n,q.     

Preserving positivity in solutions of discretised stochastic differential equations

We consider the Euler discretisation of a scalar linear test equation with positive solutions and show for both strong and weak approximations that the probability of positivity over any finite interval of simulation tends to unity as the step size approaches zero. Although a.s. positivity in an approximation is impossible to achieve, we develop for the strong (Maruyama) approximation an asymptotic estimate of the number of mesh points required for positivity as our tolerance of non-positive trajectories tends to zero, and examine the effectiveness of this estimate in the context of practical numerical simulation. We show how this analysis generalises to equations with a drift coefficient that may display a high level of nonlinearity, but which must be linearly bounded from below (i.e. when acting towards zero), and a linearly bounded diffusion coefficient. Finally, in the linear case we develop a refined asymptotic estimate that is more useful as an a priori guide to the number of mesh points required to produce positive approximations with a given probability.     

Homoclinic orbits of positive definite Lagrangian systems

If the Aubry set satisfies some topological hypothesis, such as H₁(M×T,A(c),R)≠0, then the α-function has a flat. In this paper, we will prove that has infinitely many -minimal homoclinic orbits when c^′ is on the boundary of the maximal flat of the α-function. These homoclinic orbits are different from the usually called multi-bump solutions.     

On multiplicity and stability of positive solutions of a diffusive prey-predator model

In the paper, we consider the following diffusive prey-predator model:

     

Singular mixed boundary value problem

We study singular boundary value problems with mixed boundary conditions of the form

where , , f is a nonnegative function and satisfies the Carathéodory conditions on . Here, f can have a time singularity at t=0 and/or t=T and a space singularity at x=0 and/or y=0. We present conditions for the existence of solutions positive on [0,T) and having continuous first derivatives on [0,T].     

The existence of positive solutions for some nonlinear equation systems

In this paper we consider the existence of positive solutions of the following boundary value problem:

     

Existence of positive solutions of Lidstone boundary value problems

We show that there exists at least one positive solution for Lidstone boundary value problem

     

Solutions of two-point boundary value problems for even-order differential equations

The existence of solutions of the two-point boundary value problems consisting of the even-order differential equations