On a functional equation of Luce

Summary In a recent communication to J. Aczél, R. Duncan Luce asked about the functional equationU(x)U(G(x)F(y)) = U(G(x))U(xy) forx, y > 0, (1) which has arisen in his research on certainty equivalents of gambles. He was particularly interested in cases in which the unknowns (U, F andG) are strictly increasing functions from (0, + ) into (0, + ). In this paper we solve (1) in the case whereU, F andG are continuously differentiable with everywhere positive first derivatives. Our solution is perhaps novel in that in certain cases (1) reduces to a functional equation in a single variable and in other cases to a functional equation in several variables; see [1] for the terminology.     

Incomplete idempotent Schröder quasigroups and related packing designs

Summary In this paper it is proved that, for any positive integern 2, 3 (mod 4),n 7, there exists an incomplete idempotent Schröder quasigroup with one hole of size two IISQ(n, 2) except forn = 10. It is also proved that for any positive integern 0, 1 (mod 4), there exists an idempotent Schröder quasigroup ISQ(n) except forn = 5 and 9. These results completely determine the spectrum of ISQ(n) and provide an application to the packing of a class of edge-coloured block designs.Research supported by NSERC grant A-5320.Research supported by NSFC grant 19231060-2.     

Fluctuations of shapes of large areas under paths of random walks

Summary We discuss statistical properties of random walks conditioned by fixing a large area under their paths. We prove the functional central limit theorem (invariance principle) for these conditional distributions. The limiting Gaussian measure coincides with the conditional probability distribution of certain timenonhomogeneous Gaussian random process obtained by an integral transformation of the white noise. From the point of view of statistical mechanics the studied problem is the problem of describing the fluctuations of the phase boundary in the one-dimensional SOS-model.     

On some global well-posedness and asymptotic results for quasilinear parabolic equations

We prove that the quasilinear parabolic initial-boundary value problem (1.1) below is globally well-posed in a class of high order Sobolev solutions, and that these solutions possess compact, regular attractors ast+.     

Surgery on 3-manifolds with \mathbb{S} 1-actions

We study the topological structure of all 3-manifolds obtained by surgery along principal fibers of a closed orientable -manifold. As a consequence, we give alternative proofs of some classical results due to W. Heil and L. Moser. Moreover, we completely specify the Seifert invariants for the considered manifolds. Finally we classify the manifolds obtained by surgery along certain Seifert links and determine geometric presentations of their fundamental groups.Work performed under the auspices of C.N.R. (National Research Council) of Italy and partially supported by Ministero della Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica within the projects Geometria Reale e Complessa and Topologia.     

Conformal capacities and conformally invariant functions on Riemannian manifolds

This paper develops the theory of conformal invariants initiated inJ. Differential Geom 8 (1973), 487–510 for a Riemannian manifoldM with dimensionn2. We construct and study four conformally invariant functions M, M, M, M resp. depending on 4, 3 or 2 points onM, defined as extremal capacities for condensers associated with those points. These functions have similarities with the classical invariants onS ⁿ ,R ⁿ orH ⁿ . Their properties, and especially their continuity, are efficient tools for solving some problems of conformal geometry in the large.     

There are uncountably many universal topological planes

We prove the existence of uncountably many nonisomorphic topological projective planes, each universal in the sense that it contains an isomorphic copy of every pseudoline arrangement.     

Representation of elements of a sequence by sumsets

In this note the method of [5] and a result from [3] are combined to treat the following classical problem: Given a finite setA and an infinite sequenceS (both inZ), what is the minimal number of elements ofA whose sum lies inS? We obtain an upper bound depending only on the densities ofA andS (but not on their arithmetic nature).     

The maximal monotonicity of the subdifferentials of convex functions: Simons' problem

In the paper we deal with the problem when the graph of the subdifferential operator of a convex lower semicontinuous function has a common point with the product of two convex nonempty weak and weak^* compact sets, i.e. when graph (Q × Q ^*) 0. The results obtained partially solve the problem posed by Simons as well as generalize the Rockafellar Maximal Monotonicity Theorem.     

Separately harmonic and subharmonic functions

Let u(x, y) be defined in B ₁×B ₂ where B ₁ ^m and B ₂ ⁿ , and assume that u(x, ·) harmonic for every fixed x and u(·, y) is subharmonic for every fixed y. We show that if u(·, y) is, in addition, C ² for each y then u is subharmonic in B ₁×B ₂ in both variables jointly.