Approximation of infinite delay and Volterra type equations

Summary We consider a class of infinite delay equations of neutral type which includes Volterrra type integral und integrodifferential equations. Using abstract approximation results (cf. Trotter-Kato-type) for strongly continuous semigroups we develop an approximation scheme which is based on approximation of the system state by Laguerre (and Legendre) polynomials. Numerical examples demonstrate the feasibility of the scheme and show infinite order convergence for smooth data.Supported in part by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under Contracts AFORS-84-0398 and AFORS-85-0303 and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under NASA Grant NAG-1-517 and by NSF under Grant UINT-8521208Supported in part by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under Contract AFORS-84-0398 and in part by the Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Austria, under project No. S3206     

The Matsumoto-Yor property and the structure of the Wishart distribution

This paper establishes a link between a generalized matrix Matsumoto-Yor (MY) property and the Wishart distribution. This link highlights certain conditional independence properties within blocks of the Wishart and leads to a new characterization of the Wishart distribution similar to the one recently obtained by Geiger and Heckerman but involving independences for only three pairs of block partitionings of the random matrix.In the process, we obtain two other main results. The first one is an extension of the MY independence property to random matrices of different dimensions. The second result is its converse. It extends previous characterizations of the matrix generalized inverse Gaussian and Wishart seen as a couple of distributions.We present two proofs for the generalized MY property. The first proof relies on a new version of Herz's identity for Bessel functions of matrix arguments. The second proof uses a representation of the MY property through the structure of the Wishart.     

Long-time dynamics of von Karman semi-flows with non-linear boundary/interior damping

We study von Karman evolution equations with non-linear dissipation and with partially clamped and partially free boundary conditions. Two distinctive mechanisms of dissipation are considered: (i) internal dissipation generated by non-linear operator, and (ii) boundary dissipation generated by shear forces friction acting on a free part of the boundary. The main emphasis is given to the effects of boundary dissipation. Under suitable hypotheses we prove existence of a compact global attractor and finiteness of its fractal dimension. We also show that any solution is stabilized to an equilibrium and estimate the rate of the convergence which, in turn, depends on the behaviour at the origin of the functions describing the dissipation.     

Integrating long-term care insurance purchase decisions with saving and investment for retirement

Risk related to long-term care (LTC) is high for the elderly. Planning for LTC is now regarded as the ‘third leg’ of retirement planning. In this paper, planning for LTC is integrated with saving and investment decisions for an integrated approach to retirement planning. Optimal LTC insurance purchase decisions are obtained by developing a trade-off between post-retirement LTC costs and LTC insurance premiums paid and coverage received. Integrating insurance purchase with wealth evolution, consisting of saving and investment decisions, allows addressing affordability issues.Two-way branching models are used for the stochastic health events and asset returns. The problem, formulated as a nonlinearly constrained mixed-integer optimization problem, is solved using a heuristic. Sensitivity analyses are performed for initial health and wealth status. Some important aspects of an individual’s behavioral preferences are also addressed in this framework to provide more robust decision support.     

On Gittins’ index theorem in continuous time

We give a new and comparably short proof of Gittins’ index theorem for dynamic allocation problems of the multi-armed bandit type in continuous time under minimal assumptions. This proof gives a complete characterization of optimal allocation strategies as those policies which follow the current leader among the Gittins indices while ensuring that a Gittins index is at an all-time low whenever the associated project is not worked on exclusively. The main tool is a representation property of Gittins index processes which allows us to show that these processes can be chosen to be pathwise lower semi-continuous from the right and quasi-lower semi-continuous from the left. Both regularity properties turn out to be crucial for our characterization and the construction of optimal allocation policies.     

On the pivot structure for the weighing matrix W(12,11)

In the present article we concentrate our study on the growth problem for the weighing matrix W(12,11) and show that the unique W(12,11) has three pivot structures. An improved algorithm for extending a k × k (0,+,-) matrix to a W(n,n-1), if possible, has been developed to simplify the proof. For the implementation of the algorithm special emphasis is given to the notions of data structures and parallel processing.     

Measures on minimally generated Boolean algebras

We investigate properties of minimally generated Boolean algebras. It is shown that all measures defined on such algebras are separable but not necessarily weakly uniformly regular. On the other hand, there exist Boolean algebras small in terms of measures which are not minimally generated. We prove that under CH a measure on a retractive Boolean algebra can be nonseparable. Some relevant examples are indicated. Also, we give two examples of spaces satisfying some kind of Efimov property.     

A new trigonometric method of summation and its application to the degree of approximation

The object of the present investigation is to introduce a new trigonometric method of summation which is both regular and Fourier effective and determine its status with reference to other methods of summation (see §2-§4) and also give an application of this method to determine the degree of approximation in a new Banach space of functions conceived as a generalized Holder metric (see §5).     

Synthesis and structures of nitroxyalkyl methylphosphonates

The reactions of ethylene glycol mononitrate and glycerol 1,3-dinitrate with methylphosphonic dichloride afforded new nitroxyalkyl methylphosphonates.     

A nondifferentiable extension of a theorem of Pucci and Serrin and applications

We study the multiplicity of critical points for functionals which are only differentiable along some directions. We extend to this class of functionals the three critical point theorem of Pucci and Serrin and we apply it to a one-parameter family of functionals Jλ, λ∈I⊂R. Under suitable assumptions, we locate an open subinterval of values λ in I for which Jλ possesses at least three critical points. Applications to quasilinear boundary value problems are also given.