Bounds on the inverses of nonnegative triangular matrices with monotonicity properties

Some bounds on the entries and on the norm of the inverse of triangular matrices with nonnegative and monotone entries are found. All the results are obtained by exploiting the properties of the fundamental matrix of the recurrence relation which generates the sequence of the entries of the inverse matrix. One of the results generalizes a theorem contained in a recent article of one of the authors about Toeplitz matrices.     

There is no upper bound of small transfinite compactness degree in metrizable spaces

In [J.M. Aarts, T. Nishiura, Dimension and Extensions, North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1993], Aarts and Nishiura investigated several types of dimensions modulo a class P of spaces. These dimension functions have natural transfinite extensions. The small transfinite compactness degree trcmp is such transfinite dimension function extending the small compactness degree cmp. We shall prove that there is no upper bound for trcmp in the class of metrizable spaces, i.e. for each ordinal number α there exists a metrizable space Xα such that trcmpXα=α. We also give a characterization of the dimension dim of a separable (compact) metrizable space in terms of the function cmp of the product of this space with a nowhere locally compact zero-dimensional factor.     

Interpreting Kullback-Leibler divergence with the Neyman-Pearson lemma

Kullback-Leibler divergence and the Neyman-Pearson lemma are two fundamental concepts in statistics. Both are about likelihood ratios: Kullback-Leibler divergence is the expected log-likelihood ratio, and the Neyman-Pearson lemma is about error rates of likelihood ratio tests. Exploring this connection gives another statistical interpretation of the Kullback-Leibler divergence in terms of the loss of power of the likelihood ratio test when the wrong distribution is used for one of the hypotheses. In this interpretation, the standard non-negativity property of the Kullback-Leibler divergence is essentially a restatement of the optimal property of likelihood ratios established by the Neyman-Pearson lemma. The asymmetry of Kullback-Leibler divergence is overviewed in information geometry.     

Filament sets and homogeneous continua

New tools are introduced for the study of homogeneous continua. The subcontinua of a given continuum are classified into three types: filament, non-filament, and ample, with ample being a subcategory of non-filament. The richness of the collection of ample subcontinua of a homogeneous continuum reflects where the space lies in the gradation from being locally connected at one extreme to indecomposable at another. Applications are given to the general theory of homogeneous continua and their hyperspaces.     

On universal spaces and absorbing sets related to a transfinite extension of covering dimension

R. Pol has shown that for every countable ordinal number α there exists a universal space for separable metrizable spaces X with trindX?α. W. Olszewski has shown that for every countable limit ordinal number λ there is no universal space for separable metrizable space with trIndX?λ. T. Radul and M. Zarichnyi have proved that for every countable limit ordinal number there is no universal space for separable metrizable spaces with dimWX?α where dimW is a transfinite extension of covering dimension introduced by P. Borst. We prove the same result for another transfinite extension dimC of the covering dimension.As an application, we show that there is no absorbing sets (in the sense of Bestvina and Mogilski) for the classes of spaces X with dimCX?α belonging to some absolute Borel class.     

One cannot hear orbifold isotropy type

We show that the isotropy types of the singularities of Riemannian orbifolds are not determined by the Laplace spectrum. Indeed, we construct arbitrarily large families of mutually isospectral orbifolds with different isotropy types. Finally, we show that the corresponding singular strata of two isospectral orbifolds may not be homeomorphic. Received: 6 October 2005     

Conjugate points and Maslov index in locally symmetric semi-Riemannian manifolds

We study the singularities of the exponential map in semi Riemannian locally symmetric manifolds. Conjugate points along geodesics depend only on real negative eigenvalues of the curvature tensor, and their contribution to the Maslov index of the geodesic is computed explicitly. We prove that degeneracy of conjugate points, which is a phenomenon that can only occur in semi-Riemannian geometry, is caused in the locally symmetric case by the lack of diagonalizability of the curvature tensor. The case of Lie groups endowed with a bi-invariant metric is studied in some detail, and conditions are given for the lack of local injectivity of the exponential map around its singularities.     

A characterization of the \Sigma_1-definable functions of KP\omega + (uniform\; AC)

The subject of this paper is a characterization of the -definable set functions of Kripke-Platek set theory with infinity and a uniform version of axiom of choice: . This class of functions is shown to coincide with the collection of set functionals of type 1 primitive recursive in a given choice functional and . This goal is achieved by a G?del Dialectica-style functional interpretation of and a computability proof for the involved functionals. Received October 9, 1996     

Large-time behavior of perturbed diffusion markov processes with applications to the second eigenvalue problem for fokker-planck operators and simulated annealing

We study the large-time behavior and rate of convergence to the invariant measures of the processes dX (t)=b(X) (t)) dt + (X (t)) dB(t). A crucial constant appears naturally in our study. Heuristically, when the time is of the order exp( – )/² , the transition density has a good lower bound and when the process has run for about exp( – )/², it is very close to the invariant measure. LetL =(²/2) – U · be a second-order differential operator on ^d. Under suitable conditions,L ^z has the discrete spectrum