On Chebyshev functions and Klee functions

Associated to a lower semicontinuous function, one can define its proximal mapping and farthest mapping. The function is called Chebyshev (Klee) if its proximal mapping (farthest mapping) is single-valued everywhere. We show that the function f is 1/λ-hypoconvex if its proximal mapping Pλf is single-valued. When the function f is bounded below, and Pλf is single-valued for every λ>0, the function must be convex. Similarly, we show that the function f is 1/μ-strongly convex if the farthest mapping Qμf is single-valued. When the function is the indicator function of a set, this recovers the well-known Chebyshev problem and Klee problem in Rn. We also give an example illustrating that a continuous proximal mapping (farthest mapping) needs not be locally Lipschitz, which answers one open question by Hare and Poliquin.     

Imaginary quadratic function fields

In Bautista-Ancona and Diaz-Vargas (2006) [B-D] a characterization and complete listing is given of the imaginary quadratic extensions K of k(x), where k is a finite field, in which the ideal class group has exponent two and the infinite prime of k(x) ramifies. The objective of this work is to give a characterization and list of these kind of extensions but now considering the case in which the infinite prime of k(x) is inert in K. Thus, we get all the imaginary quadratic extensions of k(x), in which the ideal class group has exponent two.     

Visco-penalization of the sum of two monotone operators

A new type of approximating curve for finding a particular zero of the sum of two maximal monotone operators in a Hilbert space is investigated. This curve consists of the zeros of perturbed problems in which one operator is replaced with its Yosida approximation and a viscosity term is added. As the perturbation vanishes, the curve is shown to converge to the zero of the sum that solves a particular strictly monotone variational inequality. As an off-spring of this result, we obtain an approximating curve for finding a particular zero of the sum of several maximal monotone operators. Applications to convex optimization are discussed.     

On a Problem Proposed by Kartsatos

§１．ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎａｎｄＰｒｅｌｉｍｉｎａｒｉｅｓＬｅｔＸｂｅａｒｅａｌｒｅｆｌｅｘｉｖｅＢａｎａｃｈｓｐａｃｅｗｉｔｈｎｏｒｍａｎｄｎｏｒｍａｌｉｚｅｄｄｕａｌｉｔｙｍａｐｐｉｎｇＪ．Ａｓｕｓｕａｌ，ｗｅｓｕｐｐｏｓｅｔｈａｔｔｈｅｓｐ...     

Fixed point theorems for generalized contractions in ordered metric spaces

The purpose of this paper is to present some fixed point results for self-generalized contractions in ordered metric spaces. Our results generalize and extend some recent results of A.C.M. Ran, M.C. Reurings [A.C.M. Ran, M.C. Reurings, A fixed point theorem in partially ordered sets and some applications to matrix equations, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 132 (2004) 1435-1443], J.J. Nieto, R. Rodríguez-López [J.J. Nieto, R. Rodríguez-López, Contractive mapping theorems in partially ordered sets and applications to ordinary differential equations, Order 22 (2005) 223-239; J.J. Nieto, R. Rodríguez-López, Existence and uniqueness of fixed points in partially ordered sets and applications to ordinary differential equations, Acta Math. Sin. (Engl. Ser.) 23 (2007) 2205-2212], J.J. Nieto, R.L. Pouso, R. Rodríguez-López [J.J. Nieto, R.L. Pouso, R. Rodríguez-López, Fixed point theorem theorems in ordered abstract sets, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 135 (2007) 2505-2517], A. Petru?el, I.A. Rus [A. Petru?el, I.A. Rus, Fixed point theorems in ordered L-spaces, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 134 (2006) 411-418] and R.P. Agarwal, M.A. El-Gebeily, D. O'Regan [R.P. Agarwal, M.A. El-Gebeily, D. O'Regan, Generalized contractions in partially ordered metric spaces, Appl. Anal., in press]. As applications, existence and uniqueness results for Fredholm and Volterra type integral equations are given.     

Block monotone iterative algorithms for variational inequalities with nonlinear operators

Some block iterative methods for solving variational inequalities with nonlinear operators are proposed. Monotone convergence of the algorithms is obtained. Some comparison theorems are also established. Compared with the research work in given by Pao in 1995 for nonlinear equations and research work in given by Zeng and Zhou in 2002 for elliptic variational inequalities, the algorithms proposed in this paper are independent of the boundedness of the derivatives of the nonlinear operator.     

Monotone and Convex C 1 Hermite Interpolants Generated by a Subdivision Scheme

   Abstract. We propose C ¹ Hermite interpolants generated by the general subdivision scheme introduced by Merrien [17] and satisfying monotonicity or convexity constraints. For arbitrary values and slopes of a given function f at the end-points of a bounded interval, which are compatible with the contraints, the given algorithms construct shape-preserving interpolants. Moreover, these algorithms are quite simple and fast as well as adapted to CAGD. We also give error estimates in the case of interpolation of smooth functions.     

Monotonicity properties of wholesale price contracts

This paper contributes to the supply chain contracts literature in economics and operations by performing qualitative sensitivity analysis of a wholesale price contract in a two-echelon supply chain setting. Order-theory tools are used to derive sufficient conditions for monotonicity of contract parameters.The upstream supplier is modeled as a Stackelberg leader. The supplier is assumed to have complete information about the costs and revenue function of the downstream retailer. It is shown that an equilibrium wholesale price weakly increases with an increase in the supplier production cost rate, but it may increase or decrease with an increase in the retailer cost rate. As either the supplier production cost or the retailer cost increases, the supplier profit decreases weakly. Additional sensitivity analysis is performed assuming certain properties of the retailer revenue function.Several well-known results in the supply chain contracting literature can be considered as special cases of the more general theorems developed here. In particular, this paper reexamines the analysis of a newsvendor supply chain problem by Lariviere and Porteus [Lariviere, M.A., Porteus, E.L., 2001. Selling to the newsvendor: An analysis of price-only contracts. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management 3, 293–305]. This paper generalizes and extends their work, by establishing properties of the newsvendor demand distribution that guarantee monotonicity of the contract parameters, without requiring a unique contract solution.     

On the use of fuzzy inference techniques in assessment models: part I—theoretical properties

An assessment model is a mathematical model that produces a measuring index, either in the form of a numerical score or a category to a situation/object, with respect to the subject of measure. From the numerical score, decision can be made and action can be taken. To allow valid and useful comparisons among various situations/objects according to their associated numerical scores to be made, the monotone output property and the output resolution property are essential in fuzzy inference-based assessment problems. We investigate the conditions for a fuzzy assessment model to fulfill the monotone output property using a derivative approach. A guideline on how the input membership functions should be tuned is also provided. Besides, the output resolution property is defined as the derivative of the output of the assessment model with respect to its input. This derivative should be greater than the minimum resolution required. From the derivative, we suggest improvements to the output resolution property by refining the fuzzy production rules.