Differences of Convex Compact Sets in the Space of Directed Sets. Part I: The Space of Directed Sets

A normed and partially ordered vector space of so-called directed sets is constructed, in which the convex cone of all nonempty convex compact sets in R ⁿ is embedded by a positively linear, order preserving and isometric embedding (with respect to a new metric stronger than the Hausdorff metric and equivalent to the Demyanov one). This space is a Banach and a Riesz space for all dimensions and a Banach lattice for n=1. The directed sets in R ⁿ are parametrized by normal directions and defined recursively with respect to the dimension n by the help of a support function and directed supporting faces of lower dimension prescribing the boundary. The operations (addition, subtraction, scalar multiplication) are defined by acting separately on the support function and recursively on the directed supporting faces. Generalized intervals introduced by Kaucher form the basis of this recursive approach. Visualizations of directed sets will be presented in the second part of the paper.     

On the Number of Lost Customers in Stationary Loss Systems in the Light Traffic Case

For the stationary loss systems M/M/m/K and GI/M/m/K, we study two quantities: the number of lost customers during the time interval (0,t] (the first system only), and the number of lost customers among the first n customers to arrive (both systems). We derive explicit bounds for the total variation distances between the distributions of these quantities and compound Poisson–geometric distributions. The bounds are small in the light traffic case, i.e., when the loss of a customer is a rare event. To prove our results, we show that the studied quantities can be interpreted as accumulated rewards of stationary renewal reward processes, embedded into the queue length process or the process of queue lengths immediately before arrivals of new customers, and apply general results by Erhardsson on compound Poisson approximation for renewal reward processes.     

Low silicon non-grain-oriented electrical steel: Linking magnetic properties with metallurgical factors

Commercial supply, from several steel manufacturers, of low-silicon non-grain-oriented electrical steel was monitored over a span of several years. A total of 51 samples were selected—selected from many hundreds on the basis of large differences in magnetic properties, but absence of significant variations in chemistry (other than differences in silicon percentage). The selected samples were analyzed for crystallographic texture and for grain size.     

Energy concentration for the Landau–Lifshitz equation

For the Landau–Lifshitz equation on a domain with three space dimensions, we consider energy concentration phenomena arising in the context of weakly convergent sequences of solutions. The concentration measure can be interpreted as a family of generalized curves. We establish a connection to a geometric flow.     

Numerical semigroups with many gaps of the same parity

Let g _e (S) (respectively, g _o (S)) be the number of even (respectively, odd) gaps of a numerical semigroup S. In this work we study and characterize the numerical semigroups S that verify 2|g _e (S)−g _o (S)|+1∈S. As a consequence we will see that every numerical semigroup can be represented by means of a numerical semigroup with maximal embedding dimension with all its minimal generators odd. The first author is supported by the project MTM2007-62346 and FEDER funds. The authors want to thank P.A. García-Sánchez and the referee for their comments and suggestions.     

Experimental examination of displacement field in an edge dislocation core in aluminum

The displacement field of an edge dislocation in aluminum was experimentally investigated. Three typical theoretical models were discussed. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and geometric phase analysis (GPA) were used to map the displacement field of an edge dislocation. The displacement field near the dislocation core was determined. The experimental show that Peierls-Nabarro model is the most appropriate theoretical model for displacement field of dislocation in aluminum.     

Randomized k-server algorithms for growth-rate bounded graphs

The k-server problem is a fundamental online problem where k mobile servers should be scheduled to answer a sequence of requests for points in a metric space as to minimize the total movement cost. While the deterministic competitive ratio is at least k, randomized k-server algorithms have the potential of reaching o(k)-competitive ratios. Prior to this work only few specific cases of this problem were solved. For arbitrary metric spaces, this goal may be approached by using probabilistic metric approximation techniques. This paper gives the first results in this direction, obtaining o(k)-competitive ratio for a natural class of metric spaces, including d-dimensional grids, and wide range of k.     

Non-linear ground state representations and sharp Hardy inequalities

We determine the sharp constant in the Hardy inequality for fractional Sobolev spaces. To do so, we develop a non-linear and non-local version of the ground state representation, which even yields a remainder term. From the sharp Hardy inequality we deduce the sharp constant in a Sobolev embedding which is optimal in the Lorentz scale. In the appendix, we characterize the cases of equality in the rearrangement inequality in fractional Sobolev spaces.     

Classification of sets satisfying the geometric characterization

The geometric characterization identifies the sets of nodes such that the Lagrange polynomials are products of factors of first degree. We offer a detailed classification of all known sets satisfying the geometric characterization in the plane. The defect, which takes into account the number of lines containing more nodes than the degree, plays a fundamental role in this classification. Partially supported by the Spanish Research Grant MTM2006-03388, by Gobierno de Aragón and Fondo Social Europeo.     

Time-dependent harmonic oscillator in a magnetic field and an electric field on the non-commutative plane

In the non-commutative space, wave functions and geometric phases are derived for the time-dependent harmonic oscillator in external time-dependent magnetic and electric field. Explicit forms of the coherent states are also given, which are not the minimum uncertainty states for the coordinates and momenta.