The standard double bubble is the unique stable double bubble in

We prove that the only equilibrium double bubble in which is stable for fixed areas is the standard double bubble. This uniqueness result also holds for small stable double bubbles in surfaces, where it is new even for perimeter-minimizing double bubbles.

     

Nef Divisors in Codimension One on the Moduli Space of Stable Curves

Let M _g be the moduli space of smooth curves of genus g 3, and M¯ _g the Deligne-Mumford compactification in terms of stable curves. Let M¯ _g ^[1] be an open set of M¯ _g consisting of stable curves of genus g with one node at most. In this paper, we determine the necessary and sufficient condition to guarantee that a -divisor D on M¯ _g is nef over M¯ _g ^[1], that is, (D · C) 0 for all irreducible curves C on M¯ _g with C M¯ _g ^[1] .     

Derivation of a new class of distributions for the microcanonical ensemble

A new class of distributions for the microcanonical ensemble, which are shown to be stable laws, are derived by applying the central limit theorem to the canonical ensemble. This opens up a whole new host of phenomena that can be treated from a unified thermodynamic point of view. Pressure broadening of line shapes is used as an illustration.1. Work supported, in part, by contributions from the Consiglio Nazionale di Ricerche and the Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica.2. The interaction parameterC is proportional to the mean square dipole moment. As an order of magnitude of the dipole moment, we can take it as the product of the electric charge and a typical atomic radius for a moderately excited state, which is several times the Bohr radius. Multiplication by the fine structure constant converts the Bohr radius into the Compton wavelength, thereby reducing the magnitude of the interaction by 1/137.     

Neighboring extremals of dynamic optimization problems with path equality constraints

Neighboring extremals of dynamic optimization problems with path equality constraints and with an unknown parameter vector are considered in this paper. With some simplifications, the problem is reduced to solving a linear, time-varying two-point boundary-value problem with integral path equality constraints. A modified backward sweep method is used to solve this problem. Two example problems are solved to illustrate the validity and usefulness of the solution technique. This research was supported in part by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under NASA Grant No. NCC-2-106. The author is indebted to Professor A. E. Bryson, Jr., Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford University, for many stimulating discussions.     

The dynamics of random interfaces in phase transitions

A review is given of recent developments involving the dynamics of random interfaces formed in the evolution of metastable and unstable systems. Topics which are discussed include interface growth and nonequilibrium dynamical scaling. The possibility of there being dynamical universality classes in first-order phase transitions is also discussed. There are a large number of systems of experimental interest which include binary alloys, binary fluids, and polymer mixtures. Other systems studied by computer simulation include the kinetic Ising, Potts, andZ _N models.Work supported by NSF grant No. DMR-8013700.     

Excitation of stable transverse wavepackets with quadratic and cubic susceptibilities

We have identified a family of (2+1)D spatial solitary waves which can stably propagate in bulk media in the presence of coexisting diffraction, self-focusing Kerr and quadratic nonlinearities. In a conspicuous range of excitation conditions close to the stationary solutions, the emerging wavepackets are immune to the detrimental occurrence of filamentation and collapse, typical of pure Kerr media. The presence of a second-order contribution to the cubic nonlinear response is, therefore, able to prevent optical damage in applications relying on self-guidance. We show that the cross-phase modulation plays an important effect on stability. Our estimate shows that the effects of the cubic susceptibility cannot be neglected below a certain beam size in realistic crystals (e.g. KTP or similar).     

A Bahadur efficiency comparison between one and two sample rank statistics and their sequential rank statistic analogues

One and two sample rank statistics are shown in general to be more efficient in the Bahadur sense than their sequential rank statistic analogues as defined by Mason (1981, Ann. Statist.9 424–436) and Lombard (1981, South African Statist. J.15 129–152), even though the two families of statistics (those based on full ranks and those based on sequential ranks) have the same Pitman efficiency against local alternatives. In the process, general results on large deviation probabilities and laws of large numbers for statistics based on sequential ranks are obtained.     

On the spectral representation of symmetric stable processes

The so-called spectral representation theorem for stable processes linearly imbeds each symmetric stable process of index p into L^p (0 < p ≤ 2). We use the theory of L^p isometries for 0 < p < 2 to study the uniqueness of this representation for the non-Gaussian stable processes. We also determine the form of this representation for stationary processes and for substable processes. Complex stable processes are defined, and a complex version of the spectral representation theorem is proved. As a corollary to the complex theory we exhibit an imbedding of complex L^q into real or complex L^p for 0 < p < q ≤ 2.     

Types of laws of random vectors and best estimators

Optimality of estimators of a vector parameter in terms of the probability of the estimators being contained in suitable region(s) around the parameter point is defined. Conditions under which optimal estimators in the usual senses are also optimal in the above sense are investigated.