The plus construction, Postnikov towers and universal central module extensions

Given a connected spaceX, we consider the effect of Quillen’s plus construction on the homotopy groups ofX in terms of its Postnikov decomposition. Specifically, using universal properties of the fibration sequenceAX→X→X ⁺, we explain the contribution of π _n X to π _n X ⁺, π _n+1 X ⁺ and π _n AX, π _n+1 AX explicitly in terms of the low dimensional homology of π _n X regarded as a module over π₁ X. Key ingredients developed here for this purpose are universal II-central fibrations and a theory of universal central extensions of modules, analogous to universal central extensions of perfect groups. Research partially supported by NSERC of Canada.     

Decay of neutron-rich Ga isotopes near N = 50 at PARRNe

The PARRNe facility has been used to produce neutron-rich isotopes ^83,84Gaby the ISOL method. Their decay has been studied, and β-γ coincidence and γ-γ coincidence data were collected as a function of time. The first two excited levels in ⁸³Ge and the first excited level in ⁸⁴Ge have been measured for the first time.     

Degenerate nonlinear hyperbolic conservation laws: Non classical geometrical theory

Kinetic selection principles have been shown to be useful and physically reasonable in nonlinear hyperbolic problems with large amplitude phase transitions. We refer to Abeyaratne and Knowles, [A-K], for discussion on the subject. They also have been used for degenerate nonlinear problems, where the genuine nonlinearity property of Lax is violated. This is the framework of Liu, [Li], in the kinetic situation of Hayes and Le Floch, [H-L], where their so-called non classical shocks may be seen as small amplitude phase transitions. Here, we describe the local geometry generated by the generic non genuinely nonlinear assumption. A geometric kinetic criterion can be used to select indeterminate simple waves and obtain the well-posedness of the local Riemann problem. A particular case is the entropic kinetic criterion of Hayes and Le Floch.

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Sunto Principi di selezione cinetica sono stati mostrati utili e fisicamente ragionevoli in problemi iperbolici con transizioni di fase di grande ampiezza. Ci riferiamo ad Abeyaratne e Knowles, [A-K], per discussioni sull'argomento. Detti principi sono stati usati per problemi nonlineari degeneri, dove la proprietà di genuina nonlinearità di Lax è violata. Questo è la prospettiva di Liu, [Li], nella situazione cinetica di Hayes e Le Floch, [H-L], dove i loro così detti urti non classici possono essere considerati come transizioni di fase di piccola ampiezza. Qui, descriviamo la geometria locale generata dall'ipotesi generica genuinamente nonlineare. Un criterio di geometria cinetica può essere usato per selezionare onde semplici indeterminate ed ottenere la buona posizione per il problema locale di Riemann. Un caso particolare è il criterio di entropia cinetico di Hayes e Le Floc.

     

Strengthened semidefinite programming bounds for codes

We give a hierarchy of semidefinite upper bounds for the maximum size A(n,d) of a binary code of word length n and minimum distance at least d. At any fixed stage in the hierarchy, the bound can be computed (to an arbitrary precision) in time polynomial in n; this is based on a result of de Klerk et al. (Math Program, 2006) about the regular ∗-representation for matrix ∗-algebras. The Delsarte bound for A(n,d) is the first bound in the hierarchy, and the new bound of Schrijver (IEEE Trans. Inform. Theory 51:2859–2866, 2005) is located between the first and second bounds in the hierarchy. While computing the second bound involves a semidefinite program with O(n ⁷) variables and thus seems out of reach for interesting values of n, Schrijver’s bound can be computed via a semidefinite program of size O(n ³), a result which uses the explicit block-diagonalization of the Terwilliger algebra. We propose two strengthenings of Schrijver’s bound with the same computational complexity. Supported by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research grant NWO 639.032.203.     

Du discret au continu pour des modèles de réseaux aléatoires d'atomes

We study in this Note the continuum (macroscopic) limit for some atomistic models for crystals. The purpose is to derive densities of mechanical energies from microscopic models. In contrast to the setting of a previous study, where the microscopic structure was assumed to be periodic, it is modelled here by a stochastic lattice, which enjoys some stationarity and ergodicity properties, following notions previously introduced elsewhere. To cite this article: X. Blanc et al., C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 342 (2006).     

Computation of Autocorrelations of Interdeparture Times by Numerical Transform Inversion

The generating function of the autocorrelations of the interdeparture times in stationary M/G/1 and GI/M/1 systems involves the probability generating function of the number of customers served in a busy period. The latter function is implicitly determined as a solution to a functional equation. Standard methods for the numerical inversion of generating functions require the values of these functions at many complex arguments. A recently discovered substitution method for contour integrals allows the numerical inversion of implicitly determined generating functions without the numerical solution of the functional equations.     

Redefining Event Variables for Efficient Modeling of Continuous-Time Batch Processing

We define events so as to reduce the number of events and decision variables needed for modeling batch-scheduling problems such as described in [15]. We propose a new MILP formulation based on this concept, defining non-uniform time periods as needed and decision variables that are not time-indexed. It can handle complicated multi-product/multi-stage machine processes, with production lines merging and diverging, and with minimum and maximum batch sizes. We compare it with earlier models and show that it can solve problems with small to medium demands relative to batch sizes in reasonable computer times.     

Connections between semidefinite relaxations of the max-cut and stable set problems

We describe links between a recently introduced semidefinite relaxation for the max-cut problem and the well known semidefinite relaxation for the stable set problem underlying the Lovász’s theta function. It turns out that the connection between the convex bodies defining the semidefinite relaxations mimics the connection existing between the corresponding polyhedra. We also show how the semidefinite relaxations can be combined with the classical linear relaxations in order to obtain tighter relaxations. This work was done while the author visited CWI, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Svata Poljak untimely deceased in April 1995. We shall both miss Svata very much. Svata was an excellent colleague, from whom we learned a lot of mathematics and with whom working was always a very enjoyable experience; above all, Svata was a very nice person and a close friend of us. The research was partly done while the author visited CWI, Amsterdam, in October 1994 with a grant fom the Stieltjes Institute, whose support is gratefully acknowledged. Partially supported also by GACR 0519. Research support by Christian Doppler Laboratorium für Diskrete Optimierung.