The Best Lower Bound for the Permanent of a Correlation Matrix of Rank Two

If 1≤k≤n, then Cor(n,k) denotes the set of all n×n real correlation matrices of rank not exceeding k. Grone and Pierce have shown that if A∈Cor (n, n-1), then per(A)≥n/(n-1). We show that if A∈Cor(n,2), then , and that this inequality is the best possible.     

A trace class operator inequality

In this note, we generalize the inequality about the trace of positive semidefinite matrix trk(AB)?k(trA)k(trB) to Hilbert space, and obtain a relevant inequality about positive trace class operator.     

Some inequalities for characteristic functions. II

Recently we established Matysiak and Szablowski's conjecture [V. Matysiak, P.J. Szablowski, Theory Probab. Appl. 45 (2001) 711-713] about a lower bound of real-valued characteristic functions. In this paper, applying an alternative approach we are able to give explicitly the ranges of argument for which the obtained inequalities hold true for general characteristic functions.     

Random walks on inhomogeneous lattices

For lattices with two kinds of points (black and white), distributed according to a translation-invariant joint probability distribution, we study statistical properties of the sequence of consecutive colors encountered by a random walker moving through the lattice. The probability distribution for the single steps of the walk is considered to be independent of the colors of the points. Several exact results are presented which are valid in any number of dimensions and for arbitrary probability distributions for the coloring of the points and the steps of the walk. They are used to derive a few general properties of random walks on lattices containing traps.Presented at the Symposium on Random Walks, Gaithersburg, MD, June 1982.     

A long-time tail for random walk in random scenery

Consider a simple random walk on ^d whose sites are colored black or white independently with probabilityq, resp. 1–q. Walk and coloring are independent. Letn _k be the number of steps by the walk between itskth and (k+1) th visits to a black site (i.e., the length of itskth white run), and let _k =E(n _k )–q ^–1. Our main result is a proof that (*) lim _k k ^d/2 _k = (1 –q)q ^{d/2 – 2}(d/2) ^d/2. Since it is known thatq ^{– 1} _k =E(n ₁ n _{k + 1} B) –E(n ₁ B)E(n _{k + 1} B), withB the event that the origin is black, (*) exhibits a long-time tail in the run length autocorrelation function. Numerical calculations of _k (1k100) ind=1, 2, and 3 show that there is an oscillatory behavior of _k for smallk. This damps exponentially fast, following which the power law sets in fairly rapidly. We prove that if the coloring is not independent, but is convex in the sense of FKG, then the decay of _k cannot be faster than (*).     

Crime and punishment: Does it pay to punish?

Crime is the result of a rational distinctive balance between the benefits and costs of an illegal act. This idea was proposed by Becker more than forty years ago (Becker (1968) [1]). In this paper, we simulate a simple artificial society, in which agents earn fixed wages and can augment (or lose) wealth as a result of a successful (or not) act of crime. The probability of apprehension depends on the gravity of the crime, and the punishment takes the form of imprisonment and fines. We study the costs of the law enforcement system required for keeping crime within acceptable limits, and compare it with the harm produced by crime. A sharp phase transition is observed as a function of the probability of punishment, and this transition exhibits a clear hysteresis effect, suggesting that the cost of reversing a deteriorated situation might be much higher than that of maintaining a relatively low level of delinquency. Besides, we analyze economic consequences that arise from crimes under different scenarios of criminal activity and probabilities of apprehension.     

Muirhead-Rado inequality for compact groups

Muirhead’s majorization inequality was extended by Rado to the case of arbitrary permutation groups. We further generalize this inequality to compact groups and their linear representations over the reals. We characterize saturation of the inequality, and describe the saturation condition in detail for the case of actions on Hermitian operators. Supported in part by the National Science Foundation and the Center for the Mathematics of Information.     

LOCALLY STABILIZED FINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR STOKES PROBLEM WITH NONLINEAR SLIP BOUNDARY CONDITIONS

Based on the low-order conforming finite element subspace （Vh, Mh） such as the P1-P0 triangle element or the Q1-P0 quadrilateral element, the locally stabilized finite element method for the Stokes problem with nonlinear slip boundary conditions is investigated in this paper. For this class of nonlinear slip boundary conditions including the subdifferential property, the weak variational formulation associated with the Stokes problem is an variational inequality. Since （Vh, Mh） does not satisfy the discrete inf-sup conditions, a macroelement condition is introduced for constructing the locally stabilized formulation such that the stability of （Vh, Mh） is established. Under these conditions, we obtain the H1 and L2 error estimates for the numerical solutions.     

On blow-up results for solutions of inhomogeneous evolution equations and inequalities

The main purpose of this work is to obtain blow-up results for solutions of the inequality