In this note we demonstrate that a conjecture about a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a centre of cubic equations is not true.

Let N:ℝ→ℝ be a locally Lipschitzian map such that (y + l)N(y)>0 for all y ≠ –1 and such that N(y)=1 + y for – 1 ≦ y ≦ 3. For any positive number α the equation y'(t) αy(t–1)N(y(t)) has, aside from the constantsolutions y(t) ≡ –1, and y(t) ≡–1 solution y(t) such that y(t + 4) = y(t) for all real t If N(y) = 1 + y for all y, one obtains Wright's equation, which isknown to have periodic solutions of minimal period p (depending on α) arbitrarily close to 4. Some results concerning nonexistence of periodic solutions of period 4 of other differential-delay equations are also proved. In all cases the method of proof consists in analysing an associated fourth-order system of ordinary differential equationsand showing that this system has no nonconstant periodic solutions.

We consider a weakly coupled set of two partial differential equations where the coupling matrix has variable elements and the principal part of each equation is the same uniformly elliptic operator. Weobtain necessary conditions that the system of equations can be decoupled. By decoupling the system and using a positivity lemma due to Hess and Kato, we determine the algebraic sign of the solution components. This work extends recent results of de Figueiredo and Mitidieri. Further, one can use these results to determine the sign of the solution to certain fourth order elliptic boundary value problems.

In this paper we prove that the domain of hyperbolicity of the polynomial xn + λ2nn−2+λ3xn−3+ … + λn,λiϵR intersected by the half-space λ2 ≧ – 1, has the property of Whitney, i.e., every two points of this set can be connected by a piecewise-smooth curve belonging to it, whose length is ≦C times greater than the euclidian distance between the points, where the constant C does not depend on the choice of the points. Parallel with this, we show that the values x1≦x2≦…≦xn of a random variable are uniquely determined by the corresponding probabilities and by thefirst n moments.

Depending upon the initial data associated with the fundamental matrix, the function M(λ), used to generate L2-solutions of homogeneous linear differential systems, may vary. We show that there is a matrix bilinear transformation between such functions M(λ) with different initial data and illustrate how the result can be used to simplify the calculation of a specific M(λ)-function for a scalar second-order problem.

We prove the existence of a weak solution for the system of partial differential equations describing the shearing of stratified thermoviscoplastic materials with temperature-dependent non-homogeneous viscosity.

We determine the homomorphism induced, in Z2-cohomology, by a map f: ΩSpin(r) → ΩSpin(r). As a corollary we show that ΩSpin(r), r ≧ 9 is 2-atomic, where a space X is 2-atomic if any map f: X ≧X is either a mod 2 homotopy equivalence or f*: H*(X, Z2) → H*(X, Z2) is nilpotent.

This paper describes a proof that the solutions of Neumann problems for the exterior of spheres {x ∊ ℝ3∣ converge to the solutions of the exterior problem for the halfspace {x ∊ ℝ3 } x1 ≧ 0} as b → ∞ provided that the boundary data converge in a certain sense. The method requires that there be some dissipation which can be arbitrarily small. Fredholm integral equations are set up for the boundary data, and these are solved by means of Neumann series for large b. Estimates on the terms of the series (which involve singular integrals), in terms of b, allow the convergence proof to be carried through.

The procedure of expressing problems with infinite boundaries in terms of problems with finite boundaries allows the implementation of an effective numerical procedure for determining, for example, the entire near-field of a baffled piston, a problem whose solution has proved elusive for many years.

The theory of subordinacy is extended to all one-dimensional Schrödinger operatorsfor which the corresponding differential expression L = – d2/(dr2) + V(r) is in the limit point case at both ends of an interval (a, b), with V(r) locally integrable. This enables a detailed classification of the absolutely continuous and singular spectra to be established in terms of the relative asymptotic behaviour of solutions of Lu = xu, x εℝ, as r→a and r→b. The result provides a rigorous but straightforward method of direct spectral analysis which has very general application, and somefurther properties of the spectrum are deduced from the underlying theory.

The method of viscosity solutions for nonlinear partial differential equations (PDEs) justifies passages to limits by in effect using the maximum principle to convert to the corresponding limit problem for smooth test functions. We describe in this paper a “perturbed test function” device, which entails various modifications of the test functions by lower order correctors. Applications include homogenisation for quasilinear elliptic PDEs and approximation of quasilinear parabolic PDEs by systems of Hamilton-Jacobi equations.

Kuiper has proved that there is no tight topological immersion of RP2 into E3. Thus any continuous tight map RP2 → E3 has to have singular points. In this note we consider tight C∞-stable maps of RP2 and the torus into E3; i.e. maps with the simplest possible singularities (Whitney pinchpoints) and transversal crossings. We classify the forms that the outer part of such maps can take; we prove also some facts about the inner part. The result about the outer part of C℞-stable tight maps RP2 → E3 establishes the first half of Banchoff's conjectured classification of such mappings.

Let G and G' be two connected compact Lie groups with maximal tori T and T'. For a space X, let Xp be the p-completion of X. We will associate to each topological map f:(BG)p→(BG')p an “admissible map” ϕ:π1(T)⊗zZp→π1(T′)⊗zZp. We then show that the study of “admissible maps” in the p-complete case may be reduced to their study in the p-local case.

In this paper we generalise the gradient theory of phase transitions to the vector valued case. We consider the family of perturbations

of the nonconvex functional

where W:RN→R supports two phases and N ≧1. We obtain the Γ(L1(Ω))-limit of the sequence

Moreover, we improve a compactness result ensuring the existence of a subsequence of minimisers of Eε(·) converging in L1(Ω) to a minimiser of E0(·) with minimal interfacial area.

We prove C∞ regularity for moving interfaces of local solutions of the porous medium equation as well as C∞ lateral regularity for the pressure function near such an interface.

In this paper we show that in O(2) symmetric systems, structurally stable, asymptoticallystable, heteroclinic cycles can be found which connect periodic solutions with steady states and periodic solutions with periodic solutions. These cycles are found in the third-order truncated normal forms of specific codimension two steady-state/Hopf and Hopf/Hopf mode interactions.

We find these cycles using group-theoretic techniques; in particular, we look for certainpatterns in the lattice of isotropy subgroups. Once the pattern has been identified, the heteroclinic cycle can be constructed by decomposing the vector field on fixed-point subspaces into phase/amplitude equations (it is here that we use the assumption of normal form). The final proof of existence (and stability) relies on explicit calculations showing that certain eigenvalue restrictions can be satisfied.

Let R ×N equipped with the warped Lorentzian metric f2dt2 ⊕(− h), where (N, h) is a Riemannian manifold, and f: N → ]0, ∞[ is a smooth function. Then R × N is called a standard static space-time, and in this paper we look for non-trivial periodic trajectories on R × N for N compact.