In this paper, a theory of fractional calculus is developed for certain spaces D′p,μ of generalised functions. The theory is based on the construction of fractionalpowers of certain simple differential and integral operators. With the parameter μ suitably restricted, these fractional powers are shown to coincide with the Riemann-Liouville and Weyl operators of fractional integration and differentiation. Standard properties associated with fractional integrals and derivatives follow immediately from results obtained previously by the author on fractional powers of operators; see [6], [7]. Some spectral properties are also obtained.

Results are obtained on the existence, multiplicity, blow-up and asymptotic behaviour of the solutions to the integro-differential equation

which arises in the linearised, quasi-static theory of buckling for a viscoelastic rod.

A local homeomorphism from a compact, connected manifold with boundary to a simply connected manifold without boundary is shown to be one-to-one if it is one-to-one on each component of the boundary.

An idempotent-separating congruence μ is studied further in this paper. It is shown to satisfy special properties with respect to regular elements and to group-bound elements. It is shown that for any semigroup S, μ is the identity congruence on S/μ. From this, it can be shown that S/μ is fundamental for any semigroup S. Some alternative characterizations of μ are given and applied to yield sufficient conditions for a subsemigroup T of S to satisfy μ (T) = μ (S) ∩ (T × T), whence T is fundamental if S is fundamental.

Let F(X, Y, Z) be a non-singular quadratic form with rational coefficients. The curve EF(x2, y2, z2) = 0 is of genus 3. A procedure is described for deciding whether there is an effective divisor on E of degree 3 defined over the rationals. There is such a divisor if and only if there is a point on E defined over some algebraic number field of odd degree. An example is constructed for which there is no such divisor although (i) there are points on E defined over all p-adic fields and over the reals and (ii) there are infinitely many rational points on each of the three curves F(X, y2, z2) = 0, F(x2, Y, z2) = 0 and F(x2, y2, Z) = 0.

A priori estimates on the solution to the complete system of equations governing a heat-conductive, viscous reactive perfect gas confined between two infinite parallel plates are derived. From these estimates, global existence of both weak and classical solutions is obtained.

Let K be the class of all operators T in a Banach space × which have the property that, for any pair of integers (n, k) with n ≧2 and l≦ k ≦ n – l, there exists a constant Cnk such that

for all fϵdom Tn. If T ϵ K, then the best possible constant for the norm inequality (*) is the smallest non-negative value of the constant Cnk in (*). Any operator T which is the adjoint of a maximal symmetric operator in a Hilbert space belongs to the class K, as was shown by Ljubič [Izv. Akad. Nauk SSSR, Ser. Mat. 24 (1960), 825–864].

This article is concerned with the computation of the best possible constant for the differentiation operator Tf=if′ on the maximal domain in L2(0, ∞). Three algorithms, proposed by Ljubič [ibid.] and Kupcov [Trudy Mat. Inst. Steklov. 138 (1975)], are discussed and related to one another, asymptotic expressions (valid for large n) and numerical values of the best possible constant are presented, and the extremals (i.e. the elements / ∈ dom Tn for which equality holds in (*) with the best possible constant) are given.

Malcev algebras in which the relation of being an ideal is transitive are studied as well as those Malcev algebras in which every subalgebra satisfies that condition. These algebras are closely related to those in which right multiplication by any element is semisimple and they are used to determine Malcev algebras with a relatively complemented lattice of subalgebras.

The theory of differential equations is largely concerned with properties of solutions of individual, or classes of, equations. This paper is given over to the converse problem - that of seeking properties of functions which require them to be, in some respect, solutions of a differential equation, and to determining all possible such differential equations.

From this point of view this paper discusses only linear ordinary quasi-differential equations of the second order. However, the methods can be extended to quasi-differential equations of general order.

The well-known theorem of Bernstein is extended to generalized polynomial maps of closed balanced convex sets in complex Hausdorff topological vector spaces.

We study the sign of solutions to a class of semilinear Dirichlet problems when the nonlinearity is, for instance, a concave-convex function which interacts with the spectrum of the linear part. We are able to prove, in some cases, exact multiplicity results for positive and negative solutions. For the proofs we employ a device which splits the given problem into two others satisfying a suitable version of the Ambrosetti–Prodi result.

A necessary condition is obtained for a complete graph to have a decomposition as the line-disjoint union of three isomorphic strongly regular subgraphs. The condition is used to determine the number of non-trivial solutions of the equation x3+y3 = z3 in a finite field of characteristic p ≡ 2 mod 3.

We consider differential operators of the form H = −d2/dx2 + q(x) acting on u ∈ L2(0,∞) with boundary condition u(0) = 0. The potential q(x) is such that H has essential spectrum [0,∞) and an infinite sequence of negative eigenvalues converging to zero. Let n(E) denote the number of eigenvalues of H which are less than E. Under certain conditions on q(x), the well-known formula n(E)∼(2φ)−1 vol {x, p | p2 + q(x)<E}, E↑0, holds. We shall study the validity of this formula for potentials which show oscillatory behaviour as x →∞, like e.g. q(x) = −(1 + x)−α(a + b sin x) with 0<α <2, a≧0, b≠0. We shall obtain the leading-order behaviour of both n(E) and vol n(E)∼(2φ)−1 vol {x, p | p2 + q(x)<E} as E↑0 for a certain class of q's, and we shall see that the classical formula fails in most cases, but there are some noteworthy exceptions.

Second order differential expressions of the form w−1(−(pf′)′ + qf) are considered at a singular end-point. Some of the known relationships between properties such as Dirichlet, weak Dirichlet and strong limit-point, are extended to incorporate an arbitrary, positive weight function and complexvalued coefficients.

A nonlinear boundary value problem (P) having positive parameters L and a is considered. We associate with it a family of perturbed problems () affected by the presence of a barrier parameter γ related to L and a. There is a critical value L*(a) of the parameter L such that for L >L*(a), (P) has no regular solution. Then some natural extensions of (P), solutions of a free boundary value problem, arise as singular limits of ().

We determine which subvarieties of the class of MS-algebras enjoy the amalgamation property, the embedding property, the strong amalgamation property, or the special amalgamation property.