Functorial semi-norms on singular homology give refined ‘size’ information on singular homology classes. A fundamental example is the ℓ1-semi-norm. We show that there exist finite functorial semi-norms on singular homology that are exotic in the sense that they are not carried by the ℓ1-semi-norm.

Let F be a number field, let N ≥ 3 be an integer, and let k be a finite field of characteristic ℓ. We show that if ρ:GF → GLN(k) is a continuous representation with image of ρ containing SLN(k) then, under moderate conditions at primes dividing ℓ∞, there is a continuous representation ρ:GF → GLN(W(k)) unramified outside finitely many primes with ρ ~ρ mod ℓ. Stronger results are presented for ρ:Gℚ → GL3(k).

We analyze the computational complexity of an algorithm to solve the conjugacy search problem in a certain family of metabelian groups. We prove that in general the time complexity of the conjugacy search problem for these groups is at most exponential. For a subfamily of groups, we prove that the conjugacy search problem is polynomial. We also show that for a different subfamily the conjugacy search problem reduces to the discrete logarithm problem.

We calculate the endomorphism dga of Franke's exotic algebraic model for the K-local stable homotopy category at odd primes. We unravel its original abstract structure to give explicit generators, differentials and products.

We establish the mapping properties of Fourier-type transforms on rearrangement-invariant quasi-Banach function spaces. In particular, we have the mapping properties of the Laplace transform, the Hankel transforms, the Kontorovich-Lebedev transform and some oscillatory integral operators. We achieve these mapping properties by using an interpolation functor that can explicitly generate a given rearrangement-invariant quasi-Banach function space via Lebesgue spaces.

It is not known whether the inverse of a frequently hypercyclic bilateral weighted shift on c0(ℤ) is again frequently hypercyclic. We show that the corresponding problem for upper frequent hypercyclicity has a positive answer. We characterise, more generally, when bilateral weighted shifts on Banach sequence spaces are (upper) frequently hypercyclic.

The aim of this paper is to study the group of isomorphism classes of torsors of finite flat group schemes of rank 2 over a commutative ring R. This, in particular, generalizes the group of quadratic algebras (free or projective), which is especially well studied. Our approach, however, yields new results even in this case.

Let Φ be a random k-SAT formula in which every variable occurs precisely d times positively and d times negatively. Assuming that k is sufficiently large and that d is slightly below the critical degree where the formula becomes unsatisfiable with high probability, we determine the limiting distribution of the number of satisfying assignments.

One of the easiest randomized greedy optimization algorithms is the following evolutionary algorithm which aims at maximizing a function f: {0,1}n → ℝ. The algorithm starts with a random search point ξ ∈ {0,1}n, and in each round it flips each bit of ξ with probability c/n independently at random, where c > 0 is a fixed constant. The thus created offspring ξ' replaces ξ if and only if f(ξ') ≥ f(ξ). The analysis of the runtime of this simple algorithm for monotone and for linear functions turned out to be highly non-trivial. In this paper we review known results and provide new and self-contained proofs of partly stronger results.

Let G be a simple, simply connected, compact Lie group, and let M be an orientable, smooth, connected, closed 4-manifold. In this paper, we calculate the homotopy type of the suspension of M and the homotopy types of the gauge groups of principal G-bundles over M when π1(M) is (1) ℤ*m, (2) ℤ/prℤ, or (3) ℤ*m*(*nj=1ℤ/prjjℤ), where p and the pj's are odd primes.

This special issue is devoted to papers from the meeting on Combinatorics and Probability, held at the Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut in Oberwolfach from the 17th to the 23rd April 2016. The lectures at this meeting focused on the common themes of Combinatorics and Discrete Probability, with many of the problems studied originating in Theoretical Computer Science. The lectures, many of which were given by young participants, stimulated fruitful discussions. The fact that the participants work in different and yet related topics, and the open problems session held during the meeting, encouraged interesting discussions and collaborations.

The minimal ramification problem may be considered as a quantitative version of the inverse Galois problem. For a nontrivial finite group $G$, let $m(G)$ be the minimal integer $m$ for which there exists a $G$-Galois extension $N/\mathbb{Q}$ that is ramified at exactly $m$ primes (including the infinite one). So, the problem is to compute or to bound $m(G)$.

In this paper, we bound the ramification of extensions $N/\mathbb{Q}$ obtained as a specialization of a branched covering $\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}:C\rightarrow \mathbb{P}_{\mathbb{Q}}^{1}$. This leads to novel upper bounds on $m(G)$, for finite groups $G$ that are realizable as the Galois group of a branched covering. Some instances of our general results are:

$$\begin{eqnarray}1\leqslant m(S_{k})\leqslant 4\quad \text{and}\quad n\leqslant m(S_{k}^{n})\leqslant n+4,\end{eqnarray}$$

$n,k>0$

$S_{k}$

$k$

$S_{k}^{n}$

$n$

$S_{k}$

$m(G^{n})$

$n\rightarrow \infty$

$G$

Our methods are based on sieve theory results, in particular on the Green–Tao–Ziegler theorem on prime values of linear forms in two variables, on the theory of specialization in arithmetic geometry, and on finite group theory.

In the field of Life Sciences, it is very common to deal with extremely complex systems, from both analytical and computational points of view, due to the unavoidable coupling of different interacting structures. As an example, angiogenesis has revealed to be an highly complex, and extremely interesting biomedical problem, due to the strong coupling between the kinetic parameters of the relevant branching – growth – anastomosis stochastic processes of the capillary network, at the microscale, and the family of interacting underlying biochemical fields, at the macroscale. In this paper, an original revisited conceptual stochastic model of tumour-driven angiogenesis has been proposed, for which it has been shown that it is possible to reduce complexity by taking advantage of the intrinsic multiscale structure of the system; one may keep the stochasticity of the dynamics of the vessel tips at their natural microscale, whereas the dynamics of the underlying fields is given by a deterministic mean field approximation obtained by an averaging at a suitable mesoscale. While in previous papers, only an heuristic justification of this approach had been offered; in this paper, a rigorous proof is given of the so called ‘propagation of chaos’, which leads to a mean field approximation of the stochastic relevant measures associated with the vessel dynamics, and consequently of the underlying tumour angiogenic factor (TAF) field. As a side, though important result, the non-extinction of the random process of tips has been proven during any finite time interval.

A set of points in d-dimensional Euclidean space is almost equidistant if, among any three points of the set, some two are at distance 1. We show that an almost-equidistant set in ℝd has cardinality O(d4/3).

In the 1960s, L.P. Shilnikov showed that certain homoclinic orbits for smooth families of differential equations imply the existence of chaos, and there are complicated sequences of bifurcations near the parameter value at which the homoclinic orbit exists. We describe how this analysis is modified if the differential equations are piecewise smooth and the homoclinic orbit has a sliding segment. Moreover, we show that the Shilnikov mechanism appears naturally in the unfolding of boundary equilibrium bifurcations in $\mathbb{R}^3$.

We consider a nonlinear Robin problem driven by a non-homogeneous differential operator plus an indefinite potential term. The reaction function is Carathéodory with arbitrary growth near±∞. We assume that it is odd and exhibits a concave term near zero. Using a variant of the symmetric mountain pass theorem, we establish the existence of a sequence of distinct nodal solutions which converge to zero.

We introduce full diffeomorphism-invariant Colombeau algebras with added ε-dependence in the basic space. This unites the full and special settings of the theory into one single framework. Using locality conditions we find the appropriate definition of point values in full Colombeau algebras and show that special generalized points suffice to characterize elements of full Colombeau algebras. Moreover, we specify sufficient conditions for the sheaf property to hold and give a definition of the sharp topology in this framework.

We show that the image of the Abel–Jacobi map admits functorially a model over the field of definition, with the property that the Abel–Jacobi map is equivariant with respect to this model. The cohomology of this abelian variety over the base field is isomorphic as a Galois representation to the deepest part of the coniveau filtration of the cohomology of the projective variety. Moreover, we show that this model over the base field is dominated by the Albanese variety of a product of components of the Hilbert scheme of the projective variety, and thus we answer a question of Mazur. We also recover a result of Deligne on complete intersections of Hodge level 1.

We study several questions about the weak-type boundedness of the Fourier transform ℱ on rearrangement invariant spaces. In particular, we characterize the action of ℱ as a bounded operator from the minimal Lorentz space Λ(X) into the Marcinkiewicz maximal space M(X), both associated with a rearrangement invariant space X. Finally, we also prove some results establishing that the weak-type boundedness of ℱ, in certain weighted Lorentz spaces, is equivalent to the corresponding strong-type estimates.

We study some basic properties of the class of universal operators on Hilbert spaces, and provide new examples of universal operators and universal pairs.