We investigate the special fibres of Siegel modular varieties with Iwahori level structure. On these spaces, we have the Newton stratification, and the Kottwitz–Rapoport (KR) stratification; one would like to understand how these stratifications are related to each other. We give a simple description of all KR strata which are entirely contained in the supersingular locus as disjoint unions of Deligne–Lusztig varieties. We also give an explicit numerical description of the KR stratification in terms of abelian varieties.

The interlace polynomials introduced by Arratia, Bollobás and Sorkin extend to invariants of graphs with vertex weights, and these weighted interlace polynomials have several novel properties. One novel property is a version of the fundamental three-term formulathat lacks the last term. It follows that interlace polynomial computations can be represented by binary trees rather than mixed binary–ternary trees. Binary computation trees provide a description of q(G) that is analogous to the activities description of the Tutte polynomial. If G is a tree or forest then these ‘algorithmic activities’ are associated with a certain kind of independent set in G. Three other novel properties are weighted pendant-twin reductions, which involve removing certain kinds of vertices from a graph and adjusting the weights of the remaining vertices in such a way that the interlace polynomials are unchanged. These reductions allow for smaller computation trees as they eliminate some branches. If a graph can be completely analysed using pendant-twin reductions, then its interlace polynomial can be calculated in polynomial time. An intuitively pleasing property is that graphs which can be constructed through graph substitutions have vertex-weighted interlace polynomials which can be obtained through algebraic substitutions.

We investigate the end spaces of infinite dual graphs. We show that there exists a natural homeomorphism * between the end spaces of a graph and its dual, and that * preserves the ‘end degree’. In particular, * maps thick ends to thick ends. Along the way, we prove that Tutte-connectivity is invariant under taking (infinite) duals.

Stein's method of exchangeable pairs is examined through five examples in relation to Poisson and normal distribution approximation. In particular, in the case where the exchangeable pair is constructed from a reversible Markov chain, we analyse how modifying the step size of the chain in a natural way affects the error term in the approximation acquired through Stein's method. It has been noted for the normal approximation that smaller step sizes may yield better bounds, and we obtain the first rigorous results that verify this intuition. For the examples associated to the normal distribution, the bound on the error is expressed in terms of the spectrum of the underlying chain, a characteristic of the chain related to convergence rates. The Poisson approximation using exchangeable pairs is less studied than the normal, but in the examples presented here the same principles hold.

We present a stability result for a class of non-trivial self-similarly vanishing solutions to a 3D Hele-Shaw moving boundary problem with surface tension and single-point suction. These solutions are domains that bifurcate from the trivial spherical solution. The moving domains have a geometric centre located at the suction point and they are axially symmetric. We show stability with respect to perturbations that preserve these properties.

The stress–elastic strain relationship is studied for a composite under a plastic deformation. The constitutive law of each component is described by a deformation theory of strain gradient plasticity which introduces an internal length scale. The conventional deformation plastic theory is obtained when the internal length scale tends to 0. The Hashin–Shtrikman upper bound for a two-phase composite governed by a power law is derived. It is predicted, by differentiating the bounds, that in most cases, the stress and the elastic strain follow a non-linear relation immediately after the elastic range. However, for some particular values of the ratio of the internal length scale and the micro-scale of the composite, this relation is linear. The prediction is illustrated by various numerical examples.

Ventricular assist devices (VADs) provide long- and short-term support to chronically ill heart disease patients; these devices are expected to match the remarkable functionality of the natural heart, which makes their design a very challenging task. Blood pumps, the principal component of the VADs, must operate over a wide range of flow rates and pressure heads and minimise the damage to blood cells in the process. They should also be small to allow easy implantation in both children and adults. Mathematical methods and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) have recently emerged as powerful design tools in this context; a review of the recent advances in the field is presented here. This review focusses on the CFD-based design strategies applied to blood flow in blood pumps and other blood-handling devices. Both simulation methods for blood flow and blood damage models are reviewed. The literature is put into context with a discussion of the chronological development in the field. The review is illustrated with specific examples drawn from our group's Galerkin/least squares (GLS) finite-element simulations of the basic Newtonian flow problem for the continuous-flow centrifugal GYRO blood pump. The GLS formulation is outlined, and modifications to include models that better represent blood rheology are shown. Haemocompatibility analysis of the pump is reviewed in the context of haemolysis estimations based on different blood damage models. Our strain-based blood damage model that accounts for the viscoleasticity associated with the red blood cells is reviewed in detail. The viability of design improvement based on trial and error and complete simulation-based design optimisation schemes are also discussed.

In this work, oscillatory and asymptotic behaviours of all solutions of higher-order neutral differential equations are compared with first-order delay differential equations, depending on two different ranges of the coefficient associated with the neutral part. Some simple examples are given to compare our results with the existing results in the literature and to illustrate the significance and applicability of our new results. Our results generalise, improve and correct some of the existing results in the literature.

We show that whenever δ > 0 and constants λi satisfy some necessary conditions, there are infinitely many prime triples p1, p2, p3 satisfying the inequality |λ0 + λ1p1 + λ2p2 + λ3p3| < (max pj)−2/9+δ. The proof uses Davenport–Heilbronn adaption of the circle method together with a vector sieve method.

Let be a finite dimensional complex semi-simple Lie algebra with Weyl group W and simple reflections S. For I ⊆ S let I be the corresponding semi-simple subalgebra of . Denote by WI the Weyl group of I and let w○ and wI○ be the longest elements of W and WI, respectively. In this paper we show that the answer to Kostant's problem, i.e. whether the universal enveloping algebra surjects onto the space of all ad-finite linear transformations of a given module, is the same for the simple highest weight I-module LI(x) of highest weight x ⋅ 0, x ∈ WI, as the answer for the simple highest weight -module L(xwI○w○) of highest weight xwI○w○ ⋅ 0. We also give a new description of the unique quasi-simple quotient of the Verma module Δ(e) with the same annihilator as L(y), y ∈ W.

If K is a field with a non-trivial non-Archimedean absolute value (multiplicative norm) | |, we describe all non-Archimedean K-algebra norms on the polynomial algebra K[X1, . . . , Xr] which extend | |.

Let G be a connected graph of order n, and let k ≥ 2 and m ≥ 0 be two integers. In this paper, we show that G is a fractional (k, m)-deleted graph if and for each pair of non-adjacent vertices x, y of G. This result is an extension of the previous result of Zhou [11].

A terrace for m is an arrangement (a1, a2, . . . , am) of the m elements of m such that the sets of differences ai+1 − ai and ai − ai+1 (i = 1, 2, . . . , m − 1) between them contain each element of m \ {0} exactly twice. For m odd, many procedures are available for constructing power-sequence terraces for m; each such terrace may be partitioned into segments, one of which contains merely the zero element of m, whereas each other segment is either (a) a sequence of successive powers of an element of m or (b) such a sequence multiplied throughout by a constant. We now adapt this idea by using power-sequences in n, where n is an odd prime power, to obtain terraces for m, where m = n − 2. We write each element from n so that they lie in the interval [0, n − 1] and then delete 0 and n − 1 so that they leave n − 2 elements that may be interpreted as the elements of n−2. A segment of one of the new terraces may be of type (a) or (b), incorporating successive powers of 2, with each entry evaluated modulo n. Our constructions provide n−2 terraces for all odd primes n satisfying 0 < n < 1,000 except for n = 127, 241, 257, 337, 431, 601, 631, 673, 683, 911, 937 and 953. We also provide n−2 terraces for n = 3r (r > 1) and for some values n = p2, where p is prime.

The Minkowski question mark function ?(x) arises as a real distribution of rationals in the Farey tree. We examine the generating function of moments of ?(x). It appears that the generating function is a direct dyadic analogue of period functions for Maass wave forms and it is defined in the cut plane \ (1, ∞). The exponential generating function satisfies an integral equation with kernel being the Bessel function. The solution of this integral equation leads to the definition of dyadic eigenfunctions, arising from a certain Hilbert–Schmidt operator. Finally, we describe p-adic distribution of rationals in the Stern–Brocot tree. Surprisingly, the Eisenstein series G2(z) does manifest in both real and p-adic cases.

In a scale of Fock spaces with radial weights ϕ we study the existence of Riesz bases of (normalized) reproducing kernels. We prove that these spaces possess such bases if and only if ϕ(x) grows at most like (log x)2.

The purpose of this note is to show that the Betti realization of motives is compatible with Grothendieck's six operations and the nearby cycles functors, which in the motivic world, were previously studied by the author. We first review the construction of the Betti realization. Then, we establish some general criteria which, applied to the Betti realization, give the compatibilities we seek except for the one concerning the nearby cycles functors. The latter will be treated in a separate section.

We break the convexity bound in the t-aspect for L-functions attached to cusp forms f for GL2(k) over arbitrary number fields k. The argument uses asymptotics with error term with a power saving, for second integral moments over spectral families of twists L(s,f⊗χ) by Grossencharacters χ, from our previous paper on integral moments.

Viro method plays an important role in the study of topology of real algebraic hypersurfaces. The T-primitive hypersurfaces we study here appear as the result of Viro's combinatorial patchworking when one starts with a primitive triangulation. We show that the Euler characteristic of the real part of such a hypersurface of even dimension is equal to the signature of its complex part. We explain how this can be understood in tropical geometry. We use this result to prove the existence of maximal surfaces in some three-dimensional toric varieties, namely those corresponding to Nakajima polytopes.