We show that there exists a locally compact separable metrizable space $L$ such that $C_{0}(L)$, the Banach space of all continuous complex-valued functions vanishing at infinity with the supremum norm, is almost transitive. Due to a result of Greim and Rajagopalan [3], this implies the existence of a locally compact Hausdorff space $\tilde L$ such that $C_{0}(\tilde L)$ is transitive, disproving a conjecture of Wood [9]. We totally owe our construction to a topological characterization due to Sánches [8].

We consider order and type properties of Marcinkiewicz and Lorentz function spaces. We show that if $0<p<1$, a $p$-normable quasi-Banach space is natural (i.e. embeds into a $q$-convex quasi-Banach lattice for some $q>0$) if and only if it is finitely representable in the space $L_{p,\infty}.$ We also show in particular that the weak Lorentz space $L_{1,\infty}$ do not have type $1$, while a non-normable Lorentz space $L_{1,p}$ has type $1$. We present also criteria for upper $r$-estimate and $r$-convexity of Marcinkiewicz spaces.

The aim of this paper is to prove that the Ricci curvature ${\rm Ric}_M$ of a complete hypersurface $M^n$, $n\,{\ge}\,3$, of the Euclidean sphere $\mathbb{S}^{n+1}$, with two distinct principal curvatures of multiplicity 1 and $n-1$, satisfies $\sup {\rm Ric}_M\,{\ge}\,\inf\, f(H)$, for a function\, $f$ depending only on $n$ and the mean curvature $H$. Supposing in addition that $M^n$ is compact, we will show that the equality occurs if and only if $H$ is constant and $M^n$ is isometric to a Clifford torus $S^{n-1}(r) \times S^1(\sqrt{1-r^2})$.

The notion of a strongly dense inner product space is introduced and it is shown that, for such an incomplete space $S$ (in particular, for each incomplete hyperplane of a Hilbert space), the system $F(S)$ of all orthogonally closed subspaces of $S$ is not stateless, and the state-space of $F(S)$ is affinely homeomorphic to the face consisting of the free states on the projection lattice corresponding to the completion of $S$. The homeomorphism is determined by the extension of the states. In particular, when $S$ is complex, the state-space of $F(S)$ is affinely homeomorphic to the state-space of the Calkin algebra associated with $\skew3\overline S$.

It is shown that the countable saturated discrete linear ordering has the small index property, but that the countable 1-transitive linear orders which contain a convex subset isomorphic to ${\Bbb Z}^2$ do not. Similar results are also proved in the coloured case.

Given a sequence $(\pi_n)$ of irreducible representations of a liminal $C^*$-algebra $A$, and a sequence $(b_n)$ of trace class operators with $b_n\in \pi_n(A)$, we investigate necessary conditions and sufficient conditions for the existence of a simultaneous lifting $a\in A$ such that, for each $n$, the trace of $\sigma(a)$ is bounded for irreducible representations $\sigma$ in a neighbourhood of $\pi_n$.

Let $\mu$ be a finite positive Borel measure defined on a $\sigma$-algebra of subsets of a set $\X$. Using operator techniques we provide several criteria for finitely generated algebras to be dense in the space $L^2(\mu)$.

We determine the rings of invariants $S^G$ where $S$ is the symmetric algebra on the dual of a vector space $V$ over ${\mathbb F}_2$ and $G$ is the orthogonal group preserving a non-singular quadratic form on $V$. The invariant ring is shown to have a presentation in which the difference between the number of generators and the number of relations is equal to the minimum possibility, namely $\dim V$, and it is shown to be a complete intersection. In particular, the rings of invariants computed here are all Gorenstein and hence Cohen-Macaulay.

When a dry sphere sinks into a fluid, a funnel-shaped free surface develops behind the sphere if the sinking occurs faster than the surface wetting. If the fluid is viscoelastic, the interface can become unstable to a loss of axisymmetry. The stress near this surface concentrates into boundary layers, as also seen in other free surface extensional flows of viscoelastic fluids. At high Deborah number and low Reynolds number, the qualitative behaviour can be recovered by considering the static equilibrium of a stretched elastic membrane in an hydrostatic pressure field. We treat this problem in the framework of finite elasticity using a neo-Hookean constitutive model, and show how the conditions of instability can be recovered. A numerical study of this model is presented.

This paper presents a powerful approximate method for modelling the steady single-phase flow into a horizontal well completed with an Inflow Control Device (ICD) in an anisotropic reservoir. Two types of problems are investigated: the forward problem, which allows the user to find the flux distribution along the wellbore for a specified pressure drawdown, and the inverse problem to determine the ICD properties when the flux or reservoir pressure drawdown along the wellbore is given. The method is based on structuring the flow patterns around and, inside the wellbore and across the ICD and on the reduction of the dimensionality of the problem by using boundary integral equations. The resulting one dimensional singular nonlinear integro-differential equation is solved numerically, using the appropriate quadrature formula for singular integrals with Cauchy kernels.

Ferromagnetic materials may present a complicated domain structure, due in part to the nonlocal nature of the self interactions. In this article we present a detailed study of the structure of one-dimensional magnetic domain walls in uniaxial ferromagnetic materials, and in particular, of the Néel and Bloch walls. We analyze the logarithmic tail of the Néel wall, and identify the characteristic length scales in both the Néel and Bloch walls. This analysis is used to obtain the optimal energy scaling for the Néel and Bloch walls. Our results are illustrated with numerical simulations of one-dimensional walls. A new model for the study of ferromagnetic thin films is presented.

We study a one-dimensional continuum model for lipid bilayers. The system consists of water and lipid molecules; lipid molecules are represented by two ‘beads’, a head bead and a tail bead, connected by a rigid rod. We derive a simplified model for such a system, in which we only take into account the effects of entropy and hydrophilic/hydrophobic interactions. We show that for this simple model membrane-like structures exist for certain choices of the parameters, and numerical calculations suggest that they are stable.

For a matched pair of locally compact quantum groups, we construct the double crossed product as a locally compact quantum group. This construction generalizes Drinfeld’s quantum double construction. We study the modular theory and the $\mathrm{C}^*$-algebraic properties of these double crossed products, as well as several links between double crossed products and bicrossed products. In an appendix, we study the Radon–Nikodym derivative of a weight under a quantum group action (following Yamanouchi) and obtain, as a corollary, a new characterization of closed quantum subgroups.

AMS 2000 Mathematics subject classification: Primary 46L89. Secondary 46L65

To any groupoid, equipped with a Haar system, Jean-Michel Vallin had associated several objects (pseudo-multiplicative unitary, Hopf-bimodule) in order to generalize, up to the groupoid case, the classical notions of multiplicative unitary and Hopf–von Neumann algebra, which were intensely used to construct quantum groups in the operator algebra setting. In two former articles (one in collaboration with Jean-Michel Vallin), starting from a depth-2 inclusion of von Neumann algebras, we have constructed such objects, which allowed us to study two ‘quantum groupoids’ dual to each other. We are now investigating in greater details the notion of pseudo-multiplicative unitary, following the general strategy developed by Baaj and Skandalis for multiplicative unitaries.

AMS 2000 Mathematics subject classification: Primary 46L89; 22A22; 81R50

It has long been known that a number of periodic completely integrable systems are associated to hyperelliptic curves, for which the Abel map linearizes the flow (at least in part). We show that this is true for a relatively recent such system: the periodic discrete reduction of the shallow water equation derived by Camassa and Holm. The associated spectral problem has the same form and evolves in the same way as the spectral problem for a family of finite-dimensional non-periodic Hamiltonian flows introduced by Calogero and Françoise. We adapt the Weyl function method used earlier by us to solve the peakon problem to give an explicit solution to both the periodic discrete Camassa–Holm system and the (non-periodic) Calogero–Françoise system in terms of theta functions.

AMS 2000 Mathematics subject classification: Primary 35Q51; 37J35; 35Q53