The purpose of this paper is to give a short proof of an important recent theorem of Bombieri [2] on the mean value of the remainder term in the prime number theorem for arithmetic progressions. Applications of the theorem have been made by Bombieri and Davenport [3], Rodriques [9], and Elliott and Halberstam [5]. For earlier versions of the theorem and a survey of other applications, see Barban [1], and Halberstam and Roth [7, Chapter 4].

Christoffel's problem, in its classical form, asks for the determination of necessary and sufficient conditions on a function φ, defined over the unit spherical surface Ω, in order that there exist a convex body K for which φ (u) is the sum of the principal radii of curvature at that boundary point of K where the outer unit normal is u. The figures Ω and K are in Euclidean n-dimensional space (n ≥ 3). It is assumed that φ is continuously differentiable and that K is of sufficient smoothness. A solution of Christoffe's problem was given in [6]. Yet that treatment is rather unsatisfactory in that the smoothness restrictions are set by the method rather than the problem, cf. [5; p. 60]. The present paper overcomes this defect. To do this it is first necessary to generalize the original problem so as to seek conditions on a measure M, defined over the Borel sets of Ω, in order that M be a first order area function for a convex body K. When K has sufficient smoothness, then φ is the Radon-Nikodym derivative of M with respect to surface area measure on Ω. It is this generalized Christoffel problem which is solved in what follows.

The integral equation

occurs in the theory of the motion of an electrically conducting fluid, occupying the space between two electrodes at different potentials, in the presence of a strong magnetic fluid [Hunt and Malcolm 1]. In this theory a solution is required in which

and one of the principal properties of the solution to be determined is

In the nonoscillation theory of ordinary differential equations the asymptotic behaviour of the solutions has often been described by exhibiting asymptotic expansions for these solutions. A fundamental illustration of this technique may be found in Hille [6] wherein the linearly independent solutions of a second order homogeneous differential equation were described by single termed asymptotic expansions. For the dominant solution, this result was successively extended by Waltman in [8] for a second order equation and in [9] for an nth order equation. A further generalization of these results appears in [3] where a complete nth order nonhomogeneous nonlinear differential equation was considered; again, asymptotic representations were given to describe the behaviour of the solutions of the differential equation. Moore and Nehari [7], Wong [10], [11], and Hale and Onuchic [2], also use asymptotic representations in discussing the behaviour of the solutions of certain differential equations. All of the above results are essentially perturbation problems with the unperturbed linear differential equation having the form y(n) = h(t) for some n and h(t).

The problem of estimating accurately the order of magnitude of the least primitive root g(p) to a large prime modulus p is as yet unsolved. The first non-trivial estimate was obtained by I. M. Vinogradov (see [5]) who in about 1919 showed that

A graph G (finite, undirected, and without loops or multiple lines) is n-connected if the removal of fewer than n points from G neither disconnects it nor reduces it to the trivial graph consisting of a single point. We present in this note a sufficient set of conditions on the degrees (valences) of the points of a graph G so that G is n-connected.

Helly's theorem asserts that if W is a family of compact convex sets in a j-dimensional linear space, and if any j + 1 members of ℱ have a non-empty intersection, then there is a point common to all members of ℱ. If one attempts to generalise this result to the case when ℱ consists of sets which are expressible as the union of at most n disjoint compact convex sets then, in general, one finds that there is no number h(n, j) such that if any h(n, j) members of ℱ have a non-empty intersection, then there is a point common to all members of ℱ. The difficulty lies in the fact that, in general, the intersections of members of ℱ are more complicated in structure than are the members of ℱ.

Let Ω be a compact metric space of non-σ-finite Λh-measure, where Λh denotes the Hausdorff measure corresponding to some continuous increasing real function h(t), denned for t ≥ 0 and with h(t) > 0 and h(t) > 0 for t > 0. C. A. Rogers has drawn attention to two problems that have remained unsolved for some years, and which seem to present considerable difficulty:

I. Does Ω necessarily have subsets of finite positive Λh-measure?

II. Does Ω. necessarily contain a system ofdisjoint closed subsets each of non-σ-finite Λh-measure ?

The answers are affirmative when Ω is a subset of a Euclidean space (see [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]); recently D. G. Larman ([8], [9]) was able to extend each of these results to the case of the “finite-dimensional” compact metric spaces that he introduced in [7]. Both of his proofs depend on the detailed structure of such spaces; the aim of the present paper is to establish a general theorem, from which it follows in particular that Larman's second result is a consequence of his first, and that an affirmative answer to I would imply an affirmative answer to II. (Since it seems likely that I must be answered negatively in general, and II affirmatively, the present theorem may well be of only ephemeral significance; the nature of the proof reinforces this expectation.)

In this paper, we consider a class of spaces for which the convolutions with any set of regularizes converge in the topology of the space. We have already dealt with this matter in [2], but the conditions on the topology were unnecessarily restrictive and the proof somewhat unnatural. The present theorem is not only substantially more general, but is also more satisfying in that the argument reveals an unexpected connection between two topics; namely, the approximation of Lebesgue integrals by means of Riemann sums, and the uniqueness of certain types of locally convex topologies in vector lattices.

Let E be a continuum and n ≥ 4 a given positive integer. A system of points z1,…, zn єE that maximizes

is called a system of Fekete points. Such a system may be not unique.

If θ is a real algebraic number of degree r ≥ 2, there is a computable number c = c(θ) > 0 such that

for all rational numbers p/q (q > 0). This follows directly from the definition of an algebraic number, as was shown by Liouville in 1843; and if r = 2 there is no more to be said. Axel Thue was the first to prove a stronger result when r ≥ 3; he showed that if

there are at most finitely many rational numbers p/q that satisfy

Let S be a set of points in n-dimensional space, and suppose that an open sphere of unit radius is centred at each point of S. Suppose that no point of space is an inner point of more than two spheres. We say that S provides a double packing for spheres of unit radius. We define δ2(S), the density of this double packing, to be

where Jn is the volume of a sphere of unit radius, and Nt(S) is the number of points of S inside a cube of side 2t, centred at the origin O. We define δ2, the density of closest double packing, to be

where the supremum is taken over all sets S with the property described above.

The Poincaré problem for the normal modes of oscillations of an inviscid, incompressible fluid contained in an infinitely long cylinder rotating about a direction perpendicular to its axis is investigated.

When the motion of a viscous fluid around a gas bubble is discussed, it is frequently assumed, especially for flows at low Reynolds numbers, that the bubble takes on a spherical shape in three dimensions or a circular cross-section in a two-dimensional flow. If this assumption is made, arid the gas within the bubble is assumed to have negligible density and viscosity, then the problem of finding the exterior flow is mathematically overdetermined and it is not obvious that a solution to the problem exists. Moreover, if such a solution does exist, then the over-determination of the system should, in general, give rise to relationships between the flow parameters, that is, certain conditions must be satisfied to ensure the existence of a solution. It is the purpose of this paper to derive these conditions in the case of a two-dimensional Stokes flow. The problem is generalised to the extent that part of the circular boundary is taken to be rigid, on which the no-slip condition is to be satisfied and part is to be a free streamline, on which stress conditions are to be satisfied. The conditions for the existence of a solution to this problem are derived and the solution is found in closed form. The method of solution is that of reducing the problem to one of a mixed boundary-value problem in analytic function theory. The classical solutions for the Stokes flow around a circular bubble and around a rigid circle are then easily derived as limiting cases.

The higher dimensional concepts corresponding to trees are developed and studied. In order to enumerate these 2-dimensional structures called 2-trees, a dissimilarity characteristic theory is investigated. By an appropriate application of certain combinatorial techniques, generating functions are obtained for the number of 2-trees. These are specialized to count those 2-trees embeddable in the plane, thus providing a new approach to the old problem of determining the number of triangulations of a polygon.