The length of every pair {A,B} of 6×6 complex matrices is shown to be at most 10, that is, the words in A,B of length at most 10, including the empty word, span the unital algebra generated by A,B. This supports the conjecture that the length of every pair of n×n complex matrices is at most 2n−2, known to be true for n<6.

This paper investigates self-small abelian groups of finite torsion-free rank. We obtain a new characterization of infinite self-small groups. In addition, self-small groups of torsion-free rank 1 and their finite direct sums are discussed.

Let R be a noncommutative prime ring of characteristic different from 2 with Utumi quotient ring U and extended centroid C, I a nonzero right ideal of R. Let f(x1,…,xn) be a noncentral multilinear polynomial over C, m≥1 a fixed integer, a a fixed element of R, g a generalized derivation of R. If ag(f(r1,…,rn))m=0 for all r1,…,rn∈I, then one of the following holds:

1. (1) aI=ag(I)=(0);

2. (2) g(x)=qx, for some q∈U and aqI=0;

3. (3) [f(x1,…,xn),xn+1]xn+2 is an identity for I;

4. (4) g(x)=cx+[q,x] for all x∈R, where c,q∈U such that cI=0 and [q,I]I=0.

We show that for the Sorgenfrey line S, the minimal dense linearly ordered extension of S is a D-space, but not a monotone D-space; the minimal closed linearly ordered extension of S is not a monotone D-space; the monotone D-property is inversely preserved by finite-to-one closed mappings, but cannot be inversely preserved by perfect mappings.

In this paper we prove the following result: there exists an infinite arithmetic progression of positive odd numbers such that for any term k of the sequence and any nonnegative integer n, each of the 16 integers k−2n, k−2−2n, k−4−2n, k−6−2n, k−8−2n, k−10−2n, k−12−2n, k−14−2n, k2n−1, (k−2)2n−1, (k−4)2n−1, (k−6)2n−1, (k−8)2n−1, (k−10)2n−1, (k−12)2n−1 and (k−14)2n−1 has at least two distinct odd prime factors; in particular, for each term k, none of the eight integers k, k−2, k−4, k−6, k−8, k−10, k−12 or k−14 can be expressed as a sum of two prime powers.

Let I be an ideal of a commutative Noetherian local ring R, and M and N two finitely generated modules. Let t be a positive integer. We mainly prove that (i) if HIi(M,N) is Artinian for all i<t, then HIi(M,N) is I-cofinite for all i<t and Hom(R/I,HIt(M,N)) is finitely generated; (ii) if d=pd(M)<∞ and dim N=n<∞, then HId+n(M,N) is I-cofinite. We also prove that if M is a nonzero cyclic R-module, then HIi(N) is finitely generated for all i<t if and only if HIi(M,N) is finitely generated for all i<t.

In this paper we get different characterizations of the spherical strictly pseudoconvex CR manifolds admitting a CR-symmetric Webster metric by means of the Tanaka–Webster connection and of the Riemannian curvature tensor. As a consequence we obtain the classification of the simply connected, spherical symmetric pseudo-Hermitian manifolds.

Jørgensen’s famous inequality gives a necessary condition for a subgroup of PSL(2,ℂ) to be discrete. It is also true that if Jørgensen’s inequality holds for every nonelementary two-generator subgroup, the group is discrete. The sufficient condition has been generalized to many settings. In this paper, we continue the work of Wang, Li and Cao (‘Discreteness criteria for Möbius groups acting on ’, Israel J. Math.150 (2005), 357–368) and find three more (infinite) discreteness criteria for groups acting on ; we also correct a linguistic ambiguity of their Theorem 3.3 where one of the necessary conditions might be vacuously fulfilled. The results of this paper are obtained by using known results regarding two-generator subgroups and a careful analysis of the relation among the fixed point sets of various elements of the group.

Let G be a group and let CAutΦ(G)(Z(Φ(G))) be the set of all automorphisms of G centralizing G/Φ(G) and Z(Φ(G)). For each prime p and finite p-group G, we prove that CAutΦ(G)(Z(Φ(G)))≤Inn(G) if and only if G is elementary abelian or Φ(G)=Z(G) and Z(G) is cyclic.

Using variational methods, we obtain the existence of sign-changing solutions for a class of asymptotically linear Schrödinger equations with deepening potential well.

In this paper we clarify and improve the notion of weak braided bialgebra using weak entwining structures. As a main result we show that the notion of weak braided bialgebra can be rewritten in terms of weak entwining structures.

The main purpose of this paper is to develop a point-free notion of topological transitivity. First, we define transitive frame maps and transitive completely prime filters in Frm, the category of frames and frame maps. Then we discuss the relationship between these notions in Frm and the notions of topological transitive and transitive points in Top. Finally, we investigate the relationship between transitive frame maps and the existence of transitive completely prime filters.

We discuss here the boundedness of the fractional integral operator Iα and its generalized version on generalized nonhomogeneous Morrey spaces. To prove the boundedness of Iα, we employ the boundedness of the so-called maximal fractional integral operator Ia,κ*. In addition, we prove an Olsen-type inequality, which is analogous to that in the case of homogeneous type.

Using generalized position vector fields we obtain new upper bound estimates of the first nonzero eigenvalue of a kind of elliptic operator on closed submanifolds isometrically immersed in Riemannian manifolds of bounded sectional curvature. Applying these Reilly inequalities we improve a series of recent upper bound estimates of the first nonzero eigenvalue of the Lr operator on closed hypersurfaces in space forms.