It is shown that a function whose critical locus is an isolated complete intersection singularity of arbitrary dimension, and that has finite codimension (in the sense of R. Pellikaan, Proc. London Math. Soc. (3) 57 (1998) 357–382) with respect to the ideal defining the isolated complete intersection singularity, can be approximated by a function whose critical locus is a finite number of Morse points together with the Milnor fibre of the isolated complete intersection singularity, having there well-known types of singularities.

In 1980, Robertson, Tweddle and Yeomans solved the metrizable BCE problem in certain special cases, for example, in the normable case under assumption of the Continuum Hypothesis (CH). A complete positive solution was recently given by the author and L. M. Sánchez Ruiz under an assumption, weaker than CH, that scales exist. A better partial solution for the general BCE problem obviates scales or other extra-ZFC assumptions, and entirely lays to rest the metrizable BCE problem. The proof stimulates thought about how the least infinite-dimensionality of normed barrelled spaces impinges on the separable quotient problem for Banach spaces.

This paper is based on a talk given at a joint meeting of the London Mathematical Society and the British Society for the History of Mathematics held in Oxford on 13 May 1995.

The projective tensor product $\ell_2\,{\hat{\otimes}}\,X$ of $\ell_2$ with any Banach space $X$ sits inside the space ${\rm Rad}(X)$ of all almost unconditionally summable sequences in $X$. If $X$ is of cotype 2 and $u: X \longrightarrow Y$ is 2-summing, then $u$ takes ${\rm Rad}(X)$ into $\ell_2\,{\hat{\otimes}}\,Y$. Consequently, if $X$ is of cotype 2, then every operator from $X$ to $\ell_2$ is 1-summing if and only if $\ell_1\,{\check{\otimes}}\,X \subseteq \ell_2\,{\hat{\otimes}}\,X$. In this case, each 2-summing operator from $\ell_2$ to $X$ is nuclear, and $X$ does not have non-trivial type provided that ${\rm dim}\,X = \infty$.

This paper presents an algebraic approach to Mislin's theorem that control of $p$-fusion is equivalent to inducing a mod-$p$ cohomology isomorphism. There are consequences for the cohomology of $p$-permutation modules.

Requirements for boundary conditions are found which imply sharp by order estimates in L∞-metrics of eigenfunctions of the ordinary differential operator

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It is shown that the inequalities

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for the eigenfunctions {yλ} yield certain restrictions on the spectrum.

This paper concerns systems of r homogeneous diagonal equations of degree k in s variables, with integer coefficients. Subject to a suitable non-singularity condition, it is shown that the expected asymptotic formula holds for the number of such systems inside a box [−P,P]s, provided only that s > (3r+1)2k−2. By way of comparison, classical methods based on the use of Hua's lemma would establish a similar conclusion, provided instead that s > r2k.

Infinitesimal conformal transformations of ℝn are always polynomial and finitely generated when n > 2. Here we prove that the Lie algebra of infinitesimal conformal polynomial transformations over ℝn, n > 2, is maximal in the Lie algebra of polynomial vector fields. When n is greater than 2 and p, q are such that p + q = n, this implies the maximality of an embedding of so(p + 1, q + 1, ℝ) into polynomial vector fields that was revisited in recent works about equivariant quantizations. It also refines a similar but weaker theorem by V. I. Ogievetsky.

Let X be an infinite-dimensional Banach space, and let A be a Cp Lipschitz bounded starlike body (for instance the unit ball of a smooth norm). We prove that:

(1) the boundary ∂A is Cp Lipschitz contractible;

(2) there is a Cp Lipschitz retraction from A onto ∂A;

(3) there is a Cp Lipschitz map T : A → A with no approximate fixed points.

The determination of the generalized Springer correspondence for disconnected reductive groups is completed here by being achieved in the case of disconnected groups of types $D_4$ in characteristic 3 and $E_6$ in characteristic 2. It is expected that this correspondence will provide an important ingredient for the computation of character values of finite groups of Lie type. Some evidence is provided in support of the latter statement.

A regular $n$-gon inscribing a knot is a sequence of $n$ points on a knot, such that the distances between adjacent points are all the same. It is shown that any smooth knot is inscribed by a regular $n$-gon for any $n$.The author was partially supported by NSF grant #DMS 9802558.

We show that the Suzuki group Sz(32) is a subgroup of E8(5), and so is its automorphism group. Both are unique up to conjugacy in E8([ ]) for any field [ ] of characteristic 5, and the automorphism group Sz(32)[ratio ]5 is maximal in E8(5).

A homoclinic class of a vector field is the closure of the transverse homoclinic orbits associated to a hyperbolic periodic orbit. An attractor is a transitive set to which every positive nearby orbit converges; likewise, every negative nearby orbit converges to a repeller. It is shown in this paper that a generic $C^1$ vector field on a closed $n$ -manifold has either infinitely many homoclinic classes, or a finite collection of attractors (or, respectively, repellers) with basins that form an open-dense set. This result gives an approach to use in proving a conjecture by Palis. A proof is also given of the existence of a locally residual subset of $C^1$ vector fields on a 5-manifold having finitely many attractors and repellers, but infinitely many homoclinic classes.

For any nonnegative self-adjoint operators $A$ and $B$ in a separable Hilbert space, the Trotter-type formula $[;(e^{i2tA/n}+e^{i2tB/n})/2]^n$ is shown to converge strongly in the norm closure of $\dom(A^{1/2})\cap\dom(B^{1/2})$ for some subsequence and for almost every $t\in\mathbb{R}$. This result extends to the degenerate case, and to Kato-functions following the method of T. Kato (see ‘Trotter's product formula for an arbitrary pair of self-adjoint contraction semigroup’, Topics in functional analysis (ed. M. Kac, Academic Press, New York, 1978) 185–195). Moreover, the restrictions on the convergence can be removed by considering functions other than the exponential.

In this paper we study several kinds of maximal almost disjoint families. In the main result of this paper we show that for successor cardinals $\kappa$, there is an unexpected connection between invariants $\frac{a}_{e}(\kappa), \frac{b} (\kappa)$ and a certain cardinal invariant $\frac{m}_{d}(\kappa^{+})$ on $\kappa^{+}$. As a corollary we get for example the following result. For a successor cardinal $\kappa$, even assuming that $\kappa^{<\kappa}=\kappa$ and $2^{\kappa}=\kappa^{+}$, the following is not provable in Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory. There is a $\kappa^{+}$-cc poset which does not collapse $\kappa$ and which forces $\frac{a} (\kappa)=\kappa^{+}<\frac{a}_{e}(\kappa)=\kappa^{++}=2^{\kappa}$. We also apply the ideas from the proofs of these results to study $\frac{a} =\frac{a} (\omega)$ and $\hbox{\rm non}(\cal{M})$.

The purpose of this note is to give a proof of a theorem of Serre, which states that if G is a p-group which is not elementary abelian, then there exist an integer m and non-zero elements x1, … xm∈H1 (G, Z/p) such that

formula here

with β the Bockstein homomorphism. Denote by mG the smallest integer m satisfying the above property. The theorem was originally proved by Serre [5], without any bound on mG. Later, in [2], Kroll showed that mG[les ]pk−1, with k=dimZ/pH1 (G, Z/p). Serre, in [6], also showed that mG[les ](pk−1)/ (p−1). In [3], using the Evens norm map, Okuyama and Sasaki gave a proof with a slight improvement on Serre's bound; it follows from their proof (see, for example, [1, Theorem 4.7.3]) that mG[les ](p+1) pk−2. However, mG can be sharpened further, as we see below.

For convenience, write H*ast;(G, Z/p)=H*(G). For every xi∈H1(G), set

formula here

The Betti numbers of moduli spaces of representations of a universal central extension of a surface group in the groups $U(2, 1)$ and $SU(2, 1)$ are calculated. The results are obtained using the identification of these moduli spaces with moduli spaces of Higgs bundles, and Morse theory, following Hitchin's programme. This requires a careful analysis of critical submanifolds, which turn out to have a description using either symmetric products of the surface or moduli spaces of Bradlow pairs.

This paper provides a proof that an n-dimensional complete open Riemannian manifold M with sectional curvature KM [ges ] −1 is diffeomorphic to a Euclidean n-space Rn if the volume growth of geodesic balls in M is close to that of the balls in an n-dimensional hyperbolic space Hn(−1) of sectional curvature −1.

Let f be a holomorphic function on the strip {z ∈ [Copf ] : −α < Im z < α}, where α > 0, belonging to the class [Hscr ](α,−α;ε) defined below. It is shown that there exist holomorphic functions w1 on {z ∈ [Copf ] : 0 < Im z < 2α} and w2 on {z ∈ [Copf ] : −2α < Im z < 2α}, such that w1 and w2 have boundary values of modulus one on the real axis, and satisfy the relations

w1(z)=f(z-αi)w2(z-2αi) and w2(z+2αi)=f(z+αi)w1(z)

for 0 < Im z < 2α, where f(z) := f(z). This leads to a ‘polar decomposition’ f(z) = uf(z + αi)gf(z) of the function f(z), where uf (z + αi) and gf(z) are holomorphic functions for −α < Im z < α, such that [mid ]uf(x)[mid ] = 1 and gf(x) [ges ] 0 almost everywhere on the real axis. As a byproduct, an operator representation of a q-deformed Heisenberg algebra is developed.

Les études récentes sur les idéaux á droite de $A_{1}\left(k\right),$ la premiére algébre de Weyl sur un corps algébriquement clos et de caractéristique nulle $k$, nous montrent que : pour tout idéal $I\neq 0$ á droite de $A_{1}(k)$, il existe $x\in Q\,{=}\,\ffrac( A_{1}( k)),$ et $V\in \mathcal{V}$ tels que : $I\,{=}\,x\mathcal{D}(R,V)$ o\`{u} $\mathcal{V}$ est l'ensemble des sous-espaces primairement décomposables de $k[t]\,{=}\,R$, et $\mathcal{D}( R,V)$ l'idéal á droite $\{ d\in A_{1}( k) /d( R) \subset V\}$. Dans cet article nous montrerons principalement que: pour tout $0\neq I$ idéal á droite de $A_{1} (k), \exists !n\in N,\exists ( x,\sigma ) \in Q^{\ast }\,{\times}\,\Aut_{k} ( A_{1} (k)) :I\,{=}\,x\sigma (\mathcal{D} (R,O (X_{n})))$, oú $X_{n}$ est la courbe d'algébre des fonctions réguliéres : $O (X_{n})\,{=}\,k+t^{n+1}k [t]$. La forme des idéaux décrite ci-dessus permet de voir dans une hypothése de Letzter et Makar-Limanov, pour deux courbes algébriques affines $X$ et $X^{\prime}$ on a : $\mathcal{D} (X) \simeq \mathcal{D} ( X^{\prime}) \Leftrightarrow \co \dim \mathcal{D} (X)\,{=}\,\co \dim \mathcal{D}( X^{\prime})$.