The decomposability number of a von Neumann algebra $\mathcal{M}$ (denoted by $\text{dec}\left( \mathcal{M} \right)$) is the greatest cardinality of a family of pairwise orthogonal non-zero projections in $\mathcal{M}$. In this paper, we explore the close connection between $\text{dec}\left( \mathcal{M} \right)$ and the cardinal level of the Mazur property for the predual ${{\mathcal{M}}_{*}}$ of $\mathcal{M}$, the study of which was initiated by the second author. Here, our main focus is on those von Neumann algebras whose preduals constitute such important Banach algebras on a locally compact group $G$ as the group algebra ${{L}_{1}}(G)$, the Fourier algebra $A(G)$, the measure algebra $M(G)$, the algebra $LUC{{(G)}^{*}}$, etc. We show that for any of these von Neumann algebras, say $\mathcal{M}$, the cardinal number dec$(\mathcal{M})$ and a certain cardinal level of the Mazur property of ${{\mathcal{M}}_{*}}$ are completely encoded in the underlying group structure. In fact, they can be expressed precisely by two dual cardinal invariants of $G$: the compact covering number $\kappa (G)$ of $G$ and the least cardinality $\mathcal{X}(G)$ of an open basis at the identity of $G$. We also present an application of the Mazur property of higher level to the topological centre problem for the Banach algebra $A{{(G)}^{**}}$.

A method, due to Élie Cartan, is used to give an algebraic classification of the non-reductive homogeneous pseudo-Riemannian manifolds of dimension four. Only one case with Lorentz signature can be Einstein without having constant curvature, and two cases with (2, 2) signature are Einstein of which one is Ricci-flat. If a four-dimensional non-reductive homogeneous pseudo-Riemannian manifold is simply connected, then it is shown to be diffeomorphic to ${{\mathbb{R}}^{4}}$. All metrics for the simply connected non-reductive Einstein spaces are given explicitly. There are no non-reductive pseudo-Riemannian homogeneous spaces of dimension two and none of dimension three with connected isotropy subgroup.

In this paper we study nonlinear elliptic problems of Neumann type driven by the $p$-Laplacian differential operator. We look for situations guaranteeing the existence of multiple solutions. First we study problems which are strongly resonant at infinity at the first (zero) eigenvalue. We prove five multiplicity results, four for problems with nonsmooth potential and one for problems with a ${{C}^{1}}$-potential. In the last part, for nonsmooth problems in which the potential eventually exhibits a strict super-$p$-growth under a symmetry condition, we prove the existence of infinitely many pairs of nontrivial solutions. Our approach is variational based on the critical point theory for nonsmooth functionals. Also we present some results concerning the first two elements of the spectrum of the negative $p$-Laplacian with Neumann boundary condition.

Soient $F$ un corps commutatif localement compact non archimédien, $G=GL(n,F)$ pour un entier $n\ge 2$, et $\kappa$ un caractère de ${{F}^{\times }}$ trivial sur ${{\left( {{F}^{\times }} \right)}^{n}}$. On prouve une formule pour les $\kappa$-intégrales orbitales régulières sur $G$ permettant, si $F$ est de caractéristique $>0$, de les relever à la caractéristique nulle. On en déduit deux résultats nouveaux en caractéristique $>0$ : le “lemme fondamental” pour l’induction automorphe, et une version simple de la formule des traces tordue locale d’Arthur reliant $\kappa$-intégrales orbitales elliptiques et caractères $\kappa$-tordus. Cette formule donne en particulier, pour une série $\kappa$-discrète de $G$, les $\kappa$-intégrales orbitales elliptiques d’un pseudo-coefficient comme valeurs du caractère $\kappa$-tordu.

We define a motivic analogue of the Haar measure for groups of the form $G(k((t)))$, where $k$ is an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero, and $G$ is a reductive algebraic group defined over $k$. A classical Haar measure on such groups does not exist since they are not locally compact. We use the theory of motivic integration introduced by M. Kontsevich to define an additive function on a certain natural Boolean algebra of subsets of $G(k((t)))$. This function takes values in the so-called dimensional completion of the Grothendieck ring of the category of varieties over the base field. It is invariant under translations by all elements of $G(k((t)))$, and therefore we call it a motivic analogue of Haar measure. We give an explicit construction of the motivic Haar measure, and then prove that the result is independent of all the choices that are made in the process.

Let $K$ be a number field, $\bar{K}$ an algebraic closure of $K$ and $E/K$ an elliptic curve defined over $K$. In this paper, we prove that if $E/K$ has a $K$-rational point $P$ such that $2P\ne O$ and $3P\ne O$, then for each $\sigma \,\in \,\text{Gal(}\overline{K}/K\text{)}$, the Mordell–Weil group $E({{\overline{K}}^{\sigma }})$ of $E$ over the fixed subfield of $\bar{K}$ under $\sigma $ has infinite rank.

Nous étudions les résonances de Rayleigh créées par une boule en dimension deux et trois. Nous savons qu’elles convergent exponentiellement vite vers l’axe réel. Nous calculons exactement les fonctions résonantes associées puis nous les estimons asymptotiquement en fonction de la partie réelle des résonances. L’application de la formule de Green nous donne alors le taux de décroissance exponentielle de la partie imaginaire des résonances.

We consider Hausdorff and quasi-Hausdorff matrices as operators on classical spaces of analytic functions such as the Hardy and the Bergman spaces, the Dirichlet space, the Bloch spaces and $\text{BMOA}$. When the generating sequence of the matrix is the moment sequence of a measure $\mu$, we find the conditions on $\mu$ which are equivalent to the boundedness of the matrix on the various spaces.

We produce a complete description of the lattice of gauge-invariant ideals in ${{C}^{*}}(\Lambda )$ for a finitely aligned $k$-graph $\Lambda $. We provide a condition on $\Lambda $ under which every ideal is gauge-invariant. We give conditions on $\Lambda $ under which ${{C}^{*}}(\Lambda )$ satisfies the hypotheses of the Kirchberg–Phillips classification theorem.

We give the general structure of complex (resp., real) $G$-graded contractions of Lie algebras where $G$ is an arbitrary finite Abelian group. For this purpose, we introduce a number of concepts, such as pseudobasis, higher-order identities, and sign invariants. We characterize the equivalence classes of $G$-graded contractions by showing that our set of invariants (support, higher-order identities, and sign invariants) is complete, which yields a classification.

We study reducibility of representations parabolically induced from discrete series representations of $S{{U}_{n}}(F)$ for $F$ a $p$-adic field of characteristic zero. We use the approach of studying the relation between $R$-groups when a reductive subgroup of a quasi-split group and the full group have the same derived group. We use restriction to show the quotient of $R$-groups is in natural bijection with a group of characters. Applying this to $S{{U}_{n}}(F)\,\subset \,{{U}_{n}}(F)$ we show the $R$ group for $S{{U}_{n}}$ is the semidirect product of an $R$-group for ${{U}_{n}}(F)$ and this group of characters. We derive results on nonabelian $R$-groups and generic elliptic representations as well.

We characterize diametrically maximal and constant width sets in $C(K)$, where $K$ is any compact Hausdorff space. These results are applied to prove that the sum of two diametrically maximal sets needs not be diametrically maximal, thus solving a question raised in a paper by Groemer. A characterization of diametrically maximal sets in $\ell _{1}^{3}$ is also given, providing a negative answer to Groemer's problem in finite dimensional spaces. We characterize constant width sets in ${{c}_{0}}\left( I \right)$, for every $I$, and then we establish the connections between the Jung constant of a Banach space and the existence of constant width sets with empty interior. Porosity properties of families of sets of constant width and rotundity properties of diametrically maximal sets are also investigated. Finally, we present some results concerning non-reflexive and Hilbert spaces.

We prove, for a field $K$ which is cyclic of odd prime power degree over the rationals, that the annihilator of the quotient of the units of $K$ by a suitable large subgroup (constructed from circular units) annihilates what we call the non-genus part of the class group. This leads to stronger annihilation results for the whole class group than a routine application of the Rubin–Thaine method would produce, since the part of the class group determined by genus theory has an obvious large annihilator which is not detected by that method; this is our reason for concentrating on the non-genus part. The present work builds on and strengthens previous work of the authors; the proofs are more conceptual now, and we are also able to construct an example which demonstrates that our results cannot be easily sharpened further.

Let $p$ be a prime number ≥ 5 and $a,\,b,\,c$ be non zero natural numbers. Using the works of K. Ribet and A. Wiles on the modular representations, we get new results about the description of the primitive solutions of the diophantine equation $a{{x}^{p}}\,+\,b{{y}^{p}}\,=\,c{{z}^{2}}$, in case the product of the prime divisors of $abc$ divides $2\ell $, with $\ell $ an odd prime number. For instance, under some conditions on $a,\,b,\,c$, we provide a constant $f(a,\,b,\,c)$ such that there are no such solutions if $p\,>\,f(a,\,b,\,c)$. In application, we obtain information concerning the $\mathbb{Q}$-rational points of hyperelliptic curves given by the equation ${{y}^{2}}\,=\,{{x}^{p}}\,+\,d$ with $d\,\in \,\mathbb{Z}$.

In the Euclidean plane ${{\mathbb{R}}^{2}}$, we define the Minkowski difference $\mathcal{K}-\mathcal{L}$ of two arbitrary convex bodies $\mathcal{K},\mathcal{L}$ as a rectifiable closed curve ${{\mathcal{H}}_{h}}\subset {{\mathbb{R}}^{2}}$ that is determined by the difference $h={{h}_{K}}-{{h}_{\mathcal{L}}}$ of their support functions. This curve ${{\mathcal{H}}_{h}}$ is called the hedgehog with support function $h$. More generally, the object of hedgehog theory is to study the Brunn–Minkowski theory in the vector space of Minkowski differences of arbitrary convex bodies of Euclidean space ${{\mathbb{R}}^{n+1}}$, defined as (possibly singular and self-intersecting) hypersurfaces of ${{\mathbb{R}}^{n+1}}$. Hedgehog theory is useful for: (i) studying convex bodies by splitting them into a sum in order to reveal their structure; (ii) converting analytical problems into geometrical ones by considering certain real functions as support functions. The purpose of this paper is to give a detailed study of plane hedgehogs, which constitute the basis of the theory. In particular: (i) we study their length measures and solve the extension of the Christoffel–Minkowski problem to plane hedgehogs; (ii) we characterize support functions of plane convex bodies among support functions of plane hedgehogs and support functions of plane hedgehogs among continuous functions; (iii) we study the mixed area of hedgehogs in ${{\mathbb{R}}^{2}}$ and give an extension of the classical Minkowski inequality (and thus of the isoperimetric inequality) to hedgehogs.

In a previous article, we studied the distribution of “low–lying” zeros of the family of quadratic Dirichlet $L$–functions assuming the Generalized Riemann Hypothesis for all Dirichlet $L$–functions. Even with this very strong assumption, we were limited to using weight functions whose Fourier transforms are supported in the interval (−2, 2). However, it is widely believed that this restriction may be removed, and this leads to what has become known as the One-Level Density Conjecture for the zeros of this family of quadratic $L$-functions. In this note, we make use of Weil's explicit formula as modified by Besenfelder to prove an analogue of this conjecture.

We prove ${{L}^{p}}({{\mathbb{T}}^{2}})$ boundedness, $1\,<\,p\,\le \,2$, of variable coefficients singular integrals that generalize the double Hilbert transform and present two phases that may be of very rough nature. These operators are involved in problems of a.e. convergence of double Fourier series, likely in the role played by the Hilbert transform in the proofs of a.e. convergence of one dimensional Fourier series. The proof due to C.Fefferman provides a basis for our method.

Let $M$ be the product of two compact Hamiltonian $T$-spaces $X$ and $Y$. We present a formula for evaluating integrals on the symplectic reduction of $M$ by the diagonal $T$ action. At every regular value of the moment map for $X\,\times \,Y$, the integral is the convolution of two distributions associated to the symplectic reductions of $X$ by $T$ and of $Y$ by $T$. Several examples illustrate the computational strength of this relationship. We also prove a linear analogue which can be used to find cohomology pairings on toric orbifolds.

The Banach convolution algebras ${{l}^{1}}(\omega )$ and their continuous counterparts ${{L}^{1}}\left( {{\mathbb{R}}^{+}},\omega \right)$ are much studied, because (when the submultiplicative weight function $\omega $ is radical) they are pretty much the prototypic examples of commutative radical Banach algebras. In cases of “nice” weights $\omega $, the only closed ideals they have are the obvious, or “standard”, ideals. But in the general case, a brilliant but very difficult paper of Marc Thomas shows that nonstandard ideals exist in ${{l}^{1}}(\omega )$. His proof was successfully exported to the continuous case ${{L}^{1}}\left( {{\mathbb{R}}^{+}},\omega \right)$ by Dales and McClure, but remained difficult. In this paper we first present a small improvement: a new and easier proof of the existence of nonstandard ideals in ${{l}^{1}}(\omega )$ and ${{L}^{1}}\left( {{\mathbb{R}}^{+}},\omega \right)$. The new proof is based on the idea of a “nonstandard dual pair” which we introduce. We are then able to make a much larger improvement: we find nonstandard ideals in ${{L}^{1}}\left( {{\mathbb{R}}^{+}},\omega \right)$ containing functions whose supports extend all the way down to zero in ${{\mathbb{R}}^{+}}$, thereby solving what has become a notorious problem in the area.