For positive integers n and k, with n≥2k, let , where each prime factor of u is less than k, and each prime factor of v is at least equal to k. It is shown that u<v holds with just 12 exceptions, which are determined. If , where each prime factor of U is at most equal to k, and each prime factor of V is greater than k, then U<V holds with at most finitely many exceptions, 19 of which are determined. It is conjectured that there are no others.

In this paper f(z) will always stand for an entire transcendental function of the complex variable z. For p= 1, 2, … the natural iterate fD(z) of f(z) is defined by These natural iterates are themselves entire transcendental functions; they have been studied by various writers, notably Fatou [3]. References to many papers on iterated will be found in [1].

In this paper we obtain the sum of some infinite series involving hypergeometric functions of one or more variables.

We propose the use of finite Fourier series as an alternative means of representing ovals in projective planes of even order. As an example to illustrate the method's potential, we show that the set {wj + w3j + w−3j: 0 ≤ j ≤ 2h} ⊂ GF (22h) forms an oval if w is a primitive (2h + 1)st root of unity in GF(22h) and GF(22h) is viewed as an affine plane over GF(2h). For the verification, we only need some elementary ‘trigonometric identities’ and a basic irreducibility lemma that is of independent interest. Finally, we show that our example is the Payne oval when h is odd, and the Adelaide oval when h is even.

Miller's group of order 64 is a smallest example of a nonabelian group with an abelian automorphism group, and is the first in an infinite family of such groups formed by taking the semidirect product of a cyclic group of order 2m (m ≥ 3) with a dihedral group of order 8. This paper gives a method for constructing further examples of non abelian 2-groups which have abelian automorphism groups. Such a 2-group is the semidirect product of a cyclic group and a special 2-group (satisfying certain conditions). The automorphism group of this semidirect product is shown to be isomorphic to the central automorphism group of the corresponding direct product. The conditions satisfied by the special 2-group are determined by establishing when this direct product has an abelian central automorphism group.

In a previous paper the authors described an algorithm to determine whether a group of matrices over a finite field, generated by a given set of matrices, contains one of the classical groups or the special linear group. The algorithm was designed to work for all sufficiently large field sizes and dimensions of the matrix group. However, it did not apply to certain small cases. Here we present an algorithm to handle the remaining cases. The theoretical background of the algorithm presented in this paper is a substantial extension of that needed for the original algorithm.

Ore (1942) studied the automorphisms of finite monomial groups and Holmes (1956, pp. 23–93) has given the form of the automorphisms of the restricted monomial groups in the infinite case. The automorphism group of a standard wreath product has been studied by Houghton (1962) and Segal (1973, Chapter 4). Monomial groups and standard wreath products are both special cases of permutational wreath product. Here we investigate the automorphisms of the permutational wreath product and consider to what extent the results holding in the special cases remain true for the general construction. Our results extend those of Bunt (1968).

In this work we study the structure of approximate solutions of variational problems with continuous integrands f: [0, ∞) × Rn × Rn → R1 which belong to a complete metric space of functions. The main result in this paper deals with the turnpike property of variational problems. To have this property means that the approximate solutions of the problems are determined mainly by the integrand, and are essentially independent of the choice of interval and endpoint conditions, except in regions close to the endpoints.

The set E of idempotents of a semigroup S can be partially ordered by defining e ≦ f if and only if . If E = {ei: i = 0,1, …} and under this ordering e0 > e1 > e2, …, then we call S an ω-semigroup. Munn [7] has given a complete classification of simple regular ω-semigroups in terms of groups and group homomorphisms.

A. H. Clifford [1], [2] has shown that all finite dimensional representations of a completely 0-simple semigroup S over a field Φ.phi; can be obtained as extensions of those of its maximal subgroups and has given a method for constructing all such representations. This representation theory depends strongly on the fact the representations under consideration are finite dimensional and is not adequate to deal with the infinite dimensional case or with representations over arbitrary rings. In order to determine the structure of the (contracted) algebra Φ(S) of S modulo its radical, one has to consider representations which are not finite dimensional or over fields; c.f. ‘6’. Hence Clifford's theory does not suffice for this purpose.

We provide a comprehensive study of the function $h=h(q)$ defined by

$$\begin{eqnarray}h=q\mathop{\prod }_{j=1}^{\infty }\frac{(1-q^{12j-1})(1-q^{12j-11})}{(1-q^{12j-5})(1-q^{12j-7})}\end{eqnarray}$$

$k=k(q)$

$$\begin{eqnarray}k=q\mathop{\prod }_{j=1}^{\infty }\frac{(1-q^{10j-1})(1-q^{10j-2})(1-q^{10j-8})(1-q^{10j-9})}{(1-q^{10j-3})(1-q^{10j-4})(1-q^{10j-6})(1-q^{10j-7})}.\end{eqnarray}$$

A large number of results are available on the lattice of subvarieties of the variety of metabelian groups. When considering metabelian p-groups (for odd p), the immediate division is between groups of nilpotency class less than p, and those of class at least p. The first case was dealt with in some detail in [1], and this paper extends the results to the next interesting cases, classes p and p + 1. The main results are stated in Theorems 2 and 4, which give the basis laws for certain varieties, and 3 and 5, which assert the existence of specific generating groups for these varieties, and hence their non-trivial existence. The notation, and the essential parts of the logic, are as in [1]; for the purposes of this paper, the following modification of Lemma 1.1 of [1], and also the ring-of-integer operations used in its proof, are together dubbed the ‘Stirling manipulation’:

An elementary and self-contained account of analytic Jordan decomposition of matrix-valued analytic functions is given. An integral representation for their eigenvalues is obtained. This leads to estimates of the differences in eigenvalues and the number of points of degeneracy.

The purpose of this note is to establish the following characterisation of the radical: Theorem. Let R be a ring with the minimum condition for left ideals. Then the radical of R is the intersection of the maximal nilpotent subrings of R.

For investigating the steady irrotational isentropic flow of a perfect gas in two dimensions, the hodograph method is to determine in the first instance the position coordinates x, y and the stream function ψ as functions of velocity compoments, conveniently taken as q (the speed) and θ (direction angle). Inversion then gives ψ, q, θ as functions of x, y. The method has the great advantage that its field equations are linear, so that it is practicable to obtain exact solutions, and from any two solutions an infinity of others are obtainable by superposition. For problems of flow past fixed boundaries the linearity of the field equations is usually offset by non-linearity in the boundary conditions, but this objection does not arise in problems of transsonic nozzle design, where the rigid boundary is the end-point of the investigation.

We prove here that the multiplicator of certain simply described metabelian groups is not finitely generated

We address the problem of describing all graphs Γ such that Aut Γ is a symmetric group, subject to certain restrictions on the sizes of the orbits of Aut Γ on vertices. As a corollary of our general results, we obtain a classification of all graphs Γ on v vertices with Aut Γ ≅ Sn, where ν < min{5n, ½n(n – 1)}.

Different methods are used to show that a finite or countable product of Lindelöf scattered spaces is Lindelöf. Also, a technique of Kunen is modified to yield results concerning the Lindelöf degree of the Gδ and Gα-topologies on the countable product of compact scattered spaces.

No general rule for determining the number N(n) of topologies definable for a finite set of cardinal n is known. In this note we relate N(n) to a function Ft(r1,…, rt+1) defined below which has a simple combinatorial interpretation. This relationship seems useful for the study of N (n). In particular this can be used to calculate N(n) for small values. For n 3, 4, 5, 6 we find N(3) = 29, N(4) = 355, N(5) = 7,181, N(6) = 145,807.

The BFC number of a group G is defined to be the least upper bound n of the cardinals of the conjugacy classes of G, provided this is finite, and we then say that G is n-BFC. It was shown by B. H. Neumann [2] that the derived group G′ of such a group is finite, and J. Wiegold [5] proved that.This bound was sharpened by I. D. Macdonald [1] to, and P. M. Neumann has recently communicated the (unpublished) result that G′ ≦ nq(n) with q(n) a quadratic in log2w, an immense improvement on the above. J. A. H. Shepperd and J. Wiegold [4] improved the bound in two special cases, showing that if G is soluble, G′ ≦ np(n) with p(n) a quintic in Iog2n, and that if G is nilpotent of class 2, , It is conjectured that for any n-BFC group G, , Wiegold [5] having shown that this bound is attained by certain nilpotent groups of class 2.