The geometry of a desingularization Ym of an arbitrary subvariety of a generic hypersurface Xn in an ambient variety W (e.g. W = ℙn+1) has received much attention over the past decade or so. Clemens [5] has proved that for m = 1, n = 2, W = ℙ3 and X of degree d, Y has genus g [ges ] 1 + d(d − 5)/2; Xu [13, 14] improved this to g [ges ] d(d −3)/2 − 2 for d [ges ] 5 and showed that if equality holds for d [ges ] 6 then Y is planar; he also gave some lower bounds on the geometric genus pg(Y) in case m = n − 1. Voisin [10, 11] proved that, for X of degree d in ℙn+1, n [ges ] 3, m [les ] n − 2 then then pg(Y) > 0 if d [ges ] 2n + 1 − m and KY separates generic points if d [ges ] 2n + 2 − m (see also [1, 4]). For Xn a generic complete intersection of type (d1, …, dk) in any smooth polarized (n + k)-fold M, Ein [6, 7] proved that pg(Y) > 0 if d1 + … + dk [ges ] 2n + k − m + 1 and Y is of general type if d1 + … + dk [ges ] 2n + k − m + 2.

In [2] the first two authors applied the classical method of focal loci of families as in Segre [8] and Ciliberto–Sernesi [3] (really normal bundle considerations) to give a new proof of one of the main results of Xu in [13, 14] and to extend the lower bounds for the genus in the cases of general surfaces in a component of the Noether–Lefschetz locus in ℙ3 and of general projectively Cohen–Macaulay surfaces in ℙ4.

In this paper we introduce some notions of ‘filling’ subvarieties and use them to prove two new results which inter alia give another perspective on the above results, especially the genus bounds. The general philosophy is as usual that as Y moves with X, sections of KY (or some twist) can be produced through differentiation; but here this is implemented by exploiting and extending an elementary but perhaps surprising technique in the spirit of classical projective geometry which goes back to [2] and which gives a useful lower bound, depending on the dimension of the projective span of Y, on the number of independent sections of KY produced by the differentiation process.

As to our results, in Theorem 1 below we extend and refine in the above sense most of the above-quoted results (not including Voisin's), by giving a lower bound on the number of sections of a certain twist of KY involving KW (for a recent extension, including the proof of a conjecture of Clemens, see [15]). Our second result (Theorem 2), based on the notion of ‘r-filling’ subvariety, indicates an apparently new and unexpected direction as it deals with some higher-order tensors on Y, manifested in the form of an effective divisor on a Cartesian product Yr having certain vanishing order on a diagonal locus as well as on a ‘double point’ locus associated to the map Y → X. As one application, we conclude a lower bound on the number of quadrics (and higher-degree hypersurfaces) containing certain ‘adjoint-type’ projective images of Y (and even on the dimension of the kernel of certain ‘symmetric Gaussian’ maps) (Corollary 2·1 below). Our feeling, however, is that the latter is only the tip of an iceberg and we hope to explore further in this direction in the future.

An algebra of Colombeau generalized ultradistributions in which the corresponding space of ultradistributions is embedded via regularizations and in which the multiplication of ultradifferentiable functions of an appropriate class is the ordinary multiplication is constructed. This enables the development of the local and micro-local analysis in the framework of a new scale of Colombeau algebras. Sufficient conditions for a generalized ultradistribution being an ultradifferentiable function are given.

This paper proves the existence of solutions for the discrete coagulation–fragmentation equation over all times, even when source and efflux terms are present. The hypotheses required cover most physical applications. Roughly speaking, the hypotheses ensure a finite flux of mass through the system. The techniques used, which extend those in I of this series, may apply to other infinite systems of differential equations.

Recently Hoyle and Narlikar(2) have put forward a conformal theory of gravitation in which they obtain an explicit solution of the field equations using certain approximations and assumptions of symmetry. To obtain the solution, the metric is assumed to have a special form. In the present paper a more general form of the metric is considered, and it is shown that many of the features of the special solution are shared by the solution in the more general case. In particular, the implications of the special solution as concerns the sign of the gravitational constant remain valid in the more general case under certain assumptions.

It is shown that slight departures from independence and equal weight of the sample observations introduce a bias into Fisher's z, but that the distributions of the variances “within and between groups”, and of Fisher's z would appear to maintain their form to the first order, although the extent to which the approximations hold in practice has not been considered.

An example illustrates (a) that the use of indefinite inner products can illuminate Probabilistic Wiener–Hopf Theory in symmetrizable cases, and (b) that half-winding probabilities should be thought of as branching measures for Ray processes. The paper's wide variety of techniques could make it instructive for research students.

The group Aut Γ of automorphisms of Rado's universal graph Γ (otherwise known as the ‘random’ graph: see [1]) and the corresponding groups Aut Γc for C a set of ‘colours’ with 2 ≤ |C| ≤ ℵ0, were studied in [4]. It was shown that Aut Γc is a simple group, and the possible cycle types of its members were classified. A natural extension of Aut Γc to a highly transitive permutation group on the same set is obtained by considering the ‘almost automorphisms’ of Γ. It is the purpose of the present paper to answer similar questions about the resulting group AAut Γc. Namely we shall classify its normal subgroups and the cycle types of its members. The main result on normal subgroups is summed up in Corollary 2·9, which says that the non-trivial normal subgroups of AAut Γc form a lattice isomorphic to the lattice of subgroups of the free Abelian group of rank n where n = |C| – 1, and for cycle types it will be shown that those occurring in AAut Γc are precisely the same as in Aut Γc except for those which are the product of finitely many cycles.

In recent years many papers have dealt with the zero-dimensional multiple point sets of smooth immersions of closed manifolds in Euclidean spaces (see, for example, [2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 21]). In the present paper we deal with the case when the double points form a two-dimensional surface and consider the following question: Which surfaces can occur as double point surfaces of self-transverse immersions of closed n-manifolds in ℝ2n−2? We prove the following

It is a classical result (5) that the algebraic surfaces which admit a continuous group of birational self-transformations, or automorphisms, and which are neither rational nor scrollar, belong to one or other of two families: (i) the elliptic surfaces; these possess an elliptic group of ∞1 automorphisms; (ii) the hyperelliptic surfaces of rank 1 (which, for brevity, we shall call hyperelliptic); these possess a completely transitive permutable group of ∞2 automorphisms. The chief properties of the two classes of surface, in so far as they are required in the present work, are described in § 1.

Let S be a normal projective algebraic surface over C with at worst quotient singularities. S is a quasi-log del Pezzo surface if the anti-canonical divisor — Ks is nef (= numerically effective) and big, i.e. — Ks. C ≥ 0 for all curves C on S and (−Ks)2 > 0. Further, if — Ks is ample we say S is a log del Pezzo surface.

The law of large numbers for the empirical density for the pairs of uniformly distributed integers with a given greatest common divisor is a classic result in number theory. We study the large deviations of the empirical density. We will also obtain a rate of convergence to the normal distribution for the central limit theorem. Some generalisations are provided.

In recent years there has been an interest in using elliptic logarithms to find integral points on elliptic curves defined over the rationals, see [23], [17], [6] and [12]. This has been partly due to work of David [5], who gave an explicit lower bound for linear forms in elliptic logarithms. Previously, integral points on elliptic curves had been found by Siegel's method; that is, a reduction to a set of Thue equations which could be solved, in principle, by the methods in [19]. For examples of this method see [3], [7], [16], [18], [21], [22] and [8]. Other techniques can be used to find all integral points in some special cases, see, for instance, [14].

1. The object of this paper is to discuss conditions of validity of the Parseval formulae for Fourier integrals:

where the transforms are defined by ordinary convergence; we shall not be concerned with the more elegant theory in which they are given by convergence in mean.

The aim of this article is to discuss a paradox of importance in the quantum theory of measurement. The paradox was first propounded by Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen in 1935(1), and was discussed subsequently by Bohr(2), Furry(3), Schrödinger(4, 5), as well as in texts (6, 7). We begin by formulating the paradox.

Throughout this paper we deal only with complex and semi-simple algebras. Let B be such an algebra. We denote the socle of B as SB. B is a modular annihilator algebra if B/SB is a radical algebra, i.e. if every element of B is quasi-regular modulo the socle of B; see (1) or (12). Now assume that B is a modular annihilator algebra and a Banach algebra. Then any semi-simple closed subalgebra of B is a modular annihilator algebra by ((4), Cor. to Theorem 4·2,). It is not true, however, that any semi-simple subalgebra A of B is a modular annihilator algebra, even when A is a Banach algebra in some norm. We give a simple example to illustrate this. Let A be the algebra of all complex functions f, continuous on the closed unit disk D in the complex plane, analytic in the interior of D, and such that f(0) = 0. A is a Banach algebra in the usual sup norm over D. Now consider the norm on A defined by

Let B be the completion of A in this norm. A has an involution * defined by and also ‖ff*‖ = ‖f‖2 for all f ∈ A. Therefore B is a B*-algebra. It is not difficult to verify that the only non-zero multiplicative linear functionals on A which are continuous with respect to the norm ‖·‖, are the point evaluations at 1/n, n = 1, 2 …. It follows that every non-zero multiplicative linear functional on B is an extension of one of these point evaluations to B. Thus B can be identified with the algebra of all complex sequences which converge to zero.

A very great deal has been published upon the subject of the electrical counter and its mode of action. Most explanations are incomplete in that they neglect some of the factors involved. The question of the self-restoring property of the system has also received attention, but this property has not been properly related to the general problem of intermittency in discharge tubes.

The radiation from 198Au (half-value period 2·76 ± 0·02 day) have been studied, by absorption and coincidence methods, in a wide variety of experimental conditions. For the most part the results confirm those obtained by other investigators, but, in addition, a fairly intense γ-radiation of about 65 KeV. energy has been detected. This radiation has been distinguished from the weaker fluorescent K X-radiation of mercury, emitted as the result of internal conversion of one of the γ-rays of 198Au, and it has been shown that it is not the K X-radiation of platinum. Disintegration of 198Au by K-electron capture, if it occurs at all, cannot take place in more than about 15% of all disintegrations.

An important class of systems of second order differential equations can be represented as sprays on a manifold M with tangent bundle TM↠ M; that is, as certain sections of the second tangent bundle TTM ↠ TM. We consider here quadratic sprays; they correspond to symmetric linear connections on TM ↠ M and hence to principal connections on the frame bundle LM ↠ M. Such connections over M constitute a system of connections, on which there is a universal connection and through which individual connections can be studied geometrically. Correspondingly, we obtain a universal spray-like field for the system of connections and each spray on M arises as a pullback of this ‘universal spray’. The Frölicher-Nijenhuis bracket determines for each spray (or connection) a Lie subalgebra of the Lie algebra of vector fields on M and this subalgebra consists precisely of those morphisms of TTM over TM which preserve the horizontal and vertical distributions; there is a universal version of this result. Each spray induces also a Riemannian structure on LM; it isometrically embeds this manifold as a section of the space of principal connections and gives a corresponding representation of TM as a section of the space of sprays. Such embeddings allow the formulation of global criteria for properties of sprays, in a natural context. For example, if LM is incomplete in a spray-metric then it is incomplete also in the spray-metric induced by a nearby spray, because that spray induces a nearby embedding. For Riemannian manifolds, completeness of LM is equivalent to completeness of M so in the above sense we can say that geodesic incompleteness is stable; it is known to be Whitney stable.

Renewal processes in discrete time (or as they are commonly termed, recurrent events) are appropriately described by renewal sequences {un} which are generated by discrete distributions , according to the equation

Any two renewal sequences {u′n}, {u″n} define another renewal sequence {un} by means of their term-by-term product {un} = {u′nu″n}, for the joint occurrence of two independent recurrent events ℰ′ and ℰ″ is also a recurrent event. Considering a renewal process in continuous time for which we shall suppose a frequency function f(x) of the lifetime distribution exists, so that a renewal density exists, the analogous property would be that for two renewal density functions h1(x) and h2(x), the function h(x) = h1(x) h2(x) is a renewal density function. A little intuitive reflexion shows that while h(x) dx has a probability density interpretation, this is not in general true of h1(x) h2(x) dx. It is not surprising therefore to find in example 1 a case where the product of two renewal densities is not a renewal density. Example 2, on the other hand, shows that in some cases it is true, and taken together with example 1, there is suggested the problem of characterizing the class of renewal densities h(x) for which αh(x) is a renewal density for all finite positive α and not merely α in 0 < α ≤ A < ∞. In turn this characterization enables us to define a class of renewal densities for which h1(x) and imply that .

Given a Laplace eigenfunction on a surface, we study the distribution of its extrema on the nodal domains. It is classically known that the absolute value of the eigenfunction is asymptotically bounded by the 4th root of the eigenvalue. It turns out that the number of nodal domains where the eigenfunction has an extremum of such order, remains bounded as the eigenvalue tends to infinity. We also observe that certain restrictions on the distribution of nodal extrema and a version of the Courant nodal domain theorem are valid for a rather wide class of functions on surfaces. These restrictions follow from a bound in the spirit of Kronrod and Yomdin on the average number of connected components of level sets.