We consider a geometrically nonlinear model for crystal plasticity in two dimensions, with two active slip systems and rigid elasticity. We prove that the rank-1 convex envelope of the condensed energy density is obtained by infinite-order laminates, and express it explicitly via the 2F1 hypergeometric function. We also determine the polyconvex envelope, leading to upper and lower bounds on the quasiconvex envelope. The two bounds differ by less than 2%.

It is proved that elliptic boundary-value problems have a global smoothing property in Lebesgue spaces, provided the underlying space of weak solutions admits a Sobolev-type inequality. The results apply to all standard boundary conditions, and a wide range of non-smooth domains, even if the classical estimates fail. The dependence on the data is explicit. In particular, this provides good control over the domain dependence, which is important for applications involving varying domains.

In this paper, we prove that for a system of ordinary differential equations of class Cr+1,1, r≧0 and two arbitrary Cr+1, 1 local centre manifolds of a given equilibrium point, the equations when restricted to the centre manifolds are Cr conjugate. The same result is proved for similinear parabolic equations. The method is based on the geometric theory of invariant foliations for centre-stable and centre-unstable manifolds.

We obtain an integral representation of an energy for structured deformations of continua in the space of functions of bounded variation, as a first step to the study of asymptotic models for thin defective crystalline structures, where phenomena as slips, vacancies and dislocations prevent the effectiveness of classical theories.

Planar polynomial vector fields which admit invariant algebraic curves, Darboux integrating factors or Darboux first integrals are of special interest. We solve the inverse problem for invariant algebraic curves with a given multiplicity and for integrating factors, under generic assumptions regarding the (multiple) invariant algebraic curves involved. In particular, we prove, in this generic scenario, that the existence of a Darboux integrating factor implies Darboux integrability. Furthermore, we construct examples in which the genericity assumption does not hold and indicate that the situation is different for these.

The first part of this paper is devoted to a study of the classical bifurcation problem in a Hilbert space, under the assumption that the operators involved are gradient operators, but not necessarily compact. Our approach to the problem was introduced by Krasnosel'skii, but here we show that his assumption about the compactness of the operators can be replaced by a much weaker Lipschitz type condition, without affecting the generality of his conclusions.

The rest of the paper is concerned with the analogous problem when the operator is knownto be asymptotically linear rather than Fréchet differentiable. Indeed, we show that this question can always be reduced to the first case, after some manipulation. After this manipulation the new operator is found to be a Fréchet differentiable gradient operator, and so we can invoke the results of the first part. This manipulation is in the spirit of that of [11] but is necessarily different.

V. B. Stanojevic suggested in her recent paper that it would be of interest to prove a corresponding L1-convergence theorem for Fourier series with complex O-regularly varying quasimonotonc coefficients. The present paper will discuss this question and establish L1-convergence and. furthermore. L1-approximation theorems for complex-valued integrable functions.

Let In be the symmetric inverse semigroup on Xn = {1,…, n}, let Sln be the subsemigroup of strictly partial one-to-one self-maps of Xn and let = { α ∊ SIn: x} ≦ x = U = ∅= be the semigroup of all partial one-to-one decreasing maps including the empty or zero map of Xn. In this paper it is shown that is an (irregular, for n ≧ 2) type A semigroup with n D*-classes and D* = I*. Further, it is shown that is generated by the n(n + l)/2 quasi-idempotents in

We give a new and elementary proof of the known result: a non-constant mapping of finite distortion f : Ω ⊂ ℝn → ℝn is discrete and open, provided that its distortion function if n = 2 and that for some p > n − 1 if n ≥ 3.

We give a complete solution to the G-closure problem for mixtures of two well-ordered possibly anisotropic conductors. Both the G-closure with fixed volume fractions and the full G-closure are computed. The conductivity tensors are considered in a fixed frame and no rotations are allowed.

At times when processes of great ontogenetic importance are taking place, the interaction of heredity and environment presents problems of considerable interest. Laying as it does the foundations of future independent existence, prenatal development must be the concern of all those interested in the mental and physical suitability of human beings for the environment in which they have to live. Owing to lack of information, pregnancy from the point of view of the fœtus has perforce been largely neglected by the physician and sociologist, but the need to remedy this defect in our knowledge had been clearly indicated by Hogben (1931). As an of example of a field of research that would repay much attention, the work of Pearson (1914) and S. Hansen (1920) may be mentioned. These author wrote suggestively of the handicap of the first-born, using extensive data on the incidence of disease, mental defect, and the physical qualities of the new-born child in relation to birth order.

When an incident Herglotz wave function scatters from a periodic Lipschitz continuous surface with a Dirichlet boundary condition, the classical (quasi-)periodic solution theory for scattering from periodic structures does not apply, since the incident field lacks periodicity. Relying on the Bloch transform, we provide a solution theory in H1 for this scattering problem. First, we prove conditions guaranteeing that incident Herglotz wave functions propagating towards the periodic structure have traces in H1/2 on the periodic surface. Second, we show that the solution to the scattering problem can be decomposed by the Bloch transform into periodic components that solve a periodic scattering problem. Third, these periodic solutions yield an equivalent characterization of the solution to the original non-periodic scattering problem, which allows, for instance, new characterizations of the Rayleigh coefficients of each of the periodic components to be shown. A corollary of our results is that under the conditions mentioned above the operator that maps densities to the restriction of their Herglotz wave function on the periodic surface is always injective; this result generally fails for bounded surfaces.

Under some natural hypotheses, we show that if the (Nemitsky-) operator associated with an elliptic system is pseudomonotone, then the system has to be quasimonotone. Conversely, if the system satisfies a strict quasimonotonicity condition, then an existence proof of K.-W. Zhang contains the arguments to verify the pseudomonotonicity of the operator. We present a simplified proof of this fact under more general assumptions.

An estimate on the number of distinct relative periodic orbits around a stable relative equilibrium in a Hamiltonian system with continuous symmetry is given. This result constitutes a generalization to the Hamiltonian symmetric framework of a classical result by Weinstein and Moser on the existence of periodic orbits in the energy levels surrounding a stable equilibrium. The estimate obtained is very precise in the sense that it provides a lower bound for the number of relative periodic orbits at each prescribed energy and momentum values neighbouring the stable relative equilibrium in question and with any prefixed (spatio-temporal) isotropy subgroup. Moreover, it is easily computable in particular examples. It is interesting to see how, in our result, the existence of non-trivial relative periodic orbits requires (generic) conditions on the higher-order terms of the Taylor expansion of the Hamiltonian function, in contrast with the purely quadratic requirements of the Weinstein–Moser theorem, which emphasizes the highly nonlinear character of the relatively periodic dynamical objects.

In this paper we show that each quasiperiodic standing wave solution of the real Ginzburg–Landau equation which is on the global branch emanating from the Eckhaus unstable periodic orbit is itself unstable. A rigorous proof of the instability is given by showing that the linearised operator about such a solution has spectrum which contains an interval along the unstable axis of the spectral plane. The proof employs some geometric and topological methods arising from a dynamical systems approach to the analysis of the eigenvalue problem for the linearised operator.

We consider the non-linear problem −Δu(x)−f(x, u(x)) = λu(x) for x ∈ℝN and u ∈ W1,2(ℝN). We show that, under suitable conditions on f, there exist infinitely many branches all bifurcating from the lowest point of the continuous spectrum λ = 0. The method used in the proof is based on a theorem of Ljusternik-Schnirelman type for the free case.

We establish upper and lower bounds for various norms of solutions and their gradients for the equation ut = div (|∇u|m−1 ∇u) in ℝN in terms of the norms of the initial data. Based on the L∞ estimate of ∇u, we conclude that u(x, t) is Lipschitz continuous in space-time, for all t>0, whenever u(x,0) is in L1(ℝN).

We show that the space of Sturm–Liouville operators characterized by H = (q, α, β) ∈ L1 (0, 1) × [0, π)2 such that is homeomorphic to the partition set of the space of all admissible sequences which form sequences that converge to q, α, and β individually. This space, Γ, of quasi-nodal sequences is a superset of, and is more natural than, the space of asymptotically nodal sequences defined in Law and Tsay (On the well-posedness of the inverse nodal problem. Inv. Probl.17 (2001), 1493–1512). The definition of Γ relies on the L1 convergence of the reconstruction formula for q by the exactly nodal sequence.

The switched diffusion process associated with a weakly coupled system of elliptic equations is studied via a Dirichlet space approach and is applied to prove the existence theorem of the Cauchy initial problem for the system. A representation theorem for the solution of the Dirichlet boundary value problem and a generalised Skorohod decomposition for the reflecting switched diffusion process are obtained.

We derive an asymptotic expansion for the Titchmarsh–Weyl m-function associated with the second order linear differential equation

in the case where the only restriction on the real-valued function q is