Let $\mathcal {O}$ be a maximal order in the quaternion algebra over $\mathbb Q$ ramified at p and $\infty $. We prove two theorems that allow us to recover the structure of $\mathcal {O}$ from limited information. The first says that for any infinite set S of integers coprime to p, $\mathcal {O}$ is spanned as a ${\mathbb {Z}}$-module by elements with norm in S. The second says that $\mathcal {O}$ is determined up to isomorphism by its theta function.

We introduce a new class of generalised quadratic forms over totally real number fields, which is rich enough to capture the arithmetic of arbitrary systems of quadrics over the rational numbers. We explore this connection through a version of the Hardy–Littlewood circle method over number fields.

Machines and mechanisms realize processes, from the shaping process of a milling machine and the motion process of an automotive system to the trajectory realization of a robot. The dynamics of a machine generated by a properly chosen set of constraints in combination with an appropriate drive system is designed to meet the prescribed requirements of the process, which is done by projecting the machine equations of motion on the process dynamics. We get a set of nonlinear relations, which represent the machine motion in terms of the required process motion. A well-known example is the projection of arbitrary many robot degrees of freedom (DOFs) on a given path resulting in a set of nonlinear equations with one DOF only, the path coordinate s. Application of this idea can be used to construct a mobility space $(\ddot{s}, \dot{s}, s)$ for any combination of coordinates and constraints. The paper presents a corresponding approach for n-link robots by applying multibody system theory. Method might be interesting for layout of machines and mechanisms. Practical aspects are discussed, and an example is given.

Let $\mathbb{Z}$ and $\mathbb{Z}^{+}$ be the set of integers and the set of positive integers, respectively. For $a,b,c,d,n\in \mathbb{Z}^{+}$, let $t(a,b,c,d;n)$ be the number of representations of $n$ by $\frac{1}{2}ax(x+1)+\frac{1}{2}by(y+1)+\frac{1}{2}cz(z+1)+\frac{1}{2}dw(w+1)$ with $x,y,z,w\in \mathbb{Z}$. Using theta function identities we prove 13 transformation formulas for $t(a,b,c,d;n)$ and evaluate $t(2,3,3,8;n)$, $t(1,1,6,24;n)$ and $t(1,1,6,8;n)$.

Second-order sufficient conditions of a bounded strong minimum are derived for optimal control problems of ordinary differential equations with initial-final state constraints of equality and inequality type and control constraints of inequality type. The conditions are stated in terms of quadratic forms associated with certain tuples of Lagrange multipliers. Under the assumption of linear independence of gradients of active control constraints they guarantee the bounded strong quadratic growth of the so-called “violation function”. Together with corresponding necessary conditions they constitute a no-gap pair of conditions.

We show that a system of r quadratic forms over a 𝔭-adic field in at least 4r+1 variables will have a non-trivial zero as soon as the cardinality of the residue field is large enough. In contrast, the Ax–Kochen theorem [J. Ax and S. Kochen, Diophantine problems over local fields. I, Amer. J. Math. 87 (1965), 605–630] requires the characteristic to be large in terms of the degree of the field over ℚp. The proofs use a 𝔭-adic minimization technique, together with counting arguments over the residue class field, based on considerations from algebraic geometry.

Generating functions are used to derive formulas for the number of representations of a positive integer by each of the quadratic forms x12+x22+x32+2x42, x12+2x22+2x32+2x42, x12+x22+2x32+4x42 and x12+2x22+4x32+4x42. The formulas show that the number of representations by each form is always positive. Some of the analogous results involving sums of triangular numbers are also given.

In this paper we investigate when negative definite functions on commutative hypergroups satisfy the Schoenberg criterion.

The Modular Group M is PSL2(Z) the group of linear fractional transformations with integral entries and determinant one. M has been of great interest in many diverse fields of Mathematics, including Number Theory, Automorphic Function Theory and Group Theory. In this paper we give an effective algorithm to determine, for each integer d, a complete set of representatives for the trace classes in trace d. This algorithm depends on the combinatorial group theoretic structure of M. It has been subsequently extended by Sheingorn to the general Hecke groups. The number h(d) of trace classes in trace d is equal to the ideal class number of the field The algorithm mentioned above then provides a new straightforward computational procedure for determining h(d). Finally as an outgrowth of the algorithm we present a wide generalization of the Fermat Two-Square theorem. This last result can also be derived from classical work of Gauss.

A projective metric space is a pappian projective space together with a quadric and a certain equivalence relation on the pairs of those points which do not belong to the quadric. This equivalence relation is defined by means of the corresponding quadratic form and satisfies a condition which is a projective version of Miquel's theorem. We characterize the projective metric spaces of dimension at least two over fields of order at least 13.