Pointwise monotonicity of heat kernels

In this paper we present an elementary proof of a pointwise radial monotonicity property of heat kernels that is shared by the Euclidean spaces, spheres and hyperbolic spaces. The main result was discovered by Cheeger and Yau in 1981 and rediscovered in special cases during the last few years. It deals with the monotonicity of the heat kernel from special points on revolution hypersurfaces. Our proof hinges on a non straightforward but elementary application of the parabolic maximum principle. As a consequence of the monotonicity property, we derive new inequalities involving classical special functions.

Computing Interior Eigenvalues of Large Sparse Symmetric Matrices

In this paper we present new restarted Krylov methods for calculating interior eigenvalues of large sparse symmetric matrices. The proposed methods are compact versions of the Heart iteration which are modified to retain the monotonicity property. Numerical experiments illustrate the usefulness of the proposed approach.

Stochastic monotonicity of dependent variables given their sum

Given a finite set of independent random variables, assume one can observe their sum, and denote with s its value. Efron in 1965, and Lehmann in 1966, described conditions on the involved variables such that each of them stochastically increases in the value s, i.e., such that the expected value of any non-decreasing function of the variable increases as s increases. In this paper, we investigate conditions such that this stochastic monotonicity property is satisfied when the assumption of independence is removed. Comparisons in the stronger likelihood ratio order are considered as well.

Best Fit Bin Packing with Random Order Revisited

Best Fit is a well known online algorithm for the bin packing problem, where a collection of one-dimensional items has to be packed into a minimum number of unit-sized bins. In a seminal work, Kenyon [SODA 1996] introduced the (asymptotic) random order ratio as an alternative performance measure for online algorithms. Here, an adversary specifies the items, but the order of arrival is drawn uniformly at random. Kenyon’s result establishes lower and upper bounds of 1.08 and 1.5, respectively, for the random order ratio of Best Fit. Although this type of analysis model became increasingly popular in the field of online algorithms, no progress has been made for the Best Fit algorithm after the result of Kenyon. We study the random order ratio of Best Fit and tighten the long-standing gap by establishing an improved lower bound of 1.10. For the case where all items are larger than 1/3, we show that the random order ratio converges quickly to 1.25. It is the existence of such large items that crucially determines the performance of Best Fit in the general case. Moreover, this case is closely related to the classical maximum-cardinality matching problem in the fully online model. As a side product, we show that Best Fit satisfies a monotonicity property on such instances, unlike in the general case. In addition, we initiate the study of the absolute random order ratio for this problem. In contrast to asymptotic ratios, absolute ratios must hold even for instances that can be packed into a small number of bins. We show that the absolute random order ratio of Best Fit is at least 1.3. For the case where all items are larger than 1/3, we derive upper and lower bounds of 21/16 and 1.2, respectively.

Relative non-pluripolar product of currents

Let X be a compact Kähler manifold. Let $$T_1, \ldots , T_m$$ T 1 , … , T m be closed positive currents of bi-degree (1, 1) on X and T an arbitrary closed positive current on X. We introduce the non-pluripolar product relative to T of $$T_1, \ldots , T_m$$ T 1 , … , T m . We recover the well-known non-pluripolar product of $$T_1, \ldots , T_m$$ T 1 , … , T m when T is the current of integration along X. Our main results are a monotonicity property of relative non-pluripolar products, a necessary condition for currents to be of relative full mass intersection in terms of Lelong numbers, and the convexity of weighted classes of currents of relative full mass intersection. The former two results are new even when T is the current of integration along X.

Characterising scoring rules by their solution in iteratively undominated strategies

We characterize voting procedures according to the social choice correspondence they implement when voters cast ballots strategically, applying iteratively undominated strategies. In elections with three candidates, the Borda Rule is the unique positional scoring rule that satisfies unanimity (U) (i.e., elects a candidate whenever it is unanimously preferred) and is majoritarian after eliminating a worst candidate (MEW)(i.e., if there is a unanimously disliked candidate, the majority-preferred among the other two is elected). In a larger class of rules, Approval Voting is characterized by a single axiom that implies both U and MEW but is weaker than Condorcet-consistency (CON)—it is the only direct mechanism scoring rule that is majoritarian after eliminating a Pareto-dominated candidate (MEPD)(i.e., if there is a Pareto-dominated candidate, the majority-preferred among the other two is elected); among all finite scoring rules that satisfy MEPD, Approval Voting is the most decisive. However, it fails a desirable monotonicity property: a candidate that is elected for some preference profile, may lose the election once she gains further in popularity. In contrast, the Borda Rule is the unique direct mechanism scoring rule that satisfies U, MEW and monotonicity (MON). There exists no direct mechanism scoring rule that satisfies both MEPD and MON and no finite scoring rule satisfying CON.

Рассеяние лазерного пучка на ансамбле асимметричных эритроцитов

An analytical model of laser beam scattering on an inhomogeneous ensemble of red blood cells is constructed. The model takes into account the difference in red blood cells in size, shape, and orientation in space. The connection of the experimentally measured parameter – the visibility of the diffraction pattern – with the characteristic that has the meaning of a measure of the heterogeneity of the blood sample in terms of the size and shape of red blood cells is established. The monotonicity property of this dependence is shown, which makes it possible to estimate the spread of red blood cells by size and shape based on the measurement of the visibility of the diffraction pattern.