Many special cases of the equation x2+C= yn where x and y are positive integers and n≥3 have been considered over the years, but most results for general n are of fairly recent origin. The earliest reference seems to be an assertion by Fermat that he had shown that when C=2, n=3, the only solutions are given by x = 5, y = 3; a proof was published by Euler [1]. The first result for general n is due to Lebesgue [2] who proved that when C = 1 there are no solutions. Nagell [4] generalised Fermat's result and proved that for C = 2 the equation has no solution other than x = 5, y = 3, n = 3. He also showed [5] that for C = 4 the equation has no solution except x = 2, y = 2, n = 3 and x = 11, y = 5, n = 3, and claims in [6] to have dealt with the case C = 5. The case C = -1 was solved by Chao Ko, and an account appears in [3], pp. 302–304.

Let G be a finitely generated (f.g.) torsion-free nilpotent group. Then the group algebra k[G] of G over a field k is a Noetherian domain and hence has a classical division ring of fractions, denoted by k(G). Recently, the division algebras k(G) and, somewhat more generally, division algebras generated by f.g. nilpotent groups have been studied in [3] and [5]. These papers are concerned with the question to what extent the division algebra determines the group under consideration. Here we continue the study of the division algebras k(G) and investigate their Gelfand–Kirillov (GK–) transcendence degree.

A compact bordered Klein surface of genus g ≥ 2 has maximal symmetry [4] if its automorphism group is of order 12(g − 1), the largest possible. An M*-group [8] acts on a bordered surface with maximal symmetry. The first important result about these groups was that they must have a certain partial presentation [8, p. 5]. However, research has tended to focus more on the surfaces with maximal symmetry than on the M*-groups, and results about these groups typically deal with existence.

We consider a nonlinear Dirichlet problem driven by the p(ċ)-Laplacian. Using variational methods based on the critical point theory, together with suitable truncation techniques and the use of upper-lower solutions and of critical groups, we show that the problem has at least three nontrivial solutions, two of which have constant sign (one positive, the other negative). The hypotheses on the nonlinearity incorporates in our framework of analysis, both coercive and noncoercive problems.

Given a nonincreasing function f : ℤ≥ 0 \{0} → ℤ≥ 0 such that (i) f(k) − f(k + 1) ≤ 1 for all k ≥ 1 and (ii) if a = f(1) and b = limk → ∞f(k), then |f−1(a)| ≤ |f−1(a − 1)| ≤ ··· ≤ |f−1(b + 1)|, a system of generators of a monomial ideal I ⊂ K[x1, . . ., xn] for which depth S/Ik = f(k) for all k ≥ 1 is explicitly described. Furthermore, we give a characterization of triplets of integers (n, d, r) with n > 0, d ≥ 0 and r > 0 with the properties that there exists a monomial ideal I ⊂ S = K[x1, . . ., xn] for which limk→∞ depth S/Ik = d and dstab(I) = r, where dstab(I) is the smallest integer k0 ≥ 1 with depth S/Ik0 = depth S/Ik0+1 = depth S/Ik0+2 = ···.

A construction of differential constraints compatible with the Gibbons-Tsarev equation is considered. Certain linear determining equations with parameters are used to find such differential constraints. They generalize the classical determining equations that are used in searching for Lie operators. We introduce the notion of an invariant solution under an involutive distribution and give sufficient conditions for existence of such solutions.

In this paper we give a characterization of the central elements of the algebra A** for a class of weakly sequentially complete Banach algebras A and present a detailed study of several questions related to Arens regularity of the algebra A.

1991 Mathematics Subject Classification Primary: 43A10, 46B20, 46J99.

In [6] the question of the existence of perfect e-codes in the infinite family of distance-transitive graphs Ok was considered. It was pointed out that it is difficult to rule out completely any particular value of e because of the difficulty of working with the sphere packing condition. For e= 1, 2, 3 it can be seen from the results of [6] that the condition given by the generalisation of Lloyd's theorem is satisfied for infinitely many values of k. We shall show that this is not the case for e=4 and we shall prove that there are no perfect 4-codes in Ok.

We offer a Lebesgue-type decomposition of a representable functional on a *-algebra into absolutely continuous and singular parts with respect to another. Such a result was proved by Zs. Szűcs due to a general Lebesgue decomposition theorem of S. Hassi, H.S.V. de Snoo, and Z. Sebestyén concerning non-negative Hermitian forms. In this paper, we provide a self-contained proof of Szűcs' result and in addition we prove that the corresponding absolutely continuous parts are absolutely continuous with respect to each other.

In this paper we study the dependence of the first eigenvalue of the infinity Laplace with respect to the domain. We prove that this first eigenvalue is continuous under some weak convergence conditions which are fulfilled when a sequence of domains converges in Hausdorff distance. Moreover, it is Lipschitz continuous but not differentiable when we consider deformations obtained via a vector field. Our results are illustrated with simple examples.

Suppose that $c$ is a linear operator acting on an $n$-dimensional complex Hilbert Space $H$, and let $\tau$ denote the normalized trace on $B(H)$. Set $b_1 = (c+c^*)/2$ and $b_2 = (c-c^*)/2i$, and write $B$ for the spectral scale of $\{b_1, b_2\}$ with respect to $\tau$. We show that $B$ contains full information about $W_k(c)$, the $k$-numerical range of $c$ for each $k = 1,\dots,n$. This is in addition to the matrix pencil information that has been described in previous papers. Thus both types of information are contained in the geometry of a single 3-dimensional compact, convex set. We then use spectral scales to prove a new fact about $W_k(c)$. We show in Theorem 3.4 that the point $\lambda$ is a singular point on the boundary of $W_k(c)$ if and only if $\lambda$ is an isolated extreme point of $W_k(c)$: i.e. it is the end point of two line segments on the boundary of $W_k(c)$. In this case $\lambda = (n/k)\tau(cz)$, where $z$ is a central projection in the algebra generated by $c$ and the identity. In addition we show how the general theory of the spectral scale may be used to derive some other known properties of the $k$-numerical range.

Let M be a real hypersurface of the complex projective space Pn(C). The Ricci tensor S of M is recurrent if there exists a 1-form $\alpha$ such that $\nablaS=S\otimes\alpha;$. In this paper we show that there are no real hypersurfaces with recurrent Ricci tensor of Pn(C) under the condition that $\xi$ is a principal curvature vector.

1991 Mathematics Subject Classification 53C40 (53C25).

Let E be a Banach space such that its dual E* is separable. We show that there exists a hypercyclic bounded operator T on E such that its adjoint T* is also hypercyclic on E*. We also exhibit a new kind of dual hypercyclic operator. Thus answers affirmatively two of the questions raised by Henrik Petersson in a recent paper.

Let ω be a non-empty set, ℱ a Boolean σ-algebra of subsets of Ω, k a natural number, and let m:ℱ→ℝk be a non-atomic vector measure. Then, by the celebrated theorem of Liapounov [11], the range m[3F] = {m(A): A ε ℱ3F} of m is a compact convex subset of ℝk. This theorem has been generalized in a number of ways. For example Kingman and Robertson [8] and Knowles [9] have shown that, under appropriate conditions, results in the same spirit can be proved for measures taking their values in infinite-dimensional vector spaces. Another type of generalization was obtained by Dvoretsky, Wald and Wolfowitz [6,7]. What they do is to take m as above together with a natural number n≥ 1. They then consider the set Knof all vectors

where (A1 A2,…, An) is an ordered ℱ-measurable partition of Ω (i.e. a partition whose terms A, all belong to ℱ). They prove in [6] that Kn is a compact convex subset of ℝnk and moreover that Kn is equal to the set of all vectors of the form

where (ϕ1, ϕ2…, ϕn) is an ℱ-measurable partition of unity; i.e. it is an n-tuple of non-negative ϕr on Ω such that

Liapounov's theorem can be obtained as a corollary of this result by taking n= 2.

In this paper, we deal with a tree-shaped network of strings with a fixed root node. By imposing velocity feedback controllers on all vertices except the root node, we show that the spectrum of the system operator consists of all isolated eigenvalues of finite multiplicity and is distributed in a strip parallel to the imaginary axis under certain conditions. Moreover, we prove that there exists a sequence of eigenvectors and generalised eigenvectors that forms a Riesz basis with parentheses, and that the imaginary axis is not an asymptote of the spectrum. Thereby, we deduce that the system is exponentially stable.

The structure of groups which have at most two isomorphism classes of derived subgroups ($\mathfrak{D}$2-groups) is investigated. A complete description of $\mathfrak{D}$2-groups is obtained in the case where the derived subgroup is finite: the solution leads an interesting number theoretic problem. In addition, detailed information is obtained about soluble $\mathfrak{D}$2-groups, especially those with finite rank, where algebraic number fields play an important role. Also, detailed structural information about insoluble $\mathfrak{D}$2-groups is found, and the locally free $\mathfrak{D}$2-groups are characterized.

The present paper deals with relations between flat overrings and quotient rings. Weare mainly concerned with Richman's results [10] on flat overrings and withthose of Davis [2], Gilmer [3], Gilmer and Heinzer [4], Gilmer and Ohm [5], and Mott [8], on rings with the QR propertyand with the property (#) defined in Section 1. Some of their results are generalized, and it is shown that certain theorems, which at first glance seem to have nothing in common, are in fact particular cases of a single more general theorem.

In 1956, Jacobson asked whether the intersection of the powers of the Jacobson radical, J(R), of a right Noetherian ring R, must always be zero [4, p. 200]. His question was answered in the negative by I. N. Herstein [3], who noted that , where Z(2) denotes the ring of rational numbers with denominator prime to 2, affords a counterexample. In contrast, the ring , though similar in appearance to R1, satisfies . (Here, k denotes a field.)

Although the classes of regular simple semigroups and simple semigroups without idempotents are evidently at opposite ends of the spectrum of simple semigroups, their theories involve some interesting connections. Jones [5] has obtained analogues of the bicyclic semigroup for simple semigroups without idempotents. Megyesi and Pollák [7] have classified all combinatorial simple principal ideal semigroups on two generators, showing that all are homomorphic images of one such semigroup Po which has no idempotents.

Let х denote a primitive character modulo k. Using two different representations for Dirichlet L-functions, Apostol [1] recently derived a representation for

involving the sums

where m is a positive integer. Furthermore, if х(r) = (r|p)the residue class character modulo the odd prime p, he derived a representation for Mm(х) involving the sums