Let k be a field of characteristic zero and $k^{[n]}$ the polynomial algebra in n variables over k. The LND conjecture concerning the images of locally nilpotent derivations arose from the Jacobian conjecture. We give a positive answer to the LND conjecture in several cases. More precisely, we prove that the images of rank-one locally nilpotent derivations of $k^{[n]}$ acting on principal ideals are MZ-subspaces for any $n\geq 2$, and that the images of a large class of locally nilpotent derivations of $k^{[3]}$ (including all rank-two and homogeneous rank-three locally nilpotent derivations) acting on principal ideals are MZ-subspaces.

We obtain a new theorem for the non-properness set $S_f$ of a non-singular polynomial mapping $f:\mathbb C^n \to \mathbb C^n$. In particular, our result shows that if f is a counterexample to the Jacobian conjecture, then $S_f\cap Z \neq \emptyset $, for every hypersurface Z dominated by $\mathbb C^{n-1}$ on which some non-singular polynomial $h: \mathbb C^{n}\to \mathbb C$ is constant. Also, we present topological approaches to the Jacobian conjecture in $\mathbb C^n$. As applications, we extend bidimensional results of Rabier, Lê and Weber to higher dimensions.

A self-map F of an affine space ${\bf A}_k^n $ over a field k is said to be a Keller map if F is given by polynomials F1, …, Fn ∈ k[X1, …, Xn] whose Jacobian determinant lies in $k\setminus \{0\}$. We consider char(k) = 0 and assume, as we may, that the Fis vanish at the origin. In this note, we prove that if F is Keller then its base ideal IF = 〈F1, …, Fn〉 is radical (a finite intersection of maximal ideals in this case). We then conjecture that IF = 〈X1, …, Xn〉, which we show to be equivalent to the classical Jacobian Conjecture. In addition, among other remarks, we observe that every complex Keller map admits a well-defined multidimensional global residue function.

The factorial conjecture was proposed by van den Essen et al. [‘On the image conjecture’, J. Algebra 340(1) (2011), 211–224] to study the image conjecture, which arose from the Jacobian conjecture. We show that the factorial conjecture holds for all homogeneous polynomials in two variables. We also give a variation of the result and use it to show that the image of any linear locally nilpotent derivation of $\mathbb{C}[x,y,z]$ is a Mathieu–Zhao subspace.

Let $K$ be any field with $\text{char}\,K\neq 2,3$. We classify all cubic homogeneous polynomial maps $H$ over $K$ whose Jacobian matrix, ${\mathcal{J}}H$, has $\text{rk}\,{\mathcal{J}}H\leq 2$. In particular, we show that, for such an $H$, if $F=x+H$ is a Keller map, then $F$ is invertible and furthermore $F$ is tame if the dimension $n\neq 4$.

We investigate images of higher-order differential operators of polynomial algebras over a field $k$. We show that, when $\operatorname{char}k>0$, the image of the set of differential operators $\{\unicode[STIX]{x1D709}_{i}-\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}_{i}\mid i=1,2,\ldots ,n\}$ of the polynomial algebra $k[\unicode[STIX]{x1D709}_{1},\ldots ,\unicode[STIX]{x1D709}_{n},z_{1},\ldots ,z_{n}]$ is a Mathieu subspace, where $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}_{i}\in k[\unicode[STIX]{x2202}_{z_{1}},\ldots ,\unicode[STIX]{x2202}_{z_{n}}]$ for $i=1,2,\ldots ,n$. We also show that, when $\operatorname{char}k=0$, the same conclusion holds for $n=1$. The problem concerning images of differential operators arose from the study of the Jacobian conjecture.

Recent papers have shown that ${{C}^{1}}$ maps $F:\,{{\mathbb{R}}^{2}}\,\to {{\mathbb{R}}^{2}}$ whose Jacobians have constant eigenvalues can be completely characterized if either the eigenvalues are equal or $F$ is a polynomial. Specifically, $F\,=\,(u,\,v)$ must take the form

$$u\,=\,ax\,+\,by\,+\,\beta \phi (\alpha x\,+\,\beta y)\,+\,e$$

$$v\,=\,cx\,+\,dy\,-\,\alpha \phi \,(\alpha x\,+\,\beta y)\,+\,f$$

for some constants $a,\,b,\,c,\,d,\,e,\,f,\,\alpha ,\,\beta $ and a ${{C}^{1}}$ function $\phi $ in one variable. If, in addition, the function $\phi $ is not affine, then

1

$$\alpha \beta (d\,-\,a)\,+\,b{{\alpha }^{2}}\,-\,c{{\beta }^{2}}\,=\,0.$$

This paper shows how these theorems cannot be extended by constructing a real-analytic map whose Jacobian eigenvalues are $\pm 1/2$ and does not fit the previous form. This example is also used to construct non-obvious solutions to nonlinear PDEs, including the Monge—Ampère equation.

This paper presents an approach to injectivity theorems via the Mountain Pass Lemma and raises an open question. The main result of this paper (Theorem 1.1) is proved by means of the Mountain Pass Lemma and states that if the eigenvalues of ${F}'(\text{x}){F}'{{(\text{x})}^{T}}\,$ are uniformly bounded away from zero for $\text{x}\,\in \,{{\mathbb{R}}^{n}}$, where $F\,:\,{{\mathbb{R}}^{n}}\,\to \,{{\mathbb{R}}^{n}}$ is a class ${{C}^{1}}$ map, then F is injective. This was discovered in a joint attempt by the authors to prove a stronger result conjectured by the first author: Namely, that a sufficient condition for injectivity of class ${{C}^{1}}$ maps $F$ of ${{\mathbb{R}}^{n}}$ into itself is that all the eigenvalues of ${F}'\,(\text{x})$ are bounded away from zero on ${{\mathbb{R}}^{n}}$. This is stated as Conjecture 2.1. If true, it would imply (via Reduction-of-Degree) injectivity of polynomial maps$F\,:\,{{\mathbb{R}}^{n}}\,\to \,{{\mathbb{R}}^{n}}$satisfying the hypothesis, $\det F'(x)\equiv 1$, of the celebrated Jacobian Conjecture (JC) of Ott-Heinrich Keller. The paper ends with several examples to illustrate a variety of cases and known counterexamples to some natural questions.

In this paper, we determine when two simple generalized Cartan type $W$ Lie algebras ${{W}_{d}}(A,\,T,\,\varphi )$ are isomorphic, and discuss the relationship between the Jacobian conjecture and the generalized Cartan type $W$ Lie algebras.