We obtain a complete topological classification of $k$-folding map-germs on generic surfaces in $\mathbb {R}^3$, discover new robust features of surfaces and recover, in a unified way, many of the robust features that were obtained previously by considering the contact of a surface with lines, planes or spheres.

We define a class of invariants, which we call homological invariants, for persistence modules over a finite poset. Informally, a homological invariant is one that respects some homological data and takes values in the free abelian group generated by a finite set of indecomposable modules. We focus in particular on groups generated by “spread modules,” which are sometimes called “interval modules” in the persistence theory literature. We show that both the dimension vector and rank invariant are equivalent to homological invariants taking values in groups generated by spread modules. We also show that the free abelian group generated by the “single-source” spread modules gives rise to a new invariant which is finer than the rank invariant.

Let $G$ be a reductive group over an algebraically closed subfield $k$ of $\mathbb{C}$ of characteristic zero, $H\subseteq G$ an observable subgroup normalised by a maximal torus of $G$ and $X$ an affine $k$-variety acted on by $G$. Popov and Pommerening conjectured in the late 1970s that the invariant algebra $k[X]^{H}$ is finitely generated. We prove the conjecture for: (1) subgroups of $\operatorname{SL}_{n}(k)$ closed under left (or right) Borel action and for: (2) a class of Borel regular subgroups of classical groups. We give a partial affirmative answer to the conjecture for general regular subgroups of $\operatorname{SL}_{n}(k)$.

We show that there exist an infinite number of topological orbits in classes of complex map germs from the plane to the plane that have a representative of type (xy, xa + yb ), with (a, b) ≠ = (2, 3) or (2, 5). Our key tool to prove this existence is the existence (or not) of stems in the class; these germs are not -finitely determined and allow the determination of a non-finite number of topological orbits. We also show that the class (xy, x 2 + y 5) has two topological orbits.

We classify the affine actions of ${{U}_{q}}\left( sl\left( 2 \right) \right)$ on commutative polynomial rings in $m\,\ge \,1$ variables. We show that, up to scalar multiplication, there are two possible actions. In addition, for each action, the subring of invariants is a polynomial ring in either $m$ or $m\,-\,1$ variables, depending upon whether $q$ is or is not a root of 1.

Suppose that W is a finite, unitary, reflection group acting on the complex vector space V and X is a subspace of V. Define N to be the setwise stabilizer of X in W, Z to be the pointwise stabilizer, and C=N/Z. Then restriction defines a homomorphism from the algebra of W-invariant polynomial functions on V to the algebra of C-invariant functions on X. In this note we consider the special case when W is a Coxeter group, V is the complexified reflection representation of W, and X is in the lattice of the arrangement of W, and give a simple, combinatorial characterization of when the restriction mapping is surjective in terms of the exponents of W and C. As an application of our result, in the case when W is the Weyl group of a semisimple, complex Lie algebra, we complete a calculation begun by Richardson in 1987 and obtain a simple combinatorial characterization of regular decomposition classes whose closure is a normal variety.

The cerebral cortex is a rich and diverse structure that is the basis of intelligent behavior. One of the deepest mysteries of the function of cortex is that neural processing times are only about one hundred times as fast as the fastest response times for complex behavior. At the very least, this would seem to indicate that the cortex does massive amounts of parallel computation.

This paper explores the hypothesis that an important part of the cortex can be modeled as a connectionist computer that is especially suited for parallel problem solving. The connectionist computer uses a special representation, termed value unit encoding, that represents small subsets of parameters in a way that allows parallel access to many different parameter values. This computer can be thought of as computing hierarchies of sensorimotor invariants. The neural substrate can be interpreted as a commitment to data structures and algorithms that compute invariants fast enough to explain the behavioral response times. A detailed consideration of this model has several implications for the underlying anatomy and physiology.

The problem of invariant output tracking is considered: given a control system admitting a symmetry group G, design a feedback such that the closed-loop system tracks a desired output reference and is invariant under the action of G. Invariant output errors are defined as a set of scalar invariants of G; they are calculated with the Cartan moving frame method. It is shown that standard tracking methods based on input-output linearization can be applied to these invariant errors to yield the required “symmetry-preserving” feedback.

With the aid of a six-dimensional special eigenvector q, T.C.T.Ting finds five new invariants of anisotropic elasticity constants. The purpose of this paper is to consider some character of the eigenvector q. It is pointed that the six-dimensional special eigenvector q is unique, if it is independent of the coordinate transformation, and the general form of a three-rank orthogonal matrix is given if it has a three-dimensional special eigenvector like q. In addition, the concept of the special eigenvector q is extended and 20 invariants of anisotropic elasticity constants are obtained under rotation about x3-axis.