All Questions
1,329 questions
13
votes
8
answers
3k
views
Evaluation of the following series... $S = 1/(2\times3) + 1/(5\times6) + 1/(7\times8) + 1/(10\times11) + ... $
EDIT, Will Jagy, December 8, 2010: to anyone considering working on this, please first see http://mathoverflow.tqft.net/discussion/817/could-a-few-moderators-please-remove-one-of-my-questions/#Item_9 ...
- 4,829
13
votes
3
answers
891
views
Effective algorithm to test positivity
Let $f(x_1,\ldots, x_n)$ be a real polynomial in several variables. Is there an effective algorithm to test whether $f$ is positive (or nonnegative) on the whole of ${\mathbb{R}}^n$?
user2529
13
votes
0
answers
818
views
Covering number estimates for Hölder balls
Let $\alpha \in (0,1]$, $r>0$ and $L>0$, and positive intwgers $n$ and $m$. The Arzela-Ascoli Theorem guarantees that the set $X(\alpha,L,r)$ of $f:[-1,1]^n\rightarrow [-r,r]^m$ with $\alpha$-...
- 5,405
13
votes
0
answers
492
views
Does Hahn-Banach for $\ell^\infty$ imply the existence of a non-measurable set?
Working over ZF but without the Axiom of Choice (AC), assume that the Hahn–Banach Theorem holds for $\ell^\infty$. Does it follow that there exists a set of real numbers that is not Lebesgue ...
- 82.7k
13
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Is $\varliminf_{n \rightarrow +\infty} |n \sin n| = 0$ correct, where $n$ is an integer?
Is it true that $\varliminf_{n \rightarrow +\infty} |n \sin n| = 0$, where $n$
runs over the integers?
The existence of the limes inferior follows from Dirichlet's approximation theorem,
but the ...
- 399
12
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Banach spaces $X$ with $\ell_2(X)$ not isomorphic to $L_2([0,1],X)$
Let $X$ be a Banach space. I think that some time ago I read somewhere that, in general, the space $\ell_2(X)$ of all sequences $(x_n)$ in $X$ with $\sum_{n=1}^\infty \|x_n\|^2<\infty$ is not ...
- 4,461
12
votes
1
answer
5k
views
Points of continuity of Baire class one functions
This is an idle question motivated by two comments I made to a previous MO question (which I just searched for, unsuccessfully). That question asked if the characteristic function of the rationals is ...
- 65.4k
12
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Reference request: Simple facts about vector-valued Sobolev space
Let $V,H$ be separable Hilbert spaces such that there are dense injections $V \hookrightarrow H \hookrightarrow V^*$. (For example, $H = L^2(\mathbb{R}^n)$, $V = H^1(\mathbb{R}^n)$, $V^* = H^{-1}(\...
- 29.8k
12
votes
2
answers
552
views
On the independence of lower and upper asymptotic and Banach densities
Given a set $X \subseteq \mathbf N^+$, denote by $\mathsf{d}_\ast(X)$ and $\mathsf{d}^\ast(X)$, respectively, the lower and upper asymptotic (or natural) density of $X$, viz. $$\mathsf{d}_\ast(X) := \...
- 10.5k
12
votes
3
answers
2k
views
To what extent is convexity a local property?
A polyhedron is the intersection of a finite collection of halfspaces. These halfspaces are not assumed to be linear, i.e. their bounding hyperplanes are not assumed to contain the origin. The ...
- 1,846
12
votes
1
answer
575
views
Is $\ell_p$ $(1<p<\infty)$ finitely isometrically distortable?
Let $Y$ be a Banach space isomorphic to $\ell_p$, $1<p<\infty$. Is it true that any finite subset of $\ell_p$ is isometric to some finite subset of $Y$?
It seems to me that it is an interesting ...
- 4,878
11
votes
2
answers
714
views
A neat evaluation of an infinite matrix?
Let $M_n$ be an $n\times n$ matrix defined as
$$M_n
=\left[\frac{2i+1}{2(i+j+1)}\binom{i-1/2}i\binom{j-1/2}jx^{i+j+1}\right]_{i,j=0}^n.$$
With $I_n$ the identity matrix, consider $A_n:=I_n-M_n^2$. ...
- 43.2k
11
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Spectral theorem for unbounded self-adjoint operators on REAL Hilbert spaces
This question was posed on MathStackExchange but did not get an answer (even with a bounty).
In all books that I have checked the spectral theorem (every self-adjoint unbounded operator on a Hilbert ...
- 16.4k
11
votes
2
answers
531
views
Asymptotics of $\int_0^\infty \frac{x^{2z}}{\Gamma(1+z)}\,dz$ for large $x$
I'm interested in the asymptotics of
$$\int_0^\infty \frac{x^{2z}}{\Gamma(1+z)}\,dz$$
as $x\to\infty$. I expect the results to behave similarly to $e^{x^2}=\sum_{k\ge 0}\frac{x^{2k}}{k!}$. However, I'...
- 860
11
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Has anyone seen this series?
I come across the following infinite series.
$$
\sum_{n=1}^{\infty} \frac{t^n}{n!\: n^{a}}, \quad\text{for $t>0$ and $a>0$}.
$$
In particular, I am interested in the case where $a=1/4$.
...
- 1,649
11
votes
1
answer
4k
views
Existence/Uniqueness of solutions to quasi-Lipschitz ODEs
Would the Picard–Lindelöf theorem still be true if the requirement that f be Lipschitz continuous in y was replaced with the requirement that f be almost Lipschitz in y?
If not, are there any moduli ...
user5810
11
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Do Hausdorff locally convex inductive limits always exist?
The following is from Schaefer, "Topological Vector Spaces", 1999, p. 56/57:
Let $(E_\alpha)_{\alpha \in A}$ be a family of locally convex spaces with $\alpha$ in a directed poset $A$ and $h_{\beta \...
- 1,773
11
votes
1
answer
746
views
Find the area of the region enclosed by $\sin^p x+\sin^p y=\sin^p(x+y)$, the $x$-axis and the $y$-axis (comes from a probability question)
Consider the graph of $\sin^p x+\sin^p y=\sin^p(x+y)$, where $x$ and $y$ are acute, and $p>1$.
Here are examples with, from left to right, $p=1.05,\space 1.25,\space 2,\space 4,\space 100$.
Find ...
- 3,527
11
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Is there a relation between Gelfand duality and the spectrum of a ring (with its Zariski topology)?
Compare the following two results:
Thm A) Let $A$ be a commutative $C^*$-algebra and let $X$ be its Gelfand spectrum. Gelfand duality says that there's a natural isometric $*$-isomorphism from $A$ to ...
- 711
11
votes
5
answers
13k
views
Dirac Delta function with a complex argument
According to:
Dirac, P. A. M. (1927). "The physical interpretation of the quantum dynamics."
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Containing Papers of a Mathematical and Physical ...
- 351
11
votes
1
answer
258
views
Bilinear product of two summable families
Consider the following statement, which I suspect is false as written:
Let $E,F,G$ be (Hausdorff) topological vector spaces (over $\mathbb{R}$), let $\varphi\colon E\times F\to G$ be continuous and ...
- 32.5k
11
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Example of noncomplete quotient of complete lcs mod closed subspace
The following statement is well-known: for a Fréchet space $V$ and a closed subspace $W \subseteq V$ the quotient $V / W$ is again complete and hence a Fréchet space. For the particular case of a ...
- 8,098
10
votes
2
answers
926
views
Continuity of the product map
Let $A$ be a $C^*$-algebra.
Is it possible to characterize $A$ for which the product map defined by
$$\sum\limits_{i=1}^n a_i\otimes b_i \mapsto \sum\limits_{i=1}^n a_i b_i$$
is continuous with ...
- 4,705
10
votes
1
answer
492
views
Which W*-algebras are the duals of C*-coalgebras?
A Banach algebra (assumed associative and unital) is precisely a monoid object in the monoidal category of Banach spaces, short linear maps, and the projective tensor product. A Banach coalgebra is ...
- 2,754
10
votes
1
answer
896
views
A tricky tractrix question about vertical tangents
This is raised by a recent question occurring in combinatorial geometry.
It is about a sort of tractrix, but instead of a line, the pulling end moves along a circle of radius $r>\frac12$ (...
- 13.4k
10
votes
0
answers
761
views
Reference request : Grothendieck's topological space valued integral
As I am learning the different kind of Banach space valued integrals (Pettis, Bochner), I know that Grothendieck made a "mémoire" in his youth about this topic, but I don't know if it is available ...
- 1,616
10
votes
1
answer
783
views
When do tensor products of C*-algebras commute with colimits?
Let $I$ be a filtered poset, which you should think of as being huge. Let $A_i$ be an $I$-diagram of $C^{\star}$-algebras and let $A$ be the colimit of this diagram; if necessary, we can also assume ...
- 976
9
votes
1
answer
4k
views
What are some characterizations of the strong and total variation convergence topologies on measures?
I asked this question on StackExchange a few days ago but didn't get any response, so I thought I would try here.
The Wikipedia article on convergence of measures defines three kinds of convergence: ...
- 203
9
votes
5
answers
2k
views
Convexity of distance-to-boundary function
Let $\Omega\subset\mathbb{R}^{n}$ be an open,
bounded convex domain. Denote $d_{\Omega}:\Omega\rightarrow\mathbb{R}$
the distance-to-boundary function, that is,
$$
d_{\Omega}\left(x\right):=\inf\left\...
- 91
9
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Differentiability of distance to a closed convex set [closed]
Let $( \mathbb{R}^d, \| \mathbf{x}\|_2 )$ be a Euclidean Space. For any nonempty closed convex set $A\subseteq \mathbb{R}^d$, we define
\begin{align}
d(\mathbf{x}, A) = \inf \{ \| \mathbf{x} - \mathbf{...
- 1,127
9
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Traces of Sobolev spaces
Is there a simple proof of the following fact?
Theorem. Let $\Omega\subset\mathbb{R}^n$ be a bounded and smooth domain. If $n>2$, then $W^{1,n-1}(\partial\Omega)\subset
W^{1-\frac{1}{n},n}(\...
- 28k
9
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Rate of convergence of smooth mollifiers
How does one figure out/prove the rate of convergence (in some norm) of mollifiers given a function bounded in some other norm (say Sobolev space, Besov space)? Also, is there a dimensional analysis ...
- 2,243
9
votes
1
answer
957
views
A problem in functional calculus
This is embarrassing, I think it must work, but I can't see how to prove it works. If anyone knows enough functional calculus of operators on a Hilbert space to tell me how to do it, I would be very ...
- 1,143
8
votes
2
answers
316
views
Bounds on coefficients of factors of a multivariate polynomial
Given a multivariate polynomial $F(x, y, ..)$ what is the smallest bound B that can be quickly found such that $|G|_{\infty} \le B$ for all factors $G$ of $F$. (I'm using $|G|_{\infty}$ to denote the ...
- 81
8
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Division of Distributions by Polynomials
Let $P(z)$ be a non-null complex polynomial in $n$ variables $z=(z_1,\dots,z_n)$:
\begin{equation}
P(z)=\sum_{|\alpha| \leq N} c_{\alpha} z^{\alpha},
\end{equation}
where as usual for every $\alpha=(\...
- 640
8
votes
0
answers
1k
views
Strictly singular operators and their adjoints
This is a question I thought about a while back and figured I'd throw it out there to see if anyone has some insight that I am missing.
Let $X$ and $Y$ be infinite dimensional separable Banach ...
- 1,073
8
votes
1
answer
4k
views
Covering number of Lipschitz functions
What do we know about the covering number of $L$-Lipschitz functions mapping say, $\mathbb{R}^n \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ for some $L >0$?
Only 2 results I have found so far are,
That the $\infty$-...
- 2,246
8
votes
2
answers
496
views
Which complete orthomodular lattices arise from von Neumann algebras?
Let $A$ be a von Neumann algebra. Then a classic observation is that the set of projections $\Pi(A)$ is naturally a complete orthomodular lattice.
Question 1: Is the construction $A \mapsto \Pi(A)$ a ...
- 63.9k
8
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Relating different topologies on $C^{\infty}_c(M)$
This is somehow connected to this question.
I can think of at least four topologies to put on $C_c(M)$:
Topologize $C^{\infty}_c(M)\subseteq C^{\infty}(M)$ as a subspace with the weak Whitney $C^\...
- 81
8
votes
3
answers
521
views
Invertibility of specific function
This is my first post. I'm not a mathematician, just an electronics engineer who loves mathematics. In one of my projects, I arrived at the following function:
$$V\left(\varphi\right)=\frac{A\sqrt{\pi-...
8
votes
2
answers
1k
views
VC dimension, fat-shattering dimension, and other complexity measures, of a class BV functions
I wish to show that a function which is "essentially constant" (defined shortly) can't be a good classifier (machine learning). For this i need to estimate the "complexity" of such a class of ...
- 6,853
8
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Convergence of orthogonal polynomial expansions
"Everyone" knows that for a general $f\in L^2[0,1]$, the Fourier series of $f$ converges to $f$ in the $L^2$ norm but not necessarily in most other senses one might be interested in; but if $f$ is ...
- 11.4k
8
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Compactness of the unit ball of a Banach space for topologies finer than the weak* topology
Let $(\mathcal{X} , \|\cdot \|_\mathcal{X})$ be a Banach space and $\mathcal{X}'$ its topological dual. We denote by $\| \cdot \|_{\mathcal{X}'}$ the dual norm and define also the topological dual $\...
- 2,306
7
votes
2
answers
455
views
On a monotonicity property of Fourier coefficients of truncated power functions
Is it true that
$$a_{k,n}:=\int_0^{2\pi}x^k\cos(nx)\,dx$$
is nonincreasing in natural $n$ for each $k\in\{0,1,\dots\}$?
This question is related to this previous one.
Twice integrating by parts, one ...
- 128k
7
votes
3
answers
2k
views
A question on fractional derivatives
I know practically nothing about fractional calculus so I apologize in advance if the following is a silly question. I already tried on math.stackexchange.
I just wanted to ask if there is a notion of ...
user168611
7
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Invariant means on the integers
Let $A\subseteq\mathbb Z$, as usual we define the lower Beurling density $d^{-}(A)=\lim\inf_{n\rightarrow\infty}\frac{|A\cap[-n,n]|}{2n+1}$ and the upper Beurling density $d^+(A)=\lim\sup_{n\...
- 6,034
7
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Uniform bound on the eigenfunctions of the Laplacian
Is it possibly to have $L_\infty$ bounds on the eigenfunctions of the Laplacian operator on bounded regular domains with Dirichlet condition? I found several papers by Sogge but these are pretty ...
- 73
7
votes
1
answer
488
views
Ref. request: Additive probability measure on $\mathcal P({\bf N})$ supplies subset of $\mathbf R$ without Baire property
ZFC proves, among the other things, the existence of a (finitely) additive probability measure $\theta: \mathcal P(\mathbf N) \to \mathbf R$ on the power set of $\mathbf N$ such that $\theta(X) = 0$ ...
- 10.5k
7
votes
1
answer
606
views
Weak* continuity of positive parts, again
Bill Johnson pointed out to me yesterday that the map $$f \mapsto f^+ = \max(f,0)$$ is not weak* continuous on $l^\infty$. Nonetheless, I think I can prove that if $V$ is a linear subspace of $l^\...
- 42.8k
7
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Orthonormal bases on Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Spaces
Recall that a Hilbert space $\mathcal{H}$ is a reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS) if the elements of $\mathcal{H}$ are functions on a certain set $X$ and for any $a\in X$, the linear functional $...
- 577