The general α-decomposition problem of fuzzy relations

This paper deals with a general α-decomposition problem of fuzzy relations, which can be stated as follows: given a fuzzy relation R∈F(X×Y), determine two fuzzy relations Q∈F(X×Z) and T∈F(Z×Y) such that , where X (resp. Y) is a finite set. Firstly we point out that every fuzzy relation R is always generally α-decomposable, and give an algorithm to construct Q and T with for a given R. Secondly, we show that the general content ρ(R) with is equal to the chromatic number of the simple graph F_R generated by R. Therefore, finding an exact algorithm for calculating ρ(R) is an NP-complete problem.     

On the degree of polynomial parameter-dependent Lyapunov functions for robust stability of single parameter-dependent LTI systems: A counter-example to Barmish's conjecture

In this paper, we consider the robust Hurwitz stability analysis problems of a single parameter-dependent matrix A(θ)?A₀+θA₁ over θ∈[-1,1], where A₀,A₁∈R^n×n with A₀ being Hurwitz stable. In particular, we are interested in the degree N of the polynomial parameter-dependent Lyapunov matrix (PPDLM) of the form that ensures the robust Hurwitz stability of A(θ) via . On the degree of PPDLMs, Barmish conjectured in early 90s that if there exists such P(θ), then there always exists a first-degree PPDLM P(θ)=P₀+θP₁ that meets the desired conditions, regardless of the size or rank of A₀ and A₁. The goal of this paper is to falsify this conjecture. More precisely, we will show a pair of the matrices A₀,A₁∈R^3×3 with A₀+θA₁ being Hurwitz stable for all θ∈[-1,1] and prove rigorously that the desired first-degree PPDLM does not exist for this particular pair. The proof is based on the recently developed techniques to deal with parametrized LMIs in an exact fashion and related duality arguments. From this counter-example, we can conclude that the conjecture posed by Barmish is not valid when n?3 in general.     

On the oriented chromatic number of Halin graphs

An oriented k-coloring of an oriented graph G is a mapping such that (i) if xy∈E(G) then c(x)≠c(y) and (ii) if xy,zt∈E(G) then c(x)=c(t)⇒c(y)≠c(z). The oriented chromatic number of an oriented graph G is defined as the smallest k such that G admits an oriented k-coloring. We prove in this paper that every Halin graph has oriented chromatic number at most 9, improving a previous bound proposed by Vignal.     

On the lower bounds of the second order nonlinearities of some Boolean functions

The rth order nonlinearity of a Boolean function is an important cryptographic criterion in analyzing the security of stream as well as block ciphers. It is also important in coding theory as it is related to the covering radius of the Reed-Muller code R(r,n). In this paper we deduce the lower bounds of the second order nonlinearities of the following two types of Boolean functions:

1.

with d=2^2r+2^r+1 and , where n=6r.

2.

, where x,y∈F_2^t,n=2t,n?6 and i is an integer such that 1?i<t,gcd(2^t-1,2ⁱ+1)=1.

For some λ, the functions of the first type are bent functions, whereas Boolean functions of the second type are all bent functions, i.e., they possess the maximum first order nonlinearity. It is demonstrated that in some cases our bounds are better than the previously obtained bounds.     

The complexity of changing colourings with bounded maximum degree

Let G be a graph, x,y∈V(G), and ?:V(G)→[k] a k-colouring of G such that ?(x)=?(y). If then the following question is NP-complete: Does there exist a k-colouring ?^′ of G such that ?^′(x)≠?^′(y)? Conversely, if then the problem is polynomial time.     

Finding a maximum-density path in a tree under the weight and length constraints

Let T=(V,E) be a tree with n nodes such that each node v is associated with a value-weight pair(valv,wv), where the valuevalv is a real number and the weightwv is a positive integer. The density of a path P=〈v₁,v₂,…,vk〉 is defined as . The weight of P, denoted by w(P), is . Given a tree of n nodes, two integers wmin and wmax, and a length lower bound L, we present a pseudo-polynomial O(wmaxnL)-time algorithm to find a maximum-density path P in T such that wmin?w(P)?wmax and the length of P is at least L.     

Weighted Coloring: further complexity and approximability results

Given a vertex-weighted graph G=(V,E;w), w(v)?0 for any v∈V, we consider a weighted version of the coloring problem which consists in finding a partition S=(S₁,…,Sk) of the vertex set of G into stable sets and minimizing where the weight of S is defined as . In this paper, we continue the investigation of the complexity and the approximability of this problem by answering some of the questions raised by Guan and Zhu [D.J. Guan, X. Zhu, A coloring problem for weighted graphs, Inform. Process. Lett. 61 (2) (1997) 77-81].     

Explicit convergence rates for MRAC-type systems

It is well known since many years ago that for the linear time-varying system , with A Hurwitz, and B(t) bounded and globally Lipschitz, it is necessary and sufficient for global exponential stability, that B(t) satisfy the so-called persistency of excitation condition. In this note, we revisit this question and provide explicit bounds for the convergence rate and on the overshoot of the transient behaviour of the solutions e(t), θ(t) as functions of the richness of B(·). We believe that the result that we present is useful since knowing convergence rates aids in the construction of converse Lyapunov functions. Moreover, the type of systems that we study here appear for instance in model reference adaptive control (MRAC).     

Applications of complete discrimination system for polynomial for classifications of traveling wave solutions to nonlinear differential equations

If a partial differential equation is reduced to an ordinary differential equation in the form u^′(ξ)=G(u,θ₁,…,θm) under the traveling wave transformation, where θ₁,…,θm are parameters, its solutions can be written as an integral form . Therefore, the key steps are to determine the parameters' scopes and to solve the corresponding integral. When G is related to a polynomial, a mathematical tool named complete discrimination system for polynomial is applied to this problem so that the parameter's scopes can be determined easily. The complete discrimination system for polynomial is a natural generalization of the discrimination △=b²−4ac of the second degree polynomial ax²+bx+c. For example, the complete discrimination system for the third degree polynomial F(w)=w³+d₂w²+d₁w+d₀ is given by and . In the paper, we give some new applications of the complete discrimination system for polynomial, that is, we give the classifications of traveling wave solutions to some nonlinear differential equations through solving the corresponding integrals. In finally, as a result, we give a partial answer to a problem on Fan's expansion method.     

Descendants of a recognizable tree language for sets of linear monadic term rewrite rules

For a tree language L and a set S of term rewrite rules over Σ, the descendant of L for S is the set S^∗(L) of trees reachable from a tree in L by rewriting in S. For a recognizable tree language L, we study the set D(L) of descendants of L for all sets of linear monadic term rewrite rules over Σ. We show that D(L) is finite. For each tree automaton A over Σ, we can effectively construct a set {R₁,…,Rk} of linear monadic term rewrite systems over Σ such that and for any 1?i<j?k, .     

The interval-merging problem

A closed interval is an ordered pair of real numbers [x, y], with x ? y. The interval [x, y] represents the set {i ∈ R∣x ? i ? y}. Given a set of closed intervals I={[a₁,b₁],[a₂,b₂],…,[a_k,b_k]}, the Interval-Merging Problem is to find a minimum-cardinality set of intervals M(I)={[x₁,y₁],[x₂,y₂],…,[x_j,y_j]}, j ? k, such that the real numbers represented by equal those represented by . In this paper, we show the problem can be solved in O(d log d) sequential time, and in O(log d) parallel time using O(d) processors on an EREW PRAM, where d is the number of the endpoints of I. Moreover, if the input is given as a set of sorted endpoints, then the problem can be solved in O(d) sequential time, and in O(log d) parallel time using O(d/log d) processors on an EREW PRAM.