Classification and Characterization of rationally elliptic manifolds in low dimensions

We give a characterization of closed, simply connected, rationally elliptic 6-manifolds in terms of their rational cohomology rings and a partial classification of their real cohomology rings. We classify rational, real and complex homotopy types of closed, simply connected, rationally elliptic 7-manifolds. We give partial results in dimensions 8 and 9.Comment: 23 pages; extended Section 2, revised Section 5 and several minor revision

Minimal Conditions for Implications of Gronwall-Bellman Type

Gronwall-Bellman type inequalities entail the following implication: if a sufficiently integrable function satisfies a certain homogeneous linear integral inequality, then it is nonpositive. We present a minimal (necessary and sufficient) condition on the Borel measure underlying the integrals for this implication to hold. The condition is also a necessary prerequisite for any nontrivial bound on solutions to inhomogeneous linear integral inequalities of Gronwall-Bellman type.Comment: 11 pages; forthcoming in 'Journal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications

Satisfiability of cross product terms is complete for real nondeterministic polytime Blum-Shub-Smale machines

Nondeterministic polynomial-time Blum-Shub-Smale Machines over the reals give rise to a discrete complexity class between NP and PSPACE. Several problems, mostly from real algebraic geometry / polynomial systems, have been shown complete (under many-one reduction by polynomial-time Turing machines) for this class. We exhibit a new one based on questions about expressions built from cross products only.Comment: In Proceedings MCU 2013, arXiv:1309.104

Single Jump Processes and Strict Local Martingales

Many results in stochastic analysis and mathematical finance involve local martingales. However, specific examples of strict local martingales are rare and analytically often rather unhandy. We study local martingales that follow a given deterministic function up to a random time $\gamma$ at which they jump and stay constant afterwards. The (local) martingale properties of these single jump local martingales are characterised in terms of conditions on the input parameters. This classification allows an easy construction of strict local martingales, uniformly integrable martingales that are not in $H^1$, etc. As an application, we provide a construction of a (uniformly integrable) martingale $M$ and a bounded (deterministic) integrand $H$ such that the stochastic integral $H\bullet M$ is a strict local martingale.Comment: 21 pages; forthcoming in 'Stochastic Processes and their Applications

Computer Simulation of Particle Suspensions

Particle suspensions are ubiquitous in our daily life, but are not well understood due to their complexity. During the last twenty years, various simulation methods have been developed in order to model these systems. Due to varying properties of the solved particles and the solvents, one has to choose the simulation method properly in order to use the available compute resources most effectively with resolving the system as well as needed. Various techniques for the simulation of particle suspensions have been implemented at the Institute for Computational Physics allowing us to study the properties of clay-like systems, where Brownian motion is important, more macroscopic particles like glass spheres or fibers solved in liquids, or even the pneumatic transport of powders in pipes. In this paper we will present the various methods we applied and developed and discuss their individual advantages.Comment: 31 pages, 11 figures, to appear in Lecture Notes in Applied and Computational Mechanics, Springer (2006

The seed of goal-related doubts : a longitudinal investigation of the roles of failure and expectation of success among police trainee applicants

Various theories on personal goal striving rely on the assumption that failure raises doubts about the goal. Yet, empirical evidence for an association between objective failure experiences and doubts about personal long-term goals is still missing. In a longitudinal field study, applicants for a job as a police trainee (n = 172, Mage = 25.15; 55 females and 117 males) were accompanied across three measurement times over a period of five months. We investigated the effects of failure and initial expectation of success (in the standardized selection process) on doubts regarding the superordinate goal of becoming a police officer. As hypothesized, both failure and low initial expectation of success as well as their interaction led to increased goal-related doubts over time. The findings provide first empirical evidence for the role of failure in the emergence of goal-related doubts in personal long-term goals and, therefore, the disengagement process as it is hypothesized in various theories on goal striving and life-span development