Phase reconstruction from magnitude of band-limited multidimensional signals

In this paper, the problem of phase reconstruction from magnitude of multidimensional band-limited functions is considered. It is shown that any irreducible band-limited function f(z₁…,z_n), z_i ? $\text{C}$, i=1, …, n, is uniquely determined from the magnitude of f(x₁…,x_n): | f(x₁…,x_n)|, x_i ? $\text{R}$, i=1,…, n, except for (1) linear shifts: ^{i(α1z1+…+α_n2n+β}), β, α_i?$\text{R}$, i=1,…, n; and (2) conjugation: $\text{f}{}^1\text{(z}{}_1{}^1\text{,…,z}{}_{\mathrm{n}}{}^1\text{)}$.     

Factorization of fredholm operators on analytic functions

Let Ω be a simply connected domain in the complex plane, and $\text{A(Ω}{}^{\mathrm{n}}\text{)}$, the space of functions which are defined and analytic on $\text{Ω}{}^{\mathrm{n}}$, if K is the operator on elements $\text{u(t, a}{}_1\text{, …, a}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{)}\text{of}\text{A(Ω}{}^{\mathrm{n\; +\; 1}}\text{)}$ defined in terms of the kernels k_i(t, s, a₁, …, a_n) in $\text{A(Ω}{}^{\mathrm{n\; +\; 2}}\text{)}$ by is the identity operator on $\text{A(Ω}{}^{\mathrm{n\; +\; 1}}\text{)}$, then the operator I ? K may be factored in the form (I ? K)(M ? W) = (I ? ΠK)(M ? ΠW). Here, W is an operator on $\text{A(Ω}{}^{\mathrm{n\; +\; 1}}\text{)}$ defined in terms of a kernel w(t, s, a₁, …, a_n) in $\text{A(Ω}{}^{\mathrm{n\; +\; 2}}\text{)}$ by Wu = ∝_an^tw(t, s, a₁, …, a_n) u(s, a₁, …, a_n) ds. ΠW is the operator; ΠWu = ∝_{an ? 1}w(t, s, a₁, …, a_n) u(s, a₁, …, a_n) ds. ΠK is the operator; ΠKu = ∑_{i = 1}^{n ? 1} ∝_ai^tk_i(t, s, a₁, …, a_n) ds + ∝_{an ? 1}^tk_n(t, s, a₁, …, a_n) u(s, a₁, …, a_n) ds. The operator M is of the form m(t, a₁, …, a_n)I, where $\text{m ? A(Ω}{}^{\mathrm{n\; +\; 1}}\text{)}$ and maps elements of $\text{A(Ω}{}^{\mathrm{n\; +\; 1}}\text{)}$ into itself by multiplication. The function m is uniquely derived from K in the following manner. The operator K defines an operator $\text{K}{}^1$ on functions u in $\text{A(Ω}{}^{\mathrm{n\; +\; 2}}\text{)}$, by . A determinant $\text{δ(I ? K}{}^1\text{)}$ of the operator $\text{I ? K}{}^1$ is defined as an element $\text{m}{}^1\text{(t, a}{}_1\text{, …, a}{}_{\mathrm{n\; +\; 1}}\text{)}$ of $\text{A(Ω}{}^{\mathrm{n\; +\; 2}}\text{)}$. This is mapped into $\text{A(Ω}{}^{\mathrm{n\; +\; 1}}\text{)}$ by setting a_{n + 1} = t to give m(t, a₁, …, a_n). The operator I ? ΠK may be factored in similar fashion, giving rise to a chain factorization of I ? K. In some cases all the matrix kernels k_i defining K are separable in the sense that k_i(t, s, a₁, …, a_n) = P_i(t, a₁, …, a_n) Q_i(s, a₁, …, a_n), where P_i is a 1 × p_i matrix and Q_i is a p_i × 1 matrix, each with elements in $\text{A(Ω}{}_{\mathrm{n\; +\; 1}}\text{)}$, explicit formulas are given for the kernels of the factors W. The various results are stated in a form allowing immediate extension to the vector-matrix case.     

Transcendental continued fractions

In a previous paper it was proven that given the continued fractions

$\text{A = a}{}_1\text{+}\text{1}\text{a}{}_2\text{+}\text{1}\text{a}{}_3\text{+… and B = b}{}_1\text{+}\text{1}\text{b}{}_2\text{+}\text{1}\text{b}{}_3\text{+…}$

where the a's and b's are positive integers, then A, B, A ± B, $\text{A}\text{B}$ and AB are irrational numbers if $\text{a}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{2}\text{> b}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{> a}{}_{\mathrm{n?1}}{}^{\mathrm{5n}}$ for all n sufficiently large, and transcendental numbers if for all n sufficiently large. Using a more direct approach it is proven in this paper that A, B, A ± B, $\text{A}\text{B}$ and AB are transcendental numbers if a_n > b_n > a_n?1^(n?1)2 for all n sufficiently large.     

A divided difference inequality for n-convex functions

For a₍₁₎ ? a₍₂₎ ? ··· ? a_(n) ? 0, b₍₁₎ ? b₍₂₎ ? ··· ? b_(n) ? 0, the ordered values of a_i, b_i, i = 1, 2,…, n, m fixed, m ? n, and p ? 1 it is shown that

$\text{∑}\text{1}\text{n}\text{a}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{b}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{?}\text{∑}\text{1}\text{m}\text{a}{}^{\mathrm{p}}{}_{\mathrm{(i)}}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>p</mtext>}}\text{∑}\text{1}\text{m?k?1}\text{b}{}^{\mathrm{q}}{}_{\mathrm{(i)}}\text{+}\text{b}{}^{\mathrm{q}}{}_{\mathrm{[m?k]}}\text{(k+1)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>q</mtext><mtext>p</mtext>}}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>q</mtext>}}$

where $\text{1}\text{p}\text{+}\text{1}\text{q}\text{= 1, b}{}_{\mathrm{[j]}}\text{= b}{}_{\mathrm{(j)}}\text{+ b}{}_{\mathrm{(j\; +\; 1)}}\text{+ ··· + b}{}_{\mathrm{(n)}}\text{,}\text{and}\text{k}$ is the integer such that $\text{b}{}_{\mathrm{(m\; ?\; k\; ?\; 1)}}\text{?}\text{b[m ? k]}\text{(k + 1)}$ and $\text{b}{}_{\mathrm{(m\; ?\; k)}}\text{<}\text{b}{}_{\mathrm{[m\; ?\; k\; +\; 1]}}\text{k}$. The inequality is shown to be sharp. When p < 1 and a_(i)'s are in increasing order then the inequality is reversed.     

Ballots and rooks

The level code representation of the simplest ballot problem (weak lead lattice paths from (0, 0) to (n, n) is the set of sequences (b₁,…, b_n) defined by b₁ = 1, b_{i ?1} ≤ b_i ≤ i, 2 ≤ i ≤n. Each sequence is monotone non-decreasing, has a specification (c₁, c₂,…, c_n) with c_i the number of sequence elements equal to i (hence c₁ + c₂…+ c_n = n), and may be permuted in $\text{n!}\text{c}{}_1\text{!…c}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{!}$ ways. The set of permuted sequences, as noted in [4], is the set of parking functions, introduced by Konheim and Weiss in [1]. To count parking functions by number of fixed points, associate the rook polynomial for matching a deck of cards of specification (c₁,…,c_n), c_i cards marked i, with a deck of n distinct cards. The hit polynomial H_n(x) corresponding to the sum of such rook polynomials over all sequences (I am using the terminology of [2]) is the required enumerator and turns out to be simply

$\text{(n+1)}{}^2\text{H}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{(x)=(x+n)}{}^{\mathrm{n+1}}\text{?(x?1)}{}^{\mathrm{n+1}}$

.     

Three problems on the lengths of increasing runs

Let U₁, U₂,… be a sequence of independent, uniform (0, 1) r.v.'s and let R₁, R₂,… be the lengths of increasing runs of {U_i}, i.e., X₁=R₁=inf{i:U_i+1<U_i},…, X_n=R₁+R₂+?+R_n=inf{i:i>X_n?1,U_i+1<U_i}. The first theorem states that the sequence $\text{(}\text{3}\text{2}\text{n)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{(X}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{?2n)}$ can be approximated by a Wiener process in strong sense.Let τ(n) be the largest integer for which R₁+R₂+?+R_τ(n)?n, $\text{R}{}^1{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{=n?(R}{}_1\text{+R}{}_2\text{+?+R}{}_{\mathrm{\tau (n)}}\text{)}$ and $\text{M}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{=}\text{max}\text{{R}{}_1\text{,R}{}_2\text{,…,R}{}_{\mathrm{\tau (n)}}\text{,R}{}^1{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{}}$. Here M_n is the length of the longest increasing block. A strong theorem is given to characterize the limit behaviour of M_n.The limit distribution of the lengths of increasing runs is our third problem.     

The probability that k positive integers are relatively r-prime

If r, k are positive integers, then $\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{r}}\text{(n)}$ denotes the number of k-tuples of positive integers (x₁, x₂, …, x_k) with 1 ≤ x_i ≤ n and (x₁, x₂, …, x_k)_r = 1. An explicit formula for $\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{r}}\text{(n)}$ is derived and it is shown that $\text{lim}{}_{\mathrm{n\to \infty }}\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{r}}\text{(n)}\text{n}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{=}\text{1}\text{ζ(rk)}$.If S = {p₁, p₂, …, p_a} is a finite set of primes, then 〈S〉 = {p₁^a₁p₂^a₂…p_s^a_s; p_i ∈ S and a_i ≥ 0 for all i} and $\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{r}}\text{(S, n)}$ denotes the number of k-tuples (x₁, x₃, …, x_k) with 1 ≤ x_i ≤ n and (x₁, x₂, …, x_k)_r ∈ 〈S〉. Asymptotic formulas for $\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{r}}\text{(S, n)}$ are derived and it is shown that $\text{lim}{}_{\mathrm{n\to \infty }}\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{r}}\text{(S, n)}\text{n}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{=}\text{(p}{}_1\text{… p}{}_{\mathrm{a}}\text{)}{}^{\mathrm{rk}}\text{ζ(rk)(p}{}_1{}^{\mathrm{rk}}\text{? 1) … (p}{}_{\mathrm{s}}{}^{\mathrm{rk}}\text{? 1)}$.     

On the fair coin tossing process

Let Ω = {1, 0} and for each integer n ≥ 1 let $\text{Ω}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{= Ω × Ω × … × Ω}$ (n-tuple) and $\text{Ω}{}_{\mathrm{n}}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{= {(a}{}_1\text{, a}{}_2\text{, …, a}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{)|(a}{}_1\text{, a}{}_2\text{, … , a}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{) ? Ω}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{and}\text{Σ}{}_{\mathrm{i=1}}{}^{\mathrm{n}}\text{a}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{= k}}$ for all k = 0,1,…,n. Let {Y_m}_m≥1 be a sequence of i.i.d. random variables such that $\text{P(Y}{}_1\text{= 0) = P(Y}{}_1\text{= 1) =}\text{1}\text{2}$. For each A in $\text{Ω}{}_{\mathrm{n}}$, let T_A be the first occurrence time of A with respect to the stochastic process {Y_m}_m≥1. R. Chen and A.Zame (1979, J. Multivariate Anal. 9, 150–157) prove that if n ≥ 3, then for each element A in $\text{Ω}{}_{\mathrm{n}}$, there is an element B in $\text{Ω}{}_{\mathrm{n}}$ such that the probability that T_B is less than T_A is greater than $\text{1}\text{2}$. This result is sharpened as follows: (I) for n ≥ 4 and 1 ≤ k ≤ n ? 1, each element A in $\text{Ω}{}_{\mathrm{n}}{}^{\mathrm{k}}$, there is an element B also in $\text{Ω}{}_{\mathrm{n}}{}^{\mathrm{k}}$ such that the probability that T_B is less than T_A is greater than $\text{1}\text{2}$; (II) for n ≥ 4 and 1 ≤ k ≤ n ? 1, each element A = (a₁, a₂,…,a_n) in $\text{Ω}{}_{\mathrm{n}}{}^{\mathrm{k}}$, there is an element C also in $\text{Ω}{}_{\mathrm{n}}{}^{\mathrm{k}}$ such that the probability that T_A is less than T_C is greater than $\text{1}\text{2}$ if n ≠ 2m or n = 2m but a_i = a_{i + 1} for some 1 ≤ i ≤ n?1. These new results provide us with a better and deeper understanding of the fair coin tossing process.     

Strong law for the bootstrap

Let X₁, X₂, X₃, … be i.i.d. r.v. with E|X₁| < ∞, E X₁ = μ. Given a realization X = (X₁,X₂,…) and integers n and m, construct Y_n,i, i = 1, 2, …, m as i.i.d. r.v. with conditional distribution $\text{P}{}^1\text{(Y}{}_{\mathrm{n,i}}\text{= X}{}_{\mathrm{j}}\text{) =}\text{1}\text{n}$ for 1 ? j ? n. ($\text{P}{}^1$ denotes conditional distribution given X). Conditions relating the growth rate of m with n and the moments of X₁ are given to ensure the almost sure convergence of $\text{(}\text{1}\text{m}\text{)Σ}{}^{\mathrm{m}}{}_{\mathrm{i=1}}\text{Y}{}_{\mathrm{n,i}}$ toμ. This equation is of some relevance in the theory of Bootstrap as developed by Efron (1979) and Bickel and Freedman (1981).     

Inverse Hölder inequalities in one and several dimensions

We study certain functionals and obtain an inverse Hölder inequality for n functions f₁^a1,…,f_n^an (f_k concave, 1 dimension).We also prove a multidimensional inverse Hölder inequality for n functions f₁,…,f_n, where $\text{?}{}^2\text{f}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{?x}{}_{\mathrm{i}}{}^2\text{? 0, i = 1,…, d, k = 1,…, n}$.Finally we give an inverse Minkowski inequality for concave functions.     

On differences and sums of integers,I

A set {b₁,b₂,…,b_i} ? {1,2,…,N} is said to be a difference intersector set if {a₁,a₂,…,a_s} ? {1,2,…,N}, j > ?N imply the solvability of the equation a_x ? a_y = b′; the notion of sum intersector set is defined similarly. The authors prove two general theorems saying that if a set {b₁,b₂,…,b_i} is well distributed simultaneously among and within all residue classes of small moduli then it must be both difference and sum intersector set. They apply these theorems to investigate the solvability of the equations ($\text{a}{}_{\mathrm{x}}\text{?}\text{a}{}_{\mathrm{y}}\text{p}\text{= + 1}$, $\text{(a}{}_{\mathrm{u}}\text{?}\text{a}{}_{\mathrm{v}}\text{p}\text{) = ? 1}$, $\text{(a}{}_{\mathrm{r}}\text{+}\text{a}{}_{\mathrm{s}}\text{p}\text{) = + 1}$, $\text{(a}{}_{\mathrm{t}}\text{+}\text{a}{}_{\mathrm{z}}\text{p}\text{) = ? 1}$ (where ($\text{a}\text{p}$) denotes the Legendre symbol) and to show that “almost all” sets form both difference and sum intersector sets.     

Segmental solutions of Boolean equations

Davio and Deschamps have shown that the solution set, K, of a consistent Boolean equation $\text{?(x}{}_1\text{, …, x}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{)=0}$ over a finite Boolean algebra B may be expressed as the union of a collection of subsets of Bⁿ, each of the form {(x₁, …, x_n) | a_i≤x_i≤b_i, a_i?B, b_i?B, i = 1, …, n}. We refer to such subsets of Bⁿ as segments and to the collection as a segmental cover of K. We show that $\text{?(x}{}_1\text{, …, x}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{) = 1}$ is consistent if and only if ? can be expressed by one of a class of sum-of-products expressions which we call segmental formulas. The object of this paper is to relate segmental covers of K to segmental formulas for ?.     

Extension de quelques theoremes sur les densites de series d'elements de n a des series de sous-ensembles finis de n

For a sequence A = {A_k} of finite subsets of N we introduce: $\text{δ(A) =}\text{inf}{}_{\mathrm{m?n}}\text{A(m)}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{n}}$, $\text{d(A) =}\text{lim inf}{}_{\mathrm{n\to \infty }}\text{A(n)}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{n}}$, where A(m) is the number of subsets A_k ? {1, 2, …, m}.The collection of all subsets of {1, …, n} together with the operation $\text{a ∪ b, (a ∩ b), (a 1 b = a ∪ b ? a ∩ b)}$ constitutes a finite semi-group N^∪ (semi-group N^∩) (group $\text{N}{}^1$). For N^∪, N^∩ we prove analogues of the Erdös-Landau theorem: δ(A+B) ? δ(A)(1+(2λ)^?1(1?δ(A>))), where B is a base of N of the average order λ. We prove for $\text{N}{}^{\mathrm{\cup }}\text{, N}{}^{\mathrm{\cap }}\text{, N}{}^1$ analogues of Schnirelmann's theorem (that δ(A) + δ(B) > 1 implies δ(A + B) = 1) and the inequalities λ ? 2h, where h is the order of the base.We introduce the concept of divisibility of subsets: a|b if b is a continuation of a. We prove an analog of the Davenport-Erdös theorem: if d(A) > 0, then there exists an infinite sequence {A_kr}, where A_kr | A_kr+1 for r = 1, 2, …. In Section 6 we consider for $\text{N∪, N∩, N1}$ analogues of Rohrbach inequality: $\text{2n}\text{? g(n) ? 2}\text{n}$, where g(n) = min k over the subsets {a₁ < … < a_k} ? {0, 1, 2, …, n}, such that every m? {0, 1, 2, …, n} can be expressed as m = a_i + a_j.Pour une série A = {A_k} de sous-ensembles finis de N on introduit les densités: $\text{δ(A) =}\text{inf}{}_{\mathrm{m?n}}\text{A(m)}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{m}}$, $\text{d(A) =}\text{lim inf}{}_{\mathrm{n\to \infty }}\text{A(n)}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{n}}$ où A(m) est le nombre d'ensembles A_k ? {1, 2, …, m}. L'ensemble de toutes les parties de {1, 2, …, n} devient, pour les opérations $\text{a ∪ b, a ∩ b, a 1 b = a ∪ b ? a ∩ b}$, un semi-groupe fini N^∪, N^∩ ou un groupe N¹ respectivement. Pour N^∪, N^∩ on démontre l'analogue du théorème de Erdös-Landau: δ(A + B) ? δ(A)(1 + (2λ)^?1(1?δ(A))), où B est une base de N d'ordre moyen λ. On démontre pour $\text{N}{}^{\mathrm{\cup }}\text{, N}{}^{\mathrm{\cap }}\text{, N}{}^1$ l'analogue du théorème de Schnirelmann (si δ(A) + δ(B) > 1, alors δ(A + B) = 1) et les inégalités λ ? 2h, où h est l'ordre de base. On introduit le rapport de divisibilité des enembles: a|b, si b est une continuation de a. On démontre l'analogue du théorème de Davenport-Erdös: si d(A) > 0, alors il existe une sous-série infinie {A_kr}, où A_kr|A_kr+1, pour r = 1, 2, … . Dans le Paragraphe 6 on envisage pour N^∪, $\text{N}{}^{\mathrm{\cap }}\text{, N}{}^1$ les analogues de l'inégalité de Rohrbach: $\text{2n}\text{? g(n) ? 2}\text{n}$, où g(n) = min k pour les ensembles {a₁ < … < a_k} ? {0, 1, 2, …, n} tels que pour tout m? {0, 1, 2, …, n} on a m = a_i + a_j.     

Some divided difference inequalities for n-convex functions

Using results from the theory of B-splines, various inequalities involving the nth order divided differences of a function f with convex nth derivative are proved; notably, $\text{f}{}^{\mathrm{(n)}}\text{(z)}\text{n! ? [x}{}_0\text{,…, x}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{]f}\text{?}\text{∑}{}_{\mathrm{i\; =\; 0}}{}^{\mathrm{n}}\text{(f}{}^{\mathrm{(n)}}\text{(x}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{)}\text{(n + 1)!)}$, where z is the center of mass $\text{(}\text{1}\text{(n + 1))}\text{∑}{}_{\mathrm{i\; =\; 0}}{}^{\mathrm{n}}\text{x}{}_{\mathrm{i}}$.     

Infinite 0–1-sequences without long adjacent identical blocks

This paper deals with sequences a₁a₂a₃ ··· of symbols 0 and 1 with the property that they contain no arbitrary long blocks of the form a_i+1 ? a_i+k = ww. The behaviour of this class of sequences with respect to some operations is examined. Especially the following is shown: Let be $\text{a}{}^{\mathrm{(0)}}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{= a}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{, a}{}^{\mathrm{(n+1)}}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{= (}\text{1}\text{i}\text{) ∑}{}^{\mathrm{i}}{}_{\mathrm{k\; =\; 1}}\text{a}{}^{\mathrm{(n)}}{}_{\mathrm{k}}$, then there exists a sequence without arbitrary long adjacent identical blocks such that no lim_k→∞a⁽ⁿ⁾_k exists. Let be α? (0, 1), then there exists such a sequence with lim_k→∞a⁽¹⁾_k = α. Furthermore a class of sequences appearing in computer graphics is considered.     

Vertex degrees of planar graphs

Let G be a planar graph having n vertices with vertex degrees d₁, d₂,…,d_n. It is shown that $\text{Σ}{}_{\mathrm{i=1}}{}^{\mathrm{n}}\text{d}{}_{\mathrm{i}}{}^2\text{≤ 2n}{}^2\text{+ O(n)}$. The main term in this upper bound is best possible.     

Estimating functions of canonical correlation coefficients

Let ρ²₁,…,ρ²_p be the squares of the population canonical correlation coefficients from a normal distribution. This paper is concerned with the estimation of the parameters δ₁,…,δ_p, where $\text{δ}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{=}\text{ρ}{}^2{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{(1 ? ρ}{}^2{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{)}$, i = 1,…,p, in a decision theoretic way. The approach taken is to estimate a parameter matrix Δ whose eigenvalues are δ₁,…,δ_p, given a random matrix F whose eigenvalues have the same distribution as $\text{r}{}^2{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{(1 ? r}{}^2{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{)}$, i = 1,…,p, where r₁,…,r_p are the sample canonical correlation coefficients.     

Spectra of Cayley graphs

By a result of L. Lovász, the determination of the spectrum of any graph with transitive automorphism group easily reduces to that of some Cayley graph.We derive an expression for the spectrum of the Cayley graph X(G,H) in terms of irreducible characters of the group G:

for any natural number t, where ξ_i is an irreducible character (over $\text{C}$), of degree n_i , and λ_i,1 ,…, λ_i,ni are eigenvalues of X(G, H), each one n_i times. (σn_i² = n = | G | is the total'number of eigenvalues.) Using this formula for t = 1,…, n_i one can obtain a polynomial of degree n_i whose roots are λ_i,1,…,λ_i,ni. The results are formulated for directed graphs with colored edges. We apply the results to dihedral groups and prove the existence of k nonisomorphic Cayley graphs of D_p with the same spectrum provided p > 64k, prime.     

An asymptotic evaluation of the cycle index of a symmetric group

Let $\text{Z(S}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{;?(x))}$ denote the polynomial obtained from the cycle index of the symmetric group Z(S_n) by replacing each variable s_i by f(x¹). Let f(x) have a Taylor series with radius of convergence ? of the form f(x)=x^k + a_k+1x^k+1 + a_k+2x^k+2+? with every a₁?0. Finally, let 0<x<1 and let x??. We prove that

This limit is used to estimate the probability (for n and p both large) that a point chosen at random from a random p-point tree has degree n + 1. These limiting probabilities are independent of p and decrease geometrically in n, contrasting with the labeled limiting probabilities of $\text{1}\text{n!e}$.In order to prove the main theorem, an appealing generalization of the principle of inclusion and exclusion is presented.     

A characterization of the class of credibility matrices corresponding to a certain class of discrete distributions

Recently (see De Vylder & Goovaerts (1984), this issue) so called credibility matrices have been introduced and studied in the framework of general properties of matrices, such as non-negativity, total positivity etc. In the present note we characterize a class of credibility matrices generated by the normed sequence of functions (p_l, p_l,…, p_n) on K = [0, b] where $\text{p}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{(θ) =?(i)g(θ)h}{}^{\mathrm{i}}\text{(θ)}$, i=0, …, n, θ ? K, and where ?, g, h are nonnegative (eventually depending on n, n may be finite or infinite). For simplicity we suppose h to be monotonic and continuous.