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Thomas Ward

Publications and source records attributed to Thomas Ward.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2014

Directional uniformities, periodic points, and entropy

Dynamical systems generated by $d\ge2$ commuting homeomorphisms (topological $\mathbb{Z}^d$-actions) contain within them structures on many scales, and in particular contain many actions of $\mathbb{Z}^k$ for $1\le k\le d$. Familiar dynamical invariants for homeomorphisms, like entropy and periodic point data, become more complex and permit multiple definitions. We briefly survey some of these and other related invariants in the setting of algebraic $\mathbb{Z}^d$-actions, showing how, even in settings where the natural entropy as a $\mathbb{Z}^d$-action vanishes, a powerful theory of directional entropy and periodic points can be built. An underlying theme is uniformity in dynamical invariants as the direction changes, and the connection between this theory and problems in number theory; we explore this for several invariants. We also highlight Fried's notion of average entropy and its connection to uniformities in growth properties, and prove a new relationship between this entropy and periodic point growth in this setting.

math.DS↗
arXiv2013

Dynamical invariants for group automorphisms

We discuss some of the issues that arise in attempts to classify automorphisms of compact abelian groups from a dynamical point of view. In the particular case of automorphisms of one-dimensional solenoids, a complete description is given and the problem of determining the range of certain invariants of topological conjugacy is discussed. Several new results and old and new open problems are described.

math.DS↗
arXiv2012

Non-vanishing of Artin-twisted L-functions of Elliptic Curves

Let E be an elliptic curve and ρan Artin representation, both defined over the rational numbers. Let p be a prime at which E has good reduction. We prove that there exists an infinite set of Dirichlet characters χ, ramified only at p, such that the Artin-twisted L-values L(E,ρχ,β) are non-zero when βlies in a specified region in the critical strip (assuming the conjectural continuations and functional equations for these L-functions). The new contribution of our paper is that we may choose our characters to be ramified only at one prime, which may divide the conductor of ρ.

math.NT↗
arXiv2012

Congruences for Convolutions of Hilbert Modular Forms

Let $\f$ be a primitive, cuspidal Hilbert modular form of parallel weight. We investigate the Rankin convolution $L$-values $L(\f,\g,s)$, where $\g$ is a theta-lift modular form corresponding to a finite-order character. We prove weak forms of Kato's `false Tate curve' congruences for these values, of the form predicted by conjectures in non-commmutative Iwasawa theory.

math.NT↗
arXiv2011

Levitating Drop in a Tilted Rotating Tank - Gallery of Fluid Motion Entry V044

A cylindrical acrylic tank with inner diameter D = 4 in. is mounted such that its axis of symmetry is at some angle measured from the vertical plane. The mixing tank is identical to that described in [1] The tank is filled with 200 mL of 1000 cSt silicone oil and a 5 mL drop of de-ionized water is placed in the oil volume. The water drop is allowed to come to rest and then a motor rotates the tank about its axis of symmetry at a fixed frequency = 0.3 Hz. Therefore the Reynolds number is fixed at about Re ~ 5 yielding laminar flow conditions. A CCD camera (PixeLink) is used to capture video of each experiment.

physics.flu-dyn↗
arXiv2011

APS DFD 2011 video submission V045

Inhomogeneous uid mixing in a tilted-rotating cylindrical tank (radius a = 3:5 cm) is shown at Re(17-40) and low capillary numbers. A water and surfactant solu- tion (1% by mass sodium oleate) is dispersed in soybean oil (95% by volume), through varying the rotation rate, and angle of inclination, the rate of mixing is observed. A planar laser is directed down the tank axis to highlight a cross-sectional area of the fluid volume and as the water droplets begin to break up to sizes on the order of the beam width and less, more light is refracted and the mixture is illuminated. Initially, the water breaks up into large droplets that exhibit approximate solid-body rotation about the bottom of the tank. When the total combined volume is below the critical volume of the tank Vcrit = a^3 tan vortex transport of the water occurs more rapidly, breaking up the water into continually smaller droplets in a process that resembles periodic shearing. When the fluid volume is above critical the water will break up and rotate about the bottom of the tank and vortex-induced mixing is much more reticent, if occurring at all. It is noted that shallower angles with respect to the horizontal produce faster mixing while allowing a greater volume of fluid to be mixed at the sub-critical volume given a constant tank size.

physics.flu-dyn↗
arXiv2010

The Repulsion Motif in Diophantine Equations

Problems related to the existence of integral and rational points on cubic curves date back at least to Diophantus. A significant step in the modern theory of these equations was made by Siegel, who proved that a non-singular plane cubic equation has only finitely many integral solutions. Examples show that simple equations can have inordinately large integral solutions in comparison to the size of their coefficients. A conjecture of Hall attempts to ameliorate this by bounding the size of integral solutions simply in terms of the coefficients of the defining equation. It turns out that a similar phenomenon seems, conjecturally, to be at work for solutions which are close to being integral in another sense. We describe these conjectures as an illustration of an underlying motif - repulsion - in the theory of Diophantine equations.

math.NT↗
arXiv2010

Polynomial Zsigmondy theorems

We find analogues of the primitive divisor results of Zsigmondy, Bang, Bilu-Hanrot-Voutier, and Carmichael in polynomial rings, following the methods of Carmichael.

math.NT↗
arXiv2010

Orbits for products of maps

We study the behaviour of the dynamical zeta function and the orbit Dirichlet series for products of maps. The behaviour under products of the radius of convergence for the zeta function, and the abscissa of convergence for the orbit Dirichlet series, are discussed. The orbit Dirichlet series of the cartesian cube of a map with one orbit of each length is shown to have a natural boundary.

math.DS↗
arXiv2009

A dichotomy in orbit-growth for commuting automorphisms

We consider asymptotic orbit-counting problems for certain expansive actions by commuting automorphisms of compact groups. A dichotomy is found between systems with asymptotically more periodic orbits than the topological entropy predicts, and those for which there is no excess of periodic orbits.

math.DS↗
arXiv2009

Functorial orbit counting

We study the functorial and growth properties of closed orbits for maps. By viewing an arbitrary sequence as the orbit-counting function for a map, iterates and Cartesian products of maps define new transformations between integer sequences. An orbit monoid is associated to any integer sequence, giving a dynamical interpretation of the Euler transform.

math.NT↗
arXiv2008

Markov partitions reflecting the geometry of x2,x3

We give an explicit geometric description of the $\times2,\times3$ system, and use his to study a uniform family of Markov partitions related to those of Wilson and Abramov. The behaviour of these partitions is stable across expansive cones and transitions in this behaviour detects the non-expansive lines.

math.DS↗
arXiv2007

Orbit-counting for nilpotent group shifts

We study the asymptotic behaviour of the orbit-counting function and a dynamical Mertens' theorem for the full $G$-shift for a finitely-generated torsion-free nilpotent group $G$. Using bounds for the M{ö}bius function on the lattice of subgroups of finite index and known subgroup growth estimates, we find a single asymptotic of the shape \[ \sum_{|τ|\le N}\frac{1}{e^{h|τ|}}\sim CN^α(\log N)^β \] where $|τ|$ is the cardinality of the finite orbit $τ$. For the usual orbit-counting function we find upper and lower bounds together with numerical evidence to suggest that for actions of non-cyclic groups there is no single asymptotic in terms of elementary functions.

math.DS↗
arXiv2006

Mixing and tight polyhedra

Actions of $\mathbb{Z}^d$ by automorphisms of compact zero-dimensional groups exhibit a range of mixing behaviour. Schmidt introduced the notion of mixing shapes for these systems, and proved that non-mixing shapes can only arise non-trivially for actions on zero-dimensional groups. Masser has shown that the failure of higher-order mixing is always witnessed by non-mixing shapes. Here we show how valuations can be used to understand the (non-)mixing behaviour of a certain family of examples. The sharpest information arises for systems corresponding to tight polyhedra.

math.DS↗