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A primer on substitution tilings of the Euclidean plane

This paper is intended to provide an introduction to the theory of substitution tilings. For our purposes, tiling substitution rules are divided into two broad classes: geometric and combinatorial. Geometric substitution tilings include self-similar tilings such as the well-known Penrose tilings; for this class there is a substantial body of research in the literature. Combinatorial substitutions are just beginning to be examined, and some of what we present here is new. We give numerous examples, mention selected major results, discuss connections between the two classes of substitutions, include current research perspectives and questions, and provide an extensive bibliography. Although the author attempts to fairly represent the as a whole, the paper is not an exhaustive survey, and she apologizes for any important omissions.

math.DS↗

Brownian Motion, "Diverse and Undulating"

We describe in detail the history of Brownian motion, as well as the contributions of Einstein, Sutherland, Smoluchowski, Bachelier, Perrin and Langevin to its theory. The always topical importance in physics of the theory of Brownian motion is illustrated by recent biophysical experiments, where it serves, for instance, for the measurement of the pulling force on a single DNA molecule. In a second part, we stress the mathematical importance of the theory of Brownian motion, illustrated by two chosen examples. The by-now classic representation of the Newtonian potential by Brownian motion is explained in an elementary way. We conclude with the description of recent progress seen in the geometry of the planar Brownian curve. At its heart lie the concepts of conformal invariance and multifractality, associated with the potential theory of the Brownian curve itself.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

Annotations to a certain passage of Descartes for finding the quadrature of the circle

Translation from the Latin of "Annotationes in locum quendam Cartesii ad circuli quadraturam spectantem" (1763). The passage Euler is referring to is the "Excerpta" in part 6, p. 6 of Descartes' 1701 "Opuscula posthuma". Before reading this paper I had not heard of the "quadratrix" before, and I recommend learning a bit about it before reading this. I found Thomas Heath, "A history of Greek mathematics", vol. I, chapter VII to be helpful, in particular pp. 226-230. The quadratrix is a "mechanical curve" that can be used to rectify the circle. The usual problem of squaring the circle is to construct a square with the same area (or perimeter) as a given circle, in a finite number of steps using compass and straightedge. Descartes worked in the reverse direction: from a given square he constructed the radius of a circle with the same perimeter, but in an infinite number of steps. In this paper Euler reconstructs Descartes' argument and develops some consequences of it. Euler finds that \[ \sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac{1}{2^n} \tan \frac{1}{2^n}ϕ= \frac{1}ϕ - 2\cot 2ϕ. \] Integrating this yields \[ \prod_{n=1}^\infty \sec \frac{1}{2^n} ϕ= \frac{2ϕ}{\sin 2ϕ}. \] I'd like to thank Davide Crippa from the University of Paris 7 for some helpful back and forth about this paper. One of the only citations to this paper that I have found is in Pietro Ferroni, De calculo integralium exercitatio mathematica, Allegrini, Florence, 1792, pp. xxi--xxiii. The full text of it is available on Google Books.

math.HO↗

Speculations on some characteristic properties of numbers

Translation of the Latin original "Speculationes circa quasdam insignes proprietates numerorum" (1784). E564 in the Enestrom index. In this paper Euler talks about Farey sequences and proves some results about the phi function, the number of positive integers less than and relatively prime to an integer. Euler uses the notation pi instead of phi.

math.HO↗

On the values of integrals with the variable taken from $x=0$ to $x=\infty$

This is a translation from the Latin original, "De valoribus integralium a termino variabilis x=0 usque ad x=infinity extensorum" (1781). This is E675 in the Enestrom index. Euler wants to find the location of the end point of a clothoid, a type of spiral. He proves some general results about the gamma function.

math.HO↗

Towards a Completion of Archimedes' Treatise on Floating Bodies

In his treatise on floating bodies Archimedes determines the equilibrium positions of a floating paraboloid segment, but only in the case when the basis of the segment is either completely outside of the fluid or completely submerged. Here we give a mathematical model for the remaining case, i.e., two simple conditions which describe the equilibria in closed form. We provide tools for finding all equilibria in a reliable way and for the classification of these equilibria. This paper can be considered as a continuation of a recent article of Rorres.

math.HO↗

A theorem on circle configurations

A formula for the radii and positions of four circles in the plane for an arbitrary linearly independent circle configuration is found. Among special cases is the recent extended Descartes Theorem on the Descartes configuration and an analytic solution to the Apollonian problem. The general theorem for n-spheres is also considered.

math.HO↗

The Harmonic Series and the nth Term Test for Divergence

The divergence of the harmonic series is proved by direct comparison with a series whose nth partial sum telescopes to the natural logarithm of n. The key idea is to apply the classical inequality x>=log(1+x) (valid for x>-1) with x=1/k and sum over k, 1<=k<=n-1.

math.HO↗

Using integral transforms to estimate higher order derivatives

Integral transformations are used to estimate high order derivatives of various special functions. Applications are given to numerical integration, where estimates of high order derivatives of the integrand are needed to achieve bounds on the error. The main idea is to find a suitable integral representation of the function whose derivatives are to be estimated, differentiate repeatedly under the integral sign, and estimate the resulting integral.

math.NA↗

Verhulst's logistic curve

We observe that the elementary logistic differential equation dP/dt=(1-P/M)kP may be solved by first changing the variable to R=(M-P)/P. This reduces the logistic differential equation to the simple linear differential equation dR/dt=-kR, which can be solved without using the customary but slightly more elaborate methods applied to the original logistic DE. The resulting solution in terms of R can be converted by simple algebra to the familiar sigmoid expression involving P. A biological argument is given for introducing logistic growth via the simpler DE for R. It is also shown that the sigmoid P may be written in terms of the hyperbolic tangent by a simple translation that is also motivated by a biological argument.

math.HO↗

The Forgotten Night: The Number Devil Explores Spherical Geometry

This is a missing chapter from Hans Magnus Enzensberger's mathematical adventure The Number Devil (Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1997). In the book, a math-hating boy named Robert is visited in his dreams by the clever Number Devil, who teaches him to love all things numerical. However, we all forget our dreams from time to time. Here is one adventure that Enzensberger overlooked, where the Number Devil introduces Robert to geometry not-of-Euclid, great circles, parallel transport, the pendulum of Foucault, and the genius of Euler.

math.HO↗

Order from Randomness

We consider an elementary discrete process which starts from purely random configuration and leads to well-ordered and stable state. Complete analytical solution to this problem is presented.

math.HO↗

Maximum overhang

How far can a stack of $n$ identical blocks be made to hang over the edge of a table? The question dates back to at least the middle of the 19th century and the answer to it was widely believed to be of order $\log n$. Recently, Paterson and Zwick constructed $n$-block stacks with overhangs of order $n^{1/3}$, exponentially better than previously thought possible. We show here that order $n^{1/3}$ is indeed best possible, resolving the long-standing overhang problem up to a constant factor.

math.HO↗