On the outer automorphism groups of finitely generated, residually finite groups

Bumagin-Wise posed the question of whether every countable group can be realised as the outer automorphism group of a finitely generated, residually finite group. We give a partial answer to this problem for recursively presentable groups.Comment: 13 pages. Final versio

The structure of singularities in inhomogeneous cosmological models

Recent progress in understanding the structure of cosmological singularities is reviewed. The well-known picture due to Belinskii, Khalatnikov and Lifschitz (BKL) is summarized briefly and it is discussed what existing analytical and numerical results have to tell us about the validity of this picture. If the BKL description is correct then most cosmological singularities are complicated. However there are some cases where it predicts simple singularities. These cases should be particularly amenable to mathematical investigation and the results in this direction which have been achieved so far are described.Comment: 5 pages, to appear in proceedings of conference on mathematical cosmology, Potsdam, 199

The Outer Automorphism Groups of Two-Generator One-Relator Groups with Torsion

The main result of this paper is a complete classification of the outer automorphism groups of two-generator, one-relator groups with torsion. To this classification we apply recent algorithmic results of Dahmani--Guirardel, which yields an algorithm to compute the isomorphism class of the outer automorphism group of a given two-generator, one-relator group with torsion.Comment: 15 pages, final version. To appear in Proc. Amer. Math. So

The nature of spacetime singularities

Present knowledge about the nature of spacetime singularities in the context of classical general relativity is surveyed. The status of the BKL picture of cosmological singularities and its relevance to the cosmic censorship hypothesis are discussed. It is shown how insights on cosmic censorship also arise in connection with the idea of weak null singularities inside black holes. Other topics covered include matter singularities and critical collapse. Remarks are made on possible future directions in research on spacetime singularities.Comment: Submitted to 100 Years of Relativity - Space-Time Structure: Einstein and Beyond, A. Ashtekar (ed.

The Einstein-Vlasov system

Rigorous results on solutions of the Einstein-Vlasov system are surveyed. After an introduction to this system of equations and the reasons for studying it, a general discussion of various classes of solutions is given. The emphasis is on presenting important conceptual ideas, while avoiding entering into technical details. Topics covered include spatially homogenous models, static solutions, spherically symmetric collapse and isotropic singularities.Comment: Lecture notes from Cargese worksho

Lessons from LHC elastic and diffractive data

We discuss a model which gives a `global' description of the wide variety of high-energy elastic and diffractive data that are presently available, particularly from the LHC experiments. The model is based on only one pomeron pole, but includes multi-pomeron interactions. Significantly, the LHC measurements require that the model includes the transverse momentum dependence of the intermediate partons as a function of their rapidity, which results in a rapidity (or energy) dependence of the multi-pomeron vertices.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures, To be published in the Proceedings of the International Workshop on Particle Physics Phenomenology in memory of Alexei Kaidalov, Moscow, 21-25 July, 201

A really simple elementary proof of the uniform boundedness theorem

I give a proof of the uniform boundedness theorem that is elementary (i.e. does not use any version of the Baire category theorem) and also extremely simple.Comment: LaTex2e, 5 pages. Version 2 improves the exposition by isolating the key lemma. To appear in the American Mathematical Monthl

Chromatic roots are dense in the whole complex plane

I show that the zeros of the chromatic polynomials P_G(q) for the generalized theta graphs \Theta^{(s,p)} are, taken together, dense in the whole complex plane with the possible exception of the disc |q-1| < 1. The same holds for their dichromatic polynomials (alias Tutte polynomials, alias Potts-model partition functions) Z_G(q,v) outside the disc |q+v| < |v|. An immediate corollary is that the chromatic zeros of not-necessarily-planar graphs are dense in the whole complex plane. The main technical tool in the proof of these results is the Beraha-Kahane-Weiss theorem on the limit sets of zeros for certain sequences of analytic functions, for which I give a new and simpler proof.Comment: LaTeX2e, 53 pages. Version 2 includes a new Appendix B. Version 3 adds a new Theorem 1.4 and a new Section 5, and makes several small improvements. To appear in Combinatorics, Probability & Computin