Involution and commutator length for complex hyperbolic isometries

We study decompositions of complex hyperbolic isometries as products of involutions. We show that PU(2,1) has involution length 4 and commutator length 1, and that for all $n \geqslant 3$ PU($n$,1) has involution length at most 8.Comment: 32 pages, 22 figure

Maximal representations of uniform complex hyperbolic lattices in exceptional Hermitian Lie groups

We complete the classification of maximal representations of uniform complex hyperbolic lattices in Hermitian Lie groups by dealing with the exceptional groups ${\rm E}_6$ and ${\rm E}_7$. We prove that if $\rho$ is a maximal representation of a uniform complex hyperbolic lattice $\Gamma\subset{\rm SU}(1,n)$, $n>1$, in an exceptional Hermitian group $G$, then $n=2$ and $G={\rm E}_6$, and we describe completely the representation $\rho$. The case of classical Hermitian target groups was treated by Vincent Koziarz and the second named author (arxiv:1506.07274). However we do not focus immediately on the exceptional cases and instead we provide a more unified perspective, as independent as possible of the classification of the simple Hermitian Lie groups. This relies on the study of the cominuscule representation of the complexification of the target group. As a by-product of our methods, when the target Hermitian group $G$ has tube type, we obtain an inequality on the Toledo invariant of the representation $\rho:\Gamma\rightarrow G$ which is stronger than the Milnor-Wood inequality (thereby excluding maximal representations in such groups).Comment: Comments are welcome

Variational Inference for Stochastic Block Models from Sampled Data

This paper deals with non-observed dyads during the sampling of a network and consecutive issues in the inference of the Stochastic Block Model (SBM). We review sampling designs and recover Missing At Random (MAR) and Not Missing At Random (NMAR) conditions for the SBM. We introduce variants of the variational EM algorithm for inferring the SBM under various sampling designs (MAR and NMAR) all available as an R package. Model selection criteria based on Integrated Classification Likelihood are derived for selecting both the number of blocks and the sampling design. We investigate the accuracy and the range of applicability of these algorithms with simulations. We explore two real-world networks from ethnology (seed circulation network) and biology (protein-protein interaction network), where the interpretations considerably depends on the sampling designs considered

Mathematical analysis of parallel convective exchangers with general lateral boundary conditions using generalized graetz modes

We propose a mathematical analysis of parallel convective exchangers for any general but longitudinally invariant domains. We analyze general Dirichlet or Neumann prescribed boundary conditions at the outer solid domain. Our study provides general mathematical expressions for the solution of convection/diffusion problems. Explicit form of generalized solutions along longitudinal coordinate are found from convoluting elementary base Graetz mode with the applied sources at the boundary. In the case of adiabatic zero flux counter-current configuration, we recover the longitudinally linearly varying solution associated with the zeroth eigenmode which can be considered as the fully developed behavior for heat-exchangers. We also provide general expression for the infinite asymptotic behavior of the solutions which depends on simple parameters such as total convective flux, outer domain perimeter and the applied boundary conditions. Practical considerations associated with the numerical precision of truncated mode decomposition is also analyzed in various configurations for illustrating the versatility of the formalism. Numerical quantities of interest are investigated, such as fluid/solid internal and external fluxes