We show that for any amenable group \Gamma and any Z\Gamma-module M of type FL with vanishing Euler characteristic, the entropy of the natural \Gamma-action on the Pontryagin dual of M is equal to the L^2-torsion of M. As a particular case, the entropy of the principal algebraic action associated with the module Z\Gamma / Z\Gamma f is equal to the logarithm of the Fuglede-Kadison determinant of f whenever f is a non-zero-divisor in Z\Gamma. This confirms a conjecture of Deninger. As a key step in the proof we provide a general Szeg\H{o}-type approximation theorem for the Fuglede-Kadison determinant on the group von Neumann algebra of an amenable group. As a consequence of the equality between L^2-torsion and entropy, we show that the L^2-torsion of a non-trivial amenable group with finite classifying space vanishes. This was conjectured by Lueck. Finally, we establish a Milnor-Turaev formula for the L^2-torsion of a finite \Delta-acyclic chain complex.

We show that for a class of C2 quasiperiodic potentials and for any fixed Diophantinefrequency, the Lyapunov exponent of the corresponding Schrödinger cocycles, as a function of energies, are uniformly positive and weakly Hölder continuous. As a corollary, we obtain that the corresponding integrated density of states is weakly Hölder continuous as well. Our approach is of purely dynamical systems, which depends on a detailed analysis of asymptotic stable and unstable directions. We also apply it to more general SL(2, R)cocycles, which in turn can be applied to get uniform positivity and continuity of Lyapunovexponents around unique nondegenerate extremal points of any smooth potential, and to a certain class of C2 Szegő cocycles.

The main goal of this paper is to understand finer properties of the effective burning velocity from a combustion model introduced by Majda and Souganidis. Motivated by results of Bangert and applications in turbulent combus- tion, we show that when the dimension is two and the flow of the ambient fluid is either weak or very strong, the level set of the effective burning velocity has flat pieces. Due to the lack of an applicable Hopf-type rigidity result, we need to identify the exact location of at least one flat piece. Implications on the effective flame front and other related inverse type problems are also discussed.

We consider a large class of 2D area-preserving diffeomorphisms that are not uniformly hyperbolic but have strong hyperbolicity properties on large regions of their phase spaces. A prime example is the standard map. Lower bounds for Lyapunov exponents of such systems are very hard to estimate, due to the potential switching of “stable” and “unstable” directions. This paper shows that with the addition of (very) small random perturbations, one obtains with relative ease Lyapunov exponents reflecting the geometry of the deterministic maps.

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This paper studies a two-strain SIS epidemic model with a competing mechanism and a saturating incidence rate on complex networks. This type of incidence rate could be used to reflect the crowding effect of the infective individuals. We first obtain the associated reproduction numbers for each of the two strains which determine the existence of the boundary equilibria. Stability of the disease-free and boundary equilibria are further examined. Besides, we also show that the two competing strains can coexist under certain conditions. Interestingly, the saturating incidence rate can have specific effects on not only the stability of the boundary equilibria, but also the existence of the coexistence equilibrium. Numerical simulations are presented to support the theoretical results.

This paper studies the dynamics of a network-based SIS epidemic model with nonmonotone incidence rate. This type of nonlinear incidence can be used to describe the psychological effect of certain diseases spread in a contact network at high infective levels. We first find a threshold value for the transmission rate. This value completely determines the dynamics of the model and interestingly, the threshold is not dependent on the functional form of the nonlinear incidence rate. Furthermore, if the transmission rate is less than or equal to the threshold value, the disease will die out. Otherwise, it will be permanent. Numerical experiments are given to illustrate the theoretical results. We also consider the effect of the nonlinear incidence on the epidemic dynamics.

Let $K$ be a self-similar set satisfying the open set condition. Following Kaimanovich’s elegant idea, it has been proved that on the symbolic space $X$ of $K$ a natural augmented tree structure $E$ exists; it is hyperbolic, and the hyperbolic boundary $\partial_H X$ with the Gromov metric is H\"older equivalent to $K$. In this paper we consider certain reversible random walks with return ratio $0 < \lambda < 1$ on $(X,E)$. We show that the Martin boundary ${\mathcal M}$ can be identified with $\partial_H X$ and $K$. With this setup and a device of Silverstein, we obtain precise estimates of the Martin kernel and the Na\"im kernel in terms of the Gromov product. Moreover, the Naïm kernel turns out to be a jump kernel satisfying the estimate $\Theta (\xi,\eta) \asymp |\xi-\eta|^{-(\alpha+\beta)}$, where $\alpha$ is the Hausdorff dimension of $K$ and $\beta$ depends on $\lambda$. For suitable $\beta$, the kernel defines a regular non-local Dirichlet form on $K$. This extends the results of Kigami concerning random walks on certain trees with Cantor-type sets as boundaries.

For two-sided topological Markov chains, we show that the set of points for which the two-sided Birkhoff averages of a continuous function diverge is residual. We also show that the set of points for which the Birkhoff averages have a given set of accumulation points other than a singleton is residual. A nontrivial consequence of our results is that the set of points for which the local entropies of an invariant measure on a locally maximal hyperbolic set does not exist is residual. This strongly contrasts to the Shannon–McMillan–Breiman theorem in the context of ergodic theory, which says that local entropies exist on a full measure set.

We will prove Sarnak’s conjecture on Möbius disjointness for continuous interval maps of zero entropy and also for orientation-preserving circle homeomorphisms by reducing these result to a well-known theorem of Davenport from 1937.