We provide here a framework to analyze the phase transition phenomenon of slice inverse regression (SIR), a supervised dimension reduction technique introduced by Li [1991]. Under mild conditions, the asymptotic ratio ρ = lim p/n is the phase transition parameter and the SIR estimator is consistent if and only if ρ = 0. When dimension p is greater than n, we propose a diagonal thresholding screening SIR (DT-SIR) algorithm. This method provides us with an estimate of the eigen-space of the covariance matrix of the conditional expectation var(E[x|y]). The desired dimension reduction space is then obtained by multiplying the inverse of the covariance matrix on the eigen-space. Under certain sparsity assumptions on both the covariance matrix of predictors and the loadings of the directions, we prove the consistency of DT-SIR in estimating the dimension reduction space in high dimensional data analysis. Extensive numerical experiments demonstrate superior performances of the proposed method in comparison to its competitors.

We provide a model of a decentralized, dynamic auction market platform (e.g., eBay) in which a large number of buyers and sellers participate in simultaneous, singleunit auctions each period. Our model accounts for the endogenous entry of agents and the impact of intertemporal optimization on bids. Solving our model with a finite number of bidders is computationally intractable due to the curse of dimensionality, so we prove that a continuum version of our model provides a good approximation of an equilibrium in the finite model. We use the approximation to estimate the structural primitives of our model using Kindle sales on eBay. We find that just over one third of Kindle auctions on eBay result in an inefficient allocation with deadweight loss amounting to 13.5% of total possible market surplus. We also find that partial centralization - for example, runnng half as many 2-unit, uniform price auctions each day - would eliminate a large fraction of the inefficiency, but yield lower seller revenues. Our results highlight the importance of understanding platform composition effects—selection of agents into the market—in assessing the implications of market design.

Over time, a population acquires neutral genetic substitutions as a consequence of random drift. A famous result in population genetics asserts that the rate, K, at which these substitutions accumulate in the population coincides with the mutation rate, u, at which they arise in individuals: K = u. This identity enables genetic sequence data to be used as a “molecular clock” to estimate the timing of evolutionary events. While the molecular clock is known to be perturbed by selection, it is thought that K = u holds very generally for neutral evolution. Here we show that asymmetric spatial population structure can alter the molecular clock rate for neutral mutations, leading to either K<u or K>u. Our results apply to a general class of haploid, asexually reproducing, spatially structured populations. Deviations from K = u occur because mutations arise unequally at different sites and have different probabilities of fixation depending on where they arise. If birth rates are uniform across sites, then K
u. In general, K can take any value between 0 and Nu. Our model can be applied to a variety of population structures. In one example, we investigate the accumulation of genetic mutations in the small intestine. In another application, we analyze over 900 Twitter networks to study the effect of network topology on the fixation of neutral innovations in social evolution.

In this paper, we study the inviscid limit of the free surface incompressible Navier-Stokes equations with or without surface tension. By delicate estimates, we prove the weak boundary layer of the velocity of the free surface Navier-Stokes equations and the existence of strong or weak vorticity layer for different conditions. When the limit of the difference between the initial Navier-Stokes vorticity and the initial Euler vorticity is nonzero, or the tangential projection on the free surface of the Euler strain tensor multiplying by normal vector is nonzero, there exists a strong vorticity layer. Otherwise, the vorticity layer is weak. We estimate convergence rates of tangential derivatives and the first order standard normal derivative in energy norms, we show that not only tangential derivatives and standard normal derivative have different convergence rates, but also their convergence rates are different for different Euler boundary data. Moreover, we determine regularity structure of the free surface Navier-Stokes solutions with or without surface tension, surface tension changes regularity structure of the solutions.

This paper proves the nonlinear asymptotic stability of the Lane-Emden solutions for spherically symmetric motions of viscous gaseous stars if the adiabatic constant γ lies in the stability range (4/3, 2). It is shown that for small perturbations of a LaneEmden solution with same mass, there exists a unique global (in time) strong solution to the vacuum free boundary problem of the compressible Navier-Stokes-Poisson system with spherical symmetry for viscous stars, and the solution captures the precise physical behavior that the sound speed is C 1/2 -H¨older continuous across the vacuum boundary provided that γ lies in (4/3, 2). The key is to establish the global-in-time regularity uniformly up to the vacuum boundary, which ensures the large time asymptotic uniform convergence of the evolving vacuum boundary, density and velocity to those of the Lane-Emden solution with detailed convergence rates, and detailed large time behaviors of solutions near the vacuum boundary. In particular, it is shown that every spherical surface moving with the fluid converges to the sphere enclosing the same mass inside the domain of the Lane-Emden solution with a uniform convergence rate and the large time asymptotic states for the vacuum free boundary problem (1.1.2) are determined by the initial mass distribution and the total mass. To overcome the difficulty caused by the degeneracy and singular behavior near the vacuum free boundary and coordinates singularity at the symmetry center, the main ingredients of the analysis consist of combinations of some new weighted nonlinear functionals (involving both lower-order and higher-order derivatives) and space-time weighted energy estimates. The constructions of these weighted nonlinear functionals and space-time weights depend crucially on the structures of the Lane-Emden solution, the balance of pressure and gravitation, and the dissipation. Finally, the uniform boundedness of the acceleration of the vacuum boundary is also proved.