Solutions to a boundary-value problem involving a second-order linear functional differential equation with an advanced argument are investigated in this paper. The boundary conditions imposed on the differential equation are analogous to conditions defining various singular Sturm-Liouville problems, and if an eigenvalue parameter is introduced certain properties of the spectrum can be deduced having analogues with the classical problem. Dirichlet series solutions are constructed for the problem and it is established that the spectrum contains an infinite number of real positive eigenvalues. A Laplace transform analysis of the problem then reveals that the spectrum does not generically consist of isolated points and that there may be an infinite number of eigenfunctions corresponding to a given eigenvalue. In contrast, it is also shown that there is a subset of eigenvalues that correspond to the zeros of an entire function for which the corresponding eigenfunctions are unique.

A leader is to be elected from n people using the following algorithm. Each person flips a coin. Those people who wind up with tails (which occurs with probability p, 0 < p < 1) move on to the next stage. Those with heads are eliminated. Let Hn denote the number of stages needed until there is a single winner. We analyze the moments and the probability distribution of Hn. In the symmetric model we have an unbiased coin with p = 1/2; in the asymmetric model p ≠ 1/2. We analyze these models asymptotically, for n → ∞, using a variety of analytical and numerical approaches. This leads to simple derivations of some existing results, as well as some new results for the asymmetric case. Our analysis makes some assumptions about the forms of various asymptotic expansions as well as their asymptotic matching.

Consider a Hele-Shaw cell with the fluid (liquid) confined to an angular region by a solid boundary in the form of two half-lines meeting at an angle απ; if 0 < α < 1 we have flow in a corner, while if 1 < α [les ] 2 we have flow around a wedge. We suppose contact between the fluid and each of the lines forming the solid boundary to be along a single segment emanating from the vertex, so we have liquid at the vertex, and contemplate such a situation that has been produced by injection at a number of points into an initially empty cell. We show that, if we assume the pressure to be constant along the free boundary, the region occupied by the fluid is the image of a semidisc (a domain bounded by a semicircle and its diameter) in the ζ-plane under a conformal map given by a function of the form ζα times a rational function of ζ. The form of this rational function can be written down, and the parameters appearing in it then determined as the solution to a set of algebraic equations. Examples of such flows are given (including one which shows that, in a certain sense, injection can produce a cusp), and the limiting situation in the wedge configuration as one injection point is moved to infinity is also considered.

Consider a Hele-Shaw cell with the fluid (liquid) confined to an angular region by a solid boundary in the form of two half-lines meeting at an angle απ; if 0 < α < 1 we have flow in a corner, while if 1 < α [les ] 2 we have flow around a wedge. We suppose contact between the fluid and each of the lines forming the solid boundary to be along a single segment that does not adjoin the vertex, so we have air at the vertex, and contemplate such a situation that has been produced by injection at a number of points into an initially empty cell. We show that, if we assume the pressure to be constant along the free boundaries, the region occupied by the fluid is the image of a rectangle under a conformal map that can be expressed in terms of elliptic functions if α = 1 or α = 2, and in terms of theta functions if 0 < α < 1 or 1 < α < 2. The form of the function giving the map can be written down, and the parameters appearing in it then determined as the solution to a set of transcendental equations. The procedure is illustrated by a number of examples.

This paper presents a new class of solutions for steady nonlinear capillary waves on a curved sheet of fluid in the plane. The solutions are exact in that the free surfaces of the sheet and the associated flow field can be found in closed form. The solutions are generalizations of the classic solutions for finite amplitude waves on fluid sheets [5] to the case where the fluid sheets are curved.

Nonintegrable differential-difference equations are constructed which support two-kink and two-soliton solutions. These equations are related to the discrete Burgers hierarchy and a discrete form of the Korteweg-de Vries equation. In particular, discretisations of equations related to the Fitzhugh-Nagumo-Kolmogorov-Petrovskii-Piskunov, Satsuma-Burgers-Huxley equations are derived. Methods presented here can also be used to derive non-integrable differential-difference equations describing the elastic collision of more than two kinks or solitary waves.