Talk Abstract
Fix $\left\{a_1, \dots, a_n \right\} \subset \mathbb{N}$, and let $x$ be a uniformly distributed random variable on $[0,2\pi]$. The probability $\mathbb{P}(a_1,\ldots,a_n)$ that $\cos(a_1 x), \dots, \cos(a_n x)$ are either all positive or all negative is non-zero since $\cos(a_i x) \sim 1$ for $x$ in a neighborhood of $0$. We are interested in how small this probability can be. Motivated by a problem in spectral theory, Goncalves, Oliveira e Silva, and Steinerberger proved that $\mathbb{P}(a_1,a_2) \geq 1/3$ with equality if and only if $\left\{a_1, a_2 \right\} = \gcd(a_1, a_2)\cdot \left\{1, 3\right\}$. We prove $\mathbb{P}(a_1,a_2,a_3)\geq 1/9$ with equality if and only if $\left\{a_1, a_2, a_3 \right\} = \gcd(a_1, a_2, a_3)\cdot \left\{1, 3, 9\right\}$. In this presentation, we sketch the main ideas behind this result and briefly discuss the surprising behavior that shows up when we consider more than three cosines.
Talk Subject
Analysis
Time Slot
2023-11-11T16:40:00
Room Number
2