This note gives estimates of solutions to the Sylvester problem in three dimensions. These results suggest that the solutions in four and higher dimensions are very close to the solution for the n -dimensional sphere which is known.

We examine a continuous search model in which rewards (e.g. job offers in a search model in the labor market, price offers for a given asset, etc.) are received randomly according to a renewal process determined by a known distribution function. The rewards are non-negative independent and have a common distribution with finite mean. Over the search period there is a constant cost per unit time. The searcher's objective is to choose a stopping time at which he receives the highest available reward (offer), so as to maximize the net expected discounted return. If the interarrival time distribution in the renewal process is new better than used (NBU), it is shown that the optimal stopping strategy possesses the control limit property. The term ‘control limit policy' refers to a strategy in which we accept the first reward (offer) which exceeds a critical control level ξ.

The effect of a binomial time change on a given Markov chain is studied. Results are obtained for the hitting times, potential operator, and transience and recurrence properties of the time-changed chain. The limiting behavior is considered as the binomial parameter approaches 0 and the time variable approaches∞.

For a sample of points drawn uniformly from either the d-dimensional torus or the d-cube, d ≧ 2, we give limiting distributions for the largest of the nearest-neighbor links. For d ≧ 3 the behavior in the torus is proved to be different from the behavior in the cube. The results given also settle a conjecture of Henze (1982) and throw light on the choice of the cube or torus in some probabilistic models of computational complexity of geometrical algorithms.

A sufficiently large finite second-order stationary time series process on a line has approximately the same eigenvalues and eigenvectors of its dispersion matrix as its counterpart on a circle. It is shown here that this result can be extended to second-order stationary processes on a d-dimensional lattice.

This paper considers periodic and sequential preventive maintenance (PM) policies for the system with minimal repair at failure: the PM is done (i) at periodic times kx and (ii) at constant intervals xk (k = 1, 2, ···, N). The system has a different failure distribution between PM'S and is replaced at the Nth PM. The optimal policies which minimize the expected cost rates are discussed. The optimal x and N of periodic PM and {xk} of sequential PM are easily computed in a Weibull distribution case.

Using operator methods, we derive a family of stochastic bounds for the Jackson network. For its transient joint queue-length distribution, we can stochastically bound it above by various networks that decouple into smaller independent Jackson networks. Each bound is determined by a distinct partitioning of the index set for the nodes. Except for the trivial cases, none of these bounds can be extended to a sample path ordering between it and the original network. Finally, we can partially order the bounds themselves whenever one partition of the index set is the refinement of another. These results suggest new types of partial orders for stochastic processes that are not equivalent to sample-path orderings.

We provide a term-by-term interpretation of Beneš's well-known but mysterious inversion of the Pollaczek–Khintchine formula. The strategy is to recognize the equality of waiting time in M/G/1–FIFO with remaining work in M/G/1–LIFO–preemptive resume. In the process, we give a new and simple derivation of some known results for M/G/1–LIFO–preemptive resume.

In this paper the concavity property for the distribution of a geometric random sum (geometric compound) X, + · ·· + XN is established under the assumption that Xi are i.i.d. and have a DFR distribution. From this and the fact that the actual waiting time in GI/G/1 queues can be written as a geometric random sum, the concavity of the waiting-time distribution in GI/G/1 queues with a DFR service-time distribution is derived. The DFR property of the idle-period distribution in specialized GI/G/1 queues is also mentioned.