claude

We consider a slow-fast differential system (SF) in dimension two which appears in the study of some linear model (LM) with periodic coefficients in population dynamics. We show existence of "canard solutions" of (SF) along semi-stable slow curve which explains some stability properties of (LM) when the period tends to infinity.

The fact that every compact oriented 4-manifold admits spin$^c$ structures was proved long ago by Hirzebruch and Hopf. However, the usual proof is neither direct nor transparent. This article gives a new proof using twistor spaces that is simpler and more geometric. After using these ideas to clarify various aspects of four-dimensional geometry, we then explain how related ideas can be used to understand both spin and spin$^c$ structures in any dimension.

The probability distribution of the longest interval between two zeros of a simple random walk starting and ending at the origin, and of its continuum limit, the Brownian bridge, was analysed in the past by Rosén and Wendel, then extended by the latter to stable processes. We recover and extend these results using simple concepts of renewal theory, which allows to revisit past or recent works of the physics literature.