Throughout this paper we shall suppose that denotes a set of elements x in which a Lebesgue measure is defined and that itself is measurable and has finite measure. A (1, 1) transformation T of into itself is called an equimeasure transformation if the transform T E of any measurable subset E of is measurable and has measure equal to that of E. Then, if f(x) is integrable in , it is plain that f(Tx) is also integrable and that

A general theory of ‘strength’ for Hausdorff methods T of summability was given in the first part of this paper, to which we shall refer in the following as I. Those methods T which are regular (that is, at least as strong as ordinary convergence C), are defined by the linear transforms

of a given sequence (sk). Here ø(t) (that is, each of its real and imaginary parts) is of bounded variation (b.v.) in the closed interval 〈0, 1〉 [see I, (4)]. The additional condition for consistency (with C) is that ø(t) is continuous at t = 0, and that ø(1) − ø(0) = 1 [I, H. 3]. We write also T ˜ ø(t).

1. In this paper I shall deal with the solutions of the Lamé equation

when n and h are arbitrary complex or real parameters and k is any number in the complex plane cut along the real axis from 1 to ∞ and from −1 to −∞. Since the coefficients of (1) are periodic functions of am(x, k), we conclude ](5), § 19·4] that there is a solution of (1), y0(x), which has a trigonometric expansion of the form

where θ is a certain constant, the characteristic exponent, which depends on h, k and n. Unless θ is an integer, y0(x) and y0(−x) are two distinct solutions of the Lamé equation.

It is easy to obtain the system of recurrence relations

for the coefficients cr. θ is determined, mod 1, by the condition that this system of recurrence relations should have a solution {cr} for which

k′ being the principal value of (1−k2)½

1. The postulation of a multiple curve for primals of sufficiently large order in space of any number of dimensions has been obtained recently by J. A. Todd, by a simple and elegant degeneration argument which, however, is not deemed to be a conclusive proof by the author himself. And, indeed, in order to make sure of the unconditional validity of such an argument, one should ascertain whether

(i) the postulation θk of an irreducible non-singular curve ϲ, of order c and genus p, for the primals of sufficiently large order n of [r + 2] (r ≥ 1), required to go through it with multiplicity k (≥ 1), is a function of k, c, p, n, r only;

(ii) it is possible, by means of a continuous variation of ϲ, to reduce this curve to connected polygon ϲ′ having the same virtual characters as ϲ, in such a way that each intermediate position of ϲ is still irreducible and non-singular;

(iii) the postulation θk of ϲ equals the similarly defined postulation of ϲ′.

The differential equation of wave propagation is

where u is a variable describing the state of a medium, x, y, z are rectangular coordinates, and r is the time (the time scale is assumed to be such that waves are propagated with unit velocity).

This paper is an attempt to apply a simple series solution of the wave equation to the reflexion of a sound pulse. The reflector is a paraboloid of revolution, and the incident pulse is spherically symmetrical and comes from the focus of the reflector, so that the wave fronts of the reflected pulse are planes at right angles to the axis of symmetry of the reflector. If the incident pulse consists, at any point, of a discontinuous pressure rise followed by constant excess pressure, the series reduces to a power series in the time counted from the onset of the reflected pulse; for other forms of the incident pulse it can be interpreted as the result of the superposition of elementary pressure pulses which are constant in a small time interval and vanish outside it. No convergence proof is given, so that the interest of the investigation is physical rather than mathematical; but the numerical results indicate that the convergence of the series is unsatisfactory except near the vertex of the reflecting paraboloid. The coefficients of the series are obtained with the aid of recurrence formulae, and the first seven coefficients have been calculated. The calculations become more laborious at each successive stage. A detailed numerical investigation of the reflexion of the ‘simple rectangular pulse’ referred to already (for which the series reduces to a power series) reveals that initially the maximum pressure on any plane section at right angles to the axis of the paraboloid, due to the reflected pulse alone, occurs at the axis and has the same value everywhere on it; but after some time a secondary pressure maximum is established over a circular ring at some distance from the axis. A consideration of the initial pressure gradient of the reflected pulse suggests that a similar state of affairs exists at all distances from the vertex, but the actual calculations only extend to a plane section whose distance from the vertex is four times the focal length. The unsatisfactory convergence of the series precludes the investigation of subsequent changes in the distribution of pressure. It is finally pointed out that these results apply to a certain extent to a finite parabolic mirror.

In a note in the April 1942 issue of these Proceedings, Hodge gives a formula for the number of independent terms in what he calls a k-connex, but while conjecturing its general validity he proves it only for very restricted cases. Its truth is here demonstrated in the general case.