A Sequence to Compute the Brauer Group of Certain Quasi-Triangular Hopf Algebras

A deeper understanding of recent computations of the Brauer group of Hopf algebras is attained by explaining why a direct product decomposition for this group holds and describing the non-interpreted factor occurring in it. For a Hopf algebra B in a braided monoidal category ${{\mathcal C}}$ , and under certain assumptions on the braiding (fulfilled if ${{\mathcal C}}$ is symmetric), we construct a sequence for the Brauer group ${{\rm{BM}}}({{\mathcal C}};B)$ of B-module algebras, generalizing Beattie’s one. It allows one to prove that ${{\rm{BM}}}({{\mathcal C}};B) \cong {{\rm{Br}}}({{\mathcal C}}) \times {\operatorname{Gal}}({{\mathcal C}};B)$ , where ${{\rm{Br}}}({{\mathcal C}})$ is the Brauer group of ${{\mathcal C}}$ and ${\operatorname{Gal}}({{\mathcal C}};B)$ the group of B-Galois objects. We also show that ${{\rm{BM}}}({{\mathcal C}};B)$ contains a subgroup isomorphic to ${{\rm{Br}}}({{\mathcal C}}) \times {\operatorname{H^2}}({{\mathcal C}};B,I),$ where ${\operatorname{H^2}}({{\mathcal C}};B,I)$ is the second Sweedler cohomology group of B with values in the unit object I of ${{\mathcal C}}$ . These results are applied to the Brauer group ${{\rm{BM}}}(K,B \times H,{{\mathcal R}})$ of a quasi-triangular Hopf algebra that is a Radford biproduct B × H, where H is a usual Hopf algebra over a field K, the Hopf subalgebra generated by the quasi-triangular structure ${{\mathcal R}}$ is contained in H and B is a Hopf algebra in the category ${}_H{{\mathcal M}}$ of left H-modules. The Hopf algebras whose Brauer group was recently computed fit this framework. We finally show that ${{\rm{BM}}}(K,H,{{\mathcal R}}) \times {\operatorname{H^2}}({}_H{{\mathcal M}};B,K)$ is a subgroup of ${{\rm{BM}}}(K,B \times H,{{\mathcal R}})$ , confirming the suspicion that a certain cohomology group of B × H (second lazy cohomology group was conjectured) embeds into it. New examples of Brauer groups of quasi-triangular Hopf algebras are computed using this sequence.     

Solvability of a Class of Braided Fusion Categories

We show that a weakly integral braided fusion category ${{\mathcal C}}$ such that every simple object of ${{\mathcal C}}$ has Frobenius-Perron dimension ≤?2 is solvable. In addition, we prove that such a fusion category is group-theoretical in the extreme case where the universal grading group of ${{\mathcal C}}$ is trivial.     

Covering properties of ideals

Elekes proved that any infinite-fold cover of a σ-finite measure space by a sequence of measurable sets has a subsequence with the same property such that the set of indices of this subsequence has density zero. Applying this theorem he gave a new proof for the random-indestructibility of the density zero ideal. He asked about other variants of this theorem concerning I-almost everywhere infinite-fold covers of Polish spaces where I is a σ-ideal on the space and the set of indices of the required subsequence should be in a fixed ideal ${{\mathcal{J}}}$ on ω. We introduce the notion of the ${{\mathcal{J}}}$ -covering property of a pair ${({\mathcal{A}}, I)}$ where ${{\mathcal{A}}}$ is a σ-algebra on a set X and ${{I \subseteq \mathcal{P}(X)}}$ is an ideal. We present some counterexamples, discuss the category case and the Fubini product of the null ideal ${\mathcal{N}}$ and the meager ideal ${\mathcal{M}}$ . We investigate connections between this property and forcing-indestructibility of ideals. We show that the family of all Borel ideals ${{\mathcal{J}}}$ on ω such that ${\mathcal{M}}$ has the ${{\mathcal{J}}}$ -covering property consists exactly of non weak Q-ideals. We also study the existence of smallest elements, with respect to Katětov–Blass order, in the family of those ideals ${\mathcal{J}}$ on ω such that ${\mathcal{N}}$ or ${\mathcal{M}}$ has the ${\mathcal{J}}$ -covering property. Furthermore, we prove a general result about the cases when the covering property “strongly” fails.     

On uniformly bounded spherical functions in Hilbert space

Let G be a commutative group, written additively, with a neutral element 0, and let K be a finite group. Suppose that K acts on G via group automorphisms ${G \ni a \mapsto ka \in G}$ , ${k \in K}$ . Let ${{\mathfrak{H}}}$ be a complex Hilbert space and let ${{\mathcal L}({\mathfrak{H}})}$ be the algebra of all bounded linear operators on ${{\mathfrak{H}}}$ . A mapping ${u \colon G \to {\mathcal L}({\mathfrak{H}})}$ is termed a K-spherical function if it satisfies (1) ${|K|^{-1} \sum_{k\in K} u (a+kb)=u (a) u (b)}$ for any ${a,b\in G}$ , where |K| denotes the cardinality of K, and (2) ${u (0) = {\rm id}_{\mathfrak {H}},}$ where ${{\rm id}_{\mathfrak {H}}}$ designates the identity operator on ${{\mathfrak{H}}}$ . The main result of the paper is that for each K-spherical function ${u \colon G \to {\mathcal {L}}({\mathfrak {H}})}$ such that ${\| u \|_{\infty} = \sup_{a\in G} \| u (a)\|_{{\mathcal L}({\mathfrak{H}})} < \infty,}$ there is an invertible operator S in ${{\mathcal L}({\mathfrak{H}})}$ with ${\| S \| \, \| S^{-1}\| \leq |K| \, \| u \|_{\infty}^2}$ such that the K-spherical function ${{\tilde{u}} \colon G \to {\mathcal L}({\mathfrak{H}})}$ defined by ${{\tilde{u}}(a) = S u (a) S^{-1},\,a \in G,}$ satisfies ${{\tilde{u}}(-a) = {\tilde{u}}(a)^*}$ for each ${a \in G}$ . It is shown that this last condition is equivalent to insisting that ${{\tilde{u}}(a)}$ be normal for each ${a \in G}$ .     

On Quadratic Differentials and Twisted Normal Maps of Surfaces in {\mathbb{S}^{2} \times\mathbb{R}} and {\mathbb{H}^{2} \times\mathbb{R}}

Given a Lie group G with a bi-invariant metric and a compact Lie subgroup K, Bittencourt and Ripoll used the homogeneous structure of quotient spaces to define a Gauss map ${\mathcal{N}:M^{n}\rightarrow{\mathbb{S}}}$ on any hypersupersurface ${M^{n}\looparrowright G/K}$ , where ${{\mathbb{S}}}$ is the unit sphere of the Lie algebra of G. It is proved in Bittencourt and Ripoll (Pacific J Math 224:45–64, 2006) that M ⁿ having constant mean curvature (CMC) is equivalent to ${\mathcal{N}}$ being harmonic, a generalization of a Ruh–Vilms theorem for submanifolds in the Euclidean space. In particular, when n = 2, the induced quadratic differential ${\mathcal{Q}_{\mathcal{N}}:=(\mathcal{N}^{\ast}g)^{2,0}}$ is holomorphic on CMC surfaces of G/K. In this paper, we take ${G/K={\mathbb{S}}^{2}\times{\mathbb{R}}}$ and compare ${\mathcal{Q}_{\mathcal{N}}}$ with the Abresch–Rosenberg differential ${\mathcal{Q}}$ , also holomorphic for CMC surfaces. It is proved that ${\mathcal{Q}=\mathcal{Q}_{\mathcal{N}}}$ , after showing that ${\mathcal{N}}$ is the twisted normal given by (1.5) herein. Then we define the twisted normal for surfaces in ${{\mathbb{H}}^{2}\times{\mathbb{R}}}$ and prove that ${\mathcal{Q}=\mathcal{Q}_{\mathcal{N}}}$ as well. Within the unified model for the two product spaces, we compute the tension field of ${\mathcal{N}}$ and extend to surfaces in ${{\mathbb{H}}^{2}\times{\mathbb{R}}}$ the equivalence between the CMC property and the harmonicity of ${\mathcal{N}.}$      

On the pullback of an arithmetic theta function

In this paper, we describe a relationship between the simplest examples of arithmetic theta series. The first of these are the weight 1 theta series ${\widehat{\phi}_{\mathcal C}(\tau)}$ defined using arithmetic 0-cycles on the moduli space ${\mathcal C}$ of elliptic curves with CM by the ring of integers ${O_{\kappa}}$ of an imaginary quadratic field. The second such series ${\widehat{\phi}_{\mathcal M}(\tau)}$ has weight 3/2 and takes values in the arithmetic Chow group ${\widehat{{\rm CH}}^1(\mathcal{M})}$ of the arithmetic surface associated to an indefinite quaternion algebra ${B/\mathbb{Q}}$ . For an embedding ${O_\kappa \rightarrow O_B}$ , a maximal order in B, and a two sided O _B -ideal Λ, there is a morphism ${j_\Lambda:{\mathcal C} \rightarrow {\mathcal M}}$ and a pullback ${j_\Lambda^*: \widehat{{\rm CH}}^1(\mathcal{M}) \rightarrow \widehat{{\rm CH}}^1(\mathcal C)}$ . Our main result is an expression for the pullback ${j^*_\Lambda \widehat{\phi}_{\mathcal M}(\tau)}$ as a linear combination of products of ${\widehat{\phi}_{\mathcal C}(\tau)}$ ’s and classical weight ${\frac{1}{2}}$ theta series.     

Rigid objects, triangulated subfactors and abelian localizations

We show that the abelian category $\mathsf{mod}\text{-}\mathcal{X }$ of coherent functors over a contravariantly finite rigid subcategory $\mathcal{X }$ in a triangulated category $\mathcal{T }$ is equivalent to the Gabriel–Zisman localization at the class of regular maps of a certain factor category of $\mathcal{T }$ , and moreover it can be calculated by left and right fractions. Thus we generalize recent results of Buan and Marsh. We also extend recent results of Iyama–Yoshino concerning subfactor triangulated categories arising from mutation pairs in $\mathcal{T }$ . In fact we give a classification of thick triangulated subcategories of a natural pretriangulated factor category of $\mathcal{T }$ and a classification of functorially finite rigid subcategories of $\mathcal{T }$ if the latter has Serre duality. In addition we characterize $2$ -cluster tilting subcategories along these lines. Finally we extend basic results of Keller–Reiten concerning the Gorenstein and the Calabi–Yau property for categories arising from certain rigid, not necessarily cluster tilting, subcategories, as well as several results of the literature concerning the connections between $2$ -cluster tilting subcategories of triangulated categories and tilting subcategories of the associated abelian category of coherent functors.     

Modular Decomposition of the Orlik-Terao Algebra

Let ${\mathcal{A}}$ be a collection of n linear hyperplanes in ${\mathbb{k}^\ell}$ , where ${\mathbb{k}}$ is an algebraically closed field. The Orlik-Terao algebra of ${\mathcal{A}}$ is the subalgebra ${{\rm R}(\mathcal{A})}$ of the rational functions generated by reciprocals of linear forms vanishing on hyperplanes of ${\mathcal{A}}$ . It determines an irreducible subvariety ${Y (\mathcal{A})}$ of ${\mathbb{P}^{n-1}}$ . We show that a flat X of ${\mathcal{A}}$ is modular if and only if ${{\rm R}(\mathcal{A})}$ is a split extension of the Orlik-Terao algebra of the subarrangement ${\mathcal{A}_X}$ . This provides another refinement of Stanley’s modular factorization theorem [34] and a new characterization of modularity, similar in spirit to the fibration theorem of [27]. We deduce that if ${\mathcal{A}}$ is supersolvable, then its Orlik-Terao algebra is Koszul. In certain cases, the algebra is also a complete intersection, and we characterize when this happens.     

Complemented modular lattices with involution and orthogonal geometry

With each orthogeometry (P, ⊥) we associate ${{\mathbb {L}}(P, \bot)}$ , a complemented modular lattice with involution (CMIL), consisting of all subspaces X and X ^⊥ such that dim X < ?₀, and we study its rôle in decompositions of (P, ⊥) as directed (resp., disjoint) union. We also establish a 1–1 correspondence between ?-varieties ${\mathcal {V}}$ of CMILs with ${\mathcal {V}}$ generated by its finite dimensional members and ‘quasivarieties’ ${\mathcal {G}}$ of orthogeometries: ${\mathcal {V}}$ consists of the CMILs representable within some geometry from ${\mathcal {G}}$ and ${\mathcal {G}}$ of the (P, ⊥) with ${{\mathbb {L}}(P, \bot) \in {\mathcal {V}}}$ . Here, ${\mathcal {V}}$ is recursively axiomatizable if and only if so is ${\mathcal {G}}$ . It follows that the equational theory of ${\mathcal {V}}$ is decidable provided that the equational theories of the ${\{{\mathbb {L}}(P, \bot)\, |\, (P, \bot) \in \mathcal {G}, {\rm{dim}} P = n\}}$ are uniformly decidable.     

Categories of partial algebras for critical points between varieties of algebras

We denote by Con_c A the ${(\vee, 0)}$ -semilattice of all finitely generated congruences of an algebra A. A lifting of a ${(\vee, 0)}$ -semilattice S is an algebra A such that ${S \cong {\rm Con}_{\rm c} A}$ . The assignment Conc can be extended to a functor. The notion of lifting is generalized to diagrams of ${(\vee, 0)}$ -semilattices. A gamp is a partial algebra endowed with a partial subalgebra together with a semilattice-valued distance; gamps form a category that lends itself to a universal algebraic-type study. The raison d’être of gamps is that any algebra can be approximated by its finite subgamps, even in case it is not locally finite. Let ${\mathcal{V}}$ and ${\mathcal{W}}$ be varieties of algebras (on finite, possibly distinct, similarity types). Let P be a finite lattice. We assume the existence of a combinatorial object, called an ${\aleph_0}$ -lifter of P, of infinite cardinality ${\lambda}$ . Let ${\vec{A}}$ be a P-indexed diagram of finite algebras in ${\mathcal{V}}$ . If ${{\rm Con}_{\rm c} \circ \vec{A}}$ has no partial lifting in the category of gamps of ${\mathcal{W}}$ , then there is an algebra ${A \in \mathcal{V}}$ of cardinality ${\lambda}$ such that Con_c A is not isomorphic to Con_c B for any ${B \in \mathcal{W}}$ . This makes it possible to generalize several known results. In particular, we prove the following theorem, without assuming that ${\mathcal{W}}$ is locally finite. Let ${\mathcal{V}}$ be locally finite and let ${\mathcal{W}}$ be congruence-proper (i.e., congruence lattices of infinite members of ${\mathcal{W}}$ are infinite). The following equivalence holds. Every countable ${(\vee, 0)}$ -semilattice with a lifting in ${\mathcal{V}}$ has a lifting in ${\mathcal{W}}$ if and only if every ${\omega}$ -indexed diagram of finite ${(\vee, 0)}$ -semilattices with a lifting in ${\mathcal{V}}$ has a lifting in ${\mathcal{W}}$ . Gamps are also applied to the study of congruence-preserving extensions. Let ${\mathcal{V}}$ be a non-semidistributive variety of lattices and let n ≥ 2 be an integer. There is a bounded lattice ${A \in \mathcal{V}}$ of cardinality ${\aleph_1}$ with no congruence n-permutable, congruence-preserving extension. The lattice A is constructed as a condensate of a square-indexed diagram of lattices.     

On Extending {\mathcal{A}}-Modules Through the Coefficients

In classical linear algebra, extending the ring of scalars of a free module gives rise to a new free module containing an isomorphic copy of the former and satisfying a certain universal property. Also, given two free modules on the same ring of scalars and a morphism between them, enlarging the ring of scalars results in obtaining a new morphism having the nice property that it coincides with the initial map on the isomorphic copy of the initial free module in the new one. We investigate these problems in the category of free ${\mathcal{A}}$ -modules, where ${\mathcal{A}}$ is an ${\mathbb{R}}$ -algebra sheaf. Complexification of free ${\mathcal{A}}$ -modules, which is defined to be the process of obtaining new free ${\mathcal{A}}$ -modules by enlarging the ${\mathbb{R}}$ -algebra sheaf ${\mathcal{A}}$ to a ${\mathbb{C}}$ -algebra sheaf, denoted ${\mathcal{A}_\mathbb{C}}$ , is an important particular case (see Proposition 2.1, Proposition 3.1). Attention, on the one hand, is drawn on the sub- ${_{\mathbb{R}}\mathcal{A}}$ -sheaf of almost complex structures on the sheaf ${{_\mathbb{R}}\mathcal{A}^{2n}}$ , the underlying ${\mathbb{R}}$ -algebra sheaf of a ${\mathbb{C}}$ -algebra sheaf ${\mathcal{A}}$ , and on the other hand, on the complexification of the functor ${\mathcal{H}om_\mathcal {A}}$ , with ${\mathcal{A}}$ an ${\mathbb{R}}$ -algebra sheaf.     

Auslander–Buchweitz Approximation Theory for Triangulated Categories

We introduce and develop an analogous of the Auslander–Buchweitz approximation theory (see Auslander and Buchweitz, Societe Mathematique de France 38:5–37, 1989) in the context of triangulated categories, by using a version of relative homology in this setting. We also prove several results concerning relative homological algebra in a triangulated category $\mathcal{T},$ which are based on the behavior of certain subcategories under finiteness of resolutions and vanishing of Hom-spaces. For example: we establish the existence of preenvelopes (and precovers) in certain triangulated subcategories of $\mathcal{T}.$ The results resemble various constructions and results of Auslander and Buchweitz, and are concentrated in exploring the structure of a triangulated category $\mathcal{T}$ equipped with a pair $(\mathcal{X},\omega),$ where $\mathcal{X}$ is closed under extensions and ω is a weak-cogenerator in $\mathcal{X},$ usually under additional conditions. This reduces, among other things, to the existence of distinguished triangles enjoying special properties, and the behavior of (suitably defined) (co)resolutions, projective or injective dimension of objects of $\mathcal{T}$ and the formation of orthogonal subcategories. Finally, some relationships with the Rouquier’s dimension in triangulated categories is discussed.     

On a conjecture of Rapoport and Zink

In their book, Rapoport and Zink constructed rigid analytic period spaces ${\mathcal {F}}^{wa}$ for Fontaine’s filtered isocrystals, and period morphisms from PEL moduli spaces of p-divisible groups to some of these period spaces. They conjectured the existence of an étale bijective morphism ${\mathcal {F}}^{a}\to {\mathcal {F}}^{wa}$ of rigid analytic spaces and of a universal local system of ? _p -vector spaces on  ${\mathcal {F}}^{a}$ . Such a local system would give rise to a tower of étale covering spaces $\breve {{\mathcal {E}}}_{{\widetilde {K}}}$ of ${\mathcal {F}}^{a}$ , equipped with a Hecke-action, and an action of the automorphism group J(? _p ) of the isocrystal with extra structure. For Hodge-Tate weights n?1 and n we construct in this article an intrinsic Berkovich open subspace ${\mathcal {F}}^{0}$ of ${\mathcal {F}}^{wa}$ and the universal local system on ${\mathcal {F}}^{0}$ . We show that only in exceptional cases ${\mathcal {F}}^{0}$ equals all of ${\mathcal {F}}^{wa}$ and when the Shimura group is $\operatorname {GL}_{n}$ we determine all these cases. We conjecture that the rigid-analytic space associated with ${\mathcal {F}}^{0}$ is the maximal possible ${\mathcal {F}}^{a}$ , and that ${\mathcal {F}}^{0}$ is connected. We give evidence for these conjectures. For those period spaces possessing PEL period morphisms, we show that ${\mathcal {F}}^{0}$ equals the image of the period morphism. Then our local system is the rational Tate module of the universal p-divisible group and carries a J(? _p )-linearization. We construct the tower $\breve {{\mathcal {E}}}_{{\widetilde {K}}}$ of étale covering spaces, and we show that it is canonically isomorphic in a Hecke and J(? _p )-equivariant way to the tower constructed by Rapoport and Zink using the universal p-divisible group.     

Higher Order Transverse Bundles and Riemannian Foliations

The purpose of this paper is to prove that each of the following conditions is equivalent to that the foliation ${{\mathcal{F}}}$ is riemannian: (1) the lifted foliation ${{\mathcal{F}}^{r}}$ on the r-transverse bundle ${\nu^{r}{\mathcal{F}}}$ is riemannian for an r ≥  1; (2) the foliation ${{\mathcal{F}}_{0}^{r}}$ on a slashed ${\nu _{\ast }^{r}{\mathcal{F}}}$ is riemannian and vertically exact for an r ≥  1; (3) there is a positively admissible transverse lagrangian on a ${\nu _{\ast }^{r}{\mathcal{F}}}$ , for an r ≥  1. Analogous results have been proved previously for normal jet vector bundles.     

Nonlinear lie-type derivations on full matrix algebras

Let ${\mathcal{R}}$ be a 2-torsion free commutative ring with identity and ${{\rm M}_n(\mathcal{R}) (n\geq 2)}$ be the full matrix algebra over ${\mathcal{R}}$ . In this note, we prove that every nonlinear Lie triple derivation on ${{\rm M}_n(\mathcal{R})}$ is of the standard form, i.e. it can be expressed as a sum of an inner derivation, an additive induced derivation and a functional annihilating all second commutators of ${{\rm M}_n(\mathcal{R})}$ . A open conjecture about Lie n-derivations is posed at the end of this note.     

Conditional Reducibility of Certain Unbounded Nonnegative Hamiltonian Operator Functions

Let J and ${{\mathfrak{J}}}$ be operators on a Hilbert space ${{\mathcal{H}}}$ which are both self-adjoint and unitary and satisfy ${J{\mathfrak{J}}=-{\mathfrak{J}}J}$ . We consider an operator function ${{\mathfrak{A}}}$ on [0, 1] of the form ${{\mathfrak{A}}(t)={\mathfrak{S}}+{\mathfrak{B}}(t)}$ , ${t \in [0, 1]}$ , where ${\mathfrak{S}}$ is a closed densely defined Hamiltonian ( ${={\mathfrak{J}}}$ -skew-self-adjoint) operator on ${{\mathcal{H}}}$ with ${i {\mathbb{R}} \subset \rho ({\mathfrak{S}})}$ and ${{\mathfrak{B}}}$ is a function on [0, 1] whose values are bounded operators on ${{\mathcal{H}}}$ and which is continuous in the uniform operator topology. We assume that for each ${t \in [0,1] \,{\mathfrak{A}}(t)}$ is a closed densely defined nonnegative (=J-accretive) Hamiltonian operator with ${i {\mathbb{R}} \subset \rho({\mathfrak{A}}(t))}$ . In this paper we give sufficient conditions on ${{\mathfrak{S}}}$ under which ${{\mathfrak{A}}}$ is conditionally reducible, which means that, with respect to a natural decomposition of ${{\mathcal{H}}}$ , ${{\mathfrak{A}}}$ is diagonalizable in a 2×2 block operator matrix function such that the spectra of the two operator functions on the diagonal are contained in the right and left open half planes of the complex plane. The sufficient conditions involve bounds on the resolvent of ${{\mathfrak{S}}}$ and interpolation of Hilbert spaces.     

On additive decompositions of the set of primitive roots modulo p

It is conjectured that the set ${\mathcal {G}}$ of the primitive roots modulo p has no decomposition (modulo p) of the form ${\mathcal {G}= \mathcal {A} +\mathcal {B}}$ with ${|\mathcal {A}|\ge 2}$ , ${|\mathcal {B} |\ge 2}$ . This conjecture seems to be beyond reach but it is shown that if such a decomposition of ${\mathcal {G}}$ exists at all, then ${|\mathcal {A} |}$ , ${|\mathcal {B} |}$ must be around p ^1/2, and then this result is applied to show that ${\mathcal {G}}$ has no decomposition of the form ${\mathcal {G} =\mathcal {A} + \mathcal {B} + \mathcal {C}}$ with ${|\mathcal {A} |\ge 2}$ , ${|\mathcal {B} |\ge 2}$ , ${|\mathcal {C} |\ge 2}$ .     

A Topologist’s View of Chu Spaces

For a symmetric monoidal-closed category $\mathcal{X}$ and any object K, the category of K-Chu spaces is small-topological over $\mathcal{X}$ and small cotopological over $\mathcal{X}^{{{\text{op}}}}$ . Its full subcategory of $\mathcal{M}$ -extensive K-Chu spaces is topological over $\mathcal{X}$ when $\mathcal{X}$ is $\mathcal{M}$ -complete, for any morphism class $\mathcal{M}$ . Often this subcategory may be presented as a full coreflective subcategory of Diers’ category of affine K-spaces. Hence, in addition to their roots in the theory of pairs of topological vector spaces (Barr) and their connections with linear logic (Seely), the Dialectica categories (Hyland, de Paiva), and with the study of event structures for modeling concurrent processes (Pratt), Chu spaces seem to have a less explored link with algebraic geometry. We use the Zariski closure operator to describe the objects of the *-autonomous category of $\mathcal{M}$ -extensive and $\mathcal{M}$ -coextensive K-Chu spaces in terms of Zariski separation and to identify its important subcategory of complete objects.     

Forbidden configurations and Steiner designs

Let ${\mathcal{F}}$ be a (0, 1) matrix. A (0, 1) matrix ${\mathcal{M}}$ is said to have ${\mathcal{F}}$ as a configuration if there is a submatrix of ${\mathcal{M}}$ which is a row and column permutation of ${\mathcal{F}}$ . We say that a matrix ${\mathcal{M}}$ is simple if it has no repeated columns. For a given ${v \in \mathbb{N}}$ , we shall denote by forb ${(v, \mathcal{F})}$ the maximum number of columns in a simple (0, 1) matrix with v rows for which ${\mathcal{F}}$ does not occur as a configuration. We say that a matrix ${\mathcal{M}}$ is maximal for ${\mathcal{F}}$ if ${\mathcal{M}}$ has forb ${(v, \mathcal{F})}$ columns. In this paper we show that for certain natural choices of ${\mathcal{F}}$ , forb ${(v, \mathcal{F})\leq\frac{\binom{v}{t}}{t+1}}$ . In particular this gives an extremal characterization for Steiner t-designs as maximal (0, 1) matrices in terms of certain forbidden configurations.