The gonality of smooth curves with plane models

LetC be the normalization of an integral plane curve of degreed with δ ordinary nodes or cusps as its singularities. If δ=0, then Namba proved that there is no linear seriesg _d ^−2/1 and that everyg _d ^−1/1 is cut out by a pencil of lines passing through a point onC. The main purpose of this paper is to generalize his result to the case δ>0. A typical one is as follows: Ifd≥2(k+1), and δ<kd−(k+1)²+3 for somek>0, thenC has no linear seriesg _d ^−3/1 . We also show that ifd≥2k+3 and δ<kd−(k+1)²+2, then each linear seriesg _d ^−2/1 onC is cut out by a pencil of lines. We have similar results forg _d ^−1/1 andg _2d ^−9/1 . Furthermore, we also show that all of our theorems are sharp.     

A Bichromatic Incidence Bound and an Application

We prove a new, tight upper bound on the number of incidences between points and hyperplanes in Euclidean d-space. Given n points, of which k are colored red, there are O _d (m ^2/3 k ^2/3 n ^(d−2)/3+kn ^d−2+m) incidences between the k red points and m hyperplanes spanned by all n points provided that m=Ω(n ^d−2). For the monochromatic case k=n, this was proved by Agarwal and Aronov (Discrete Comput. Geom. 7(4):359–369, 1992).     

VC Dimensions of Principal Component Analysis

Motivated by statistical learning theoretic treatment of principal component analysis, we are concerned with the set of points in ℝ ^d that are within a certain distance from a k-dimensional affine subspace. We prove that the VC dimension of the class of such sets is within a constant factor of (k+1)(d−k+1), and then discuss the distribution of eigenvalues of a data covariance matrix by using our bounds of the VC dimensions and Vapnik’s statistical learning theory. In the course of the upper bound proof, we provide a simple proof of Warren’s bound of the number of sign sequences of real polynomials.     

A Generalisation of Tverberg’s Theorem

We will prove the following generalisation of Tverberg’s Theorem: given a set S⊂ℝ ^d of (r+1)(k−1)(d+1)+1 points, there is a partition of S in k sets A ₁,A ₂,…,A _k such that for any C⊂S of at most r points, the convex hulls of A ₁\C,A ₂\C,…,A _k \C are intersecting. This was conjectured first by Natalia García-Colín (Ph.D. thesis, University College of London, 2007).     

Bounding the number of connected components of a real algebraic set

For every polynomial mapf=(f ₁,…,f _k): ℝ ⁿ →ℝ ^k , we consider the number of connected components of its zero set,B(Z _f) and two natural “measures of the complexity off,” that is the triple(n, k, d), d being equal to max(degree off _i), and thek-tuple (Δ₁,...,Δ₄), Δ _k being the Newton polyhedron off _i respectively. Our aim is to boundB(Z _f) by recursive functions of these measures of complexity. In particular, with respect to (n, k, d) we shall improve the well-known Milnor-Thom’s bound μ _d (n)=d(2d−1) ⁿ⁻¹. Considered as a polynomial ind, μ _d (n) has leading coefficient equal to 2 ⁿ⁻¹. We obtain a bound depending onn, d, andk such that ifn is sufficiently larger thank, then it improves μ _d (n) for everyd. In particular, it is asymptotically equal to 1/2(k+1)n ^k−1 dⁿ, ifk is fixed andn tends to infinity. The two bounds are obtained by a similar technique involving a slight modification of Milnor-Thom's argument, Smith's theory, and information about the sum of Betti numbers of complex complete intersections.     

Estimates for the number of rational points on convex curves and surfaces

Let Γ ⊂ ℝ^d be a bounded strictly convex surface. We prove that the number k_n(Γ) of points of Γ that lie on the lattice satisfies the following estimates: lim inf k_n(Γ)/n^d−2 < ∞ for d ≥ 3 and lim inf k_n(Γ)/log n < ∞ for d = 2. Bibliography: 9 titles. __________ Translated from Zapiski Nauchnykh Seminarov POMI, Vol. 344, 2007, pp. 174–189.     

Distributions of Points in <Emphasis Type="Italic">d</Emphasis> Dimensions and Large <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-Point Simplices

We consider a variant of Heilbronn’s triangle problem by investigating for a fixed dimension d≥2 and for integers k≥2 with k≤d distributions of n points in the d-dimensional unit cube [0,1] ^d , such that the minimum volume of the simplices, which are determined by (k+1) of these n points is as large as possible. Denoting by Δ _k,d (n), the supremum of this minimum volume over all distributions of n points in [0,1] ^d , we show that c _k,d ⋅(log n)^1/(d−k+1)/n ^k/(d−k+1)≤Δ _k,d (n)≤c _k,d ′/n ^k/d for fixed 2≤k≤d, and, moreover, for odd integers k≥1, we show the upper bound Δ _k,d (n)≤c _k,d ″/n ^{k/d+(k−1)/(2d(d−1))}, where c _k,d ,c _k,d ′,c _k,d ″>0 are constants. A preliminary version of this paper appeared in COCOON ’05.     

Asymptotic Upper Bounds for Ramsey Functions

 We show that for any graph G with N vertices and average degree d, if the average degree of any neighborhood induced subgraph is at most a, then the independence number of G is at least Nf _{a +1}(d), where f _{a +1}(d)=∫₀ ¹(((1−t)^{1/( a +1)})/(a+1+(d−a−1)t))dt. Based on this result, we prove that for any fixed k and l, there holds r(K _k + _l ,K _n )≤ (l+o(1))n ^k /(logn) ^{k −1}. In particular, r(K _k , K _n )≤(1+o(1))n ^{k −1}/(log n) ^{k −2}. Received: May 11, 1998 Final version received: March 24, 1999     

A class of optimal linear codes of length one above the Griesmer bound

In this paper, we determine the smallest lengths of linear codes with some minimum distances. We construct a [g _q (k, d) + 1, k, d] _q code for sq ^k-1 − sq ^k-2 − q ^s  − q ² + 1 ≤ d ≤ sq ^k-1 − sq ^k-2 − q ^s with 3 ≤ s ≤ k − 2 and q ≥ s + 1. Then we get n _q (k, d) = g _q (k, d) + 1 for (k − 2)q ^k-1 − (k − 1)q ^k-2 − q ² + 1 ≤ d ≤ (k − 2)q ^k-1 − (k − 1)q ^k-2, k ≥ 6, q ≥ 2k − 3; and sq ^k-1 − sq ^k-2 − q ^s  − q + 1 ≤ d ≤ sq ^k-1 − sq ^k-2 − q ^s , s ≥ 2, k ≥ 2s + 1 and q ≥ 2s − 1. This work was partially supported by the Com²MaC-SRC/ERC program of MOST/KOSEF (grant ^# R11-1999-054) and was partially supported by the Korea Research Foundation Grant funded by the Korean Government(MOEHRD)(KRF-2005-214-C00175).     

On the expected number of k-sets

Given a setS ofn points inR ^d , a subsetX of sized is called ak-simplex if the hyperplane aff(X) has exactlyk points on one side. We studyE _d (k,n), the expected number of k-simplices whenS is a random sample ofn points from a probability distributionP onR ^d . WhenP is spherically symmetric we prove thatE _d (k, n)≤cn ^d−1 WhenP is uniform on a convex bodyK⊂R ² we prove thatE ₂ (k, n) is asymptotically linear in the rangecn≤k≤n/2 and whenk is constant it is asymptotically the expected number of vertices on the convex hull ofS. Finally, we construct a distributionP onR ² for whichE ₂((n−2)/2,n) iscn logn. The authors express gratitude to the NSF DIMACS Center at Rutgers and Princeton. The research of I. Bárány was supported in part by Hungarian National Science Foundation Grants 1907 and 1909, and W. Steiger's research was supported in part by NSF Grants CCR-8902522 and CCR-9111491.     

Disk-like Tiles Derived from Complex Bases

For each positive integer k, the radix representation of the complex numbers in the base –k+i gives rise to a lattice self-affine tile T _k in the plane, which consists of all the complex numbers that can be expressed in the form ∑ _j≥1 d _j (–k+i)^–j , where d _j ∈{0, 1, 2, ...,k ²}. We prove that T _k is homeomorphic to the closed unit disk {z∈C:∣z∣ ≤ 1} if and only if k ≠ 2. The first author is supported by Youth Project of Tianyuan Foundation (10226031) and Zhongshan University Promotion Foundation for Young Teachers (34100-1131206); the second author is supported by National Science Foundation (10041005) and Guangdong Province Science Foundation (011221)     

Embedding a polytope in a lattice

We present a special similarity ofR ⁴ⁿ which maps lattice points into lattice points. Applying this similarity, we prove that if a (4n−1)-polytope is similar to a lattice polytope (a polytope whose vertices are all lattice points) inR ⁴ⁿ , then it is similar to a lattice polytope inR ⁴ⁿ⁻¹, generalizing a result of Schoenberg [4]. We also prove that ann-polytope is similar to a lattice polytope in someR ^N if and only if it is similar to a lattice polytope inR ²ⁿ⁺¹, and if and only if sin²(<ABC) is rational for any three verticesA, B, C of the polytope.     

Distance Sequences In Locally Infinite Vertex-Transitive Digraphs

We prove that the out-distance sequence {f⁺(k)} of a vertex-transitive digraph of finite or infinite degree satisfies f⁺(k+1)≤f⁺(k)² for k≥1, where f⁺(k) denotes the number of vertices at directed distance k from a given vertex. As a corollary, we prove that for a connected vertex-transitive undirected graph of infinite degree d, we have f(k)=d for all k, 1≤k<diam(G). This answers a question by L. Babai.     

Covering Convex Bodies by Cylinders and Lattice Points by Flats

In connection with an unsolved problem of Bang (1951) we give a lower bound for the sum of the base volumes of cylinders covering a d-dimensional convex body in terms of the relevant basic measures of the given convex body. As an application we establish lower bounds on the number of k-dimensional flats (i.e. translates of k-dimensional linear subspaces) needed to cover all the integer points of a given convex body in d-dimensional Euclidean space for 1≤k≤d−1. K. Bezdek and A.E. Litvak are partially supported by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery Grant.     

Convex subdivisions with low stabbing numbers

It is shown that for every subdivision of the d-dimensional Euclidean space, d ≥ 2, into n convex cells, there is a straight line that stabs at least Ω((log n/log log n)^1/(d−1)) cells. In other words, if a convex subdivision of d-space has the property that any line stabs at most k cells, then the subdivision has at most exp(O(k ^d−1 log k)) cells. This bound is best possible apart from a constant factor. It was previously known only in the case d = 2. Supported in part by NSERC grant RGPIN 35586.     

Colorful Strips

We study the following geometric hypergraph coloring problem: given a planar point set and an integer k, we wish to color the points with k colors so that any axis-aligned strip containing sufficiently many points contains all colors. We show that if the strip contains at least 2k − 1 points, such a coloring can always be found. In dimension d, we show that the same holds provided the strip contains at least k(4 ln k + ln d) points. We also consider the dual problem of coloring a given set of axis-aligned strips so that any sufficiently covered point in the plane is covered by k colors. We show that in dimension d the required coverage is at most d(k − 1) + 1. This complements recent impossibility results on decomposition of strip coverings with arbitrary orientations. From the computational point of view, we show that deciding whether a three-dimensional point set can be 2-colored so that any strip containing at least three points contains both colors is NP-complete. This shows a big contrast with the planar case, for which this decision problem is easy.     

More Colourful Simplices

We show that any point in the convex hull of each of (d+1) sets of (d+1) points in general position in ℝ ^d is contained in at least ⌈(d+1)²/2⌉ simplices with one vertex from each set. This improves the known lower bounds for all d≥4.     

On local Torelli for a class of extremal varieties

We study the local behaviour of the period map for smooth non-degenerate extremal varieties sitting inside scrolls. We conclude with the following theorem:the period map for smooth non-degenerate extremal varieties of dimension k ≠ 2,3in n-projective space with n≥2k+4is generically locally injective for sufficiently high degree d. In particular, the following two conditions on d suffice: (1)d≥3.k.(n−k)+3; (2)d≥(n − k)²+1.     

Equipartition of mass distributions by hyperplanes

We consider the problem of determining the smallest dimensiond=Δ(j, k) such that, for anyj mass distributions inR ^d , there arek hyperplanes so that each orthant contains a fraction 1/2 ^k of each of the masses. The case Δ(1,2)=2 is very well known. The casek=1 is answered by the ham-sandwich theorem with Δ(j, 1)=j. By using mass distributions on the moment curve the lower bound Δ(j, k)≥j(2 ^k −1)/k is obtained. We believe this is a tight bound. However, the only general upper bound that we know is Δ(j, k)≤j2 ^k−1. We are able to prove that Δ(j, k)=⌈j(^2k−1/k⌉ for a few pairs (j, k) ((j, 2) forj=3 andj=2 ⁿ withn≥0, and (2, 3)), and obtain some nontrivial bounds in other cases. As an intermediate result of independent interest we prove a Borsuk-Ulam-type theorem on a product of balls. The motivation for this work was to determine Δ(1, 4) (the only case forj=1 in which it is not known whether Δ(1,k)=k); unfortunately the approach fails to give an answer in this case (but we can show Δ(1, 4)≤5). This research was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant CCR-9118874.     

Properties of the Flows Generated by Stochastic Equations with Reflection

We consider the properties of a random set ϕ _t (ℝ ₊ ^d ), where ϕ _t (x) is a solution of a stochastic differential equation in ℝ ₊ ^d with normal reflection from the boundary that starts from a point x. We characterize inner and boundary points of the set ϕ _t (ℝ ₊ ^d ) and prove that the Hausdorff dimension of the boundary ∂ϕ _t (ℝ ₊ ^d ) does not exceed d − 1. __________ Translated from Ukrains'kyi Matematychnyi Zhurnal, Vol. 57, No. 8, pp. 1069 – 1078, August, 2005.