On the h-triangles of sequentially (S r ) simplicial complexes via algebraic shifting

Recently, Haghighi, Terai, Yassemi, and Zaare-Nahandi introduced the notion of a sequentially (S _r ) simplicial complex. This notion gives a generalization of two properties for simplicial complexes: being sequentially Cohen–Macaulay and satisfying Serre’s condition (S _r ). Let Δ be a (d?1)-dimensional simplicial complex with Γ(Δ) as its algebraic shifting. Also let (h _i,j (Δ))_{0≤j≤i≤d} be the h-triangle of Δ and (h _i,j (Γ(Δ)))_{0≤j≤i≤d} be the h-triangle of Γ(Δ). In this paper, it is shown that for a Δ being sequentially (S _r ) and for every i and j with 0≤j≤i≤r?1, the equality h _i,j (Δ)=h _i,j (Γ(Δ)) holds true.     

The γ-vector of a barycentric subdivision

We prove that the γ-vector of the barycentric subdivision of a simplicial sphere is the f-vector of a balanced simplicial complex. The combinatorial basis for this work is the study of certain refinements of Eulerian numbers used by Brenti and Welker to describe the h-vector of the barycentric subdivision of a boolean complex.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">f</Emphasis>-Vectors of barycentric subdivisions

For a simplicial complex or more generally Boolean cell complex Δ we study the behavior of the f- and h-vector under barycentric subdivision. We show that if Δ has a non-negative h-vector then the h-polynomial of its barycentric subdivision has only simple and real zeros. As a consequence this implies a strong version of the Charney–Davis conjecture for spheres that are the subdivision of a Boolean cell complex or the subdivision of the boundary complex of a simple polytope. For a general (d − 1)-dimensional simplicial complex Δ the h-polynomial of its n-th iterated subdivision shows convergent behavior. More precisely, we show that among the zeros of this h-polynomial there is one converging to infinity and the other d − 1 converge to a set of d − 1 real numbers which only depends on d. F. Brenti and V. Welker are partially supported by EU Research Training Network “Algebraic Combinatorics in Europe”, grant HPRN-CT-2001-00272 and the program on “Algebraic Combinatorics” at the Mittag-Leffler Institut in Spring 2005.     

The Multiplicity Conjecture for Barycentric Subdivisions

For a simplicial complex Δ we study the effect of barycentric subdivision on ring theoretic invariants of its Stanley–Reisner ring. In particular, for Stanley–Reisner rings of barycentric subdivisions we verify a conjecture by Huneke and Herzog and Srinivasan, that relates the multiplicity of a standard graded k-algebra to the product of the maximal and minimal shifts in its minimal free resolution up to the height. On the way to proving the conjecture, we develop new and list well-known results on behavior of dimension, Hilbert series, multiplicity, local cohomology, depth, and regularity when passing from the Stanley–Reisner ring of Δ to the one of its barycentric subdivision.     

The Maximum Chromatic Index of Multigraphs with Given Δ and?μ

Let f(Δ,?μ) =?max {χ′(G) | Δ (G) =?Δ,?μ(G) =?μ} where χ′(G), Δ(G) and?μ(G) denote the the chromatic index, the maximum degree and the maximum multiplicity of the multigraph G, respectively. If Δ < 2μ, then Shannon’s bound implies that the gap between f(Δ,?μ) and Vizing’s bound Δ +?μ can be arbitrarily large. In this note, we prove that this is also the case for Δ ≥?2μ (see Theorem 4).     

Polynomials with nonnegative coefficients and a given factor

For a given real polynomial f without positive roots (without nonnegative roots, respectively) we study polynomials h of lowest degree such that the product hf has nonnegative (positive, respectively) coefficients. Our main result is the determination of polynomials h of minimal degree with the aforementioned properties for quadratic polynomials f with negative discriminant; here we exploit slightly modified ideas of E. Meissner (1911). Further, we show that h can be calculated in finitely many steps.     

A dimension series for multivariate splines

For a polyhedral subdivision Δ of a region in Euclideand-space, we consider the vector spaceC _k ^r (Δ) consisting of allC ^r piecewise polynomial functions over Δ of degree at mostk. We consider the formal power series ∑ _k≥0 dim_? C _k ^r (Δ)λ^k and show, under mild conditions on Δ, that this always has the formP(λ)/(1?λ) ^d+1, whereP(λ) is a polynomial in λ with integral coefficients which satisfiesP(0)=1,P(1)=f _d (Δ), andP′(1)=(r+1)f _d?1 ⁰ (Δ). We discuss how the polynomialP(λ) and bases for the spacesC _k ^r (Δ) can be effectively calculated by use of Gröbner basis techniques of computational commutative algebra. A further application is given to the theory of hyperplane arrangements.     

Squarefree P-modules and the cd-index

In this paper, we introduce a new algebraic concept, which we call squarefree P-modules. This concept is inspired from Karu's proof of the non-negativity of the cd-indices of Gorenstein* posets, and supplies a way to study cd-indices from the viewpoint of commutative algebra. Indeed, by using the theory of squarefree P-modules, we give several new algebraic and combinatorial results on CW-posets. First, we define an analogue of the cd-index for any CW-poset and prove its non-negativity when a CW-poset is Cohen–Macaulay. This result proves that the h-vector of the barycentric subdivision of a Cohen–Macaulay regular CW-complex is unimodal. Second, we prove that the Stanley–Reisner ring of the barycentric subdivision of an odd dimensional Cohen–Macaulay polyhedral complex has the weak Lefschetz property. Third, we obtain sharp upper bounds of the cd-indices of Gorenstein* posets for a fixed rank generating function.     

On a calculus for a generalized scalar operator

Let $\text{X}$ be a Banach space; S and T bounded scalar-type operators in $\text{X}$. Define Δ on the space of bounded operators on $\text{X}$ by ΔX = TX ? XS if X is a bounded operator. We set up a calculus for Δ which allows us to consider f(Δ), for f a complex-valued bounded Borel measurable function on the spectrum of Δ, as an operator in the space of bounded operators whose domain is a subspace of operators which we call measure generating. This calculus is used to obtain some results on when the kernel of Δ is a complemented subspace of the space of bounded operators on $\text{X}$.     

H-triangles with 3 interior H-points

H -triangle is a triangle with corners in the set of vertices of a tiling of ?² by regular hexagons of unit edge. Let b(Δ) be the number of the boundary H-points of an H-triangle Δ. In this note we prove that any H-triangle with exactly 3 interior H-points can have 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 or 16 H-points on its boundary.     

A sharp upper bound on the maximal entry in the principal eigenvector of symmetric nonnegative matrix

An upper bound on the maximal entry in the principal eigenvector of a symmetric nonnegative matrix with zero diagonal entries is investigated in [S. Zhao, Y. Hong, On the bounds of maximal entries in the principal eigenvector of symmetric nonnegative matrix, Linear Algebra Appl. 340 (2002) 245-252]. We obtain a sharp upper bound on the maximal entry y^max_p in the principal eigenvector of symmetric nonnegative matrix in terms of order, the spectral radius, the largest and the smallest diagonal entries of that matrix. Our bound is applicable for any symmetric nonnegative matrix and the upper bound of Zhao and Hong (2002) for the maximal entry y^max_p follows as a special case. Moreover, we find an upper bound on maximal entry in the principal eigenvector for the signless Laplacian matrix of a graph.     

Isospectral flow method for nonnegative inverse eigenvalue problem with prescribed structure

The nonnegative inverse eigenvalue problem is that given a family of complex numbers λ={λ₁,…,λ_n}, find a nonnegative matrix of order n with spectrum λ. This problem is difficult and remains unsolved partially. In this paper, we focus on its generalization that the reconstructed nonnegative matrices should have some prescribed entries. It is easy to see that this new problem will come back to the common nonnegative inverse eigenvalue problem if there is no constraint of the locations of entries. A numerical isospectral flow method which is developed by hybridizing the optimization theory and steepest descent method is used to study the reconstruction. Moreover, an error estimate of the numerical iteration for ordinary differential equations on the matrix manifold is presented. After that, a numerical method for the nonnegative symmetric inverse eigenvalue problem with prescribed entries and its error estimate are considered. Finally, the approaches are verified by the numerical test results.     

Multipliers of spherical harmonics and energy of measures on the sphere

We consider the operator,f(Δ) for Δ the Laplacian, on spaces of measures on the sphere inR ^d , show how to determine a family of approximating kernels for this operator assuming that certain technical conditions are satisfied, and give estimates for theL²-norm off(Δ)μ in terms of the energy of the measure μ. We derive a formula, analogous to the classical formula relating the energy of a measure onR ^d with its Fourier transform, comparing the energy of a measure on the sphere with the size of its spherical harmonics. An application is given to pluriharmonic measures.     

Blow-up problems for nonlinear parabolic equations on locally finite graphs

Let G=(V,E) be a locally finite connected weighted graph, and Δ be the usual graph Laplacian. In this article, we study blow-up problems for the nonlinear parabolic equation u_t=Δu + f(u) on G. The blow-up phenomenons for u_t=Δu + f(u) are discussed in terms of two cases: (i) an initial condition is given; (ii) a Dirichlet boundary condition is given. We prove that if f satisfies appropriate conditions, then the corresponding solutions will blow up in a finite time.     

Rational realization of the minimum ranks of nonnegative sign pattern matrices

A sign pattern matrix (or nonnegative sign pattern matrix) is a matrix whose entries are from the set {+,?, 0} ({+, 0}, respectively). The minimum rank (or rational minimum rank) of a sign pattern matrix A is the minimum of the ranks of the matrices (rational matrices, respectively) whose entries have signs equal to the corresponding entries of A. Using a correspondence between sign patterns with minimum rank r ≥ 2 and point-hyperplane configurations in R^r?1 and Steinitz’s theorem on the rational realizability of 3-polytopes, it is shown that for every nonnegative sign pattern of minimum rank at most 4, the minimum rank and the rational minimum rank are equal. But there are nonnegative sign patterns with minimum rank 5 whose rational minimum rank is greater than 5. It is established that every d-polytope determines a nonnegative sign pattern with minimum rank d + 1 that has a (d + 1) × (d + 1) triangular submatrix with all diagonal entries positive. It is also shown that there are at most min{3m, 3n} zero entries in any condensed nonnegative m × n sign pattern of minimum rank 3. Some bounds on the entries of some integer matrices achieving the minimum ranks of nonnegative sign patterns with minimum rank 3 or 4 are established.     

Positive solutions of the p-Laplacian involving a superlinear nonlinearity with zeros

Using a combination of several methods, such as variational methods, the sub and supersolutions method, comparison principles and a priori estimates, we study existence, multiplicity, and the behavior with respect to λ of positive solutions of p-Laplace equations of the form −Δpu=λh(x,u), where the nonlinear term has p-superlinear growth at infinity, is nonnegative, and satisfies h(x,a(x))=0 for a suitable positive function a. In order to manage the asymptotic behavior of the solutions we extend a result due to Redheffer and we establish a new Liouville-type theorem for the p-Laplacian operator, where the nonlinearity involved is superlinear, nonnegative, and has positive zeros.     

On approximation by bivariate incomplete polynomials

In this paper we prove that given certain convex domains Δ on the plane, ε>0, andf∈C(Δ) such thatf=0 on θ²Δ={(θ² x,θ² y):(x,y)?Δ} (0<θ<1), a polynomialp(x, y) of the form $$p(x,y) = \sum\limits_{\theta n \leqslant k + l \leqslant n} {a_{kl} x^k y^l }$$ exists such that ∥f?p∥ _C(Δ) ≤ε. The admissible convex domains include triangles and parallelograms with a vertex at the origin and sections of unit disk.     

Counting matrices over finite fields with support on skew Young diagrams and complements of Rothe diagrams

We consider the problem of finding the number of matrices over a finite field with a certain rank and with support that avoids a subset of the entries. These matrices are a q-analogue of permutations with restricted positions (i.e., rook placements). For general sets of entries, these numbers of matrices are not polynomials in q (Stembridge in Ann. Comb. 2(4):365, 1998); however, when the set of entries is a Young diagram, the numbers, up to a power of q?1, are polynomials with nonnegative coefficients (Haglund in Adv. Appl. Math. 20(4):450, 1998). In this paper, we give a number of conditions under which these numbers are polynomials in q, or even polynomials with nonnegative integer coefficients. We extend Haglund’s result to complements of skew Young diagrams, and we apply this result to the case where the set of entries is the Rothe diagram of a permutation. In particular, we give a necessary and sufficient condition on the permutation for its Rothe diagram to be the complement of a skew Young diagram up to rearrangement of rows and columns. We end by giving conjectures connecting invertible matrices whose support avoids a Rothe diagram and Poincaré polynomials of the strong Bruhat order.     

The structure of plane graphs with independent crossings and its applications to coloring problems

If a graph G has a drawing in the plane in such a way that every two crossings are independent, then we call G a plane graph with independent crossings or IC-planar graph for short. In this paper, the structure of IC-planar graphs with minimum degree at least two or three is studied. By applying their structural results, we prove that the edge chromatic number of G is Δ if Δ ≥ 8, the list edge (resp. list total) chromatic number of G is Δ (resp. Δ + 1) if Δ ≥ 14 and the linear arboricity of G is ?Δ/2? if Δ ≥ 17, where G is an IC-planar graph and Δ is the maximum degree of G.     

Gidas-Ni-Nirenberg results for finite difference equations: Estimates of approximate symmetry

Are positive solutions of finite difference boundary value problems Δhu=f(u) in Ωh, u=0 on ∂Ωh as symmetric as the domain? To answer this question we first show by examples that almost arbitrary non-symmetric solutions can be constructed. This is in striking difference to the continuous case, where by the famous Gidas-Ni-Nirenberg theorem [B. Gidas, Wei-Ming Ni, L. Nirenberg, Symmetry and related problems via the maximum principle, Comm. Math. Phys. 68 (1979) 209-243] positive solutions inherit the symmetry of the underlying domain. Then we prove approximate symmetry theorems for solutions on equidistantly meshed n-dimensional cubes: explicit estimates depending on the data are given which show that the solutions become more symmetric as the discretization gets finer. The quality of the estimates depends on whether or not f(0)<0. The one-dimensional case stands out in two ways: the proofs are elementary and the estimates for the defect of symmetry are O(h) compared to O(1/|log(h)|) in the higher-dimensional case.