On the universal completion of pointfree function spaces

This paper approaches the construction of the universal completion of the Riesz space $\mathrm{C}(L)$ of continuous real functions on a completely regular frame L in two different ways. Firstly as the space of continuous real functions on the Booleanization of L. Secondly as the space of nearly finite Hausdorff continuous functions on L. The former has no counterpart in the classical theory, as the Booleanization of a spatial frame is not spatial in general, and it offers a lucid way of representing the universal completion as a space of continuous real functions. As a corollary we obtain that $\mathrm{C}(L)$ and $\mathrm{C}(M)$ have isomorphic universal completions if and only if the Booleanization of L and M are isomorphic and we characterize frames L such that $\mathrm{C}(L)$ is universally complete as almost Boolean frames. The application of this last result to the classical case $\mathrm{C}(X)$ of the space of continuous real functions on a topological space X characterizes those spaces X for which $\mathrm{C}(X)$ is universally complete. Finally, we present a pointfree version of the Maeda-Ogasawara-Vulikh representation theorem and use it to represent the universal completion of an Archimedean Riesz space with weak unit as a space of continuous real functions on a Boolean frame.     

Graded-division algebras and Galois extensions

Graded-division algebras are building blocks in the theory of finite-dimensional associative algebras graded by a group G. If G is abelian, they can be described, using a loop construction, in terms of central simple graded-division algebras.On the other hand, given a finite abelian group G, any central simple G-graded-division algebra over a field $\mathbb{F}$ is determined, thanks to a result of Picco and Platzeck, by its class in the (ordinary) Brauer group of $\mathbb{F}$ and the isomorphism class of a G-Galois extension of $\mathbb{F}$.This connection is used to classify the simple G-Galois extensions of $\mathbb{F}$ in terms of a Galois field extension $\mathbb{L}/\mathbb{F}$ with Galois group isomorphic to a quotient $G/K$ and an element in the quotient ${\mathrm{\text{Z}}}^2(K,{\mathbb{L}}^{\times })/{\mathrm{\text{B}}}^2(K,{\mathbb{F}}^{\times })$ subject to certain conditions. Non-simple G-Galois extensions are induced from simple T-Galois extensions for a subgroup T of G. We also classify finite-dimensional G-graded-division algebras and, as an application, finite G-graded-division rings.     

Endomorphisms and cores of quadratic forms graphs in odd characteristic

A graph G is called a pseudo-core if every endomorphism of G is either an automorphism or a colouring. A graph G is a core if every endomorphism of G is an automorphism. Let ${\mathbb{F}}_q$ be the finite field with q elements where q is a power of an odd prime number. The quadratic forms graph, denoted by $\mathrm{Quad}(n,q)$ where $n\ge 2$, has all quadratic forms on ${\mathbb{F}}_q^n$ as vertices and two vertices f and g are adjacent whenever $\mathrm{rk}(f-g)=1$ or 2. We prove that every $\mathrm{Quad}(n,q)$ is a pseudo-core. Further, when n is even, $\mathrm{Quad}(n,q)$ is a core. When n is odd, $\mathrm{Quad}(n,q)$ is not a core. On the other hand, we completely determine the independence number of $\mathrm{Quad}(n,q)$.     

The discriminant problem for Artin-Schreier extensions: Explicit results

Given a global function field K of characteristic p, for all effective divisors $\mathfrak{D}$ in the divisor group of K we count the number of cyclic extensions $F\supset K$ of degree p where the relative discriminant ${\mathrm{\text{Disc}}}_K(F)=(p-1)\mathfrak{D}$.     

Flow number and circular flow number of signed cubic graphs

Let $\mathrm{\Phi }(G,\sigma )$ and ${\mathrm{\Phi }}_c(G,\sigma )$ denote the flow number and the circular flow number of a flow-admissible signed graph $(G,\sigma )$, respectively. It is known that $\mathrm{\Phi }(G)=?{\mathrm{\Phi }}_c(G)?$ for every unsigned graph G. Based on this fact, in 2011 Raspaud and Zhu conjectured that $\mathrm{\Phi }(G,\sigma )?{\mathrm{\Phi }}_c(G,\sigma )<1$ holds also for every flow-admissible signed graph $(G,\sigma )$. This conjecture was disproved by Schubert and Steffen using graphs with bridges and vertices of large degree. In this paper we focus on cubic graphs, since they play a crucial role in many open problems in graph theory. For cubic graphs we show that $\mathrm{\Phi }(G,\sigma )=3$ if and only if ${\mathrm{\Phi }}_c(G,\sigma )=3$ and if $\mathrm{\Phi }(G,\sigma )\in \{4,5\}$, then $4\le {\mathrm{\Phi }}_c(G,\sigma )\le \mathrm{\Phi }(G,\sigma )$. We also prove that all pairs of flow number and circular flow number that fulfil these conditions can be achieved in the family of bridgeless cubic graphs and thereby disprove the conjecture of Raspaud and Zhu even for bridgeless signed cubic graphs. Finally, we prove that all currently known flow-admissible graphs without nowhere-zero 5-flow have flow number and circular flow number 6 and propose several conjectures in this area.