Toric ideals of lattice path matroids and polymatroids

White has conjectured that the toric ideal of a matroid is generated by quadric binomials corresponding to symmetric basis exchanges. We prove a stronger version of this conjecture for lattice path polymatroids by constructing a monomial order under which these sets of quadrics form Gröbner bases. We then introduce a larger class of polymatroids for which an analogous theorem holds. Finally, we obtain the same result for lattice path matroids as a corollary.     

QSym over Sym has a stable basis

We prove that the subset of quasisymmetric polynomials conjectured by Bergeron and Reutenauer to be a basis for the coinvariant space of quasisymmetric polynomials is indeed a basis. This provides the first constructive proof of the Garsia-Wallach result stating that quasisymmetric polynomials form a free module over symmetric polynomials and that the dimension of this module is n!.     

The bivariate Ising polynomial of a graph

In this paper we discuss the two variable Ising polynomials in a graph theoretical setting. This polynomial has its origin in physics as the partition function of the Ising model with an external field. We prove some basic properties of the Ising polynomial and demonstrate that it encodes a large amount of combinatorial information about a graph. We also give examples which prove that certain properties, such as the chromatic number, are not determined by the Ising polynomial. Finally we prove that there exist large families of non-isomorphic planar triangulations with identical Ising polynomial.     

Multiple solutions for elliptic systems with nonlinearities of arbitrary growth

We prove the existence of infinitely many solutions for symmetric elliptic systems with nonlinearities of arbitrary growth. Moreover, if the symmetry of the problem is broken by a small enough perturbation term, we find at least three solutions. The proofs utilise a variational setting given by de Figueiredo and Ruf in order to prove an existence's result and the “algebraic” approach based on the Pohozaev's fibering method.     

Products of polymatroids with the strong exchange property

It was conjectured by White in 1980 that the toric ring associated to a matroid is defined by symmetric exchange relations. This conjecture was extended to discrete polymatroids by Herzog and Hibi, and they prove that the conjecture holds for polymatroids with the so called strong exchange property. In this paper we generalize their result to polymatroids that are products of polymatroids with the strong exchange property. This also extends a result by Conca on transversal polymatroids.     

The Pieri Rule for Dual Immaculate Quasi-Symmetric Functions

The immaculate basis of the non-commutative symmetric functions was recently introduced by the first and third authors to lift certain structures in the symmetric functions to the dual Hopf algebras of the non-commutative and quasi-symmetric functions. It was shown that immaculate basis satisfies a positive, multiplicity free right Pieri rule. It was conjectured that the left Pieri rule may contain signs but that it would be multiplicity free. Similarly, it was also conjectured that the dual quasi-symmetric basis would also satisfy a signed multiplicity free Pieri rule. We prove these two conjectures here.     

Phase transitions for continuous-spin Ising ferromagnets

We study the comparison of continuous-spin ferromagnetic Ising models which differ only in their a priori single-spin weighting measures, and characterize the relationship of two even weighting measures ν′, ν on R such that the spin expectations of any ferromagnet with single-spin weighting measure ν′ are less than those of the same ferromagnet with single-spin measure ν. Combining these comparison results with an extension of Bortz and Griffiths' variant of the Peierls argument, we prove that any (nontrivial) continuous-spin ferromagnetic Ising model of dimension at least 2 with translation-invariant pair interaction is spontaneously magnetized at low temperature. Thus, phase transitions are generic in ferromagnetic Ising models of dimension at least 2.     

Symmetric period solutions with prescribed minimal period for even autonomous semipositive Hamiltonian systems

We study some monotonicity and iteration inequality of the Maslov-type index i-1of linear Hamiltonian systems.As an application we prove the existence of symmetric periodic solutions with prescribed minimal period for first order nonlinear autonomous Hamiltonian systems which are semipositive,even,and superquadratic at zero and infinity.This result gives a positive answer to Rabinowitz’s minimal period conjecture in this case without strictly convex assumption.We also give a different proof of the existence of symmetric periodic solutions with prescribed minimal period for classical Hamiltonian systems which are semipositive,even,and superquadratic at zero and infinity which was proved by Fei,Kim and Wang in 2001.     

BK-type inequalities and generalized random-cluster representations

Recently, van den Berg and Jonasson gave the first substantial extension of the BK inequality for non-product measures: they proved that, for $k$ -out-of- $n$ measures, the probability that two increasing events occur disjointly is at most the product of the two individual probabilities. We show several other extensions and modifications of the BK inequality. In particular, we prove that the antiferromagnetic Ising Curie–Weiss model satisfies the BK inequality for all increasing events. We prove that this also holds for the Curie–Weiss model with three-body interactions under the so-called negative lattice condition. For the ferromagnetic Ising model we show that the probability that two events occur ‘cluster-disjointly’ is at most the product of the two individual probabilities, and we give a more abstract form of this result for arbitrary Gibbs measures. The above cases are derived from a general abstract theorem whose proof is based on an extension of the Fortuin–Kasteleyn random-cluster representation for all probability distributions and on a ‘folding procedure’ which generalizes an argument of Reimer.     

On symmetry of nonnegative solutions of elliptic equations

We consider the Dirichlet problem for a class of fully nonlinear elliptic equations on a bounded domain Ω. We assume that Ω is symmetric about a hyperplane H and convex in the direction perpendicular to H. By a well-known result of Gidas, Ni and Nirenberg and its generalizations, all positive solutions are reflectionally symmetric about H and decreasing away from the hyperplane in the direction orthogonal to H. For nonnegative solutions, this result is not always true. We show that, nonetheless, the symmetry part of the result remains valid for nonnegative solutions: any nonnegative solution u is symmetric about H  . Moreover, we prove that if u?0$u?0$, then the nodal set of u divides the domain Ω into a finite number of reflectionally symmetric subdomains in which u has the usual Gidas–Ni–Nirenberg symmetry and monotonicity properties. We also show several examples of nonnegative solutions with a nonempty interior nodal set.     

Continuous Time Finite State Mean Field Games

In this paper we consider symmetric games where a large number of players can be in any one of d states. We derive a limiting mean field model and characterize its main properties. This mean field limit is a system of coupled ordinary differential equations with initial-terminal data. For this mean field problem we prove a trend to equilibrium theorem, that is convergence, in an appropriate limit, to stationary solutions. Then we study an N+1-player problem, which the mean field model attempts to approximate. Our main result is the convergence as N→∞ of the mean field model and an estimate of the rate of convergence. We end the paper with some further examples for potential mean field games.     

Order quasisymmetric functions distinguish rooted trees

Richard P. Stanley conjectured that finite trees can be distinguished by their chromatic symmetric functions. In this paper, we prove an analogous statement for posets: Finite rooted trees can be distinguished by their order quasisymmetric functions.     

Long-wave instabilities and saturation in thin film equations

Hocherman and Rosenau conjectured that long-wave unstable Cahn-Hilliard-type interface models develop finite-time singularities when the nonlinearity in the destabilizing term grows faster at large amplitudes than the nonlinearity in the stabilizing term (Phys.˜ D 67, 1993, pp. 113–125). We consider this conjecture for a class of equations, often used to model thin films in a lubrication context, by showing that if the solutions are uniformly bounded above or below (e.g., are nonnegative), then the destabilizing term can be stronger than previously conjectured yet the solution still remains globally bounded. For example, they conjecture that for the long-wave unstable equation m > n leads to blowup. Using a conservation-of-volume constraint for the case m > n > 0, we conjecture a different critical exponent for possible singularities of nonnegative solutions. We prove that nonlinearities with exponents below the conjectured critical exponent yield globally bounded solutions. Specifically, for the above equation, solutions are bounded if m < n + 2. The bound is proved using energy methods and is then used to prove the existence of nonnegative weak solutions in the sense of distributions. We present preliminary numerical evidence suggesting that m ≥ n + 2 can allow blowup. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The Algebra of Conjugacy Classes in Symmetric Groups and Partial Permutations

We prove the convolution formula for the conjugacy classes in symmetric groups conjectured by the second author. A combinatorial interpretation of coefficients is provided. As a main tool, we introduce a new semigroup of partial permutations. We describe its structure, representations, and characters. We also discuss filtrations on the subalgebra of invariants in the semigroup algebra. Bibliography: 10 titles.     

Distance-regular digraphs of girth 4 over an extension ring of Z/4Z

Enomoto-Mena[1] showed that two one-parameter families of distance-regular digraphs of girth 4 could possibly exist. Subsequently Liebler-Mena[2] found an infinite family of such digraphs generated over an extension ring ofZ/4Z. We prove that there are no other solutions except for multiplication by principal units to generate distance-regular digraphs of girth 4 under their method. In order to prove this, we introduce Gauss sums and three kinds of Jacobi sums over an extension ring ofZ/4Z. We give necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of these digraphs under that method. It turns out that the Liebler-Mena solutions are the only solutions which satisfy the necessary and sufficient conditions. This fact has been conjectured for a time, but has never been proved.     

On a problem of Namioka on norm-attaining functionals

Isaac Namioka conjectured that every nonreflexive Banach space can be renormed is such a way that, in the new norm, the set of norm attaining functionals has an empty interior in the norm topology. We prove the rightness of this conjecture for spaces containing an isomorphic copy of ℓ₁. As a consequence, we prove also that the same result holds for a wide class of Banach spaces containing, for example, the weakly compactly generated ones.     

Harmonic-number summation identities,symmetric functions,and multiple zeta values

We show how infinite series of a certain type involving generalized harmonic numbers can be computed using a knowledge of symmetric functions and multiple zeta values. In particular, we prove and generalize some identities recently conjectured by Choi, and give several more families of identities of a similar nature.     

Linear Balanceable and Subcubic Balanceable Graphs*

In Math Program 55(1992), 129–168, Conforti and Rao conjectured that every balanced bipartite graph contains an edge that is not the unique chord of a cycle. We prove this conjecture for balanced bipartite graphs that do not contain a cycle of length 4 (also known as linear balanced bipartite graphs), and for balanced bipartite graphs whose maximum degree is at most 3. We in fact obtain results for more general classes, namely linear balanceable and subcubic balanceable graphs. Additionally, we prove that cubic balanced graphs contain a pair of twins, a result that was conjectured by Morris, Spiga, and Webb in ( Discrete Math 310(2010), 3228–3235).     

On the spread of a hermitian matrix and a conjecture of thompson

We prove some inequalities involving the eigenvalues of an nxn Hermitian matrix and the eigenvalues of the (n-1)x(n-1) principal submatrices. We apply this inequality to generalize a known result on the numerical range to the lth numerical range. The method used yields an elegant proof of the converse to the interlacing theorem, which we include. A counterexample to the quardratic spread inequality conjectured by R. C. Thompson is also given.