On the 3-Pfister Number of Quadratic Forms

For a field F of characteristic different from 2, containing a square root of -1, endowed with an F^×2-compatible valuation v such that the residue field has at most two square classes, we use a combinatorial analogue of the Witt ring of F to prove that an anisotropic quadratic form over F with even dimension d, trivial discriminant, and Hasse–Witt invariant can be written in the Witt ring as the sum of at most (d²)/8 3-fold Pfister forms.     

APPLICATIONS OF CLIFFORD ALGEBRAS TO INVOLUTIONS AND QUADRATIC FORMS

ABSTRACT

Let k be a field, char k ≠ 2, F = k(x), D a biquaternion division algebra over k, and σ an orthogonal involution on D with nontrivial discriminant. We show that there exists a quadratic form ? ∈ I ²(F) such that dim ? = 8, [C(?)] = [D], and ? does not decompose into a direct sum of two forms similar to two-fold Pfister forms. This implies in particular that the field extension F(D)/F is not excellent. Also we prove that if A is a central simple K-algebra of degree 8 with an orthogonal involution σ, then σ is hyperbolic if and only if σ _K(A) is hyperbolic. Finally, let σ be a decomposable orthogonal involution on the algebra M _{2 ^m} (K). In the case m ≤ 5 we give another proof of the fact that σ is a Pfister involution. If m ≥ 2 ^n?2 ? 2 and n ≥ 5, we show that q _σ ∈ I ⁿ (K), where q _σ is a quadratic form corresponding to σ. The last statement is founded on a deep result of Orlov et al. (2000) concerning generic splittings of quadratic forms.     

On the dimensions of anisotropic quadratic forms in I4

Let WF denote the Witt ring of a field F of characteristic ≠2 and let I ⁿ F denote the n-th power of the ideal IF of even-dimensional forms in WF. The Arason-Pfister Hauptsatz states that if 0≠ϕ∈I ⁿ F is anisotropic then dim ϕ≥ 2 ⁿ . Pfister also showed that if ϕ∈I ³ F is anisotropic and dim ϕ>8 then dim ϕ≥12. We extend this result to I ⁴ F and show that if ϕ∈I ⁴ F is anisotropic and dim ϕ>16 then dim ϕ≥24 and we provide some results on anisotropic 24-dimensional forms in I ⁴ F. Oblatum 5-IV-1996 & 11-III-1997     

Products of central collineations

An n by n matrix M over a (commutative) field F is said to be central if M ? I has rank 1. We say that M is an involution if M²=I; if M is also central we call M a simple involution. We will prove that any n-by-n matrix M satisfying detM=±1 is the product of n+2 or fewer simple involutions. This can be reduced to n+1 if F contains no roots of the equation xⁿ=(?1)ⁿ other than ±1. Any ordered field is of this kind. Our main result is that if M is any n-by-n nonsingular nonscalar matrix and if x_i ∈ F such that x₁?x_n=detM, then there exist central matrices M_i such that M=M₁?M_n and x_i=detM_i for i=1,…,n. We will apply this result to the projective group PGL(n,F) and to the little projective group PSL(n,F).     

Pfister forms and their applications

This note investigates the properties of the 2ⁿ-dimensional quadratic forms ?_i=2ⁿ 〈1, a_i〉, called n-fold Pfister forms. Utilizing these properties, various applications are made to k-theory of fields, and field invariants. In particular, the set of orderings of a field and the maximum dimension of anisotropic forms with everywhere zero signature are investigated. Details will appear elsewhere.     

Splitting of Quadratic Forms under Some Generic Field Extensions

Let F be a field, char F ≠ 2, and ? and ψ be anisotropic quadratic forms over F. Let L be a generic field extension of F such that i(ψ _L ) ≥ 2. Under what conditions is the form ? _L isotropic? We give an answer to this question in the cases where dim ? = 5, dim ψ = 6 and dim ? = 6, dim ψ = 7. Bibliography: 18 titles.     

Bilocal automorphisms of <Emphasis Type="Italic">T</Emphasis><Subscript>∞</Subscript>(<Emphasis Type="Italic">F</Emphasis>)

We prove that if F is a field such that |F| > 2, then every bilocal automorphism of T _∞(F) - the algebra of ? × ? upper triangular matrices over F, is an automorphism.     

Idempotence preserving maps on spaces of triangular matrices

SupposeF is an arbitrary field. Let |F| be the number of the elements ofF. LetT _n (F) be the space of allnxn upper-triangular matrices overF. A map Ψ: T _N (F) → T _N (F) is said to preserve idempotence ifA - λ B is idempotent if and only if Ψ(A) - λΨ(B) is idempotent for anyA, B ∈ T _n (F) and λ ∈ F. It is shown that: when the characteristic ofF is not 2, |F|>3 and n ≥ 3, Ψ:T _n (F) → T _n (F) is a map preserving idempotence if and only if there exists an invertible matrixP τ T _n (F) such that either ?(A) = PAP ^?1 for everyA ∈ T _n (F) or Ψ(A) = PJA ^t JP ^?1 for everyA ∈ T _n (F), whereJ = ∑ _n=1 ⁿ E _i,n+1?i and E_ij is the matrix with 1 in the (i,j)th entry and 0 elsewhere.     

Approximation of convolutions by accompanying laws under the existence of moments of low orders

It is shown that if a one-dimensional distribution F has finite moment of order 1+β for some β, 1/2≤β≤1, then the rate of approximation of the n-fold convolution Fⁿ by accompanying laws is O(n^−1/2). Futhermore, if Eξ² = ∞ and 1/2<β<1, then the rate of approximation is o(n^−1/2). The question about the true rate of approximation of Fⁿ by infinitely divisible and accompanying laws is discussed. Bibliography: 27 titles. Translated fromZapiski Nauchnykh Seminarov POMI, Vol. 228, 1996, pp. 135–141.     

A note on a conjecture on permanents

Let Kn denote the set of all n × n nonnegative matrices whose entries have sum n, and let ϕ be a real function on K_n defined by ϕ (X) = Πⁿ_i=1Σⁿ_j=1x_ij + Πⁿ_j=1Σⁿ_i=1x_ij − per X for X = [x_ij] ϵ K_n. A matrix A ϵ K_n is called a ϕ -maximizing matrix on K_n if ϕ (A) ⩾ ϕ (X) for all X ϵ K_n. It is conjectured that J_n = [1/n]_{n × n} is the unique ϕ-maximizing matrix on K_n. In this note, the following are proved: (i) If A is a positive ϕ-maximizing matrix, then A = J_n. (ii) If A is a row stochastic ϕ-maximizing matrix, then A = J_n. (iii) Every row sum and every column sum of a ϕ-maximizing matrix lies between 1 − √2·n!/nⁿ and 1 + (n − 1)√2·n!/nⁿ. (iv) For any p.s.d. symmetric A ϵ K_n, ϕ (A) ⩽ 2 − n!/nⁿ with equality iff A = J_n. (v) ϕ attains a strict local maximum on K_n at J_n.     

Ternary codes of steiner triple systems

The code over a finite field F^q of a design ?? is the space spanned by the incidence vectors of the blocks. It is shown here that if ?? is a Steiner triple system on v points, and if the integer d is such that 3^d ≤ v < 3^d+1, then the ternary code C of ?? contains a subcode that can be shortened to the ternary generalized Reed-Muller code ?_F3(2(d ? 1),d) of length 3^d. If v = 3^d and d ≥ 2, then C_? ? ?_F3(1,d)? ? _F3(2(d ? 1),d) ? C. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Moments of Two-Variable Functions and the Uniqueness of Graph Limits

For a symmetric bounded measurable function W on [0, 1]² and a simple graph F, the homomorphism density $t(F,W) = \int _{[0,1]^{V (F)}} \prod_ {i j\in E(F)} W(x_i, x_j)dx .$ can be thought of as a “moment” of W. We prove that every such function is determined by its moments up to a measure preserving transformation of the variables. The main motivation for this result comes from the theory of convergent graph sequences. A sequence (G _n ) of dense graphs is said to be convergent if the probability, t(F, G _n ), that a random map from V(F) into V(G _n ) is a homomorphism converges for every simple graph F. The limiting density can be expressed as t(F, W) for a symmetric bounded measurable function W on [0, 1]². Our results imply in particular that the limit of a convergent graph sequence is unique up to measure preserving transformation.     

On Additive Commutator Groups in Division Rings

Let D be a division ring with center F and denote by [D,D] the group generated additively by additive commutators. First, it is shown that in zero characteristic, D is algebraic over F if and only if each element of [D,D] is algebraic over F. We conjecture that this assertion is true for any characteristic. Also, as a generalization of Jacobson’s Theorem it is proved that D is an F-central division ring if and only if all its additive commutators are of bounded degree over F. Furthermore, we study the F- vector space D/[D,D] and show that dim_FD/[D,D] ≤ 1 if D is algebraic over F and char F = 0. We then prove that any algebraic division ring contains a separable additive commutator over F except in one special case. Finally, the existence of primitive elements in [D, D] is studied for finite separable extensions of F in D.     

Goodness of trees for generalized books

A connected graphG is said to beF-good if the Ramsey numberr(F, G) is equal to(x(F) ? 1)(p(G) ? 1) + s(F), wheres(F) is the minimum number of vertices in some color class under all vertex colorings by _χ (F) colors. It is of interest to know which graphsF have the property that all trees areF-good. It is shown that any large tree isK(1, 1,m ₁,m ₂,...,m _t )-good.     

Splitting Patterns and Invariants of Quadratic Forms

Let φ be an anisotropic quadratic form over a field F of characteristic not 2. The splitting pattern of φ is defined to be the increasing sequence of nonnegative integers obtained by considering the Witt indices i_W(φ_k) of φ over K where K ranges over all field extensions of F. Restating earlier results by HURRELBRINK and REHMANN , we show how the index of the Clifford algebra of φ influences the splitting pattern. In the case where F is formally real, we investigate how the signatures of φ influence the splitting behaviour. This enables us to construct certain splitting patterns which have been known to exist, but now over much “simpler” fields like formally real global fields or ?(t). We also give a full classification of splitting patterns of forms of dimension less than or equal to 9 in terms of properties of the determinant and Clifford invariant. Partial results for splitting patterns in dimensions 10 and 11 are also provided. Finally, we consider two anisotropic forms φ and φ of the same dimension m with φ ? ? φ ∈ Iⁿ F and give some bounds on m depending on n which assure that they have the same splitting pattern.     

The diagnonal multivariate natural exponential families and their classification

A natural exponential family (NEF)F in ? ⁿ ,n>1, is said to be diagonal if there existn functions,a ₁,...,a _n , on some intervals of ?, such that the covariance matrixV _F (m) ofF has diagonal (a ₁(m ₁),...,a _n (m _n )), for allm=(m ₁,...,m _n ) in the mean domain ofF. The familyF is also said to be irreducible if it is not the product of two independent NEFs in ? ^k and ? ^n-k , for somek=1,...,n?1. This paper shows that there are only six types of irreducible diagonal NEFs in ? ⁿ , that we call normal, Poisson, multinomial, negative multinomial, gamma, and hybrid. These types, with the exception of the latter two, correspond to distributions well established in the literature. This study is motivated by the following question: IfF is an NEF in ? ⁿ , under what conditions is its projectionp(F) in ? ^k , underp(x ₁,...,x _n )∶=(x ₁,...,x _k ),k=1,...,n?1, still an NEF in ? ^k ? The answer turns out to be rather predictable. It is the case if, and only if, the principalk×k submatrix ofV _F (m ₁,...,m _n ) does not depend on (m _k+1,...,m _n ).     

Edge-bipancyclicity of a hypercube with faulty vertices and edges

A bipartite graph G=(V,E) is said to be bipancyclic if it contains a cycle of every even length from 4 to |V|. Furthermore, a bipancyclic G is said to be edge-bipancyclic if every edge of G lies on a cycle of every even length. Let F_v (respectively, F_e) be the set of faulty vertices (respectively, faulty edges) in an n-dimensional hypercube Q_n. In this paper, we show that every edge of Q_n-F_v-F_e lies on a cycle of every even length from 4 to 2ⁿ-2|F_v| even if |F_v|+|F_e|?n-2, where n?3. Since Q_n is bipartite of equal-size partite sets and is regular of vertex-degree n, both the number of faults tolerated and the length of a longest fault-free cycle obtained are worst-case optimal.     

Nonexcellence of certain field extensions

Towers of fields F₁ ⊂ F₂ ⊂ F₃ are considered, where F₃/F₂ is a quadratic extension and F₂/F₁ is an extension, which is either quadratic or of odd degree or purely transcendental of degree 1. Numerous examples of the above types such that the extension F₃/F₁ is not 4-excellent are constructed. Also it is shown that if k is a field, char k ≠ 2, and l/k is an arbitrary field extension of fourth degree, then there exists a field extension F/k such that the fourth degree extension lF/F is not 4-excellent. Bibliography: 5 titles. __________ Translated from Zapiski Nauchnykh Seminarov POMI, Vol. 338, 2006, pp. 213–226.     

The property O n for finite seminormal functors

We give a finite combinatorial test for finite seminormal functors to possess the property O _n and use it in establishing that in some cases this property leads to some well-known functors. For example, if some functor F possesses the property O ₂ then F ₂ coincides with either exp₂ or the squaring functor. Hence we conclude that if F(D ^ω ₁) and D ^ω ₁ are homeomorphic then F ₂ is either exp₂ or (·)².