On switching paths polyhedra

A class of integer polyhedra with totally dual integral (tdi) systems is proposed, which generalizes and unifies the “Switching Paths Polyhedra” of Hoffman (introduced in his generalization of Max Flow-Min Cut) and such polyhedra as the convex hull of (the incidence vectors of) all “path-closed sets” of an acyclic digraph, or the convex hull of all sets partitionable intok path-closed sets. As an application, new min-max theorems concerning the mentioned sets are given. A general lemma on when a tdi system of inequalities is box tdi is also given and used.     

On graphs that can be oriented as diagrams of ordered sets

We study some equivalent and necessary conditions for a finite graph to be the covering graph of a (partially) ordered set. For each 1, M. Aigner and G. Prins have introduced a notion of a vertex colouring, here called -good colouring, such that a 1-good colouring is the usual concept and graphs that have a 2-good colouring are precisely covering graphs. We present some inequalities for the corresponding chromatic numbers , especially for x ₂. There exist graphs that satisfy these inequalities for =2 but are not covering graphs. We show also that x ₂ cannot be bounded by a function of x=x ₁. A construction of Neetil and Rödl is used to show that x ₂ is not bounded by a function of the girth.     

Minimizing the jump number for partially ordered sets: A graph-theoretic approach

The purpose of this paper is to present a graph-theoretic approach to the jump number problem for N-free posets which is based on the observation that the Hasse diagram of an N-free poset is a line digraph. Therefore, to every N-free poset P we can assign another digraph which is the root digraph of the Hasse diagram of P. Using this representation we show that the jump number of an N-free poset is equal to the cyclomatic number of its root digraph and can be found (without producing any linear extension) by an algorithm which tests if a given poset is N-free. Moreover, we demonstrate that there exists a correspondence between optimal linear extensions of an N-free poset and spanning branchings of its root digraph. We provide also another proof of the fact that optimal linear extensions of N-free posets are exactly greedy linear extensions. In conclusion, we discuss some possible generalizations of these results to arbitrary posets.     

Automorphism groups of comparability and covering graphs

Let G be a group and H a subgroup of G. It is shown that there exists a partially ordered set (X, ) such that G is isomorphic to the group of all automorphisms of the comparability graph of (X, ) and such that under this isomorphism H is mapped onto the group of all order-automorphisms of (X, ). There also exists a partially ordered set (Y, ) such that G is isomorphic to the group of all automorphisms of the covering graph of (Y, ) and such that under this isomorphism H is mapped onto the group of all order-automorphisms of (Y, ). In this representation X and Y can be taken to be finite if G is finite and of the same cardinality as G if G is infinite.     

On reorienting graphs by pushing down maximal vertices

We study the operation of pushing down elements in the diagram of a finite ordered set. Two natural questions about this operation are, ‘Which orientations of the underlying graph can be obtained from a given orientation by pushing down?’ and ‘Which sets of vertices can become the sets of maximal elements in such orientations?’. For both questions thére are easy necessary conditions. We show that these conditions are also sufficient. The results are extended to cover all induced subgraphs and arbitrary orientations of a finite graph.     

Automorphisms and isotone self-maps of ordered sets with top and bottom

For an ordered setP letP ^P denote the set of all isotone self-maps on P, that is, all mapsf fromP toP such thatxy impliesf(x)f(y), and let Aut (P) the set of all automorphisms onP, that is, all bijective isotone self-maps inP ^P . We establish an inequality relating ¦P ^P ¦ and ¦Aut(P)¦ in terms of the irreducibles ofP. As a straightforward corollary, we show that Rival and Rutkowski's automorphism conjecture is true for lattices. It is also true for ordered sets with top and bottom whose covering graphs are planar.Supported in part by NSERC (Grant no. A2507).Supported under an NSERC International Research Fellowship.     

Weak regularity of functions and sets in Asplund spaces

In this paper, we study a new concept of weak regularity of functions and sets in Asplund spaces. We show that this notion includes prox-regular functions, functions whose subdifferential is weakly submonotone and amenable functions in infinite dimension. We establish also that weak regularity is equivalent to Mordukhovich regularity in finite dimension. Finally, we give characterizations of the weak regularity of epi-Lipschitzian sets in terms of their local representations.     

Finite digraphs with given regular automorphism groups

With five exceptions, every finite regular permutation group occurs as the automorphism group of a digraph.One of the corollaries: given a finite groupG of ordern, there is a commutative semigroupS of order 2n+2 such that AutSG. The problem whether a latticeL of order Cn with AutLG exists (for some constantC), remains open.     

Quotients of peck posets

An elementary, self-contained proof of a result of Pouzet and Rosenberg and of Harper is given. This result states that the quotient of certain posets (called unitary Peck) by a finite group of automorphisms retains some nice properties, including the Sperner property. Examples of unitary Peck posets are given, and the techniques developed here are used to prove a result of Lovász on the edge-reconstruction conjecture.Supported in part by a National Science Foundation research grant.     

W v cycles in plane graphs

A cycle in a plane graphG is called aW _v cycle if it has a connected (or empty) intersection with each face of the graph. We show that if the minimum degree (G)3 thenG has aW _v cycle and the lengthw(G) of a longestW _v cycle is bounded by the number,f(G), of faces ofG. The classW of graphsG withw(G)=f(G) is completely characterized by an characterized by an inductive construction from two graphs, namelyK ₄ and a face merging of two copies ofK ₄ on one hand, and in terms involving Halin graphs and face merging on the other hand. Longest cycles in members ofW are investigated. The shortness coefficient ofW is proved to be between one-half and three-quarters inclusively.     

Homogeneity in finite ordered sets

A tower in an ordered set (X, ) is defined to be a subsetS ofX which has the property that for everysS there is a maximal chainC in {xX|xs} which is wholly contained inS. An ordered set (X, ) is called tower-homogeneous if every order isomorphism between towers in (X, ) can be extended to an automorphism of (X, ). It is shown that a finite ordered set is tower-homogeneous if and only if it can be built up from singletons stepwise by constructions of three different types.     

On lattices of convex sets in {\mathbb{R}}^{n}

Properties of several sorts of lattices of convex subsets of are examined. The lattice of convex sets containing the origin turns out, for n > 1, to satisfy a set of identities strictly between those of the lattice of all convex subsets of and the lattice of all convex subsets of The lattices of arbitrary, of open bounded, and of compact convex sets in all satisfy the same identities, but the last of these is join-semidistributive, while for n > 1 the first two are not. The lattice of relatively convex subsets of a fixed set satisfies some, but in general not all of the identities of the lattice of “genuine” convex subsets of To the memory of Ivan RivalReceived April 22, 2003; accepted in final form February 16, 2005.This revised version was published online in August 2005 with a corrected cover date.     

Metrics with finite sets of primitive extensions

In this paper, we give a complete characterization for the class of rational finite metrics with the property that the set () of primitive extensions of is finite. Here, for a metric on a setT, a positive extensionm of to a setV T is calledprimitive if none of the convex combinations of other extensions of toV is less than or equal tom. Our main theorem asserts that the following the properties are equivalent: (i) () is finite; (ii) Up to an integer factor, is a submetric of the path metric d ^H of a graphH with |(d ^H )=1; (iii) A certain bipartite graph associated with contains neither isometrick-cycles withk6 nor induced subgraphsK _3,3 ^– . We then show that () is finite if and only if the dimension of the tight span of is at most two. We also present other results, discuss applications to multicommodity flows, and raise open problems.This research was supported by grant 97-01-00115 from the Russian Foundation of Basic Research and a grant from the Sonderforschungsbereich 343, Bielefeld Universität, Bielefeld, Germany.     

Relative difference sets fixed by inversion and Cayley graphs

Using graph theoretical technique, we present a construction of a (30,2,29,14)-relative difference set fixed by inversion in the smallest finite simple group—the alternating group A₅. To our knowledge this is the first example known of relative difference sets in the finite simple groups with a non-trivial forbidden subgroup. A connection is then established between some relative difference sets fixed by inversion and certain antipodal distance-regular Cayley graphs. With the connection, several families of antipodal distance-regular Cayley graphs which are coverings of complete graphs are presented.     

Light paths with an odd number of vertices in large polyhedral maps

LetP _k be a path onk vertices. In this paper we prove that (1) every polyhedral map on the torus and the Klein bottle contains a pathP _k such that each of its vertices has degree 6k–2 ifk is odd,k3, (2) every large polyhedral map on any compact 2-manifoldM with Euler characteristic (M)<0 contains a pathP _k such that each of its vertices has degree 6k – 2 ifk is odd,k3, (3) moreover, these bounds are attained. Fork=1 ork even,k2, the bound is 6k which has been proved in our previous paper.     

On cone of nonsymmetric positive semidefinite matrices

In this paper, we analyze and characterize the cone of nonsymmetric positive semidefinite matrices (NS-psd). Firstly, we study basic properties of the geometry of the NS-psd cone and show that it is a hyperbolic but not homogeneous cone. Secondly, we prove that the NS-psd cone is a maximal convex subcone of P₀-matrix cone which is not convex. But the interior of the NS-psd cone is not a maximal convex subcone of P-matrix cone. As the byproducts, some new sufficient and necessary conditions for a nonsymmetric matrix to be positive semidefinite are given. Finally, we present some properties of metric projection onto the NS-psd cone.     

Packing paths in planar graphs

A generalization of P. Seymour's theorem on planar integral 2-commodity flows is given when the underlying graphG together with the demand graphH (a graph having edges that connect the corresponding terminal pairs) form a planar graph and the demand edges are on two faces ofG.     

On integer points in polyhedra

We give an upper bound on the number of vertices ofP _I , the integer hull of a polyhedronP, in terms of the dimensionn of the space, the numberm of inequalities required to describeP, and the size of these inequalities. For fixedn the bound isO(m ^{n n–} ). We also describe an algorithm which determines the number of integer points in a polyhedron to within a multiplicative factor of 1+ in time polynomial inm, and 1/ when the dimensionn is fixed.Supported by Sonderfschungsbereich 303 (DFG) and NSF grant ECS-8611841.Partially supported by NSF grant DMS-8905645.Supported by NSF grants ECS-8418392 and CCR-8805199.mcd%vax.oxford.ac.uk     

Atoms of families of sets

An atom of a familyF= (A _v :v∈I) of sets is a set of the form where 0⊂N⊆I. The note deals with upper and lower estimates of the possible number of non-empty atoms ofF in case theA _v are parallelopipeds ind-dimensional space. Some estimates are best possible. Dedicated to Tibor Gallai on his seventieth birthday     

Chaines maximales de préordres

Résumé La famille des préordres sur un ensemble fixé constitue un treillis pour l'inclusion. Répondant à une question rencontrée par S. Eilenberg dans l'étude des automates non déterministes on établit une propriété des chaînes maximales de préordres sur un ensemble fini.On en déduit que si l'ensemble a n éléments, de telles chaînes contiennent au plus [n(n + 1)]/2 préordres.

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