Faulhaber’s theorem on power sums

We observe that the classical Faulhaber’s theorem on sums of odd powers also holds for an arbitrary arithmetic progression, namely, the odd power sums of any arithmetic progression a+b,a+2b,…,a+nb is a polynomial in na+n(n+1)b/2. While this assertion can be deduced from the original Fauhalber’s theorem, we give an alternative formula in terms of the Bernoulli polynomials. Moreover, by utilizing the central factorial numbers as in the approach of Knuth, we derive formulas for r-fold sums of powers without resorting to the notion of r-reflective functions. We also provide formulas for the r-fold alternating sums of powers in terms of Euler polynomials.     

On the two-dimensional orthogonal drawing of series-parallel graphs

It has been known that every planar 4-graph has a 2-bend 2-D orthogonal drawing, with the only exception being the octahedron, every planar 3-graph has a 1-bend 2-D orthogonal drawing with the only exception being K₄, and every outerplanar 3-graph with no triangles has a 0-bend 2-D orthogonal drawing. We show in this paper that every series-parallel 4-graph has a 1-bend 2-D orthogonal drawing.     

Using Lagrangians of hypergraphs to find non-jumping numbers(II)

Let r?2 be an integer. A real number α∈[0,1) is a jump for r if for any ε>0 and any integer m?r, any r-uniform graph with n>n₀(ε,m) vertices and density at least α+ε contains a subgraph with m vertices and density at least α+c, where c=c(α)>0 does not depend on ε and m. A result of Erd?s, Stone and Simonovits implies that every α∈[0,1) is a jump for r=2. Erd?s asked whether the same is true for r?3. Frankl and Rödl gave a negative answer by showing an infinite sequence of non-jumping numbers for every r?3. However, there are a lot of unknowns on determining whether or not a number is a jump for r?3. In this paper, we find two infinite sequences of non-jumping numbers for r=4, and extend one of the results to every r?4. Our approach is still based on the approach developed by Frankl and Rödl.     

Graphic sequences with a realization containing a generalized friendship graph

Gould, Jacobson and Lehel [R.J. Gould, M.S. Jacobson, J. Lehel, Potentially G-graphical degree sequences, in: Y. Alavi, et al. (Eds.), Combinatorics, Graph Theory and Algorithms, vol. I, New Issues Press, Kalamazoo, MI, 1999, pp. 451-460] considered a variation of the classical Turán-type extremal problems as follows: for any simple graph H, determine the smallest even integer σ(H,n) such that every n-term graphic sequence π=(d₁,d₂,…,d_n) with term sum σ(π)=d₁+d₂+?+d_n≥σ(H,n) has a realization G containing H as a subgraph. Let F_t,r,k denote the generalized friendship graph on kt−kr+r vertices, that is, the graph of k copies of K_t meeting in a common r set, where K_t is the complete graph on t vertices and 0≤r≤t. In this paper, we determine σ(F_t,r,k,n) for k≥2, t≥3, 1≤r≤t−2 and n sufficiently large.     

Identifying codes and locating-dominating sets on paths and cycles

Let G=(V,E) be a graph and let r≥1 be an integer. For a set D⊆V, define N_r[x]={y∈V:d(x,y)≤r} and D_r(x)=N_r[x]∩D, where d(x,y) denotes the number of edges in any shortest path between x and y. D is known as an r-identifying code (r-locating-dominating set, respectively), if for all vertices x∈V (x∈V?D, respectively), D_r(x) are all nonempty and different. Roberts and Roberts [D.L. Roberts, F.S. Roberts, Locating sensors in paths and cycles: the case of 2-identifying codes, European Journal of Combinatorics 29 (2008) 72-82] provided complete results for the paths and cycles when r=2. In this paper, we provide results for a remaining open case in cycles and complete results in paths for r-identifying codes; we also give complete results for 2-locating-dominating sets in cycles, which completes the results of Bertrand et al. [N. Bertrand, I. Charon, O. Hudry, A. Lobstein, Identifying and locating-dominating codes on chains and cycles, European Journal of Combinatorics 25 (2004) 969-987].     

Friezes

The construction of friezes is motivated by the theory of cluster algebras. It gives, for each acyclic quiver, a family of integer sequences, one for each vertex. We conjecture that these sequences satisfy linear recursions if and only if the underlying graph is a Dynkin or an Euclidean (affine) graph. We prove the “only if” part, and show that the “if” part holds true for all non-exceptional Euclidean graphs, leaving a finite number of finite number of cases to be checked. Coming back to cluster algebras, the methods involved allow us to give formulas for the cluster variables in case Am and ; the novelty is that these formulas use 2 by 2 matrices over the semiring of Laurent polynomials generated by the initial variables (which explains simultaneously positivity and the Laurent phenomenon). One tool involved consists of the SL₂-tilings of the plane, which are particular cases of T-systems of Mathematical Physics.     

Strength of convergence in the orbit space of a groupoid

Let G be a second-countable locally-compact Hausdorff groupoid with a Haar system, and let {xn} be a sequence in the unit space G(0) of G. We show that the notions of strength of convergence of {xn} in the orbit space G(0)/G and measure-theoretic accumulation along the orbits are equivalent ways of realising multiplicity numbers associated to a sequence of induced representation of the groupoid C^?-algebra.     

Constructions of generalized Sidon sets

We give explicit constructions of sets S with the property that for each integer k, there are at most g solutions to k=s₁+s₂,s_i∈S; such sets are called Sidon sets if g=2 and generalized Sidon sets if g?3. We extend to generalized Sidon sets the Sidon-set constructions of Singer, Bose, and Ruzsa. We also further optimize Kolountzakis’ idea of interleaving several copies of a Sidon set, extending the improvements of Cilleruelo, Ruzsa and Trujillo, Jia, and Habsieger and Plagne. The resulting constructions yield the largest known generalized Sidon sets in virtually all cases.     

Uniform asymptotics of some q-orthogonal polynomials

Uniform asymptotic formulas are obtained for the Stieltjes-Wigert polynomial, the q⁻¹-Hermite polynomial and the q-Laguerre polynomial as the degree of the polynomial tends to infinity. In these formulas, the q-Airy polynomial, defined by truncating the q-Airy function, plays a significant role. While the standard Airy function, used frequently in the uniform asymptotic formulas for classical orthogonal polynomials, behaves like the exponential function on one side and the trigonometric functions on the other side of an extreme zero, the q-Airy polynomial behaves like the q-Airy function on one side and the q-Theta function on the other side. The last two special functions are involved in the local asymptotic formulas of the q-orthogonal polynomials. It seems therefore reasonable to expect that the q-Airy polynomial will play an important role in the asymptotic theory of the q-orthogonal polynomials.     

Spanning trails containing given edges

A graph G is Eulerian-connected if for any u and v in V(G), G has a spanning (u,v)-trail. A graph G is edge-Eulerian-connected if for any e^′ and e^″ in E(G), G has a spanning (e^′,e^″)-trail. For an integer r?0, a graph is called r-Eulerian-connected if for any X⊆E(G) with |X|?r, and for any , G has a spanning (u,v)-trail T such that X⊆E(T). The r-edge-Eulerian-connectivity of a graph can be defined similarly. Let θ(r) be the minimum value of k such that every k-edge-connected graph is r-Eulerian-connected. Catlin proved that θ(0)=4. We shall show that θ(r)=4 for 0?r?2, and θ(r)=r+1 for r?3. Results on r-edge-Eulerian connectivity are also discussed.     

A generalization of a conjecture due to Erd?s, Jacobson and Lehel

An r-graph is a loopless undirected graph in which no two vertices are joined by more than r edges. An r-complete graph on m+1 vertices, denoted by , is an r-graph on m+1 vertices in which each pair of vertices is joined by exactly r edges. A non-increasing sequence π=(d₁,d₂,…,d_n) of nonnegative integers is r-graphic if it is realizable by an r-graph on n vertices. Let be the smallest even integer such that each n-term r-graphic sequence with term sum of at least is realizable by an r-graph containing as a subgraph. In this paper, we determine the value of for sufficiently large n, which generalizes a conjecture due to Erd?s, Jacobson and Lehel.     

Group actions and Helly's theorem

We describe a connection between the combinatorics of generators for certain groups and the combinatorics of Helly's 1913 theorem on convex sets. We use this connection to prove fixed point theorems for actions of these groups on nonpositively curved metric spaces. These results are encoded in a property that we introduce called “property FAr”, which reduces to Serre's property FA when r=1. The method applies to S-arithmetic groups in higher Q-rank, to simplex reflection groups (including some nonarithmetic ones), and to higher rank Chevalley groups over polynomial and other rings (for example SLn(Z[x₁,…,xd]), n>2).     

Existence of r-self-orthogonal Latin squares

Two Latin squares of order v are r-orthogonal if their superposition produces exactly r distinct ordered pairs. If the second square is the transpose of the first one, we say that the first square is r-self-orthogonal, denoted by r-SOLS(v). It has been proved that for any integer v?28, there exists an r-SOLS(v) if and only if v?r?v² and r∉{v+1,v²-1}. In this paper, we give an almost complete solution for the existence of r-self-orthogonal Latin squares.     

Relative difference sets fixed by inversion (III)—Cocycle theoretical approach

In this paper, we give a characterization of a group G which contains a semiregular relative difference set R relative to a central subgroup N containing the commutator subgroup [G,G] of G such that 1∈R and rRr=R for all r∈R. In particular, these relative difference sets are fixed by inversion and inner automorphisms of the group are multipliers. We also present a construction of such relative difference sets.     

Edge-deletable IM-extendable graphs with minimum number of edges

A graph G is induced matching extendable, shortly IM-extendable, if every induced matching of G is included in a perfect matching of G. For a nonnegative integer k, a graph G is called a k-edge-deletable IM-extendable graph, if, for every F⊆E(G) with |F|=k, G−F is IM-extendable. In this paper, we characterize the k-edge-deletable IM-extendable graphs with minimum number of edges. We show that, for a positive integer k, if G is ak-edge-deletable IM-extendable graph on 2n vertices, then |E(G)|≥(k+2)n; furthermore, the equality holds if and only if either G≅K_k+2,k+2, or k=4r−2 for some integer r≥3 and G≅C₅[N_2r], where N_2r is the empty graph on 2r vertices and C₅[N_2r] is the graph obtained from C₅ by replacing each vertex with a graph isomorphic to N_2r.     

Pair lengths of product graphs

The pair length of a graph G is the maximum positive integer k, such that the vertex set of G can be partitioned into disjoint pairs {x,x^′}, such that d(x,x^′)?k for every x∈V(G) and x^′y^′ is an edge of G whenever xy is an edge. Chen asked whether the pair length of the cartesian product of two graphs is equal to the sum of their pair lengths. Our aim in this short note is to prove this result.     

Linear-time certifying algorithms for near-graphical sequences

A sequence 〈d₁,d₂,…,d_n〉 of non-negative integers is graphical if it is the degree sequence of some graph, that is, there exists a graph G on n vertices whose ith vertex has degree d_i, for 1≤i≤n. The notion of a graphical sequence has a natural reformulation and generalization in terms of factors of complete graphs.If H=(V,E) is a graph and g and f are integer-valued functions on the vertex set V, then a (g,f)-factor of H is a subgraph G=(V,F) of H whose degree at each vertex v∈V lies in the interval [g(v),f(v)]. Thus, a (0,1)-factor is just a matching of H and a (1, 1)-factor is a perfect matching of H. If H is complete then a (g,f)-factor realizes a degree sequence that is consistent with the sequence of intervals 〈[g(v₁),f(v₁)],[g(v₂),f(v₂)],…,[g(v_n),f(v_n)]〉.Graphical sequences have been extensively studied and admit several elegant characterizations. We are interested in extending these characterizations to non-graphical sequences by introducing a natural measure of “near-graphical”. We do this in the context of minimally deficient (g,f)-factors of complete graphs. Our main result is a simple linear-time greedy algorithm for constructing minimally deficient (g,f)-factors in complete graphs that generalizes the method of Hakimi and Havel (for constructing (f,f)-factors in complete graphs, when possible). It has the added advantage of producing a certificate of minimum deficiency (through a generalization of the Erdös-Gallai characterization of (f,f)-factors in complete graphs) at no additional cost.     

Weighted geometric discrepancies and numerical integration on reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces

We extend the notion of L₂-B-discrepancy introduced in [E. Novak, H. Wo?niakowski, L₂ discrepancy and multivariate integration, in: W.W.L. Chen, W.T. Gowers, H. Halberstam, W.M. Schmidt, and R.C. Vaughan (Eds.), Analytic Number Theory. Essays in Honour of Klaus Roth, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2009, pp. 359-388] to what we shall call weighted geometric L₂-discrepancy. This extension enables us to consider weights in order to moderate the importance of different groups of variables, as well as to consider volume measures different from the Lebesgue measure and classes of test sets different from measurable subsets of Euclidean spaces.We relate the weighted geometric L₂-discrepancy to numerical integration defined over weighted reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces and settle in this way an open problem posed by Novak and Wo?niakowski.Furthermore, we prove an upper bound for the numerical integration error for cubature formulas that use admissible sample points. The set of admissible sample points may actually be a subset of the integration domain of measure zero. We illustrate that particularly in infinite-dimensional numerical integration it is crucial to distinguish between the whole integration domain and the set of those sample points that actually can be used by the algorithms.     

Finding monotone paths in edge-ordered graphs

An edge-ordering of a graph G=(V,E) is a one-to-one function f from E to a subset of the set of positive integers. A path P in G is called an f-ascent if f increases along the edge sequence of P. The heighth(f) of f is the maximum length of an f-ascent in G.In this paper we deal with computational problems concerning finding ascents in graphs. We prove that for a given edge-ordering f of a graph G the problem of determining the value of h(f) is NP-hard. In particular, the problem of deciding whether there is an f-ascent containing all the vertices of G is NP-complete. We also study several variants of this problem, discuss randomized and deterministic approaches and provide an algorithm for the finding of ascents of order at least k in graphs of order n in running time O(4^kn^O(1)).     

Multiplicity of characteristics with Lagrangian boundary values on symmetric star-shaped hypersurfaces

In this paper, the multiplicity of Lagrangian orbits on C² smooth compact symmetric star-shaped hypersurfaces with respect to the origin in R2n is studied. These Lagrangian orbits begin from one Lagrangian subspace and end on another. An infinitely many existence result is proved via Z₂-index theory. This is a multiplicity result about the Arnold Chord Conjecture in some sense, and is a generalization of the problem about the multiplicity of Lagrangian orbits beginning from and ending on the same Lagrangian subspace which was considered in the authors' previous paper [F. Guo, C. Liu, Multiplicity of Lagrangian orbits on symmetric star-shaped hypersurfaces, Nonlinear Anal. 69 (4) (2008) 1425-1436].