The Cardinality of Sets of <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-Independent Vectors over Finite Fields

A set of vectors is k-independent if all its subsets with no more than k elements are linearly independent. We obtain a result concerning the maximal possible cardinality Ind _q (n, k) of a k-independent set of vectors in the n-dimensional vector space F _q ⁿ over the finite field F _q of order q. Namely, we give a necessary and sufficient condition for Ind _q (n, k) = n + 1. We conclude with some pertinent remarks re applications of our results to codes, graphs and hypercubes. Supported, in part by grants EP/C000285, NSF-DMS-0439734 and NSF-DMS-0555839. S. B. Damelin thanks the Institute for Mathematics and Applications for their hospitality.     

On the code generated by the incidence matrix of points and k-spaces in and its dual

In this paper, we study the p-ary linear code C_k(n,q), q=p^h, p prime, h1, generated by the incidence matrix of points and k-dimensional spaces in PG(n,q). For kn/2, we link codewords of C_k(n,q)C_k(n,q) of weight smaller than 2q^k to k-blocking sets. We first prove that such a k-blocking set is uniquely reducible to a minimal k-blocking set, and exclude all codewords arising from small linear k-blocking sets. For k<n/2, we present counterexamples to lemmas valid for kn/2. Next, we study the dual code of C_k(n,q) and present a lower bound on the weight of the codewords, hence extending the results of Sachar [H. Sachar, The F_p span of the incidence matrix of a finite projective plane, Geom. Dedicata 8 (1979) 407–415] to general dimension.     

The asymptotic number of labeled connected graphs with a given number of vertices and edges

Let c(n, q) be the number of connected labeled graphs with n vertices and q ≤ N = (2n ) edges. Let x = q/n and k = q ? n. We determine functions w_k ? 1. a(x) and φ(x) such that c(n, q) ? w_k(q^N)eⁿφ(x)+a(x) uniformly for all n and q ≥ n. If ? > 0 is fixed, n→ ∞ and 4q > (1 + ?)n log n, this formula simplifies to c(n, q) ? (N^q) exp(–ne^?2q/n). on the other hand, if k = o(n^1/2), this formula simplifies to c(n, n + k) ? 1/2 w_k (3/π)^1/2 (e/12k)^k/2nⁿ?^(3k?1)/2.     

On the fluctuations of independent copies of moving maxima

Let {X_n, n1} be a sequence of independent random variables (r.v.'s) with a common distribution function (d.f.) F. Define the moving maxima Y_k(n)=max(X_n−k(n)+1,X_n−k(n)+2,…,X_n), where {k(n), n1} is a sequence of positive integers. Let Y_k(n)¹ and Y_k(n)² be two independent copies of Y_k(n). Under certain conditions on F and k(n), the set of almost sure limit points of the vector consisting of properly normalised Y_k(n)¹ and Y_k(n)² is obtained.     

Some Maximal Function Fields and Additive Polynomials

We derive explicit equations for the maximal function fields F over 𝔽 _{q ²ⁿ} given by F = 𝔽 _{q ²ⁿ} (X, Y) with the relation A(Y) = f(X), where A(Y) and f(X) are polynomials with coefficients in the finite field 𝔽 _{q ²ⁿ} , and where A(Y) is q-additive and deg(f) = q ⁿ  + 1. We prove in particular that such maximal function fields F are Galois subfields of the Hermitian function field H over 𝔽 _{q ²ⁿ} (i.e., the extension H/F is Galois).     

Polynomial Invariants of Certain Pseudo-Symplectic Groups Over Finite Fields of Characteristic Two

Let F _q be a finite field of characteristic two, S be a nonsingular non-alternate symmetric matrix over F _q and Ps _n (F _q , S) be the associated pseudo-symplectic group. Let Ps _n (F _q , S) act linearly on the polynomial ring F _q [x ₁,…, x _n ]. In this note, we find an explicit set of generators of the ring of invariants of Ps _n (F _q , S) for n = 2, 4 and 2ν +1. In particular, the results assert that the ring of invariants of Ps ₄(F _q , S) is not a polynomial algebra but is an example of hypersurface and the ring of invariants of Ps _2ν+1(F _q , S) is a complete intersection.     

Type II Hermite�CPad�� Approximations of Generalized Hypergeometric Series

We shall present short proofs for type II (simultaneous) Hermite–Padé approximations of the generalized hypergeometric and q-hypergeometric series

Codeterminants and <Emphasis Type="Italic">q</Emphasis>-Schur Algebras

We study codeterminants in the q-Schur algebra S _q (n,r) and prove that the standard ones form a basis of S _q (n,r), using a quantized version of the Désarménien matrix. We find elements of the form F _S 1_λ E _T in Lusztig’s modified enveloping algebra of gl(n), which, up to powers of q, map to the basis of standard codeterminants, where F _S ∈U ^– and E _T ∈U ⁺ are explicitly given products of root vectors, depending on Young tableaux S and T.     

Representations for the first associated q-classical orthogonal polynomials

Let {p_k(x; q)} be any system of the q-classical orthogonal polynomials, and let be the corresponding weight function, satisfying the q-difference equation D_q(σ)=τ, where σ and τ are polynomials of degree at most 2 and exactly 1, respectively. Further, let {p_k⁽¹⁾(x;q)} be associated polynomials of the polynomials {p_k(x; q)}. Explicit forms of the coefficients b_n,k and c_n,k in the expansions

are given in terms of basic hypergeometric functions. Here _k(x) equals x^k if σ⁺(0)=0, or (x;q)_k if σ⁺(1)=0, where σ⁺(x)σ(x)+(q−1)xτ(x). The most important representatives of those two classes are the families of little q-Jacobi and big q-Jacobi polynomials, respectively.Writing the second-order nonhomogeneous q-difference equation satisfied by p_n−1⁽¹⁾(x;q) in a special form, recurrence relations (in k) for b_n,k and c_n,k are obtained in terms of σ and τ.     

Linear Point Sets and Rédei Type k-blocking Sets in PG(n, q)

In this paper, k-blocking sets in PG(n, q), being of Rédei type, are investigated. A standard method to construct Rédei type k-blocking sets in PG(n, q) is to construct a cone having as base a Rédei type k-blocking set in a subspace of PG(n, q). But also other Rédei type k-blocking sets in PG(n, q), which are not cones, exist. We give in this article a condition on the parameters of a Rédei type k-blocking set of PG(n, q = p ^h ), p a prime power, which guarantees that the Rédei type k-blocking set is a cone. This condition is sharp. We also show that small Rédei type k-blocking sets are linear.     

A determinantal version of the frobenius-könig theorem

Let F be a field and let {d ₁,…,d_k } be a set of independent indeterminates over F. Let A(d ₁,…,d_k ) be an n × n matrix each of whose entries is an element of F or a sum of an element of F and one of the indeterminates in {d ₁,…,d_k }. We assume that no d ¹ appears twice in A(d ₁,…,d_k ). We show that if det A(d ₁,…,d_k ) = 0 then A(d ₁,…,d_k ) must contain an r × s submatrix B, with entries in F, so that r + s = n + p and rank B ? p ? 1: for some positive integer p.     

Large spaces of symmetric matrices of bounded rank are decomposable ∗

Let k and n be positive integers such that kn. Let S_n (F) denote the space of all n×n symmetric matrices over the field F with char F≠2. A subspace L of S_n (F) is said to be a k-subspace if rank Ak for every A?L.

Now suppose that k is even, and write k=2r. We say a k∥-subspace of S_n (F) is decomposable if there exists in Fⁿ a subspace W of dimension n?r such that x^tAx=0 for every x?W A?L.

We show here, under some mild assumptions on k n and F, that every k∥-subspace of S_n (F) of sufficiently large dimension must be decomposable. This is an analogue of a result obtained by Atkinson and Lloyd for corresponding subspaces of F^m,n .     

The limit of a Stanley–Wilf sequence is not always rational, and layered patterns beat monotone patterns

We show the first known example for a pattern q for which is not an integer, where S_n(q) denotes the number of permutations of length n avoiding the pattern q. We find the exact value of the limit and show that it is irrational, but algebraic. Then we generalize our results to an infinite sequence of patterns. We provide further generalizations that start explaining why certain patterns are easier to avoid than others. Finally, we show that if q is a layered pattern of length k, then L(q)(k-1)² holds.     

Relative cohomology of polynomial mappings

 Let F be a polynomial mapping from ℂ ⁿ to ℂ ^q with n>q. We study the De Rham cohomology of its fibres and its relative cohomology groups, by introducing a special fibre F ⁻¹(∞) ``at infinity' and its cohomology. Let us fix a weighted homogeneous degree on with strictly positive weights. The fibre at infinity is the zero set of the leading terms of the coordinate functions of F. We introduce the cohomology groups H ^k (F ⁻¹(∞)) of F at infinity. These groups enable us to compute all the other cohomology groups of F. For instance, if the fibre at infinity has an isolated singularity at the origin, we prove that every weighted homogeneous basis of H ^n−q (F ⁻¹ (∞)) is a basis of all the groups H ^n−q (F ⁻¹(y)) and also a basis of the (n−q) ^th relative cohomology group of F. Moreover the dimension of H ^n−q (F ⁻¹(∞)) is given by a global Milnor number of F, which only depends on the leading terms of the coordinate functions of F. Received: 12 February 2002 / Revised version: 25 May 2002 Published online: 3 March 2003     

Optimal Embeddings of Spaces of Generalized Smoothness in the Critical Case

We study necessary and sufficient conditions for embeddings of Besov and Triebel-Lizorkin spaces of generalized smoothness B^(n/p,Y)_p,q(\mathbbRⁿ)B^{(n/p,\Psi)}_{p,q}(\mathbb{R}^{n}) and F^(n/p,Y)_p,q(\mathbbRⁿ)F^{(n/p,\Psi)}_{p,q}(\mathbb{R}^{n}), respectively, into generalized H?lder spaces L_￥,r^m(·)( \mathbb Rⁿ)\Lambda_{\infty,r}^{\mu(\cdot)}(\ensuremath {\ensuremath {\mathbb {R}}^{n}}). In particular, we are able to characterize optimal embeddings for this class of spaces provided q>1. These results improve the embedding assertions given by the continuity envelopes of B^(n/p,Y)_p,q(\mathbbRⁿ)B^{(n/p,\Psi)}_{p,q}(\mathbb{R}^{n}) and F^(n/p,Y)_p,q(\mathbbRⁿ)F^{(n/p,\Psi)}_{p,q}(\mathbb{R}^{n}), which were obtained recently solving an open problem of D.D. Haroske in the classical setting.     

A new characterization of dual bases in finite fields and its applications

We propose a new characterization of dual bases in finite fields. Let A=(α₁,…,α_n) be a basis of F over F_q and its dual basis B=(β₁,…,β_n) with the transition matrix C∈GL_n(F_q) such that (β₁,…,β_n)=(α₁,…,α_n)C. We show that holds for all 1?k?n, where T_k∈M_n(F_q) satisfies α_k(α₁,…,α_n)=(α₁,…,α_n)T_k. Conversely, suppose F=F_q(α_k^′) and for some 1?k^′?n and G∈GL_n(F_q), then B is equivalent to (α₁,…,α_n)G. As applications, we can construct the dual basis of a given basis A or determine whether the dual basis of A satisfies the desired conditions from T_k. This generalizes the results obtained by Liao and Sun for normal bases. Furthermore, we give a simple proof of the theorem of Gollmann, Wang and Blake for polynomial bases.     

On the restriction of cross characteristic representations of 2 F 4(q) to proper subgroups

We prove that the restriction of any nontrivial representation of the Ree groups ² F ₄(q), q = 2²ⁿ⁺¹ ≥ 8 in odd characteristic to any proper subgroup is reducible. We also determine all triples (K, V, H) such that ${K \in \{^2F_4(2), ^2F_4(2)'\} }We prove that the restriction of any nontrivial representation of the Ree groups ² F ₄(q), q = 2²ⁿ⁺¹ ≥ 8 in odd characteristic to any proper subgroup is reducible. We also determine all triples (K, V, H) such that K ? {²F₄(2), ²F₄(2)￠}{K \in \{^2F_4(2), ^2F_4(2)'\} } , H is a proper subgroup of K, and V is a representation of K in odd characteristic restricting absolutely irreducibly to H.     

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.     

The number of connected sparsely edged graphs. II. Smooth graphs and blocks

A smooth graph is a connected graph without endpoints; f(n, q) is the number of connected graphs, v(n, q) is the number of smooth graphs, and u(n, q) is the number of blocks on n labeled points and q edges: W_k, V_k, and U_k are the exponential generating functions of f(n, n + k), v(n, n + k), and u(n, n + k), respectively. For any k ? 1, our reduction method shows that V_k can be deduced at once from W_k, which was found for successive k by the computer method described in our previous paper. Again the reduction method shows that U_k must be a sum of powers (mostly negative) of 1 - X and, given this information, we develop a recurrence method well suited to calculate U_k for successive k. Exact formulas for v(n, n + k) and u(n, n + k) for general n follow at once.     

Quasirecognition by prime graph of F4(q) where q?=?2n?>?2

The prime graph of a finite group G is denoted by Γ(G). In this paper as the main result, we show that if G is a finite group such that Γ(G) = Γ(F ₄(q)), where q = 2 ⁿ  > 2, then G has a unique nonabelian composition factor isomorphic to F ₄(q). We also show that if G is a finite group satisfying |G| = |F ₄(q)| and Γ(G) = Γ(F ₄(q)), where q = 2 ⁿ  > 2, then G @ F₄(q){G \cong F_4(q)}. As a consequence of our result we give a new proof for a conjecture of Shi and Bi for F ₄(q) where q = 2 ⁿ  > 2.