Weighted matrix means and symmetrization procedures

Here we prove the convergence of the Ando–Li–Mathias and Bini–Meini–Poloni procedures for matrix means. Actually it is proved here that for a two-variable function which maps pairs of positive definite matrices to a positive definite matrix and is not greater than the square mean of two positive definite matrices, the Ando–Li–Mathias and Bini–Meini–Poloni procedure converges. In order to be able to set up the Bini–Meini–Poloni procedure, a weighted two-variable matrix mean is also needed. Therefore a definition of a two-variable weighted matrix mean corresponding to every symmetric matrix mean is also given. It is also shown here that most of the properties considered by Ando, Li and Mathias for the n-variable geometric mean hold for all of these n-variable maps that we obtain by this two limiting process for all two-variable matrix means. As a consequence it also follows that the Bini–Meini–Poloni procedure converges cubically for every matrix mean.     

Sets of nonnegative matrices with positive inhomogeneous products

Let X be a set of k×k matrices in which each element is nonnegative. For a positive integer n, let P(n) be an arbitrary product of n matrices from X, with any ordering and with repetitions permitted. Define X to be a primitive set if there is a positive integer n such that every P(n) is positive [i.e., every element of every P(n) is positive]. For any primitive set X of matrices, define the index g(X) to be the least positive n such that every P(n) is positive. We show that if X is a primitive set, then g(X)?2^k?2. Moreover, there exists a primitive set Y such that g(Y) = 2^k?2.     

On rectangular visibility

Given a set of n points in the plane, two points are said to be rectangularly visible if the orthogonal rectangle with the two points as opposite vertices has no other point of the set in its interior. In this paper it is shown that all pairs of rectangularly visible points in a set of size n can be determined in O(n log n + k) time, where k is the number of reported pairs, using O(n) space. Also, we consider the query problem: Given a set V of points and an arbitrary point p, determine those points in V that are rectangularly visible from p. A dynamic data structure is described that uses O(n log n) space, has a query time of O(k + log²n) and an update time of O(log³ n). Additionally, we extend the results to the 3-dimensional case.     

Bijective linear maps on semimodules spanned by Boolean matrices of fixed rank

Let M_m,n(B) be the semimodule of all m×n Boolean matrices where B is the Boolean algebra with two elements. Let k be a positive integer such that 2?k?min(m,n). Let B(m,n,k) denote the subsemimodule of M_m,n(B) spanned by the set of all rank k matrices. We show that if T is a bijective linear mapping on B(m,n,k), then there exist permutation matrices P and Q such that T(A)=PAQ for all A∈B(m,n,k) or m=n and T(A)=PA^tQ for all A∈B(m,n,k). This result follows from a more general theorem we prove concerning the structure of linear mappings on B(m,n,k) that preserve both the weight of each matrix and rank one matrices of weight k². Here the weight of a Boolean matrix is the number of its nonzero entries.     

Positive definiteness of Hermitian interval matrices

We present a new necessary and sufficient criterion to check the positive definiteness of Hermitian interval matrices. It is shown that an n×n Hermitian interval matrix is positive definite if and only if its 4^n-1(n-1)! specially chosen Hermitian vertex matrices are positive definite.     

Modelling gateway placement in wireless networks: Geometric k-centres of unit disc graphs

Motivated by the gateway placement problem in wireless networks, we consider the geometric k-centre problem on unit disc graphs: given a set of points P in the plane, find a set F of k points in the plane that minimizes the maximum graph distance from any vertex in P to the nearest vertex in F in the unit disc graph induced by P∪F. We show that the vertex 1-centre provides a 7-approximation of the geometric 1-centre and that a vertex k-centre provides a 13-approximation of the geometric k-centre, resulting in an O(kn)-time 26-approximation algorithm. We describe O(n²m)-time and O(n³)-time algorithms, respectively, for finding exact and approximate geometric 1-centres, and an O(mn2k)-time algorithm for finding a geometric k-centre for any fixed k. We show that the problem is NP-hard when k is an arbitrary input parameter. Finally, we describe an O(n)-time algorithm for finding a geometric k-centre in one dimension.     

Thompson metric method for solving a class of nonlinear matrix equation

Based on the elegant properties of the Thompson metric, we prove that the general nonlinear matrix equation X^q-A^∗F(X)A=Q(q>1) always has a unique positive definite solution. An iterative method is proposed to compute the unique positive definite solution. We show that the iterative method is more effective as q increases. A perturbation bound for the unique positive definite solution is derived in the end.     

Geometry and inequalities of geometric mean

We study some geometric properties associated with the t-geometric means A ?_tB:= A^1/2(A^?1/2BA^?1/2)^tA^1/2 of two n × n positive definite matrices A and B. Some geodesical convexity results with respect to the Riemannian structure of the n × n positive definite matrices are obtained. Several norm inequalities with geometric mean are obtained. In particular, we generalize a recent result of Audenaert (2015). Numerical counterexamples are given for some inequality questions. A conjecture on the geometric mean inequality regarding m pairs of positive definite matrices is posted.     

Point retrieval for polygons

We present a solution to the following polygon retrieval problem: given a set of n points on the plane, build a data structure so that for any query polygon P the set of points lying in P can be retrieved efficiently. Our solution uses space O(n²) and reports the s points lying in a k-sided polygon P in time O(k log n + s).     

A Family of Clique Divergent Graphs with Linear Growth

We present an infinite set A of finite graphs such that for any graph G e A the order | V(k ⁿ (G))| of the n-th iterated clique graph k ⁿ (G) is a linear function of n. We also give examples of graphs G such that | V(k ⁿ(G))| is a polynomial of any given positive degree.     

Strong Sperner property of the subgroup lattice of an Abelianp-group

Letn andk be arbitrary positive integers,p a prime number and L_(k ⁿ)(p) the subgroup lattice of the Abelianp-group (Z/p ^k ) ⁿ . Then there is a positive integerN(n,k) such that whenp N(n,k),L _(k ^N )(p) has the strong Sperner property.     

A multiindexed sturm sequence of polynomials and unimodality of certain combinatorial sequences

With any multiset n we associate the numbers $\text{O}$(n, k) of compositions of n into exactly k parts. The polynomials k_n(x) = Σ_kO(n, k)x^k are shown to form a multiindexed Sturm sequence over (?1, 0). As consequences we obtain the unimodality of the sequence {O(n, k)}_k for any n, of the generalized Eulerian numbers, and of the number of compositions of n with certain supplementary conditions imposed on the parts. The strong logarithmic concavity of the Stirling numbers of the second kind also follows as a corollary.     

Quadratic Lyapunov functions for systems with state-dependent switching

In this paper, we consider the existence of quadratic Lyapunov functions for certain types of switched linear systems. Given a partition of the state-space, a set of matrices (linear dynamics), and a matrix-valued function A(x) constructed by associating these matrices with regions of the state-space in a manner governed by the partition, we ask whether there exists a positive definite symmetric matrix P such that A(x)^TP+PA(x) is negative definite for all x(t). For planar systems, necessary and sufficient conditions are given. Extensions for higher order systems are also presented.     

Finding large cycles in Hamiltonian graphs

We show how to find in Hamiltonian graphs a cycle of length n^{Ω(1/loglogn)}=exp(Ω(logn/loglogn)). This is a consequence of a more general result in which we show that if G has a maximum degree d and has a cycle with k vertices (or a 3-cyclable minor H with k vertices), then we can find in O(n³) time a cycle in G of length k^Ω(1/logd). From this we infer that if G has a cycle of length k, then one can find in O(n³) time a cycle of length k^{Ω(1/(log(n/k)+loglogn))}, which implies the result for Hamiltonian graphs. Our results improve, for some values of k and d, a recent result of Gabow (2004) [11] showing that if G has a cycle of length k, then one can find in polynomial time a cycle in G of length . We finally show that if G has fixed Euler genus g and has a cycle with k vertices (or a 3-cyclable minor H with k vertices), then we can find in polynomial time a cycle in G of length f(g)k^Ω(1), running in time O(n²) for planar graphs.     

Large auctions with risk-averse bidders

We study private-value auctions with n risk-averse bidders, where n is large. We first use asymptotic analysis techniques to calculate explicit approximations of the equilibrium bids and of the seller’s revenue in any k-price auction (k = 1, 2, . . .). These explicit approximations show that in all large k-price auctions the effect of risk-aversion is O(1/n ²) small. Hence, all large k-price auctions with risk-averse bidders are O(1/n ²) revenue equivalent. The generalization, that all large auctions are O(1/n ²) revenue equivalent, is false. Indeed, we show that there exist auction mechanisms for which the limiting revenue as ${n\longrightarrow \infty }We study private-value auctions with n risk-averse bidders, where n is large. We first use asymptotic analysis techniques to calculate explicit approximations of the equilibrium bids and of the seller’s revenue in any k-price auction (k = 1, 2, . . .). These explicit approximations show that in all large k-price auctions the effect of risk-aversion is O(1/n ²) small. Hence, all large k-price auctions with risk-averse bidders are O(1/n ²) revenue equivalent. The generalization, that all large auctions are O(1/n ²) revenue equivalent, is false. Indeed, we show that there exist auction mechanisms for which the limiting revenue as n? ￥{n\longrightarrow \infty } with risk-averse bidders is strictly below the risk-neutral limit. Therefore, these auction mechanisms are not revenue equivalent to large k-price auctions even to leading-order as n? ￥{n\longrightarrow \infty }.     

Some inverse results for Hill's equation

We consider Hill's equation y″+(λ−q)y=0 where q∈L¹[0,π]. We show that if l_n—the length of the n-th instability interval—is of order O(n^−(k+2)) then the real Fourier coefficients a_n^k,b_n^k of q^(k)—k-th derivative of q—are of order O(n⁻²), which implies that q^(k) is absolutely continuous almost everywhere for k=0,1,2,….     

Efficient partition trees

We prove a theorem on partitioning point sets inE ^d (d fixed) and give an efficient construction of partition trees based on it. This yields a simplex range searching structure with linear space,O(n logn) deterministic preprocessing time, andO(n ^1?1/d (logn) ^O(1)) query time. WithO(nlogn) preprocessing time, where δ is an arbitrary positive constant, a more complicated data structure yields query timeO(n ^1?1/d (log logn) ^O(1)). This attains the lower bounds due to Chazelle [C1] up to polylogarithmic factors, improving and simplifying previous results of Chazelleet al. [CSW]. The partition result implies that, forr ^d≤n ^1?δ, a (1/r)-approximation of sizeO(r ^d) with respect to simplices for ann-point set inE ^d can be computed inO(n logr) deterministic time. A (1/r)-cutting of sizeO(r ^d) for a collection ofn hyperplanes inE ^d can be computed inO(n logr) deterministic time, provided thatr≤n ^1/(2d?1).     

Arithmetic properties of bipartitions with even parts distinct

In this work, we consider various arithmetic properties of the function ped _?2(n) that denotes the number of bipartitions of n with even parts distinct. We prove two infinite families of congruences for p _?2(n) modulo 3. We also give characterizations of ped _?2(n) modulo 2 and 4. Furthermore, for a fixed positive integer k, we show that ped _?2(n) is divisible by 2 ^k for almost all n.