A combinatorial formula for Macdonald polynomials

In this paper we use the combinatorics of alcove walks to give uniform combinatorial formulas for Macdonald polynomials for all Lie types. These formulas resemble the formulas of Haglund, Haiman and Loehr for Macdonald polynomials of type GLn. At q=0 these formulas specialize to the formula of Schwer for the Macdonald spherical function in terms of positively folded alcove walks and at q=t=0 these formulas specialize to the formula for the Weyl character in terms of the Littelmann path model (in the positively folded gallery form of Gaussent and Littelmann).     

Double Schubert polynomials for the classical groups

For each infinite series of the classical Lie groups of type B, C or D, we construct a family of polynomials parametrized by the elements of the corresponding Weyl group of infinite rank. These polynomials represent the Schubert classes in the equivariant cohomology of the appropriate flag variety. They satisfy a stability property, and are a natural extension of the (single) Schubert polynomials of Billey and Haiman, which represent non-equivariant Schubert classes. They are also positive in a certain sense, and when indexed by maximal Grassmannian elements, or by the longest element in a finite Weyl group, these polynomials can be expressed in terms of the factorial analogues of Schur's Q- or P-functions defined earlier by Ivanov.     

Higher integrality conditions, volumes and Ehrhart polynomials

A polytope is integral if all of its vertices are lattice points. The constant term of the Ehrhart polynomial of an integral polytope is known to be 1. In previous work, we showed that the coefficients of the Ehrhart polynomial of a lattice-face polytope are volumes of projections of the polytope. We generalize both results by introducing a notion of k-integral polytopes, where 0-integral is equivalent to integral. We show that the Ehrhart polynomial of a k-integral polytope P has the properties that the coefficients in degrees less than or equal to k are determined by a projection of P, and the coefficients in higher degrees are determined by slices of P. A key step of the proof is that under certain generality conditions, the volume of a polytope is equal to the sum of volumes of slices of the polytope.     

Twisted Alexander polynomials of twist knots for nonabelian representations

In this paper, we describe the twisted Alexander polynomial of twist knots for nonabelian SL(2,C)-representations and investigate in detail the coefficient of the highest degree term as a function on the representation space of the knot group. In particular, we introduce the notion of monic representation and discuss its relation to the fiberedness of knots.     

Orthogonal polynomials on the disc

We consider the space P_n of orthogonal polynomials of degree n on the unit disc for a general radially symmetric weight function. We show that there exists a single orthogonal polynomial whose rotations through the angles , j=0,1,…,n forms an orthonormal basis for P_n, and compute all such polynomials explicitly. This generalises the orthonormal basis of Logan and Shepp for the Legendre polynomials on the disc.Furthermore, such a polynomial reflects the rotational symmetry of the weight in a deeper way: its rotations under other subgroups of the group of rotations forms a tight frame for P_n, with a continuous version also holding. Along the way, we show that other frame decompositions with natural symmetries exist, and consider a number of structural properties of P_n including the form of the monomial orthogonal polynomials, and whether or not P_n contains ridge functions.     

A remark on the law of the logarithm for weighted sums of random variables with multidimensional indices

In this work, a sharp upper bound on the law of the logarithm for the weighted sums of random variables with multidimensional indices is obtained. The main result improves the result in [Li, Rao and Wang, 1995. On strong law of large numbers and the law of the logarithm for weighted sums of independent random variables with multidimensional indices. J. Multivariate Anal. 52, 181–198], partly.     

On the Markov sequence problem for Jacobi polynomials

We give a simple and entirely elementary proof of Gasper's Theorem on the Markov sequence problem for Jacobi polynomials. It is based on the spectral analysis of an operator that arises in the study of a probabilistic model of colliding molecules introduced by Marc Kac, and the methods developed here yield new estimates relevant to the collision model.     

On the localization formula in equivariant cohomology

We give a generalization of the Atiyah-Bott-Berline-Vergne localization theorem for the equivariant cohomology of a torus action. We replace the manifold having a torus action by an equivariant map of manifolds having a compact connected Lie group action. This provides a systematic method for calculating the Gysin homomorphism in ordinary cohomology of an equivariant map. As an example, we recover a formula of Akyildiz-Carrell for the Gysin homomorphism of flag manifolds.     

Surface holonomy for non-abelian 2-bundles via double groupoids

In the context of non-abelian gerbes, we define a cubical version of categorical group 2-bundles with connection over a smooth manifold. We address their two-dimensional parallel transport, study its properties, and construct non-abelian Wilson surface functionals.     

Local torus actions modeled on the standard representation

We introduce the notion of a local torus action modeled on the standard representation (for simplicity, we call it a local torus action). It is a generalization of a locally standard torus action and also an underlying structure of a locally toric Lagrangian fibration. For a local torus action, we define two invariants called a characteristic pair and an Euler class of the orbit map, and prove that local torus actions are classified topologically by them. As a corollary, we obtain a topological classification of locally standard torus actions, which includes the topological classifications of quasi-toric manifolds by Davis and Januszkiewicz and of effective T²-actions on four-dimensional manifolds without nontrivial finite stabilizers by Orlik and Raymond. We discuss locally toric Lagrangian fibrations from the viewpoint of local torus actions. We also investigate the topology of a manifold equipped with a local torus action when the Euler class of the orbit map vanishes.     

The chromatic polynomial of fatgraphs and its categorification

Motivated by Khovanov homology and relations between the Jones polynomial and graph polynomials, we construct a homology theory for embedded graphs from which the chromatic polynomial can be recovered as the Euler characteristic. For plane graphs, we show that our chromatic homology can be recovered from the Khovanov homology of an associated link. We apply this connection with Khovanov homology to show that the torsion-free part of our chromatic homology is independent of the choice of planar embedding of a graph. We extend our construction and categorify the Bollobás-Riordan polynomial (a generalization of the Tutte polynomial to embedded graphs). We prove that both our chromatic homology and the Khovanov homology of an associated link can be recovered from this categorification.     

On the Kantorovich–Rubinstein theorem

The Kantorovich–Rubinstein theorem provides a formula for the Wasserstein metric W₁ on the space of regular probability Borel measures on a compact metric space. Dudley and de Acosta generalized the theorem to measures on separable metric spaces. Kellerer, using his own work on Monge–Kantorovich duality, obtained a rapid proof for Radon measures on an arbitrary metric space. The object of the present expository article is to give an account of Kellerer’s generalization of the Kantorovich–Rubinstein theorem, together with related matters. It transpires that a more elementary version of Monge–Kantorovich duality than that used by Kellerer suffices for present purposes. The fundamental relations that provide two characterizations of the Wasserstein metric are obtained directly, without the need for prior demonstration of density or duality theorems. The latter are proved, however, and used in the characterization of optimal measures and functions for the Kantorovich–Rubinstein linear programme. A formula of Dobrushin is proved.     

Growth estimates for modified Green potentials in the upper-half space

In this paper, we construct a modified Green potential in the upper-half space of the n-dimensional Euclidean space. Meanwhile, the behavior at infinity of it is also given.     

Inversion of the Pieri formula for Macdonald polynomials

We give the explicit analytic development of Macdonald polynomials in terms of “modified complete” and elementary symmetric functions. These expansions are obtained by inverting the Pieri formula. Specialization yields similar developments for monomial, Jack and Hall-Littlewood symmetric functions.     

Asymptotic cone of semisimple orbits for symmetric pairs

Let G be a reductive algebraic group over C and denote its Lie algebra by g. Let Oh be a closed G-orbit through a semisimple element h∈g. By a result of Borho and Kraft (1979) [4], it is known that the asymptotic cone of the orbit Oh is the closure of a Richardson nilpotent orbit corresponding to a parabolic subgroup whose Levi component is the centralizer ZG(h) in G. In this paper, we prove an analogue on a semisimple orbit for a symmetric pair.More precisely, let θ be an involution of G, and K=Gθ a fixed point subgroup of θ. Then we have a Cartan decomposition g=k+s of the Lie algebra g=Lie(G) which is the eigenspace decomposition of θ on g. Let {x,h,y} be a normal sl₂ triple, where x,y∈s are nilpotent, and h∈k semisimple. In addition, we assume , where denotes the complex conjugation which commutes with θ. Then is a semisimple element in s, and we can consider a semisimple orbit Ad(K)a in s, which is closed. Our main result asserts that the asymptotic cone of Ad(K)a in s coincides with , if x is even nilpotent.     

On coefficients of polynomials over finite fields

In this paper we study the relation between coefficients of a polynomial over finite field Fq and the moved elements by the mapping that induces the polynomial. The relation is established by a special system of linear equations. Using this relation we give the lower bound on the number of nonzero coefficients of polynomial that depends on the number m of moved elements. Moreover we show that there exist permutation polynomials of special form that achieve this bound when m|q−1. In the other direction, we show that if the number of moved elements is small then there is an recurrence relation among these coefficients. Using these recurrence relations, we improve the lower bound of nonzero coefficients when m?q−1 and . As a byproduct, we show that the moved elements must satisfy certain polynomial equations if the mapping induces a polynomial such that there are only two nonzero coefficients out of 2m consecutive coefficients. Finally we provide an algorithm to compute the coefficients of the polynomial induced by a given mapping with O(q3/2) operations.     

An explicit formula for a Bennequin-type invariant of apparent contours

We derive an explicit formula for the computation of a Vassiliev-type invariant of an apparent contour introduced recently by Ohmoto and Aicardi using appropriate linking numbers of its Legendrian lift. Our formula does not require the construction of the Legendrian lift and only takes into account the nodes, the cusps, the extremal points and the orientation of the apparent contour. In this way the computation can be implemented into a computer program; we demonstrate its use with some examples.