Alternating Eulerian polynomials and left peak polynomials

We first present grammatical interpretations for the alternating Eulerian polynomials of types A and B. As applications, we then derive several properties of the type B alternating Eulerian polynomials, including recurrence relations, generating function and unimodality. And then, we establish an interesting connection between alternating Eulerian polynomials of type B and left peak polynomials, which implies that the type B alternating Eulerian polynomials have gamma-vectors that alternate in sign.     

Around the q-binomial-Eulerian polynomials

We find a combinatorial interpretation of Shareshian and Wachs’ $q$-binomial-Eulerian polynomials, which leads to an alternative proof of their $q$-$\gamma$-positivity using group actions. Motivated by the sign-balance identity of Désarménien–Foata–Loday for the $(\mathrm{des},\mathrm{inv})$-Eulerian polynomials, we further investigate the sign-balance of the $q$-binomial-Eulerian polynomials. We show the unimodality of the resulting signed binomial-Eulerian polynomials by exploiting their continued fraction expansion and making use of a new quadratic recursion for the $q$-binomial-Eulerian polynomials. We finally use the method of continued fractions to derive a new $(p,q)$-extension of the $\gamma$-positivity of binomial-Eulerian polynomials which involves crossings and nestings of permutations.     

The symmetric and unimodal expansion of Eulerian polynomials via continued fractions

This paper was motivated by a conjecture of Brändén [P. Brändén, Actions on permutations and unimodality of descent polynomials, European J. Combin. 29 (2) (2008) 514-531] about the divisibility of the coefficients in an expansion of generalized Eulerian polynomials, which implies the symmetric and unimodal property of the Eulerian numbers. We show that such a formula with the conjectured property can be derived from the combinatorial theory of continued fractions. We also discuss an analogous expansion for the corresponding formula for derangements and prove a (p,q)-analogue of the fact that the (-1)-evaluation of the enumerator polynomials of permutations (resp. derangements) by the number of excedances gives rise to tangent numbers (resp. secant numbers). The (p,q)-analogue unifies and generalizes our recent results [H. Shin, J. Zeng, The q-tangent and q-secant numbers via continued fractions, European J. Combin. 31 (7) (2010) 1689-1705] and that of Josuat-Vergès [M. Josuat-Vergés, A q-enumeration of alternating permutations, European J. Combin. 31 (7) (2010) 1892-1906].     

Two new triangles of q-integers via q-Eulerian polynomials of type A and B

The classical Eulerian polynomials can be expanded in the basis t ^k?1(1+t) ^n+1?2k (1≤k≤?(n+1)/2?) with positive integral coefficients. This formula implies both the symmetry and the unimodality of the Eulerian polynomials. In this paper, we prove a q-analogue of this expansion for Carlitz’s q-Eulerian polynomials as well as a similar formula for Chow–Gessel’s q-Eulerian polynomials of type B. We shall give some applications of these two formulas, which involve two new sequences of polynomials in the variable q with positive integral coefficients. It is an open problem to give a combinatorial interpretation for these polynomials.     

Partial γ-positivity for quasi-Stirling permutations of multisets

We prove that the enumerative polynomials of quasi-Stirling permutations of multisets with respect to the statistics of plateaux, descents and ascents are partial γ-positive, thereby confirming a recent conjecture posed by Lin, Ma and Zhang. This is accomplished by proving the partial γ-positivity of the enumerative polynomials of certain ordered labeled trees, which are in bijection with quasi-Stirling permutations of multisets. As an application, we provide an alternative proof of the partial γ-positivity of the enumerative polynomials on Stirling permutations of multisets.     

Turán Extremal Problem for Periodic Functions with Small Support and Its Applications

We study a Turán extremal problem on the largest mean value of a 1-periodic even function with nonnegative Fourier coefficients, fixed value at zero, and support on a closed interval $[ - h,h],0 < h \leqslant 1/2$ . We show how the solution of this extremal problem for rational numbers h=p/q is related to the solution of two finite-dimensional problems of linear programming. The solution of the Turán problem for rational numbers h of the form 2/q, 3/q, 4/q, $p/(2p + 1)$ is obtained. Applications of the Turán problem to analytic number theory are given.     

Palindromic companion forms for matrix polynomials of odd degree

The standard way to solve polynomial eigenvalue problems P(λ)x=0 is to convert the matrix polynomial P(λ) into a matrix pencil that preserves its spectral information — a process known as linearization. When P(λ) is palindromic, the eigenvalues, elementary divisors, and minimal indices of P(λ) have certain symmetries that can be lost when using the classical first and second Frobenius companion linearizations for numerical computations, since these linearizations do not preserve the palindromic structure. Recently new families of pencils have been introduced with the goal of finding linearizations that retain whatever structure the original P(λ) might possess, with particular attention to the preservation of palindromic structure. However, no general construction of palindromic linearizations valid for all palindromic polynomials has as yet been achieved. In this paper we present a family of linearizations for odd degree polynomials P(λ) which are palindromic whenever P(λ) is, and which are valid for all palindromic polynomials of odd degree. We illustrate our construction with several examples. In addition, we establish a simple way to recover the minimal indices of the polynomial from those of the linearizations in the new family.     

Second structure relation for q-semiclassical polynomials of the Hahn Tableau

The q-classical orthogonal polynomials of the q-Hahn Tableau are characterized from their orthogonality condition and by a first and a second structure relation. Unfortunately, for the q-semiclassical orthogonal polynomials (a generalization of the classical ones) we find only in the literature the first structure relation. In this paper, a second structure relation is deduced. In particular, by means of a general finite-type relation between a q-semiclassical polynomial sequence and the sequence of its q-differences such a structure relation is obtained.     

On two unimodal descent polynomials

The descent polynomials of separable permutations and derangements are both demonstrated to be unimodal. Moreover, we prove that the $\gamma$-coefficients of the first are positive with an interpretation parallel to the classical Eulerian polynomial, while the second is spiral, a property stronger than unimodality. Furthermore, we conjecture that they are both real-rooted.     

The maximum number of q-cliques in a graph with no p-clique

Let $\text{?(n, p, q)}$ be the maximum possible number of q-cliques among all graphs on n nodes with no p-clique. Turán, in 1941, determined $\text{?(n, p, 2)}$ for all n and p. For each n and p, he found the unique graph which attains this maximum. In this paper we determine $\text{?(n, p, q)}$ for all values of n, p and q. We show that, except for the trivial case 1 ? n < q, Turán's graph is the unique graph which attains the maximum $\text{?(n, p, q)}$ for all q such that 1 < q < p.     

A Note on Log-Convexity of q-Catalan Numbers

The q-Catalan numbers studied by Carlitz and Riordan are polynomials in q with nonnegative coefficients. They evaluate, at q = 1, to the Catalan numbers: 1, 1, 2, 5, 14,…, a log-convex sequence. We use a combinatorial interpretation of these polynomials to prove a q-log-convexity result. The sequence of q-Catalan numbers is not q-log-convex in the narrow sense used by other authors, so our work suggests a more flexible definition of q-log convex be adopted. Received January 2, 2007     

Quantum B-splines

Quantum splines are piecewise polynomials whose quantum derivatives (i.e. certain discrete derivatives or equivalently certain divided differences) agree up to some order at the joins. Just like classical splines, quantum splines admit a canonical basis with compact support: the quantum B-splines. These quantum B-splines are the q-analogues of classical B-splines. Here quantum B-spline bases and quantum B-spline curves are investigated, using a new variant of the blossom: the q (quantum)-blossom. The q-blossom of a degree d polynomial is the unique symmetric, multiaffine function in d variables that reduces to the polynomial along the q-diagonal. By applying the q-blossom, algorithms and identities for quantum B-spline bases and quantum B-spline curves are developed, including quantum variants of the de Boor algorithms for recursive evaluation and quantum differentiation, knot insertion procedures for converting from quantum B-spline to piecewise quantum Bézier form, and a quantum variant of Marsden’s identity.     

Schur positivity and the <Emphasis Type="Italic">q</Emphasis>-log-convexity of the Narayana polynomials

We prove two recent conjectures of Liu and Wang by establishing the strong q-log-convexity of the Narayana polynomials, and showing that the Narayana transformation preserves log-convexity. We begin with a formula of Brändén expressing the q-Narayana numbers as a specialization of Schur functions and, by deriving several symmetric function identities, we obtain the necessary Schur-positivity results. In addition, we prove the strong q-log-concavity of the q-Narayana numbers. The q-log-concavity of the q-Narayana numbers N _q (n,k) for fixed k is a special case of a conjecture of McNamara and Sagan on the infinite q-log-concavity of the Gaussian coefficients.     

A context-free grammar for the e-positivity of the trivariate second-order Eulerian polynomials

Ma-Ma-Yeh made a beautiful observation that a transformation of the grammar of Dumont instantly leads to the γ-positivity of the Eulerian polynomials. We notice that the transformed grammar bears a striking resemblance to the grammar for 0-1-2 increasing trees also due to Dumont. The appearance of the factor of two fits perfectly in a grammatical labeling of 0-1-2 increasing plane trees. Furthermore, the grammatical calculus is instrumental to the computation of the generating functions. This approach can be adapted to study the e-positivity of the trivariate second-order Eulerian polynomials first introduced by Dumont in the contexts of ternary trees and Stirling permutations, and independently defined by Janson, in connection with the joint distribution of the numbers of ascents, descents and plateaux over Stirling permutations.     

New results on q-positivity

In this paper we discuss symmetrically self-dual spaces, which are simply real vector spaces with a symmetric bilinear form. Certain subsets of the space will be called q-positive, where q is the quadratic form induced by the original bilinear form. The notion of q-positivity generalizes the classical notion of the monotonicity of a subset of a product of a Banach space and its dual. Maximal q-positivity then generalizes maximal monotonicity. We discuss concepts generalizing the representations of monotone sets by convex functions, as well as the number of maximally q -positive extensions of a q-positive set. We also discuss symmetrically self-dual Banach spaces, in which we add a Banach space structure, giving new characterizations of maximal q-positivity. The paper finishes with two new examples.     

On relations between γ-operations

Let expX be the power set of a non-empty set?X. A function γ:?expX→expX is said to be monotonic iff A?B?X implies γA?γB. Császár?[2] investigated relations between the monotonic functions. The purpose of the paper is to investigate some results concerning particular monotonic functions.     

Nonlinear subelliptic equations

A finitely generated quadratic module or preordering in the real polynomial ring is called stable, if it admits a certain degree bound on the sums of squares in the representation of polynomials. Stability, first defined explicitly in Powers and Scheiderer (Adv Geom 1, 71–88, 2001), is a very useful property. It often implies that the quadratic module is closed; furthermore, it helps settling the Moment Problem, solves the Membership Problem for quadratic modules and allows applications of methods from optimization to represent nonnegative polynomials. We provide sufficient conditions for finitely generated quadratic modules in real polynomial rings of several variables to be stable. These conditions can be checked easily. For a certain class of semi-algebraic sets, we obtain that the nonexistence of bounded polynomials implies stability of every corresponding quadratic module. As stability often implies the non-solvability of the Moment Problem, this complements the result from Schmüdgen (J Reine Angew Math 558, 225–234, 2003), which uses bounded polynomials to check the solvability of the Moment Problem by dimensional induction. We also use stability to generalize a result on the Invariant Moment Problem from Cimpric et al. (Trans Am Math Soc, to appear).     

The evaluation of Tornheim double sums, Part 1

We provide an explicit formula for the Tornheim double series in terms of integrals involving the Hurwitz zeta function. We also study the limit when the parameters of the Tornheim sum become natural numbers, and show that in that case it can be expressed in terms of definite integrals of triple products of Bernoulli polynomials and the Bernoulli function A_k(q)?kζ^′(1-k,q).     

On some Turán-type inequalities for q-special functions

Intrinsic inequalities involving Turán-type inequalities for some q-special functions are established. A special interest is granted to q-Dunkl kernel. The results presented here would provide extensions of those given in the classical case.     

Combinatorial interpretations of the q-Faulhaber and q-Salié coefficients

Recently, Guo and Zeng discovered two families of polynomials featuring in a q-analogue of Faulhaber's formula for the sums of powers and a q-analogue of Gessel-Viennot's formula involving Salié's coefficients for the alternating sums of powers. In this paper, we show that these are polynomials with symmetric, nonnegative integral coefficients by refining Gessel-Viennot's combinatorial interpretations.