New indices for analysing partial ranking diagrams

Interest is growing in decision making strategies and several techniques are now available. The assessment of priorities is a typical premise before final decisions are taken. Total and partial order ranking (POR) strategies, which from a mathematical point of view are based on elementary methods of discrete mathematics, appear as an attractive and simple tool to asses priorities. Despite the well-known total ranking strategies, which are scalar methods combining the different criteria values into a global index which always ranks elements in an ordered sequence, the partial order ranking is a vectorial approach which recognises that not all the elements can be directly compared with all the others. In fact when many criteria are considered, contradictions in the ranking are bound to exist and the higher the number of criteria, the higher the probability that contradictions in the ranking occur. The Hasse diagram technique (HDT) is a very useful tool to perform partial order ranking. The results of the partial order ranking are visualised in a diagram, called Hasse diagram. Incomparable elements are located at the same geometrical height and as high as possible in the diagram, thus incomparable elements are arranged in levels. The quality of a ranking procedure has to be evaluated by a deep analysis and by several indices, i.e. scalar functions that describe features of an ordered set and allow comparison among different rankings. For this purpose, new indices for ranking analysis are proposed here, compared with the ones found in literature and tested on theoretical examples and on real data.     

On the -torsion of elliptic curves and elliptic surfaces in characteristic

We study the extension generated by the -coordinates of the -torsion points of an elliptic curve over a function field of characteristic . If is a non-isotrivial elliptic surface in characteristic with a -torsion section, then for 11$"> our results imply restrictions on the genus, the gonality, and the -rank of the base curve , whereas for such a surface can be constructed over any base curve . We also describe explicitly all occurring in the cases where the surface is rational or or the base curve is rational, elliptic or hyperelliptic.

     

Class field theory for a product of curves over a local field

We prove that the kernel of the reciprocity map for a product of curves over a p-adic field with split semi-stable reduction is divisible. We also consider the K ₁ of a product of curves over a number field.      

有限域上一类方程的解数

研究有限域 上一类方程 , , 的解数. 在保持方程系数不变的前提下, 通过对其次数矩阵进行有效降次, 可以改进对原方程解数的各种估计. 若对方程未知变量和系数进行适当限定, 则可将其化为椭圆曲线方程, 从而利用Hasse定理得到原方程解数的一个精确界.     

On a conjecture of Fernando,Hou and Lappano concerning permutation polynomials over finite fields

Let ${\mathbb{F}}_q$ be the finite field with q elements and let $p=\text{char}{\mathbb{F}}_q$. It was conjectured that for integers $e\ge 2$ and $1\le a\le pe-2$, the polynomial $X^{q-2}+X^{q^2-2}+\cdots +X^{q^a-2}$ is a permutation polynomial of ${\mathbb{F}}_{q^e}$ if and only if (i) $a=2$ and $q=2$, or (ii) $a=1$ and $\text{gcd}(q-2,q^e-1)=1$. In the present paper we confirm this conjecture.     

A-hypergeometric series and the Hasse–Witt matrix of a hypersurface

We give a short combinatorial proof of the generic invertibility of the Hasse–Witt matrix of a projective hypersurface. We also examine the relationship between the Hasse–Witt matrix and certain A-hypergeometric series, which is what motivated the proof.     

Path homomorphisms,graph colorings,and boolean matrices

We investigate bounds on the chromatic number of a graph G derived from the nonexistence of homomorphisms from some path \begin{eqnarray*}\vec{P}\end{eqnarray*} into some orientation \begin{eqnarray*}\vec{G}\end{eqnarray*} of G. The condition is often efficiently verifiable using boolean matrix multiplications. However, the bound associated to a path \begin{eqnarray*}\vec{P}\end{eqnarray*} depends on the relation between the “algebraic length” and “derived algebraic length” of \begin{eqnarray*}\vec{P}\end{eqnarray*}. This suggests that paths yielding efficient bounds may be exponentially large with respect to G, and the corresponding heuristic may not be constructive. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 63: 198–209, 2010     

Pythagoras numbers of fields

A field of characteristic is said to have finite Pythagoras number if there exists an integer such that each nonzero sum of squares in can be written as a sum of squares, in which case the Pythagoras number of is defined to be the least such integer. As a consequence of Pfister's results on the level of fields, of a nonformally real field is always of the form or , and all integers of such type can be realized as Pythagoras numbers of nonformally real fields. Prestel showed that values of the form , , and can always be realized as Pythagoras numbers of formally real fields. We will show that in fact to every integer there exists a formally real field with . As a refinement, we will show that if and are integers such that , then there exists a uniquely ordered field with and (resp. ), where (resp. ) denotes the supremum of the dimensions of anisotropic forms over which are torsion in the Witt ring of (resp. which are indefinite with respect to each ordering on ).