Events - 2020

Title: Chromatic symmetric functions of Dyck paths and $q$-rook theory

Abstract:

Given a graph and a set of colors, a coloring of the graph is a function that associates each vertex in the graph with a color. In 1995, Stanley generalized this definition to symmetric functions by looking at the number of times each color is used and extending the set of colors to $\mathbb{Z}^+$. In 2012, Shareshian and Wachs introduced a refinement of the chromatic functions for ordered graphs as $q$-analogues.

Title: Partial orders on the symmetric group

Abstract:

The symmetric group of permutations is naturally a poset in at least 4 different ways, the (strong) Bruhat order and three flavors of weak order. Stanley showed in 1980 that the Bruhat order is Sperner, essentially meaning that the obvious large antichains are in fact the largest possible. The corresponding fact for weak orders was open until last year, when it was established by Gaetz and Gao.

Title: Simple eigenvalues of graph

Abstract:

If v is an eigenvector for eigenvalue λ of a graph X and α is an automorphism of X, then α(v) is also an eigenvector for λ. Thus it is rather exceptional for an eigenvalue of a vertex-transitive graph to be simple. We study cubic vertex-transitive graphs with a non-trivial simple eigenvalue, and discover remarkable connections to arc-transitivity, regular maps and Chebyshev polynomials.

Title: Beyond rank

Abstract:

The notion of the rank of a matrix is one of the most fundamental in linear algebra. The analogues of this notion in multilinear algebra — e.g., what is the “rank” of an m x n x p array of numbers? — is much more mysterious, but it also has proven to be useful in a wide array of contexts. I will talk about some questions and answers in “higher rank” coming from complexity theory, data science, geometric combinatorics, additive number theory, and commutative algebra.

Title: Fractional revival on graphs

Abstract:

Let A be the adjacency matrix of a weighted graph, and let U(t)=exp(itA). If there is a time t such that U(t)e_a=\alpha e_a+\beta e_b, then we say there is fractional revival (FR) between a and b. For the special case when \alpha=0, we say there is perfect state transfer (PST) between vertices a and b. It is known that PST is monogamous (PST from a to b and PST from a to c implies b=c) and vertices a b are cospectral in this case. If \alpha\beta\neq 0, then there is proper fractional revival.

Title: Face enumeration and real-rootedness

Abstract:

About fifteen years ago F. Brenti and V. Welker showed that the face enumerating polynomial of the barycentric subdivision of any Cohen-Macaulay simplicial complex has only real roots. It is natural to ask whether similar results hold when barycentric subdivision is replaced by more general types of triangulations, or when simplicial complexes are replaced by more general cell complexes.

Title: Constructing broken SIDH parameters: a tale of De Feo, Jao, and Plut's serendipity

Abstract:

This talk is motivated by analyzing the security of the cryptographic key exchange protocol SIDH (Supersingular Isogeny Diffie-Hellman), introduced by 2011 by De Feo, Jao, and Plut. We will first recall some mathematical background as well as the protocol itself. The 'keys' in this protocol are elliptic curves, which are typically described by equations in x and y of the form y^2 = x^3 + ax + b.

Title: Packings of partial difference sets

Abstract:

Partial difference sets are highly structured group subsets that occur in various guises throughout design theory, finite geometry, coding theory, and graph theory. They admit only two possible nontrivial character sums and so are often studied using character theory.

Title: The Tutte Symmetric Function

Abstract:

The Tutte polynomial is one of the most celebrated and most well-studied graph functions, in part because it specializes to every graph polynomial with a linear deletion-contraction relation, such as the chromatic polynomial. In the 1990s, Stanley generalized the Tutte polynomial to a symmetric function, but at the cost of the deletion-contraction relation.

Title: Pseuodrandom Cliquefree Graphs, Finite Geometry, and Spectra

Abstract:

A regular graph is called optimally pseudorandom if its second largest eigenvalue in absolute value is, up to a constant factor, as small as possible. Determining the largest degree of an optimally pseudorandom graph without a clique of size s is a well-known open problem in extremal graph theory.

Title: Coxeter combinatorics and spherical Schubert geometry

Abstract:

This talk will introduce spherical elements in a finite Coxeter system. These spherical elements are a generalization of Coxeter elements, that conjecturally, for Weyl groups, index Schubert varieties in the flag variety G/B that are spherical for the action of a Levi subgroup.

Title: The Hepp bound of a matroid: flags, volumes and integrals

Abstract:

Invariants of combinatorial structures can be very useful tools that capture some specific characteristics, and repackage them in a meaningful way. For example, the famous Tutte polynomial of a matroid or graph tracks the rank statistics of its submatroids, which has many applications, and relations like contraction-deletion establish a very close connection between the algebraic structure of the invariant (e.g. Tutte polynomials) and the actual matroid itself.