Events

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: Complexity Measures on the Symmetric Group and Beyond

Abstract:

A classical result in complexity theory states that a degree-d Boolean function on the hypercube can be computed using a decision tree of depth poly(d). Conversely, a Boolean function computed by a decision tree of depth d has degree at most d. Thus degree and decision tree complexity are polynomially related. Many other complexity measures of Boolean functions on the hypercube are polynomially related to the degree (e.g., approximate degree, certificate complexity, block sensitivity), and last year Huang famously added sensitivity to the list. Can we prove similar results for Boolean functions on other combinatorial domains?

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:Twisted Hopf algebras

Abstract:

A twisted Hopf algebra is a Hopf algebra in the category of linear species. The Fock functors allow to recover "classical" Hopf algebras from twisted ones. Numerous constructions and results can be lifted to the level of twisted bialgebras, such that cofreeness, shuffle and quasi-shuffles products, etc.

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: Distinct Eignvalues and Sensitivity

Abstract: 

For a graph $G$, the class of real-valued symmetric matrices whose zero-nonzero pattern of off-diagonal entries is described by the adjacencies in $G$ is denoted by $S(G)$. The inverse eigenvalue problem for the multiplicities of the eigenvalues of $G$ is to determine for which ordered list of positive integers $m_1\geq m_2\geq \cdots\geq m_k$ with $\sum_{i=1}^{k} m_i=|V(G)|$, there exists a matrix in $S(G)$ with distinct eigenvalues ${\lambda_1,\lambda_2,\cdots, \lambda_k}$ such that $\lambda_i$ has multiplicity $m_i$.

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: Complex Hadamard diagonalizable graphs

Abstract: 

A graph is complex Hadamard diagonalizable if its Laplacian matrix is diagonalizable by a complex Hadamard matrix.

This is a natural generalization of the Hadamard diagonalizable graphs introduced by Barik, Fallat and Kirkland.

My interest in these graphs is two-fold:

Title: K-fractional revival and approximate K-fractional revival on path graphs

Abstract:

A continuous-time quantum walk is a process on a network of quantum particles that is governed by the transition matrix U(t) = e^{-itA}, where is A is the adjacency matrix of the graph. The two-vertex phenomenon fractional revival occurs between vertices u and v at time t if the columns of U(t) corresponding to u and v are only supported on the rows indexed by those same two vertices. The well-studied perfect state transfer is a special case of this.

Title: Analytic Combinatorics, Rigorous Numerics, and Uniqueness of Biomembranes

Abstract:

Since the invention of the compound microscope in the early seventeenth century, scientists have marvelled over red blood cells and their surprising shape. An influential model of Canham predicts the shapes of blood cells and similar biomembranes come from a variational problem minimizing the "bending energy" of these surfaces. Because observed (healthy) cells have the same shape in humans, it is natural to ask whether the model admits a unique solution. Here, we prove solution uniqueness for the genus one Canham problem.