Events

Title: Packing and covering balls in planar graphs

Abstract:

The set of all vertices at distance at most r from a vertex v in a graph G is called an r-ball. We prove that the minimum number of vertices hitting all r-balls in a planar graph G is at most a constant (independent of r) times the maximum number of vertex-disjoint r-balls in G.

Title: Lineup polytopes and exclusion principles

Abstract:

The set of all possible spectra of 1-reduced density operators for systems of N particles on a d-dimensional Hilbert space is a polytope called hypersimplex and this is related to Pauli's exclusion principle. If the spectrum of the original density operators is fixed, the set of spectra (ordered decreasingly) of 1-reduced density operators is also a polytope.

Title: Counting planar maps, 50 years after William Tutte

Abstract:

Every planar map can be properly coloured with four colours. But how many proper colourings has, on average, a planar map with $n$ edges? What if we allow a prescribed number of "monochromatic" edges, the endpoints of which share the same colour? What if we have $q$ colours rather than four?

Title: Polynomial ideals, association schemes, and the Q-polynomial property

Abstract:

Let X ⊆ S^{m−1} be a spherical code in C^m. We study the ideal I ⊆ C[z_1, . . . , z_m] of polynomials that vanish on the points of X: I = { F(z) | (∀a ∈ X) (F(a) = 0) }. The primary example of interest is where the Gram matrix of X is proportional to the first idempotent in some Q-polynomial ordering of an association scheme (X, R) defined on X.

Title: Obstructions for matroids of path-width at most k and graphs of linear rank-width at most k

Abstract:

Every minor-closed class of matroids of bounded branch-width can be characterized by a minimal list of excluded minors, but unlike graphs, this list could be infinite in general. However, for each fixed finite field $\mathbb F$, the list contains only finitely many $\mathbb F$-representable matroids, due to the well-quasi-ordering of $\mathbb F$-representable matroids of bounded branch-width under taking matroid minors [J. F. Geelen, A. M. H. Gerards, and G. Whittle (2002)].

Title: “Lattice-Based Zero-Knowledge Arguments for Integer Relations” by Benoit Libert, San Ling, Khoa Nguyen, and Huaxiong Wang

Abstract:

We provide lattice-based protocols allowing to prove relations among committed integers. While the most general zero-knowledge proof techniques can handle arithmetic circuits in the lattice setting, adapting them to prove statements over the integers is non-trivial, at least if we want to handle exponentially large integers while working with a polynomial size modulus q.

Title: Type B q-Stirling numbers

Abstract:

The Stirling numbers of the first and second kind are classical objects in enumerative combinatorics which count the number of permutations or set partitions with a given number of blocks or cycles, respectively. Carlitz and Gould introduced q-analogues of the Stirling numbers of the first and second kinds, which have been further studied by many authors including Gessel, Garsia, Remmel, Wilson, and others, particularly in relation to certain statistics on ordered set partitions.

Title: Strongly nonexpansive mappings revisited: uniform monotonicity and operator splitting

Abstract:

The correspondence between the class of nonexpansive mappings and the class of maximally monotone operators via the reflected resolvents of the latter has played an instrumental role in the convergence analysis of the splitting methods. Indeed, the performance of some of these methods, e.g., Douglas–Rachford and Peaceman–Rachford methods hinges on iterating the so-called splitting operator associated with the individual operators.

Title: On packing dijoins in digraphs and weighted digraphs

Abstract:

Let D=(V,A) be a digraph. A dicut is the set of arcs in a cut where all the arcs cross in the same direction, and a dijoin is a set of arcs whose contraction makes D strongly connected. It is known that every dicut and dijoin intersect. Suppose every dicut has size at least k.

Title: A Multijection of Cokernels

Absract:

I discovered an intriguing linear algebra relationship which I call a multijection. I used this construction to solve an open problem about higher-dimensional sandpile groups, but I think that it has more to say.