Van der Waerden/Schrijver-Valiant like Conjectures and Stable (aka Hyperbolic) Homogeneous Polynomials : One Theorem for all
Abstract
Let be a homogeneous polynomial of degree in variables, , . We call such a polynomial {\bf H-Stable} if provided the real parts . This notion from {\it Control Theory} is closely related to the notion of {\it Hyperbolicity} used intensively in the {\it PDE} theory. The main theorem in this paper states that if is a homogeneous {\bf H-Stable} polynomial of degree with nonnegative coefficients; is the maximum degree of the variable , and then the following inequality holds This inequality is a vast (and unifying) generalization of the Van der Waerden conjecture on the permanents of doubly stochastic matrices as well as the Schrijver-Valiant conjecture on the number of perfect matchings in -regular bipartite graphs. These two famous results correspond to the {\bf H-Stable} polynomials which are products of linear forms. Our proof is relatively simple and ``noncomputational''; it uses just very basic properties of complex numbers and the AM/GM inequality.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.0711.3496,
title = {Van der Waerden/Schrijver-Valiant like Conjectures and Stable (aka Hyperbolic) Homogeneous Polynomials : One Theorem for all},
author = {Leonid Gurvits},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0711.3496},
year = {2008}
}
Comments
A slightly corrected (a few typos fixed) version of EJC paper. This version is self-contained and elementary. Written as a Lecture Notes, can be used in an undergraduate/graduate combinatorics course