English

Van der Waerden/Schrijver-Valiant like Conjectures and Stable (aka Hyperbolic) Homogeneous Polynomials : One Theorem for all

Combinatorics 2008-05-14 v2 Algebraic Geometry

Abstract

Let pp be a homogeneous polynomial of degree nn in nn variables, p(z1,...,zn)=p(Z)p(z_1,...,z_n) = p(Z), ZCnZ \in C^{n}. We call such a polynomial pp {\bf H-Stable} if p(z1,...,zn)0p(z_1,...,z_n) \neq 0 provided the real parts Re(zi)>0,1inRe(z_i) > 0, 1 \leq i \leq n. 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 p(x1,...,xn)p(x_1,...,x_n) is a homogeneous {\bf H-Stable} polynomial of degree nn with nonnegative coefficients; degp(i)deg_{p}(i) is the maximum degree of the variable xix_i, Ci=min(degp(i),i)C_i = \min(deg_{p}(i),i) and Cap(p)=infxi>0,1inp(x1,...,xn)x1...xn Cap(p) = \inf_{x_i > 0, 1 \leq i \leq n} \frac{p(x_1,...,x_n)}{x_1 ... x_n} then the following inequality holds nx1...xnp(0,...,0)Cap(p)2in(Ci1Ci)Ci1. \frac{\partial^n}{\partial x_1... \partial x_n} p(0,...,0) \geq Cap(p) \prod_{2 \leq i \leq n} (\frac{C_i -1}{C_i})^{C_{i}-1}. 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 kk-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