Related papers: Combinatorics of `unavoidable complexes'
Given a set of integers W, the Partition problem determines whether W can be divided into two disjoint subsets with equal sums. We model the Partition problem as a system of polynomial equations, and then investigate the complexity of a…
For a finite set $X$, we say that a set $H\subseteq X$ crosses a partition ${\cal P}=(X_1,\dots,X_k)$ of $X$ if $H$ intersects $\min (|H|,k)$ partition classes. If $|H|\geq k$, this means that $H$ meets all classes $X_i$, whilst for…
Define Minimum Soapy Union (MinSU) as the following optimization problem: given a $k$-tuple $(X_1, X_2,..., X_k)$ of finite integer sets, find a $k$-tuple $(t_1, t_2,..., t_k)$ of integers that minimizes the cardinality of $(X_1 + t_1) \cup…
The piecewise complexity $h(u)$ of a word is the minimal length of subwords needed to exactly characterise $u$. Its piecewise minimality index $\rho(u)$ is the smallest length $k$ such that $u$ is minimal among its order-$k$ class $[u]_k$…
Given an algebraically closed field $K$ of characteristic zero, we study the incidence relation between points and irreducible projective curves, or more precisely the poset of irreducible proper subvarieties of $\mathbb P^2(K)$. Answering…
Motivated by the theorem of Gy\H ori and Lov\'asz, we consider the following problem. For a connected graph $G$ on $n$ vertices and $m$ edges determine the number $P(G,k)$ of unordered solutions of positive integers $\sum_{i=1}^k m_i = m$…
We relate the embeddability of the simplicial complex $[3]*K$ into $\mathbb{R}^{n+2}$ to that of $K$ into $\mathbb{R}^n$. In brief, the embeddability of $K$ into $\mathbb{R}^n$, in the metastable range $2n\geq 3(d+1)$, is equivalent to the…
A partition of degree $n$ is a decomposition $n=i_1+i_2+\dots+i_q$, where ${i_1,i_2,\dots,i_q}$ are positive integers called the parts of the partition. Let $\lambda>0$ be an integer. The partition is said to be a $\lambda$--partition if…
Let p be a rational prime and let F be a number field. Then, for each i>0, there is a short exact localization sequence for K_{2i}(F). If p is odd or F is nonexceptional, we find necessary and sufficient conditions for this exact sequence…
We derive a formula for the expected number of blocks of a given size from a non-crossing partition chosen uniformly at random. Moreover, we refine this result subject to the restriction of having a number of blocks given. Furthermore, we…
This paper describes a new link between combinatorial number theory and geometry. The main result states that A is a finite set of relatively prime positive integers if and only if A = (K-K) \cap N, where K is a compact set of real numbers…
Consider a face F in an arrangement of n Jordan curves in the plane, no two of which intersect more than s times. We prove that the combinatorial complexity of F is O(\lambda_s(n)), O(\lambda_{s+1}(n)), and O(\lambda_{s+2}(n)), when the…
Recently it was shown that, for every fixed k>1, given a finite simply connected simplicial complex X, the kth homotopy group \pi_k(X) can be computed in time polynomial in the number n of simplices of X. We prove that this problem is…
We consider the basic problem of learning an unknown partition of $n$ elements into at most $k$ sets using simple queries that reveal information about a small subset of elements. Our starting point is the well-studied pairwise same-set…
Consider a graph $G$ with chromatic number $k$ and a collection of complete bipartite graphs, or bicliques, that cover the edges of $G$. We prove the following two results: \medskip \noindent $\bullet$ If the bicliques partition the edges…
Systems of polynomial equations over an algebraically-closed field K can be used to concisely model many combinatorial problems. In this way, a combinatorial problem is feasible (e.g., a graph is 3-colorable, hamiltonian, etc.) if and only…
We prove a query complexity variant of the weak polynomial Freiman-Ruzsa conjecture in the following form. For any $\epsilon > 0$, a set $A \subset \mathbb{Z}^d$ with doubling $K$ has a subset of size at least $K^{-\frac{4}{\epsilon}}|A|$…
In this paper we study combinatorial aspects of permutations of $\{1,\ldots,n\}$ and related topics. In particular, we prove that there is a unique permutation $\pi$ of $\{1,\ldots,n\}$ such that all the numbers $k+\pi(k)$ ($k=1,\ldots,n$)…
The randomized $k$-number partitioning problem is the task to distribute $N$ i.i.d. random variables into $k$ groups in such a way that the sums of the variables in each group are as similar as possible. The restricted $k$-partitioning…
We present a general conjecture on the divisibility of a certain expression in terms of Kostka numbers and their close variants. This conjecture is closely related to a variant of the period-index problem of noncommutative algebra, with…