Related papers: Negatively correlated random variables and Mason's…
We give a sufficient and necessary condition for a probability measure $\mu$ on the real line to satisfy the logarithmic Sobolev inequality for convex functions. The condition is expressed in terms of the unique left-continuous and…
Hilbert polynomials have positivity properties under favorable conditions. We establish a similar "K-theoretic positivity" for matroids. As an application, for a multiplicity-free subvariety of a product of projective spaces such that the…
In a recent paper, the first author proved the log-concavity of the coefficients of the characteristic polynomial of a matroid realizable over a field of characteristic 0, answering a long-standing conjecture of Read in graph theory. We…
Fix a matroid N. A matroid M is N-fragile if, for each element e of M, at least one of M\e and M/e has no N-minor. The Bounded Canopy Conjecture is that all GF(q)-representable matroids M that have an N-minor and are N-fragile have branch…
The Peterson-Thom conjecture asserts that any diffuse, amenable subalgebra of a free group factor is contained in a unique maximal amenable subalgebra. This conjecture is motivated by related results in Popa's deformation/rigidity theory…
We deal with the random combinatorial structures called assemblies. By weakening the logarithmic condition which assures regularity of the number of components of a given order, we extend the notion of logarithmic assemblies. Using the…
We show that a set function $\nu$ satisfies the gross substitutes property if and only if its homogeneous generating polynomial $Z_{q,\nu}$ is a Lorentzian polynomial for all positive $q \le 1$, answering a question of Eur-Huh. We achieve…
We prove that the Hessians of nonzero partial derivatives of the (homogenous) multivariate Tutte polynomial of any matroid have exactly one positive eigenvalue on the positive orthant when $0<q\leq 1$. Consequences are proofs of the…
The McCarty Conjecture states that any McCarty Matrix (an $n\times n$ matrix $A$ with positive integer entries and each of the $2n$ row and column sums equal to $n$), can be additively decomposed into two other matrices, $B$ and $C$, such…
Polynomial sequence ${P_m}_{m\geq0}$ is $q$-logarithmically concave if $P_{m}^2-P_{m+1}P_{m-1}$ is a polynomial with nonnegative coefficients for any $m\geq{1}$. We introduce an analogue of this notion for formal power series whose…
Sufficient conditions are developed, under which the compound Poisson distribution has maximal entropy within a natural class of probability measures on the nonnegative integers. Recently, one of the authors [O. Johnson, {\em Stoch. Proc.…
Motivated by the Koml\'os conjecture in combinatorial discrepancy, we study the discrepancy of random matrices with $m$ rows and $n$ independent columns drawn from a bounded lattice random variable. It is known that for $n$ tending to…
We give a short proof of the log-concavity of the coefficients of the reduced characteristic polynomial of a matroid. The proof uses an extension of the theory of Lorentzian polynomials to convex cones, and reproves the Hodge-Riemann…
We investigate the strong Rayleigh property of matroids for which the basis enumerating polynomial is invariant under a Young subgroup of the symmetric group on the ground set. In general, the Grace-Walsh-Szeg\H{o} theorem can be used to…
Finite matroids are combinatorial structures that express the concept of linear independence. In 1964, G.-C. Rota conjectured that the coefficients of the "characteristic polynomial" of a matroid $M$, polynomial whose coefficients enumerate…
The well-known Lvov-Kaplansky conjecture states that the image of a multilinear polynomial $f$ evaluated on $n\times n$ matrices is a vector space. A weaker version of this conjecture, known as the Mesyan conjecture, states that if $m=deg(…
Motivated by the growing interest in correlation-robust stochastic optimization, we investigate stochastic selection problems beyond independence. Specifically, we consider the instructive case of pairwise-independent priors and matroid…
In this paper we present an unexpected link between the Factorial Conjecture and Furter's Rigidity Conjecture. The Factorial Conjecture in dimension $m$ asserts that if a polynomial $f$ in $m$ variables $X_i$ over $\C$ is such that ${\cal…
Lorentzian and completely log-concave polynomials have recently emerged as a unifying framework for negative dependence, log-concavity, and convexity in combinatorics and probability. We extend this theory to variational analysis and…
Random matrices like GUE, GOE and GSE have been studied for decades and have been shown that they possess a lot of nice properties. In 2005, a new property of independent GUE random matrices is discovered by Haagerup and Thorbj{\o}rnsen in…