Birkhoff type decompositions and the Baker-Campbell-Hausdorff recursion

We describe a unification of several apparently unrelated factorizations arisen from quantum field theory, vertex operator algebras, combinatorics and numerical methods in differential equations. The unification is given by a Birkhoff type decomposition that was obtained from the Baker-Campbell-Hausdorff formula in our study of the Hopf algebra approach of Connes and Kreimer to renormalization in perturbative quantum field theory. There we showed that the Birkhoff decomposition of Connes and Kreimer can be obtained from a certain Baker-Campbell-Hausdorff recursion formula in the presence of a Rota-Baxter operator. We will explain how the same decomposition generalizes the factorization of formal exponentials and uniformization for Lie algebras that arose in vertex operator algebra and conformal field theory, and the even-odd decomposition of combinatorial Hopf algebra characters as well as to the Lie algebra polar decomposition as used in the context of the approximation of matrix exponentials in ordinary differential equations.Comment: accepted for publication in Comm. in Math. Phy

The sl(n)-WZNW Fusion Ring: a combinatorial construction and a realisation as quotient of quantum cohomology

A simple, combinatorial construction of the sl(n)-WZNW fusion ring, also known as Verlinde algebra, is given. As a byproduct of the construction one obtains an isomorphism between the fusion ring and a particular quotient of the small quantum cohomology ring of the Grassmannian Gr(k,k+n). We explain how our approach naturally fits into known combinatorial descriptions of the quantum cohomology ring, by establishing what one could call a `Boson-Fermion-correspondence' between the two rings. We also present new recursion formulae for the structure constants of both rings, the fusion coefficients and the Gromov-Witten invariants.Comment: 61 pages, 2 eps figures; revised version accepted for publication in Advances in Mathematics: some minor typos removed, rewording of the proof to Corollary 6.9 and figure in Example 8.3 change

Semidefinite programming and eigenvalue bounds for the graph partition problem

The graph partition problem is the problem of partitioning the vertex set of a graph into a fixed number of sets of given sizes such that the sum of weights of edges joining different sets is optimized. In this paper we simplify a known matrix-lifting semidefinite programming relaxation of the graph partition problem for several classes of graphs and also show how to aggregate additional triangle and independent set constraints for graphs with symmetry. We present an eigenvalue bound for the graph partition problem of a strongly regular graph, extending a similar result for the equipartition problem. We also derive a linear programming bound of the graph partition problem for certain Johnson and Kneser graphs. Using what we call the Laplacian algebra of a graph, we derive an eigenvalue bound for the graph partition problem that is the first known closed form bound that is applicable to any graph, thereby extending a well-known result in spectral graph theory. Finally, we strengthen a known semidefinite programming relaxation of a specific quadratic assignment problem and the above-mentioned matrix-lifting semidefinite programming relaxation by adding two constraints that correspond to assigning two vertices of the graph to different parts of the partition. This strengthening performs well on highly symmetric graphs when other relaxations provide weak or trivial bounds

Computation with Polynomial Equations and Inequalities arising in Combinatorial Optimization

The purpose of this note is to survey a methodology to solve systems of polynomial equations and inequalities. The techniques we discuss use the algebra of multivariate polynomials with coefficients over a field to create large-scale linear algebra or semidefinite programming relaxations of many kinds of feasibility or optimization questions. We are particularly interested in problems arising in combinatorial optimization.Comment: 28 pages, survey pape