Chapter 10: Algebraic Algorithms

Our Chapter in the upcoming Volume I: Computer Science and Software Engineering of Computing Handbook (Third edition), Allen Tucker, Teo Gonzales and Jorge L. Diaz-Herrera, editors, covers Algebraic Algorithms, both symbolic and numerical, for matrix computations and root-finding for polynomials and systems of polynomials equations. We cover part of these large subjects and include basic bibliography for further study. To meet space limitation we cite books, surveys, and comprehensive articles with pointers to further references, rather than including all the original technical papers.Comment: 41.1 page

Are two given maps homotopic? An algorithmic viewpoint

This paper presents two algorithms. In their simplest form, the first algorithm decides the existence of a pointed homotopy between given simplicial maps f, g from X to Y and the second computes the group $[\Sigma X,Y]^*$ of pointed homotopy classes of maps from a suspension; in both cases, the target Y is assumed simply connected and the algorithms run in polynomial time when the dimension of X is fixed. More generally, these algorithms work relative to a subspace A of X, fibrewise over a simply connected B and also equivariantly when all spaces are equipped with a free action of a fixed finite group G

Decidability of the extension problem for maps into odd-dimensional spheres

In a recent paper, it was shown that the problem of existence of a continuous map $X \to Y$ extending a given map $A \to Y$ defined on a subspace $A \subseteq X$ is undecidable, even for $Y$ an even-dimensional sphere. In the present paper, we prove that the same problem for $Y$ an odd-dimensional sphere is decidable. More generally, the same holds for any $d$-connected target space $Y$ whose homotopy groups $\pi_k Y$ are finite for $k>2d$.Comment: 6 page

Isomorphism problem for finitely generated fully residually free groups

We prove that the isomorphism problem for finitely generated fully residually free groups is decidable. We also show that each finitely generated fully residually free group G has a decomposition that is invariant under automorphisms of G, and obtain a structure theorem for the group of outer automorphisms Out(G).Comment: 26 page

Rational homotopy type and computability

Given a simplicial pair $(X,A)$, a simplicial complex $Y$, and a map $f:A \to Y$, does $f$ have an extension to $X$? We show that for a fixed $Y$, this question is algorithmically decidable for all $X$, $A$, and $f$ if and only if $Y$ has the rational homotopy type of an H-space. As a corollary, many questions related to bundle structures over a finite complex are decidable.Comment: 18 pages, comments welcom

Public key cryptography based on some extensions of group

Bogopolski, Martino and Ventura in [BMV10] introduced a general criteria to construct groups extensions with unsolvable conjugacy problem using short exact sequences. We prove that such extensions have always solvable word problem. This makes the proposed construction a systematic way to obtain finitely presented groups with solvable word problem and unsolvable conjugacy problem. It is believed that such groups are important in cryptography. For this, and as an example, we provide an explicit construction of an extension of Thompson group F and we propose it as a base for a public key cryptography protocol

Convex Integer Maximization via Graver Bases

We present a new algebraic algorithmic scheme to solve {\em convex integer maximization} problems of the following form, where $c$ is a convex function on $R^d$ and $w_1x,...,w_dx$ are linear forms on $R^n$, $$\max \{c(w_1 x,...,w_d x): Ax=b, x\in N^n\} .$$ This method works for arbitrary input data $A,b,d,w_1,...,w_d,c$. Moreover, for fixed $d$ and several important classes of programs in {\em variable dimension}, we prove that our algorithm runs in {\em polynomial time}. As a consequence, we obtain polynomial time algorithms for various types of multi-way transportation problems, packing problems, and partitioning problems in variable dimension

Group Isomorphism with Fixed Subnormal Chains

In recent work, Rosenbaum and Wagner showed that isomorphism of explicitly listed $p$-groups of order $n$ could be tested in $n^{\frac{1}{2}\log_p n + O(p)}$ time, roughly a square root of the classical bound. The $O(p)$ term is entirely due to an $n^{O(p)}$ cost of testing for isomorphisms that match fixed composition series in the two groups. We focus here on the fixed-composition-series subproblem and exhibit a polynomial-time algorithm that is valid for general groups. A subsequent paper will construct canonical forms within the same time bound

An Algorithmic Blend of LPs and Ring Equations for Promise CSPs

Promise CSPs are a relaxation of constraint satisfaction problems where the goal is to find an assignment satisfying a relaxed version of the constraints. Several well-known problems can be cast as promise CSPs including approximate graph coloring, discrepancy minimization, and interesting variants of satisfiability. Similar to CSPs, the tractability of promise CSPs can be tied to the structure of operations on the solution space called polymorphisms, though in the promise world these operations are much less constrained. Under the thesis that non-trivial polymorphisms govern tractability, promise CSPs therefore provide a fertile ground for the discovery of novel algorithms. In previous work, we classified Boolean promise CSPs when the constraint predicates are symmetric. In this work, we vastly generalize these algorithmic results. Specifically, we show that promise CSPs that admit a family of "regional-periodic" polymorphisms are in P, assuming that determining which region a point is in can be computed in polynomial time. Such polymorphisms are quite general and are obtained by gluing together several functions that are periodic in the Hamming weights in different blocks of the input. Our algorithm is based on a novel combination of linear programming and solving linear systems over rings. We also abstract a framework based on reducing a promise CSP to a CSP over an infinite domain, solving it there, and then rounding the solution to an assignment for the promise CSP instance. The rounding step is intimately tied to the family of polymorphisms and clarifies the connection between polymorphisms and algorithms in this context. As a key ingredient, we introduce the technique of finding a solution to a linear program with integer coefficients that lies in a different ring (such as $\mathbb Z[\sqrt{2}]$) to bypass ad-hoc adjustments for lying on a rounding boundary.Comment: 41 pages, 2 figure

Conditions for Solvability in Chemical Reaction Networks at Quasi-Steady-State

The quasi-steady-state assumption (QSSA) is an approximation that is widely used in chemistry and chemical engineering to simplify reaction mechanisms. The key step in the method requires a solution by radicals of a system of multivariate polynomials. However, Pantea, Gupta, Rawlings, and Craciun showed that there exist mechanisms for which the associated polynomials are not solvable by radicals, and hence reduction by QSSA is not possible. In practice, however, reduction by QSSA always succeeds. To provide some explanation for this phenomenon, we prove that solvability is guaranteed for a class of common chemical reaction networks. In the course of establishing this result, we examine the question of when it is possible to ensure that there are finitely many (quasi) steady states. We also apply our results to several examples, in particular demonstrating the minimality of the nonsolvable example presented by Pantea, Gupta, Rawlings, and Craciun.Comment: 25 pages, 3 figure