Bounds on the Coefficients of Tension and Flow Polynomials

The goal of this article is to obtain bounds on the coefficients of modular and integral flow and tension polynomials of graphs. To this end we make use of the fact that these polynomials can be realized as Ehrhart polynomials of inside-out polytopes. Inside-out polytopes come with an associated relative polytopal complex and, for a wide class of inside-out polytopes, we show that this complex has a convex ear decomposition. This leads to the desired bounds on the coefficients of these polynomials.Comment: 16 page

A qq-Queens Problem. II. The Square Board

We apply to the $n\times n$ chessboard the counting theory from Part I for nonattacking placements of chess pieces with unbounded straight-line moves, such as the queen. Part I showed that the number of ways to place $q$ identical nonattacking pieces is given by a quasipolynomial function of $n$ of degree $2q$, whose coefficients are (essentially) polynomials in $q$ that depend cyclically on $n$. Here we study the periods of the quasipolynomial and its coefficients, which are bounded by functions, not well understood, of the piece's move directions, and we develop exact formulas for the very highest coefficients. The coefficients of the three highest powers of $n$ do not vary with $n$. On the other hand, we present simple pieces for which the fourth coefficient varies periodically. We develop detailed properties of counting quasipolynomials that will be applied in sequels to partial queens, whose moves are subsets of those of the queen, and the nightrider, whose moves are extended knight's moves. We conclude with the first, though strange, formula for the classical $n$-Queens Problem and with several conjectures and open problems.Comment: 23 pp., 1 figure, submitted. This = second half of 1303.1879v1 with great improvements. V2 has a new proposition, better definitions, and corrected conjectures. V3 has results et al. renumbered to correspond with published version, and expands dictionary's cryptic abbreviation

Laughlin's wave functions, Coulomb gases and expansions of the discriminant

In the context of the fractional quantum Hall effect, we investigate Laughlin's celebrated ansatz for the groud state wave function at fractional filling of the lowest Landau level. Interpreting its normalization in terms of a one component plasma, we find the effect of an additional quadrupolar field on the free energy, and derive estimates for the thermodynamically equivalent spherical plasma. In a second part, we present various methods for expanding the wave function in terms of Slater determinants, and obtain sum rules for the coefficients. We also address the apparently simpler question of counting the number of such Slater states using the theory of integral polytopes.Comment: 97 pages, using harvmac (with big option recommended) and epsf, 7 figures available upon request, Saclay preprint Spht 93/12

From orbital measures to Littlewood-Richardson coefficients and hive polytopes

The volume of the hive polytope (or polytope of honeycombs) associated with a Littlewood- Richardson coefficient of SU(n), or with a given admissible triple of highest weights, is expressed, in the generic case, in terms of the Fourier transform of a convolution product of orbital measures. Several properties of this function -- a function of three non-necessarily integral weights or of three multiplets of real eigenvalues for the associated Horn problem-- are already known. In the integral case it can be thought of as a semi-classical approximation of Littlewood-Richardson coefficients. We prove that it may be expressed as a local average of a finite number of such coefficients. We also relate this function to the Littlewood-Richardson polynomials (stretching polynomials) i.e., to the Ehrhart polynomials of the relevant hive polytopes. Several SU(n) examples, for n=2,3,...,6, are explicitly worked out.Comment: 32 pages, 4 figures. This version (V4): a few corrected typo