Around the Domino Problem – Combinatorial Structures and Algebraic Tools

Given a finite set of square tiles, the domino problem is the question of whether is it possible to tile the plane using these tiles. This problem is known to be undecidable in the planar case, and is strongly linked to the question of the periodicity of the tiling. In this thesis we look at this problem in two different ways: first, we look at the particular case of low complexity tilings and second we generalize it to more general structures than the plane, groups. A tiling of the plane is said of low complexity if there are at most mn rectangles of size m × n appearing in it. Nivat conjectured in 1997 that any such tiling must be periodic, with the consequence that the domino problem would be decidable for low complexity tilings. Using algebraic tools introduced by Kari and Szabados, we prove a generalized version of Nivat’s conjecture for a particular class of tilings (a subclass of what is called of algebraic subshifts). We also manage to prove that Nivat’s conjecture holds for uniformly recurrent tilings, with the consequence that the domino problem is indeed decidable for low-complexity tilings. The domino problem can be formulated in the more general context of Cayley graphs of groups. In this thesis, we develop new techniques allowing to relate the Cayley graph of some groups with graphs of substitutions on words. A first technique allows us to show that there exists both strongly periodic and weakly-but-not-strongly aperiodic tilings of the Baumslag-Solitar groups BS(1, n). A second technique is used to show that the domino problem is undecidable for surface groups. Which provides yet another class of groups verifying the conjecture saying that the domino problem of a group is decidable if and only if the group is virtually free

Fast domino tileability

Domino tileability is a classical problem in Discrete Geometry, famously solved by Thurston for simply connected regions in nearly linear time in the area. In this paper, we improve upon Thurston's height function approach to a nearly linear time in the perimeter.Comment: Appeared in Discrete Comput. Geom. 56 (2016), 377-39

Enumeration of Matchings: Problems and Progress

This document is built around a list of thirty-two problems in enumeration of matchings, the first twenty of which were presented in a lecture at MSRI in the fall of 1996. I begin with a capsule history of the topic of enumeration of matchings. The twenty original problems, with commentary, comprise the bulk of the article. I give an account of the progress that has been made on these problems as of this writing, and include pointers to both the printed and on-line literature; roughly half of the original twenty problems were solved by participants in the MSRI Workshop on Combinatorics, their students, and others, between 1996 and 1999. The article concludes with a dozen new open problems. (Note: This article supersedes math.CO/9801060 and math.CO/9801061.)Comment: 1+37 pages; to appear in "New Perspectives in Geometric Combinatorics" (ed. by Billera, Bjorner, Green, Simeon, and Stanley), Mathematical Science Research Institute publication #37, Cambridge University Press, 199

Planar tautologies hard for resolution.

We prove exponential lower bounds on the resolution proofs of some tautologies, based on rectangular grid graphs. More specifically, we show a 2/sup /spl Omega/(n)/ lower bound for any resolution proof of the mutilated chessboard problem on a 2n/spl times/2n chessboard as well as for the Tseitin tautology (G. Tseitin, 1968) based on the n/spl times/n rectangular grid graph. The former result answers a 35 year old conjecture by J. McCarthy (1964)

Sandpiles and Dominos

We consider the subgroup of the abelian sandpile group of the grid graph consisting of configurations of sand that are symmetric with respect to central vertical and horizontal axes. We show that the size of this group is (i) the number of domino tilings of a corresponding weighted rectangular checkerboard; (ii) a product of special values of Chebyshev polynomials; and (iii) a double-product whose factors are sums of squares of values of trigonometric functions. We provide a new derivation of the formula due to Kasteleyn and to Temperley and Fisher for counting the number of domino tilings of a 2m x 2n rectangular checkerboard and a new way of counting the number of domino tilings of a 2m x 2n checkerboard on a M\"obius strip.Comment: 35 pages, 24 figure