Efficient Enumeration of Non-Equivalent Squares in Partial Words with Few Holes

International audienceA partial word is a word with holes (also called don't cares: special symbols which match any symbol). A p-square is a partial word matching at least one standard square without holes (called a full square). Two p-squares are called equivalent if they match the same sets of full squares. Denote by psquares(T) the number of non-equivalent p-squares which are subwords of a partial word T. Let PSQUARES k (n) be the maximum value of psquares(T) over all partial words of length n with k holes. We show asympthotically tight bounds: c1 · min(nk 2 , n 2) ≤ PSQUARES k (n) ≤ c2 · min(nk 2 , n 2) for some constants c1, c2 > 0. We also present an algorithm that computes psquares(T) in O(nk 3) time for a partial word T of length n with k holes. In particular, our algorithm runs in linear time for k = O(1) and its time complexity near-matches the maximum number of non-equivalent p-squares

Graph Theory

Graph theory is a rapidly developing area of mathematics. Recent years have seen the development of deep theories, and the increasing importance of methods from other parts of mathematics. The workshop on Graph Theory brought together together a broad range of researchers to discuss some of the major new developments. There were three central themes, each of which has seen striking recent progress: the structure of graphs with forbidden subgraphs; graph minor theory; and applications of the entropy compression method. The workshop featured major talks on current work in these areas, as well as presentations of recent breakthroughs and connections to other areas. There was a particularly exciting selection of longer talks, including presentations on the structure of graphs with forbidden induced subgraphs, embedding simply connected 2-complexes in 3-space, and an announcement of the solution of the well-known Oberwolfach Problem

Perfect sampling algorithm for Schur processes

We describe random generation algorithms for a large class of random combinatorial objects called Schur processes, which are sequences of random (integer) partitions subject to certain interlacing conditions. This class contains several fundamental combinatorial objects as special cases, such as plane partitions, tilings of Aztec diamonds, pyramid partitions and more generally steep domino tilings of the plane. Our algorithm, which is of polynomial complexity, is both exact (i.e. the output follows exactly the target probability law, which is either Boltzmann or uniform in our case), and entropy optimal (i.e. it reads a minimal number of random bits as an input). The algorithm encompasses previous growth procedures for special Schur processes related to the primal and dual RSK algorithm, as well as the famous domino shuffling algorithm for domino tilings of the Aztec diamond. It can be easily adapted to deal with symmetric Schur processes and general Schur processes involving infinitely many parameters. It is more concrete and easier to implement than Borodin's algorithm, and it is entropy optimal. At a technical level, it relies on unified bijective proofs of the different types of Cauchy and Littlewood identities for Schur functions, and on an adaptation of Fomin's growth diagram description of the RSK algorithm to that setting. Simulations performed with this algorithm suggest interesting limit shape phenomena for the corresponding tiling models, some of which are new.Comment: 26 pages, 19 figures (v3: final version, corrected a few misprints present in v2

Enumeration of polyominoes defined in terms of pattern avoidance or convexity constraints

In this thesis, we consider the problem of characterizing and enumerating sets of polyominoes described in terms of some constraints, defined either by convexity or by pattern containment. We are interested in a well known subclass of convex polyominoes, the k-convex polyominoes for which the enumeration according to the semi-perimeter is known only for k=1,2. We obtain, from a recursive decomposition, the generating function of the class of k-convex parallelogram polyominoes, which turns out to be rational. Noting that this generating function can be expressed in terms of the Fibonacci polynomials, we describe a bijection between the class of k-parallelogram polyominoes and the class of planted planar trees having height less than k+3. In the second part of the thesis we examine the notion of pattern avoidance, which has been extensively studied for permutations. We introduce the concept of pattern avoidance in the context of matrices, more precisely permutation matrices and polyomino matrices. We present definitions analogous to those given for permutations and in particular we define polyomino classes, i.e. sets downward closed with respect to the containment relation. So, the study of the old and new properties of the redefined sets of objects has not only become interesting, but it has also suggested the study of the associated poset. In both approaches our results can be used to treat open problems related to polyominoes as well as other combinatorial objects.Comment: PhD thesi

Combinatorial properties of the K3 surface: Simplicial blowups and slicings

The 4-dimensional abstract Kummer variety K^4 with 16 nodes leads to the K3 surface by resolving the 16 singularities. Here we present a simplicial realization of this minimal resolution. Starting with a minimal 16-vertex triangulation of K^4 we resolve its 16 isolated singularities - step by step - by simplicial blowups. As a result we obtain a 17-vertex triangulation of the standard PL K3 surface. A key step is the construction of a triangulated version of the mapping cylinder of the Hopf map from the real projective 3-space onto the 2-sphere with the minimum number of vertices. Moreover we study simplicial Morse functions and the changes of their levels between the critical points. In this way we obtain slicings through the K3 surface of various topological types.Comment: 31 pages, 3 figure

Hard Mathematical Problems in Cryptography and Coding Theory

In this thesis, we are concerned with certain interesting computationally hard problems and the complexities of their associated algorithms. All of these problems share a common feature in that they all arise from, or have applications to, cryptography, or the theory of error correcting codes. Each chapter in the thesis is based on a stand-alone paper which attacks a particular hard problem. The problems and the techniques employed in attacking them are described in detail. The first problem concerns integer factorization: given a positive integer $N$. the problem is to find the unique prime factors of $N$. This problem, which was historically of only academic interest to number theorists, has in recent decades assumed a central importance in public-key cryptography. We propose a method for factorizing a given integer using a graph-theoretic algorithm employing Binary Decision Diagrams (BDD). The second problem that we consider is related to the classification of certain naturally arising classes of error correcting codes, called self-dual additive codes over the finite field of four elements, $GF(4)$. We address the problem of classifying self-dual additive codes, determining their weight enumerators, and computing their minimum distance. There is a natural relation between self-dual additive codes over $GF(4)$ and graphs via isotropic systems. Utilizing the properties of the corresponding graphs, and again employing Binary Decision Diagrams (BDD) to compute the weight enumerators, we can obtain a theoretical speed up of the previously developed algorithm for the classification of these codes. The third problem that we investigate deals with one of the central issues in cryptography, which has historical origins in the theory of geometry of numbers, namely the shortest vector problem in lattices. One method which is used both in theory and practice to solve the shortest vector problem is by enumeration algorithms. Lattice enumeration is an exhaustive search whose goal is to find the shortest vector given a lattice basis as input. In our work, we focus on speeding up the lattice enumeration algorithm, and we propose two new ideas to this end. The shortest vector in a lattice can be written as ${\bf s} = v_1{\bf b}_1+v_2{\bf b}_2+\ldots+v_n{\bf b}_n$. where $v_i \in \mathbb{Z}$ are integer coefficients and ${\bf b}_i$ are the lattice basis vectors. We propose an enumeration algorithm, called hybrid enumeration, which is a greedy approach for computing a short interval of possible integer values for the coefficients $v_i$ of a shortest lattice vector. Second, we provide an algorithm for estimating the signs $+$ or $-$ of the coefficients $v_1,v_2,\ldots,v_n$ of a shortest vector ${\bf s}=\sum_{i=1}^{n} v_i{\bf b}_i$. Both of these algorithms results in a reduction in the number of nodes in the search tree. Finally, the fourth problem that we deal with arises in the arithmetic of the class groups of imaginary quadratic fields. We follow the results of Soleng and Gillibert pertaining to the class numbers of some sequence of imaginary quadratic fields arising in the arithmetic of elliptic and hyperelliptic curves and compute a bound on the effective estimates for the orders of class groups of a family of imaginary quadratic number fields. That is, suppose $f(n)$ is a sequence of positive numbers tending to infinity. Given any positive real number $L$. an effective estimate is to find the smallest positive integer $N = N(L)$ depending on $L$ such that $f(n) > L$ for all $n > N$. In other words, given a constant $M > 0$. we find a value $N$ such that the order of the ideal class $I_n$ in the ring $R_n$ (provided by the homomorphism in Soleng's paper) is greater than $M$ for any $n>N$. In summary, in this thesis we attack some hard problems in computer science arising from arithmetic, geometry of numbers, and coding theory, which have applications in the mathematical foundations of cryptography and error correcting codes

Graph Colouring is Hard for Algorithms Based on Hilbert's Nullstellensatz and Gr\"{o}bner Bases

We consider the graph $k$-colouring problem encoded as a set of polynomial equations in the standard way over $0/1$-valued variables. We prove that there are bounded-degree graphs that do not have legal $k$-colourings but for which the polynomial calculus proof system defined in [Clegg et al '96, Alekhnovich et al '02] requires linear degree, and hence exponential size, to establish this fact. This implies a linear degree lower bound for any algorithms based on Gr\"{o}bner bases solving graph $k$-colouring using this encoding. The same bound applies also for the algorithm studied in a sequence of papers [De Loera et al '08,'09,'11,'15] based on Hilbert's Nullstellensatz proofs for a slightly different encoding, thus resolving an open problem mentioned in [De Loera et al '08,'09,'11] and [Li '16]. We obtain our results by combining the polynomial calculus degree lower bound for functional pigeonhole principle (FPHP) formulas over bounded-degree bipartite graphs in [Mik\v{s}a and Nordstr\"{o}m '15] with a reduction from FPHP to $k$-colouring derivable by polynomial calculus in constant degree