Learned navigation in unknown terrains: A retraction method

The problem of learned navigation of a circular robot R, of radius delta (is greater than or equal to 0), through a terrain whose model is not a-priori known is considered. Two-dimensional finite-sized terrains populated by an unknown (but, finite) number of simple polygonal obstacles are also considered. The number and locations of the vertices of each obstacle are unknown to R. R is equipped with a sensor system that detects all vertices and edges that are visible from its present location. In this context two problems are covered. In the visit problem, the robot is required to visit a sequence of destination points, and in the terrain model acquisition problem, the robot is required to acquire the complete model of the terrain. An algorithmic framework is presented for solving these two problems using a retraction of the freespace onto the Voronoi diagram of the terrain. Algorithms are then presented to solve the visit problem and the terrain model acquisition problem

Cluster Algebras and the Subalgebra Constructibility of the Seven-Particle Remainder Function

We review various aspects of cluster algebras and the ways in which they appear in the study of loop-level amplitudes in planar ${\cal N} = 4$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. In particular, we highlight the different forms of cluster-algebraic structure that appear in this theory's two-loop MHV amplitudes---considered as functions, symbols, and at the level of their Lie cobracket---and recount how the `nonclassical' part of these amplitudes can be decomposed into specific functions evaluated on the $A_2$ or $A_3$ subalgebras of Gr$(4,n)$. We then extend this line of inquiry by searching for other subalgebras over which these amplitudes can be decomposed. We focus on the case of seven-particle kinematics, where we show that the nonclassical part of the two-loop MHV amplitude is also constructible out of functions evaluated on the $D_5$ and $A_5$ subalgebras of Gr$(4,7)$, and that these decompositions are themselves decomposable in terms of the same $A_4$ function. These nested decompositions take an especially canonical form, which is dictated in each case by constraints arising from the automorphism group of the parent algebra.Comment: 68 pages, 7 figures, 6 table

Block-and-hole graphs: Constructibility and (3,0)(3,0)-sparsity

We show that minimally 3-rigid block-and-hole graphs, with one block or one hole, are characterised as those which are constructible from $K_3$ by vertex splitting, and also, as those having associated looped face graphs which are $(3,0)$-tight. This latter property can be verified in polynomial time by a form of pebble game algorithm. We also indicate connections to the rigidity properties of polyhedral surfaces known as origami and to graph rigidity in $\ell_p^3$ for $p\not=2$.Comment: 17 page

Amplitudes at Infinity

We investigate the asymptotically large loop-momentum behavior of multi-loop amplitudes in maximally supersymmetric quantum field theories in four dimensions. We check residue-theorem identities among color-dressed leading singularities in $\mathcal{N}=4$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory to demonstrate the absence of poles at infinity of all MHV amplitudes through three loops. Considering the same test for $\mathcal{N}=8$ supergravity leads us to discover that this theory does support non-vanishing residues at infinity starting at two loops, and the degree of these poles grow arbitrarily with multiplicity. This causes a tension between simultaneously manifesting ultraviolet finiteness---which would be automatic in a representation obtained by color-kinematic duality---and gauge invariance---which would follow from unitarity-based methods.Comment: 4+1+1 pages; 15 figures; details provided in ancillary Mathematica file

Explicit linear kernels via dynamic programming

Several algorithmic meta-theorems on kernelization have appeared in the last years, starting with the result of Bodlaender et al. [FOCS 2009] on graphs of bounded genus, then generalized by Fomin et al. [SODA 2010] to graphs excluding a fixed minor, and by Kim et al. [ICALP 2013] to graphs excluding a fixed topological minor. Typically, these results guarantee the existence of linear or polynomial kernels on sparse graph classes for problems satisfying some generic conditions but, mainly due to their generality, it is not clear how to derive from them constructive kernels with explicit constants. In this paper we make a step toward a fully constructive meta-kernelization theory on sparse graphs. Our approach is based on a more explicit protrusion replacement machinery that, instead of expressibility in CMSO logic, uses dynamic programming, which allows us to find an explicit upper bound on the size of the derived kernels. We demonstrate the usefulness of our techniques by providing the first explicit linear kernels for $r$-Dominating Set and $r$-Scattered Set on apex-minor-free graphs, and for Planar-\mathcal{F}-Deletion on graphs excluding a fixed (topological) minor in the case where all the graphs in \mathcal{F} are connected.Comment: 32 page

A Dichotomy Theorem for the Approximate Counting of Complex-Weighted Bounded-Degree Boolean CSPs

We determine the computational complexity of approximately counting the total weight of variable assignments for every complex-weighted Boolean constraint satisfaction problem (or CSP) with any number of additional unary (i.e., arity 1) constraints, particularly, when degrees of input instances are bounded from above by a fixed constant. All degree-1 counting CSPs are obviously solvable in polynomial time. When the instance's degree is more than two, we present a dichotomy theorem that classifies all counting CSPs admitting free unary constraints into exactly two categories. This classification theorem extends, to complex-weighted problems, an earlier result on the approximation complexity of unweighted counting Boolean CSPs of bounded degree. The framework of the proof of our theorem is based on a theory of signature developed from Valiant's holographic algorithms that can efficiently solve seemingly intractable counting CSPs. Despite the use of arbitrary complex weight, our proof of the classification theorem is rather elementary and intuitive due to an extensive use of a novel notion of limited T-constructibility. For the remaining degree-2 problems, in contrast, they are as hard to approximate as Holant problems, which are a generalization of counting CSPs.Comment: A4, 10pt, 20 pages. This revised version improves its preliminary version published under a slightly different title in the Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Combinatorial Optimization and Applications (COCOA 2010), Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer, Vol.6508 (Part I), pp.285--299, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, USA, December 18--20, 201

Lagrangian Insertion in the Light-Like Limit and the Super-Correlators/Super-Amplitudes Duality

In these notes we describe how to formulate the Lagrangian insertion technique in a way that mimics generalized unitarity. We introduce a notion of cuts in real space and show that the cuts of the correlators in the super-correlators/super-amplitudes duality correspond to generalized unitarity cuts of the equivalent amplitudes. The cuts consist of correlation functions of operators in the chiral part of the stress-tensor multiplet as well as other half-BPS operators. We will also discuss the application of the method to other correlators as well as non-planar contributions.Comment: 25 pages, 9 figures, added references; some sections have been expanded, a substantial part have been rearranged; v4 examples added to make it easier to rea