On the average rank of LYM-sets

Let S be a finite set with some rank function r such that the Whitney numbers wi = |{x S|r(x) = i}| are log-concave. Given so that wk − 1 < wk wk + m, set W = wk + wk + 1 + … + wk + m. Generalizing a theorem of Kleitman and Milner, we prove that every F S with cardinality |F| W has average rank at least kwk + … + (k + m) wk + m/W, provided the normalized profile vector x1, …, xn of F satisfies the following LYM-type inequality: x0 + x1 + … + xn m + 1

The complexity of Boolean surjective general-valued CSPs

Valued constraint satisfaction problems (VCSPs) are discrete optimisation problems with a $(\mathbb{Q}\cup\{\infty\})$-valued objective function given as a sum of fixed-arity functions. In Boolean surjective VCSPs, variables take on labels from $D=\{0,1\}$ and an optimal assignment is required to use both labels from $D$. Examples include the classical global Min-Cut problem in graphs and the Minimum Distance problem studied in coding theory. We establish a dichotomy theorem and thus give a complete complexity classification of Boolean surjective VCSPs with respect to exact solvability. Our work generalises the dichotomy for $\{0,\infty\}$-valued constraint languages (corresponding to surjective decision CSPs) obtained by Creignou and H\'ebrard. For the maximisation problem of $\mathbb{Q}_{\geq 0}$-valued surjective VCSPs, we also establish a dichotomy theorem with respect to approximability. Unlike in the case of Boolean surjective (decision) CSPs, there appears a novel tractable class of languages that is trivial in the non-surjective setting. This newly discovered tractable class has an interesting mathematical structure related to downsets and upsets. Our main contribution is identifying this class and proving that it lies on the borderline of tractability. A crucial part of our proof is a polynomial-time algorithm for enumerating all near-optimal solutions to a generalised Min-Cut problem, which might be of independent interest.Comment: v5: small corrections and improved presentatio

Choice-free Stone duality

The standard topological representation of a Boolean algebra via the clopen sets of a Stone space requires a nonconstructive choice principle, equivalent to the Boolean Prime Ideal Theorem. In this paper, we describe a choice-free topological representation of Boolean algebras. This representation uses a subclass of the spectral spaces that Stone used in his representation of distributive lattices via compact open sets. It also takes advantage of Tarski’s observation that the regular open sets of any topological space form a Boolean algebra. We prove without choice principles that any Boolean algebra arises from a special spectral space X via the compact regular open sets of X; these sets may also be described as those that are both compact open in X and regular open in the upset topology of the specialization order of X, allowing one to apply to an arbitrary Boolean algebra simple reasoning about regular opens of a separative poset. Our representation is therefore a mix of Stone and Tarski, with the two connected by Vietoris: the relevant spectral spaces also arise as the hyperspace of nonempty closed sets of a Stone space endowed with the upper Vietoris topology. This connection makes clear the relation between our point-set topological approach to choice-free Stone duality, which may be called the hyperspace approach, and a point-free approach to choice-free Stone duality using Stone locales. Unlike Stone’s representation of Boolean algebras via Stone spaces, our choice-free topological representation of Boolean algebras does not show that every Boolean algebra can be represented as a field of sets; but like Stone’s representation, it provides the benefit of a topological perspective on Boolean algebras, only now without choice. In addition to representation, we establish a choice-free dual equivalence between the category of Boolean algebras with Boolean homomorphisms and a subcategory of the category of spectral spaces with spectral maps. We show how this duality can be used to prove some basic facts about Boolean algebras

Sunflowers of Convex Open Sets

A sunflower is a collection of sets $\{U_1,\ldots, U_n\}$ such that the pairwise intersection $U_i\cap U_j$ is the same for all choices of distinct $i$ and $j$. We study sunflowers of convex open sets in $\mathbb R^d$, and provide a Helly-type theorem describing a certain "rigidity" that they possess. In particular we show that if $\{U_1,\ldots, U_{d+1}\}$ is a sunflower in $\mathbb R^d$, then any hyperplane that intersects all $U_i$ must also intersect $\bigcap_{i=1}^{d+1} U_i$. We use our results to describe a combinatorial code $\mathcal C_n$ for all $n\ge 2$ which is on the one hand minimally non-convex, and on the other hand has no local obstructions. Along the way we further develop the theory of morphisms of codes, and establish results on the covering relation in the poset $\mathbf P_{\mathbf{Code}}$