119 research outputs found
Unimodality Problems in Ehrhart Theory
Ehrhart theory is the study of sequences recording the number of integer
points in non-negative integral dilates of rational polytopes. For a given
lattice polytope, this sequence is encoded in a finite vector called the
Ehrhart -vector. Ehrhart -vectors have connections to many areas of
mathematics, including commutative algebra and enumerative combinatorics. In
this survey we discuss what is known about unimodality for Ehrhart
-vectors and highlight open questions and problems.Comment: Published in Recent Trends in Combinatorics, Beveridge, A., et al.
(eds), Springer, 2016, pp 687-711, doi 10.1007/978-3-319-24298-9_27. This
version updated October 2017 to correct an error in the original versio
On the shape of a pure O-sequence
An order ideal is a finite poset X of (monic) monomials such that, whenever M
is in X and N divides M, then N is in X. If all, say t, maximal monomials of X
have the same degree, then X is pure (of type t). A pure O-sequence is the
vector, h=(1,h_1,...,h_e), counting the monomials of X in each degree.
Equivalently, in the language of commutative algebra, pure O-sequences are the
h-vectors of monomial Artinian level algebras. Pure O-sequences had their
origin in one of Richard Stanley's early works in this area, and have since
played a significant role in at least three disciplines: the study of
simplicial complexes and their f-vectors, level algebras, and matroids. This
monograph is intended to be the first systematic study of the theory of pure
O-sequences. Our work, making an extensive use of algebraic and combinatorial
techniques, includes: (i) A characterization of the first half of a pure
O-sequence, which gives the exact converse to an algebraic g-theorem of Hausel;
(ii) A study of (the failing of) the unimodality property; (iii) The problem of
enumerating pure O-sequences, including a proof that almost all O-sequences are
pure, and the asymptotic enumeration of socle degree 3 pure O-sequences of type
t; (iv) The Interval Conjecture for Pure O-sequences (ICP), which represents
perhaps the strongest possible structural result short of an (impossible?)
characterization; (v) A pithy connection of the ICP with Stanley's matroid
h-vector conjecture; (vi) A specific study of pure O-sequences of type 2,
including a proof of the Weak Lefschetz Property in codimension 3 in
characteristic zero. As a corollary, pure O-sequences of codimension 3 and type
2 are unimodal (over any field); (vii) An analysis of the extent to which the
Weak and Strong Lefschetz Properties can fail for monomial algebras; (viii)
Some observations about pure f-vectors, an important special case of pure
O-sequences.Comment: iii + 77 pages monograph, to appear as an AMS Memoir. Several, mostly
minor revisions with respect to last year's versio
Enumeration of points, lines, planes, etc
One of the earliest results in enumerative combinatorial geometry is the
following theorem of de Bruijn and Erd\H{o}s: Every set of points in a
projective plane determines at least lines, unless all the points are
contained in a line. Motzkin and others extended the result to higher
dimensions, who showed that every set of points in a projective space
determines at least hyperplanes, unless all the points are contained in a
hyperplane. Let be a spanning subset of a -dimensional vector space. We
show that, in the partially ordered set of subspaces spanned by subsets of ,
there are at least as many -dimensional subspaces as there are
-dimensional subspaces, for every at most . This confirms the
"top-heavy" conjecture of Dowling and Wilson for all matroids realizable over
some field. The proof relies on the decomposition theorem package for
-adic intersection complexes.Comment: 18 pages, major revisio
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