On Packing Colorings of Distance Graphs

The {\em packing chromatic number} $\chi_{\rho}(G)$ of a graph $G$ is the least integer $k$ for which there exists a mapping $f$ from $V(G)$ to $\{1,2,\ldots ,k\}$ such that any two vertices of color $i$ are at distance at least $i+1$. This paper studies the packing chromatic number of infinite distance graphs $G(\mathbb{Z},D)$, i.e. graphs with the set $\mathbb{Z}$ of integers as vertex set, with two distinct vertices $i,j\in \mathbb{Z}$ being adjacent if and only if $|i-j|\in D$. We present lower and upper bounds for $\chi_{\rho}(G(\mathbb{Z},D))$, showing that for finite $D$, the packing chromatic number is finite. Our main result concerns distance graphs with $D=\{1,t\}$ for which we prove some upper bounds on their packing chromatic numbers, the smaller ones being for $t\geq 447$: $\chi_{\rho}(G(\mathbb{Z},\{1,t\}))\leq 40$ if $t$ is odd and $\chi_{\rho}(G(\mathbb{Z},\{1,t\}))\leq 81$ if $t$ is even

Topological order from quantum loops and nets

I define models of quantum loops and nets which have ground states with topological order. These make possible excited states comprised of deconfined anyons with non-abelian braiding. With the appropriate inner product, these quantum loop models are equivalent to net models whose topological weight involves the chromatic polynomial. A useful consequence is that the models have a quantum self-duality, making it possible to find a simple Hamiltonian preserving the topological order. For the square lattice, this Hamiltonian has only four-spin interactions

Critical points in coupled Potts models and critical phases in coupled loop models

We show how to couple two critical Q-state Potts models to yield a new self-dual critical point. We also present strong evidence of a dense critical phase near this critical point when the Potts models are defined in their completely packed loop representations. In the continuum limit, the new critical point is described by an SU(2) coset conformal field theory, while in this limit of the the critical phase, the two loop models decouple. Using a combination of exact results and numerics, we also obtain the phase diagram in the presence of vacancies. We generalize these results to coupling two Potts models at different Q.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figure

The packing of two species of polygons on the square lattice

We decorate the square lattice with two species of polygons under the constraint that every lattice edge is covered by only one polygon and every vertex is visited by both types of polygons. We end up with a 24 vertex model which is known in the literature as the fully packed double loop model. In the particular case in which the fugacities of the polygons are the same, the model admits an exact solution. The solution is obtained using coordinate Bethe ansatz and provides a closed expression for the free energy. In particular we find the free energy of the four colorings model and the double Hamiltonian walk and recover the known entropy of the Ice model. When both fugacities are set equal to two the model undergoes an infinite order phase transition.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figure

Combinatorics

This is the report on the Oberwolfach workshop on Combinatorics, held 1–7 January 2006. Combinatorics is a branch of mathematics studying families of mainly, but not exclusively, finite or countable structures – discrete objects. The discrete objects considered in the workshop were graphs, set systems, discrete geometries, and matrices. The programme consisted of 15 invited lectures, 18 contributed talks, and a problem session focusing on recent developments in graph theory, coding theory, discrete geometry, extremal combinatorics, Ramsey theory, theoretical computer science, and probabilistic combinatorics

Dichotomies properties on computational complexity of S-packing coloring problems

This work establishes the complexity class of several instances of the S-packing coloring problem: for a graph G, a positive integer k and a non decreasing list of integers S = (s\_1 , ..., s\_k ), G is S-colorable, if its vertices can be partitioned into sets S\_i , i = 1,... , k, where each S\_i being a s\_i -packing (a set of vertices at pairwise distance greater than s\_i). For a list of three integers, a dichotomy between NP-complete problems and polynomial time solvable problems is determined for subcubic graphs. Moreover, for an unfixed size of list, the complexity of the S-packing coloring problem is determined for several instances of the problem. These properties are used in order to prove a dichotomy between NP-complete problems and polynomial time solvable problems for lists of at most four integers

Sphere Packings in Euclidean Space with Forbidden Distances

In this paper, we study the sphere packing problem in Euclidean space, where we impose additional constraints on the separations of the center points. We prove that any sphere packing in dimension $48$, with spheres of radii $r$, such that \emph{no} two centers $x_1$ and $x_2$ satisfy $\sqrt{\tfrac{4}{3}} < \frac{1}{2r}|x_1-x_2| <\sqrt{\tfrac{5}{3}}$, has density less or equal than $( 3\pi /2)^{24}/24!$. Equality occurs if and only if the packing is given by a $48$-dimensional even unimodular extremal lattice. This shows that any of the lattices $P_{48p},P_{48q},P_{48m}$ and $P_{48n}$ are optimal for this constrained packing problem. We also give results for packings up to dimension $d\leq 1200$, where we impose constraints on the distance between centers and on the minimal norm of the spectrum, and show that even unimodular extremal lattices are again uniquely optimal. Moreover, in the $1$-dimensional case, we give a condition on the set of constraints that allow the existence of an optimal periodic packing, and we develop an algorithm to find them by relating the problem to a question about linear domino tilings.Comment: 39 page