Two combinatorial covering theorems

AbstractA theorem in convex bodies (in fact, measure theory) and a theorem about translates of sets of integers are generalized to coverings by subsets of a finite set. These theorems are then related to quasigroups and (0, 1)-matrices

A Combinatorial Analog of a Theorem of F.J.Dyson

Tucker's Lemma is a combinatorial analog of the Borsuk-Ulam theorem and the case n=2 was proposed by Tucker in 1945. Numerous generalizations and applications of the Lemma have appeared since then. In 2006 Meunier proved the Lemma in its full generality in his Ph.D. thesis. There are generalizations and extensions of the Borsuk-Ulam theorem that do not yet have combinatorial analogs. In this note, we give a combinatorial analog of a result of Freeman J. Dyson and show that our result is equivalent to Dyson's theorem. As with Tucker's Lemma, we hope that this will lead to generalizations and applications and ultimately a combinatorial analog of Yang's theorem of which both Borsuk-Ulam and Dyson are special cases.Comment: Original version: 7 pages, 2 figures. Revised version: 12 pages, 4 figures, revised proofs. Final revised version: 9 pages, 2 figures, revised proof

Covering of Subspaces by Subspaces

Lower and upper bounds on the size of a covering of subspaces in the Grassmann graph \cG_q(n,r) by subspaces from the Grassmann graph \cG_q(n,k), $k \geq r$, are discussed. The problem is of interest from four points of view: coding theory, combinatorial designs, $q$-analogs, and projective geometry. In particular we examine coverings based on lifted maximum rank distance codes, combined with spreads and a recursive construction. New constructions are given for $q=2$ with $r=2$ or $r=3$. We discuss the density for some of these coverings. Tables for the best known coverings, for $q=2$ and $5 \leq n \leq 10$, are presented. We present some questions concerning possible constructions of new coverings of smaller size.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:0805.352

Residues and tame symbols on toroidal varieties

We introduce a new approach to the study of a system of algebraic equations in the algebraic torus whose Newton polytopes have sufficiently general relative positions. Our method is based on the theory of Parshin's residues and tame symbols on toroidal varieties. It provides a uniform algebraic explanation of the recent result of Khovanskii on the product of the roots of such systems and the Gel'fond--Khovanskii result on the sum of the values of a Laurent polynomial over the roots of such systems, and extends them to the case of an algebraically closed field of arbitrary characteristic.Comment: 26 pages, minor changes, title changed, new introduction, references adde

Problems on q-Analogs in Coding Theory

The interest in $q$-analogs of codes and designs has been increased in the last few years as a consequence of their new application in error-correction for random network coding. There are many interesting theoretical, algebraic, and combinatorial coding problems concerning these q-analogs which remained unsolved. The first goal of this paper is to make a short summary of the large amount of research which was done in the area mainly in the last few years and to provide most of the relevant references. The second goal of this paper is to present one hundred open questions and problems for future research, whose solution will advance the knowledge in this area. The third goal of this paper is to present and start some directions in solving some of these problems.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:0805.3528 by other author

Coxeter groups and random groups

For every dimension d, there is an infinite family of convex co-compact reflection groups of isometries of hyperbolic d-space --- the superideal (simplicial and cubical) reflection groups --- with the property that a random group at any density less than a half (or in the few relators model) contains quasiconvex subgroups commensurable with some member of the family, with overwhelming probability.Comment: 18 pages, 14 figures; version 2 incorporates referee's correction

Generalizations of Tucker-Fan-Shashkin lemmas

Tucker and Ky Fan's lemma are combinatorial analogs of the Borsuk-Ulam theorem (BUT). In 1996, Yu. A. Shashkin proved a version of Fan's lemma, which is a combinatorial analog of the odd mapping theorem (OMT). We consider generalizations of these lemmas for BUT-manifolds, i.e. for manifolds that satisfy BUT. Proofs rely on a generalization of the OMT and on a lemma about the doubling of manifolds with boundaries that are BUT-manifolds.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure