Small gaps between configurations of prime polynomials

We find arbitrarily large configurations of irreducible polynomials over finite fields that are separated by low degree polynomials. Our proof adapts an argument of Pintz from the integers, in which he combines the methods of Goldston-Pintz-Y\i ld\i r\i m and Green-Tao to find arbitrarily long arithmetic progressions of generalized twin primes

Simplices over finite fields

We prove that, provided $d > k$, every sufficiently large subset of $\mathbf{F}_q^d$ contains an isometric copy of every $k$-simplex that avoids spanning a nontrivial self-orthogonal subspace. We obtain comparable results for simplices exhibiting self-orthogonal behavior.Comment: 11 pages; improved and revise

Small unit-distance graphs in the plane

We prove that a graph on up to 9 vertices is a unit-distance graph if and only if it does not contain one of 74 so-called minimal forbidden graphs. This extends the work of Chilakamarri and Mahoney (1995), who provide a similar classification for unit-distance graphs on up to 7 vertices.Comment: (v3) fixed F(9,15,21) and Lemma 1

The optimal packing of eight points in the real projective plane

How can we arrange $n$ lines through the origin in three-dimensional Euclidean space in a way that maximizes the minimum interior angle between pairs of lines? Conway, Hardin and Sloane (1996) produced line packings for $n \leq 55$ that they conjectured to be within numerical precision of optimal in this sense, but until now only the cases $n \leq 7$ have been solved. In this paper, we resolve the case $n = 8$. Drawing inspiration from recent work on the Tammes problem, we enumerate contact graph candidates for an optimal configuration and eliminate those that violate various combinatorial and geometric necessary conditions. The contact graph of the putatively optimal numerical packing of Conway, Hardin and Sloane is the only graph that survives, and we recover from this graph an exact expression for the minimum distance of eight optimally packed points in the real projective plane

Kesten-McKay law for random subensembles of Paley equiangular tight frames

We apply the method of moments to prove a recent conjecture of Haikin, Zamir and Gavish (2017) concerning the distribution of the singular values of random subensembles of Paley equiangular tight frames. Our analysis applies more generally to real equiangular tight frames of redundancy 2, and we suspect similar ideas will eventually produce more general results for arbitrary choices of redundancy

Embedding distance graphs in finite field vector spaces

We show that large subsets of vector spaces over finite fields determine certain point configurations with prescribed distance structure. More specifically, we consider the complete graph with vertices as the points of $A \subseteq \mathbf{F}_q^d$ and edges assigned the algebraic distance between pairs of vertices. We prove nontrivial results on locating specified subgraphs of maximum vertex degree at most $t$ in dimensions $d \geq 2t$

Globally optimizing small codes in real projective spaces

For $d\in\{5,6\}$, we classify arrangements of $d + 2$ points in $\mathbf{RP}^{d-1}$ for which the minimum distance is as large as possible. To do so, we leverage ideas from matrix and convex analysis to determine the best possible codes that contain equiangular lines, and we introduce a notion of approximate Positivstellensatz certificates that promotes numerical approximations of Stengle's Positivstellensatz certificates to honest certificates.Comment: code included in ancillary file

Exact Line Packings from Numerical Solutions

Recent progress in Zauner's conjecture has leveraged deep conjectures in algebraic number theory to promote numerical line packings to exact and verifiable solutions to the line packing problem. We introduce a numerical-to-exact technique in the real setting that does not require such conjectures. Our approach is completely reproducible, matching Sloane's database of putatively optimal numerical line packings with Mathematica's built-in implementation of cylindrical algebraic decomposition. As a proof of concept, we promote a putatively optimal numerical packing of eight points in the real projective plane to an exact packing, whose optimality we establish in a forthcoming paper.Comment: Mathematica notebook attached as ancillary fil

Lie PCA: Density estimation for symmetric manifolds

We introduce an extension to local principal component analysis for learning symmetric manifolds. In particular, we use a spectral method to approximate the Lie algebra corresponding to the symmetry group of the underlying manifold. We derive the sample complexity of our method for a variety of manifolds before applying it to various data sets for improved density estimation

Neural collapse with unconstrained features

Neural collapse is an emergent phenomenon in deep learning that was recently discovered by Papyan, Han and Donoho. We propose a simple "unconstrained features model" in which neural collapse also emerges empirically. By studying this model, we provide some explanation for the emergence of neural collapse in terms of the landscape of empirical risk