Cycles representing the Todd class of a toric variety

In this paper, we describe a way to construct cycles which represent the Todd class of a toric variety. Given a lattice with an inner product we assign a rational number m(s) to each rational polyhedral cone s in the lattice, such that for any toric variety X with fan S, the Todd class of X is the sum over all cones s in S of m(s)[V(s)]. This constitutes an improved answer to an old question of Danilov. In a similar way, beginning with the choice of a complete flag in the lattice, we obtain the cycle Todd classes constructed by Morelli. Our construction is based on an intersection product on cycles of a simplicial toric variety developed by the second-named author. Important properties of the construction are established by showing a connection to the canonical representation of the Todd class of a simplicial toric variety as a product of torus-invariant divisors developed by the first-named author.Comment: 13 pages; version to appear in Journal of the AMS; minor modifications throughout, corrections to proof of theorem 2; LaTe

On the uselessness of quantum queries

Given a prior probability distribution over a set of possible oracle functions, we define a number of queries to be useless for determining some property of the function if the probability that the function has the property is unchanged after the oracle responds to the queries. A familiar example is the parity of a uniformly random Boolean-valued function over $\{1,2,...,N\}$, for which $N-1$ classical queries are useless. We prove that if $2k$ classical queries are useless for some oracle problem, then $k$ quantum queries are also useless. For such problems, which include classical threshold secret sharing schemes, our result also gives a new way to obtain a lower bound on the quantum query complexity, even in cases where neither the function nor the property to be determined is Boolean

Single query learning from abelian and non-abelian Hamming distance oracles

We study the problem of identifying an n-bit string using a single quantum query to an oracle that computes the Hamming distance between the query and hidden strings. The standard action of the oracle on a response register of dimension r is by powers of the cycle (1...r), all of which, of course, commute. We introduce a new model for the action of an oracle--by general permutations in S_r--and explore how the success probability depends on r and on the map from Hamming distances to permutations. In particular, we prove that when r = 2, for even n the success probability is 1 with the right choice of the map, while for odd n the success probability cannot be 1 for any choice. Furthermore, for small odd n and r = 3, we demonstrate numerically that the image of the optimal map generates a non-abelian group of permutations.Comment: 14 page

Cycle-Level Products in Equivariant Cohomology of Toric Varieties

In this paper, we define an action of the group of equivariant Cartier divisors on a toric variety X on the equivariant cycle groups of X, arising naturally from a choice of complement map on the underlying lattice. If X is nonsingular, this gives a lifting of the multiplication in equivariant cohomology to the level of equivariant cycles. As a consequence, one naturally obtains an equivariant cycle representative of the equivariant Todd class of any toric variety. These results extend to equivariant cohomology the results of Thomas and Pommersheim. In the case of a complement map arising from an inner product, we show that the equivariant cycle Todd class obtained from our construction is identical to the result of the inductive, combinatorial construction of Berline-Vergne. In the case of arbitrary complement maps, we show that our Todd class formula yields the local Euler-Maclarurin formula introduced in Garoufalidis-Pommersheim.Comment: 15 pages, to be published in Michigan Mathematical Journal; LaTe

United States v. Gillette: A Tiny Prairie Casenote Opening a Window on the Enveloping Fog Obscuring the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968

United States v. Gillette is one of the first reported cases on the new post-United States v. Bryant road. As of yet, there is no reliable (legal) GPS to point the way. This tiny prairie casenote is not meant to focus on the answers, but rather clarify the questions and to widen the discussion as the journey continues