A good leaf order on simplicial trees

Using the existence of a good leaf in every simplicial tree, we order the facets of a simplicial tree in order to find combinatorial information about the Betti numbers of its facet ideal. Applications include an Eliahou-Kervaire splitting of the ideal, as well as a refinement of a recursive formula of H\`a and Van Tuyl for computing the graded Betti numbers of simplicial trees.Comment: 17 pages, to appear; Connections Between Algebra and Geometry, Birkhauser volume (2013

Equation-regular sets and the Fox–Kleitman conjecture

Given k ≥ 1, the Fox–Kleitman conjecture from 2006 states that there exists a nonzero integer b such that the 2k-variable linear Diophantine equation ∑k i=1 (xi − yi) = b is (2k − 1)-regular. This is best possible, since Fox and Kleitman showed that for all b ≥ 1, this equation is not 2k-regular. While the conjecture has recently been settled for all k ≥ 2, here we focus on the case k = 3 and determine the degree of regularity of the corresponding equation for all b ≥ 1. In particular, this independently confirms the conjecture for k = 3. We also briefly discuss the case k = 4

On the degree of regularity of a certain quadratic Diophantine equation

We show that, for every positive integer r, there exists an integer b = b(r) such that the 4-variable quadratic Diophantine equation (x1 − y1)(x2 − y2) = b is r-regular. Our proof uses Szemerédi’s theorem on arithmetic progressions

Numerical semigroups of Szemerédi type

Given any length k ≥ 3 and density 0 < δ ≤ 1, we introduce and study the set Sz(k, δ) consisting of all positive integers n such that every subset of {1, 2, . . . , n} of density at least δ contains an arithmetic progression of length k. A famous theorem of Szemerédi guarantees that this set is not empty. We show that Sz(k, δ)∪{0} is a numerical semigroup and we determine it for (k, δ) = (4, 1/2) and for more than thirty pairs (3, δ) with δ > 1/5

Weak Schur numbers and the search for G.W. Walker’s lost partitions

AbstractA set A of integers is weakly sum-free if it contains no three distinct elements x,y,z such that x+y=z. Given k≥1, let WS(k) denote the largest integer n for which {1,…,n} admits a partition into k weakly sum-free subsets. In 1952, G.W. Walker claimed the value WS(5)=196, without proof. Here we show WS(5)≥196, by constructing a partition of {1,…,196} of the required type. It remains as an open problem to prove the equality. With an analogous construction for k=6, we obtain WS(6)≥572. Our approach involves translating the construction problem into a Boolean satisfiability problem, which can then be handled by a SAT solver

On the finiteness of some n-color Rado numbers

For integers k, n, c with k, n ≥ 1, the n-color Rado number Rk(n, c) is defined to be the least integer N if any, or infinity otherwise, such that for every n-coloring of the set {1, 2, . . . , N}, there exists a monochromatic solution in that set to the linear equation x1 + x2 + · · · + xk + c = xk+1. A recent conjecture of ours states that Rk(n, c) should be finite if and only if every divisor d ≤ n of k−1 also divides c. In this paper, we complete the verification of this conjecture for all k ≤ 7. As a key tool, we first prove a general result concerning the degree of regularity over subsets of Z of some linear Diophantine equations

On the ground states of the Bernasconi model

The ground states of the Bernasconi model are binary +1/-1 sequences of length N with low autocorrelations. We introduce the notion of perfect sequences, binary sequences with one-valued off-peak correlations of minimum amount. If they exist, they are ground states. Using results from the mathematical theory of cyclic difference sets, we specify all values of N for which perfect sequences do exist and how to construct them. For other values of N, we investigate almost perfect sequences, i.e. sequences with two-valued off-peak correlations of minimum amount. Numerical and analytical results support the conjecture that almost perfect sequences do exist for all values of N, but that they are not always ground states. We present a construction for low-energy configurations that works if N is the product of two odd primes.Comment: 12 pages, LaTeX2e; extended content, added references; submitted to J.Phys.

Travelling waves in pipe flow

A family of three-dimensional travelling waves for flow through a pipe of circular cross section is identified. The travelling waves are dominated by pairs of downstream vortices and streaks. They originate in saddle-node bifurcations at Reynolds numbers as low as 1250. All states are immediately unstable. Their dynamical significance is that they provide a skeleton for the formation of a chaotic saddle that can explain the intermittent transition to turbulence and the sensitive dependence on initial conditions in this shear flow.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure