17 research outputs found
Primitive free cubics with specified norm and trace
The existence of a primitive free (normal) cubic x3 - ax2 + cx - b over a finite field F with arbitrary specified values of a (≠0) and b (primitive) is guaranteed. This is the most delicate case of a general existence theorem whose proof is thereby completed
On well quasi-order of graph classes under homomorphic image orderings
In this paper we consider the question of well quasi-order for classes defined by a single obstruction within the classes of all graphs, digraphs and tournaments, under the homomorphic image ordering (in both its standard and strong forms). The homomorphic image ordering was introduced by the authors in a previous paper and corresponds to the existence of a surjective homomorphism between two structures. We obtain complete characterisations in all cases except for graphs under the strong ordering, where some open questions remain.PostprintPeer reviewe
Existence and non-existence results for Strong External Difference Families
We consider strong external difference families (SEDFs); these are external difference
families satisfying additional conditions on the patterns of external differences that occur,
and were first defined in the context of classifying optimal strong algebraic manipulation detection
codes. We establish new necessary conditions for the existence of (n, m, k, �)-SEDFs; in
particular giving a near-complete treatment of the � = 2 case. For the case m = 2, we obtain a
structural characterization for partition type SEDFs (of maximum possible k and �), showing
that these correspond to Paley partial difference sets. We also prove a version of our main
result for generalized SEDFs, establishing non-trivial necessary conditions for their existence
On The Complexity and Completeness of Static Constraints for Breaking Row and Column Symmetry
We consider a common type of symmetry where we have a matrix of decision
variables with interchangeable rows and columns. A simple and efficient method
to deal with such row and column symmetry is to post symmetry breaking
constraints like DOUBLELEX and SNAKELEX. We provide a number of positive and
negative results on posting such symmetry breaking constraints. On the positive
side, we prove that we can compute in polynomial time a unique representative
of an equivalence class in a matrix model with row and column symmetry if the
number of rows (or of columns) is bounded and in a number of other special
cases. On the negative side, we show that whilst DOUBLELEX and SNAKELEX are
often effective in practice, they can leave a large number of symmetric
solutions in the worst case. In addition, we prove that propagating DOUBLELEX
completely is NP-hard. Finally we consider how to break row, column and value
symmetry, correcting a result in the literature about the safeness of combining
different symmetry breaking constraints. We end with the first experimental
study on how much symmetry is left by DOUBLELEX and SNAKELEX on some benchmark
problems.Comment: To appear in the Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on
Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming (CP 2010
Diagonally Neighbour Transitive Codes and Frequency Permutation Arrays
Constant composition codes have been proposed as suitable coding schemes to
solve the narrow band and impulse noise problems associated with powerline
communication. In particular, a certain class of constant composition codes
called frequency permutation arrays have been suggested as ideal, in some
sense, for these purposes. In this paper we characterise a family of neighbour
transitive codes in Hamming graphs in which frequency permutation arrays play a
central rode. We also classify all the permutation codes generated by groups in
this family
Automatically generating streamlined constraint models with ESSENCE and CONJURE
Streamlined constraint reasoning is the addition of uninferred constraints to a constraint model to reduce the search space, while retaining at least one solution. Previously, effective streamlined models have been constructed by hand, requiring an expert to examine closely solutions to small instances of a problem class and identify regularities. We present a system that automatically generates many conjectured regularities for a given Essence specification of a problem class by examining the domains of decision variables present in the problem specification. These conjectures are evaluated independently and in conjunction with one another on a set of instances from the specified class via an automated modelling tool-chain comprising of Conjure, Savile Row and Minion. Once the system has identified effective conjectures they are used to generate streamlined models that allow instances of much larger scale to be solved. Our results demonstrate good models can be identified for problems in combinatorial design, Ramsey theory, graph theory and group theory - often resulting in order of magnitude speed-ups.Postprin