251 research outputs found
Machine learning detects terminal singularities
Algebraic varieties are the geometric shapes defined by systems of polynomial
equations; they are ubiquitous across mathematics and science. Amongst these
algebraic varieties are Q-Fano varieties: positively curved shapes which have
Q-factorial terminal singularities. Q-Fano varieties are of fundamental
importance in geometry as they are "atomic pieces" of more complex shapes - the
process of breaking a shape into simpler pieces in this sense is called the
Minimal Model Programme. Despite their importance, the classification of Q-Fano
varieties remains unknown. In this paper we demonstrate that machine learning
can be used to understand this classification. We focus on 8-dimensional
positively-curved algebraic varieties that have toric symmetry and Picard rank
2, and develop a neural network classifier that predicts with 95% accuracy
whether or not such an algebraic variety is Q-Fano. We use this to give a first
sketch of the landscape of Q-Fanos in dimension 8. How the neural network is
able to detect Q-Fano varieties with such accuracy remains mysterious, and
hints at some deep mathematical theory waiting to be uncovered. Furthermore,
when visualised using the quantum period, an invariant that has played an
important role in recent theoretical developments, we observe that the
classification as revealed by ML appears to fall within a bounded region, and
is stratified by the Fano index. This suggests that it may be possible to state
and prove conjectures on completeness in the future. Inspired by the ML
analysis, we formulate and prove a new global combinatorial criterion for a
positively curved toric variety of Picard rank 2 to have terminal
singularities. Together with the first sketch of the landscape of Q-Fanos in
higher dimensions, this gives new evidence that machine learning can be an
essential tool in developing mathematical conjectures and accelerating
theoretical discovery.Comment: 20 pages, 11 figures, 3 table
Nuovi manoscritti latini e francesi prodotti a Genova a cavallo tra XIII e XIV secolo
Abstract Il saggio, partendo da una riflessione sulla produzione libraria genovese della fine del XIII secolo e dell’inizio del XIV, si pone l’obiettivo di presentare un codice attribuibile all’atelier domenicano attivo a Genova durante l’ultimo quarto del Duecento (una Bibbia latina oggi conservata frammentariamente in biblioteche statunitensi), e di ridiscutere il luogo di copia e l’origine del copista di un codice di prose religiose antico-francesi di inizio Trecento (Paris BNF fr. 187), la cui attribuzione oscilla negli studi tra Genova e Milano. Starting with some considerations about the Genovese book production at the end of the 13th century and at the beginning of the 14th, this paper aims to describe a codex whose production could be attributed to the Dominican atelier in activity in the last quarter of the Duecento (a Latin bible nowadays fragmentally preserved in several US libraries). This essay also debates the place of copying and the provenance of the scribe of an Old-French religious prose codex from the beginning of the 14th Century (Paris BNF fr. 187), whose attribution oscillates between Genova and Milan in previous studies. Keywords Manoscritti miniati a Genova – Produzione libraria – Bibbia – Manoscritti italiani di prose francesi – Biblioteca dei ViscontiManuscripts illuminated in Genoa – Book production – Bible – Italian manuscripts of French prose texts – Library of the Viscont
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