Finite metric spaces--combinatorics, geometry and algorithms

Finite metric spaces arise in many different contexts. Enormous bodies of data, scientific, commercial and others can often be viewed as large metric spaces. It turns out that the metric of graphs reveals a lot of interesting information. Metric spaces also come up in many recent advances in the theory of algorithms. Finally, finite submetrics of classical geometric objects such as normed spaces or manifolds reflect many important properties of the underlying structure. In this paper we review some of the recent advances in this area

Constructing expander graphs by 2-lifts and discrepancy vs. spectral gap

We present a new explicit construction for expander graphs with nearly optimal spectral gap. The construction is based on a series of 2-lift operations. Let $G$ be a graph on $n$ vertices. A 2-lift of $G$ is a graph $H$ on $2n$ vertices, with a covering map $\pi:H \to G$. It is not hard to see that all eigenvalues of $G$ are also eigenvalues of $H$. In addition, $H$ has $n$ ``new'' eigenvalues. We conjecture that every $d$-regular graph has a 2-lift such that all new eigenvalues are in the range $[-2\sqrt{d-1},2\sqrt{d-1}]$ (If true, this is tight, e.g. by the Alon-Boppana bound). Here we show that every graph of maximal degree $d$ has a 2-lift such that all ``new'' eigenvalues are in the range $[-c \sqrt{d \log^3d}, c \sqrt{d \log^3d}]$ for some constant $c$. This leads to a polynomial time algorithm for constructing arbitrarily large $d$-regular graphs, with second eigenvalue $O(\sqrt{d \log^3 d})$. The proof uses the following lemma: Let $A$ be a real symmetric matrix such that the $l_1$ norm of each row in $A$ is at most $d$. Let $\alpha = \max_{x,y \in \{0,1\}^n, supp(x)\cap supp(y)=\emptyset} \frac {|xAy|} {||x||||y||}$. Then the spectral radius of $A$ is at most $c \alpha \log(d/\alpha)$, for some universal constant $c$. An interesting consequence of this lemma is a converse to the Expander Mixing Lemma.Comment: 29 pages, 1 figur

A counterexample to a conjecture of Bj\"{o}rner and Lov\'asz on the χ\chi-coloring complex

Associated with every graph $G$ of chromatic number $\chi$ is another graph $G'$. The vertex set of $G'$ consists of all $\chi$-colorings of $G$, and two $\chi$-colorings are adjacent when they differ on exactly one vertex. According to a conjecture of Bj\"{o}rner and Lov\'asz, this graph $G'$ must be disconnected. In this note we give a counterexample to this conjecture.Comment: To appear in JCT

Discrepancy of High-Dimensional Permutations

Let $L$ be an order-$n$ Latin square. For $X, Y, Z \subseteq \{1, ... ,n\}$, let $L(X, Y. Z)$ be the number of triples $i\in X, j\in Y, k\in Z$ such that $L(i,j) = k$. We conjecture that asymptotically almost every Latin square satisfies $|L(X, Y, Z) - \frac 1n |X||Y||Z||\le O(\sqrt{|X||Y||Z|})$ for every $X, Y$ and $Z$. Let $\varepsilon(L):= \max |X||Y||Z|$ when $L(X, Y, Z)=0$. The above conjecture implies that $\varepsilon(L) \le O(n^2)$ holds asymptotically almost surely (this bound is obviously tight). We show that there exist Latin squares with $\varepsilon(L) \le O(n^2)$, and that $\varepsilon(L) \le O(n^2 \log^2 n)$ for almost every order-$n$ Latin square. On the other hand, we recall that $\varepsilon(L)\geq \Omega(n^{33/14})$ if $L$ is the multiplication table of an order-$n$ group. Some of these results extend to higher dimensions. Many open problems remain

Are stable instances easy?

We introduce the notion of a stable instance for a discrete optimization problem, and argue that in many practical situations only sufficiently stable instances are of interest. The question then arises whether stable instances of NP--hard problems are easier to solve. In particular, whether there exist algorithms that solve correctly and in polynomial time all sufficiently stable instances of some NP--hard problem. The paper focuses on the Max--Cut problem, for which we show that this is indeed the case.Comment: 14 page

Tight products and Expansion

In this paper we study a new product of graphs called {\em tight product}. A graph $H$ is said to be a tight product of two (undirected multi) graphs $G_1$ and $G_2$, if $V(H)=V(G_1)\times V(G_2)$ and both projection maps $V(H)\to V(G_1)$ and $V(H)\to V(G_2)$ are covering maps. It is not a priori clear when two given graphs have a tight product (in fact, it is $NP$-hard to decide). We investigate the conditions under which this is possible. This perspective yields a new characterization of class-1 $(2k+1)$-regular graphs. We also obtain a new model of random $d$-regular graphs whose second eigenvalue is almost surely at most $O(d^{3/4})$. This construction resembles random graph lifts, but requires fewer random bits

On the phase transition in random simplicial complexes

It is well-known that the $G(n,p)$ model of random graphs undergoes a dramatic change around $p=\frac 1n$. It is here that the random graph is, almost surely, no longer a forest, and here it first acquires a giant (i.e., order $\Omega(n)$) connected component. Several years ago, Linial and Meshulam have introduced the $X_d(n,p)$ model, a probability space of $n$-vertex $d$-dimensional simplicial complexes, where $X_1(n,p)$ coincides with $G(n,p)$. Within this model we prove a natural $d$-dimensional analog of these graph theoretic phenomena. Specifically, we determine the exact threshold for the nonvanishing of the real $d$-th homology of complexes from $X_d(n,p)$. We also compute the real Betti numbers of $X_d(n,p)$ for $p=c/n$. Finally, we establish the emergence of giant shadow at this threshold. (For $d=1$ a giant shadow and a giant component are equivalent). Unlike the case for graphs, for $d\ge 2$ the emergence of the giant shadow is a first order phase transition

Asymptotically Almost Every 2r2r-regular Graph has an Internal Partition

An internal partition of a graph is a partitioning of the vertex set into two parts such that for every vertex, at least half of its neighbors are on its side. We prove that for every positive integer $r$, asymptotically almost every $2r$-regular graph has an internal partition.Comment: 7 page

The expected genus of a random chord diagram

To any generic curve in an oriented surface there corresponds an oriented chord diagram, and any oriented chord diagram may be realized by a curve in some oriented surface. The genus of an oriented chord diagram is the minimal genus of an oriented surface in which it may be realized. Let g_n denote the expected genus of a randomly chosen oriented chord diagram of order n. We show that g_n satisfies: g_n = n/2 - Theta(ln n)

Monotone Subsequences in High-Dimensional Permutations

This paper is part of the ongoing effort to study high-dimensional permutations. We prove the analogue to the Erd\H{o}s-Szekeres theorem: For every $k\ge1$, every order-$n$ $k$-dimensional permutation contains a monotone subsequence of length $\Omega_{k}\left(\sqrt{n}\right)$, and this is tight. On the other hand, and unlike the classical case, the longest monotone subsequence in a random $k$-dimensional permutation of order $n$ is asymptotically almost surely $\Theta_{k}\left(n^{\frac{k}{k+1}}\right)$.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figur