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Alin Bostan

Publications and source records attributed to Alin Bostan.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

Diagonals and algebraicity modulo $p$: a sharper degree bound

In 1984, Deligne proved that for any prime number $p$, the reduction modulo $p$ of the diagonal of a multivariate algebraic power series with integer coefficients is algebraic over the field of rational functions with coefficients in $\mathbb F_p$. Moreover, he conjectured that the algebraic degrees $d_p$ of these functions should grow at most polynomially in $p$. In this article, we provide a new and elementary proof of Deligne's theorem, which yields the first general polynomial bound on $d_p$ with an explicit and reasonable degree.

cs.SC↗
arXiv2025

Weakly-unambiguous Parikh automata and their link to holonomic series

We investigate the connection between properties of formal languages and properties of their generating series, with a focus on the class of holonomic power series. We first prove a strong version of a conjecture by Castiglione and Massazza: weakly-unambiguous Parikh automata are equivalent to unambiguous two-way reversal bounded counter machines, and their multivariate generating series are holonomic. We then show that the converse is not true: we construct a language whose generating series is algebraic (thus holonomic), but which is inherently weakly-ambiguous as a Parikh automata language. Finally, we prove an effective decidability result for the inclusion problem for weakly-unambiguous Parikh automata, and provide an upper-bound on to its complexity.

cs.FL↗
arXiv2025

Tree-indexed sums of Catalan numbers

We consider a family of infinite sums of products of Catalan numbers, indexed by trees. We show that these sums are polynomials in $1/\pi$ with rational coefficients; the proof is effective and provides an algorithm to explicitly compute these sums. Along the way we introduce parametric liftings of our sums, and show that they are polynomials in the complete elliptic integrals of the first and second kind. Moreover, the degrees of these polynomials are at most half of the number of vertices of the tree. The computation of these tree-indexed sums is motivated by the study of large meandric systems, which are non-crossing configurations of loops in the plane.

math.CO↗
arXiv2025

On deciding transcendence of power series

It is well known that algebraic power series are differentially finite (D-finite): they satisfy linear differential equations with polynomial coefficients. The converse problem, whether a given D-finite power series is algebraic or transcendental, is notoriously difficult. We prove that this problem is decidable: we give two theoretical algorithms and a transcendence test that is efficient in practice.

math.NT↗
arXiv2025

Singular walks in the quarter plane and Bernoulli numbers

We consider singular (aka genus $0$) walks in the quarter plane and their associated generating functions $Q(x,y,t)$, which enumerate the walks starting from the origin, of fixed endpoint (encoded by the spatial variables $x$ and $y$) and of fixed length (encoded by the time variable $t$). We first prove that the previous series can be extended up to a universal value of $t$ (in the sense that this holds for all singular models), namely $t=\frac{1}{2}$, and we provide a probabilistic interpretation of $Q(x,y,\frac{1}{2})$. As a second step, we refine earlier results in the literature and show that $Q(x,y,t)$ is indeed differentially transcendental for any $t\in(0,\frac{1}{2}]$. Moreover, we prove that $Q(x,y,\frac{1}{2})$ is strongly differentially transcendental. As a last step, we show that for certain models the series expansion of $Q(x,y,\frac{1}{2})$ is directly related to Bernoulli numbers. This provides a second proof of its strong differential transcendence.

math.CO↗
arXiv2024

Isoperimetric Ratios of Toroidal Dupin Cyclides

The combination of recent results due to Yu and Chen [Proc. AMS 150(4), 2020, 1749-1765] and to Bostan and Yurkevich [Proc. AMS 150(5), 2022, 2131-2136] shows that the 3-D Euclidean shape of the square Clifford torus is uniquely determined by its isoperimetric ratio. This solves part of the still open uniqueness problem of the Canham model for biomembranes. In this work we investigate the generalization of the aforementioned result to the case of a rectangular Clifford torus. Like the square case, we find closed-form formulas in terms of hypergeometric functions for the isoperimetric ratio of its stereographic projection to $\mathbb{R}^3$ and show that the corresponding function is strictly increasing. But unlike the square case, we show that the isoperimetric ratio does not uniquely determine the Euclidean shape of a rectangular Clifford torus.

math.DG↗
arXiv2023

Minimization of differential equations and algebraic values of $E$-functions

A power series being given as the solution of a linear differential equation with appropriate initial conditions, minimization consists in finding a non-trivial linear differential equation of minimal order having this power series as a solution. This problem exists in both homogeneous and inhomogeneous variants; it is distinct from, but related to, the classical problem of factorization of differential operators. Recently, minimization has found applications in Transcendental Number Theory, more specifically in the computation of non-zero algebraic points where Siegel's $E$-functions take algebraic values. We present algorithms and implementations for these questions, and discuss examples and experiments.

cs.SC↗
arXiv2023

On the representability of sequences as constant terms

A constant term sequence is a sequence of rational numbers whose $n$-th term is the constant term of $P^n(\boldsymbol{x}) Q(\boldsymbol{x})$, where $P(\boldsymbol{x})$ and $Q(\boldsymbol{x})$ are multivariate Laurent polynomials. While the generating functions of such sequences are invariably diagonals of multivariate rational functions, and hence special period functions, it is a famous open question, raised by Don Zagier, to classify diagonals that are constant terms. In this paper, we provide such a classification in the case of sequences satisfying linear recurrences with constant coefficients. We also consider the case of hypergeometric sequences and, for a simple illustrative family of hypergeometric sequences, classify those that are constant terms.

math.NT↗
arXiv2023

A sharper multivariate Christol's theorem with applications to diagonals and Hadamard products

We provide a new proof of the multivariate version of Christol's theorem about algebraic power series with coefficients in finite fields, as well as of its extension to perfect ground fields of positive characteristic obtained independently by Denef and Lipshitz, Sharif and Woodcok, and Harase. Our proof is elementary, effective, and allows for much sharper estimates. We discuss various applications of such estimates, in particular to a problem raised by Deligne concerning the algebraicity degree of reductions modulo $p$ of diagonals of multivariate algebraic power series with integer coefficients.

math.NT↗
arXiv2023

Beating binary powering for polynomial matrices

The $N$th power of a polynomial matrix of fixed size and degree can be computed by binary powering as fast as multiplying two polynomials of linear degree in~$N$. When Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) is available, the resulting complexity is \emph{softly linear} in~$N$, i.e.~linear in~$N$ with extra logarithmic factors. We show that it is possible to beat binary powering, by an algorithm whose complexity is \emph{purely linear} in~$N$, even in absence of FFT. The key result making this improvement possible is that the entries of the $N$th power of a polynomial matrix satisfy linear differential equations with polynomial coefficients whose orders and degrees are independent of~$N$. Similar algorithms are proposed for two related problems: computing the $N$th term of a C-finite sequence of polynomials, and modular exponentiation to the power $N$ for bivariate polynomials.

cs.SC↗
arXiv2023

Fast Algorithms for Discrete Differential Equations

Discrete Differential Equations (DDEs) are functional equations that relate polynomially a power series $F(t,u)$ in $t$ with polynomial coefficients in a "catalytic" variable $u$ and the specializations, say at $u=1$, of $F(t,u)$ and of some of its partial derivatives in $u$. DDEs occur frequently in combinatorics, especially in map enumeration. If a DDE is of fixed-point type then its solution $F(t,u)$ is unique, and a general result by Popescu (1986) implies that $F(t,u)$ is an algebraic power series. Constructive proofs of algebraicity for solutions of fixed-point type DDEs were proposed by Bousquet-Mélou and Jehanne (2006). Bostan et. al (2022) initiated a systematic algorithmic study of such DDEs of order 1. We generalize this study to DDEs of arbitrary order. First, we propose nontrivial extensions of algorithms based on polynomial elimination and on the guess-and-prove paradigm. Second, we design two brand-new algorithms that exploit the special structure of the underlying polynomial systems. Last, but not least, we report on implementations that are able to solve highly challenging DDEs with a combinatorial origin.

cs.SC↗
arXiv2023

Algebraic solutions of linear differential equations: an arithmetic approach

Given a linear differential equation with coefficients in $\mathbb{Q}(x)$, an important question is to know whether its full space of solutions consists of algebraic functions, or at least if one of its specific solutions is algebraic. After presenting motivating examples coming from various branches of mathematics, we advertise in an elementary way a beautiful local-global arithmetic approach to these questions, initiated by Grothendieck in the late sixties. This approach has deep ramifications and leads to the still unsolved Grothendieck-Katz $p$-curvature conjecture.

math.NT↗
arXiv2023

On the $q$-analogue of Pólya's Theorem

We answer a question posed by Michael Aissen in 1979 about the $q$-analogue of a classical theorem of George Pólya (1922) on the algebraicity of (generalized) diagonals of bivariate rational power series. In particular, we prove that the answer to Aissen's question, in which he considers $q$ as a variable, is negative in general. Moreover, we show that when $q$ is a complex number, the answer is positive if and only if $q$ is a root of unity.

math.CO↗
arXiv2022

Persistence for a class of order-one autoregressive processes and Mallows-Riordan polynomials

We establish exact formulae for the persistence probabilities of an AR(1) sequence with symmetric uniform innovations in terms of certain families of polynomials, most notably a family introduced by Mallows and Riordan as enumerators of finite labeled trees when ordered by inversions. The connection of these polynomials with the volumes of certain polytopes is also discussed. Two further results provide factorizations of general AR(1) models, one for negative drifts with continuous innovations, and one for positive drifts with continuous and symmetric innovations. The second factorization extends a classical universal formula of Sparre Andersen for symmetric random walks. Our results also lead to explicit asymptotic estimates for the persistence probabilities.

math.PR↗
arXiv2022

On some combinatorial sequences associated to invariant theory

We study the enumerative and analytic properties of some sequences constructed using tensor invariant theory. The octant sequences are constructed from the exceptional Lie group $G_2$ and the quadrant sequences from the special linear group $SL(3)$. In each case we show that the corresponding sequences are related by binomial transforms. The first three octant sequences and the first four quadrant sequences are listed in the On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences (OEIS). These sequences all have interpretations as enumerating two-dimensional lattice walks but for the octant sequences the boundary conditions are unconventional. These sequences are all P-recursive and we give the corresponding recurrence relations. In all cases the associated differential operators are of third order and have the remarkable property that they can be solved to give closed formulae for the ordinary generating functions in terms of classical Gaussian hypergeometric functions. Moreover, we show that the octant sequences and the quadrant sequences are related by the branching rules for the inclusion of $SL(3)$ in $G_2$.

math.CO↗
arXiv2022

Gröbner bases and critical values: The asymptotic combinatorics of determinantal systems

We consider ideals involving the maximal minors of a polynomial matrix. For example, those arising in the computation of the critical values of a polynomial restricted to a variety for polynomial optimisation. Gröbner bases are a classical tool for solving polynomial systems. For practical computations, this consists of two stages. First, a Gröbner basis is computed with respect to a DRL (degree reverse lexicographic) ordering. Then, a change of ordering algorithm, such as \textsf{Sparse-FGLM}, designed by Faugère and Mou, is used to find a Gröbner basis of the same ideal but with respect to a lexicographic ordering. The complexity of this latter step, in terms of arithmetic operations, is $O(mD^2)$, where $D$ is the degree of the ideal and $m$ is the number of non-trivial columns of a certain $D \times D$ matrix. While asymptotic estimates are known for $m$ for generic polynomial systems, thus far, the complexity of \textsf{Sparse-FGLM} was unknown for determinantal systems. By assuming Fröberg's conjecture we expand the work of Moreno-Socías by detailing the structure of the DRL staircase in the determinantal setting. Then we study the asymptotics of the quantity $m$ by relating it to the coefficients of these Hilbert series. Consequently, we arrive at a new bound on the complexity of the \textsf{Sparse-FGLM} algorithm for generic determinantal systems and for generic critical point systems. We consider the ideal in the polynomial ring $\mathbb{K}[x_1, \dots, x_n]$, where $\mathbb{K}$ is some infinite field, generated by $p$ generic polynomials of degree $d$ and the maximal minors of a $p \times (n-1)$ polynomial matrix with generic entries of degree $d-1$. Then for the case $d=2$ and for $n \gg p$ we give an exact formula for $m$ in terms of $n$ and $p$. Moreover, for $d \geq 3$, we give an asymptotic formula, as $n \to \infty$, for $m$ in terms of $n,p$ and $d$.

math.AC↗