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Bill Jackson

Publications and source records attributed to Bill Jackson.

36 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2020

An improved bound for the rigidity of linearly constrained frameworks

We consider the problem of characterising the generic rigidity of bar-joint frameworks in $\mathbb{R}^d$ in which each vertex is constrained to lie in a given affine subspace. The special case when $d=2$ was previously solved by I. Streinu and L. Theran in 2010 and the case when each vertex is constrained to lie in an affine subspace of dimension $t$, and $d\geq t(t-1)$ was solved by Cruickshank, Guler and the first two authors in 2019. We extend the latter result by showing that the given characterisation holds whenever $d\geq 2t$.

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arXiv2020

A necessary condition for generic rigidity of bar-and-joint frameworks in $d$-space

A graph $G=(V,E)$ is $d$-sparse if each subset $X\subseteq V$ with $|X|\geq d$ induces at most $d|X|-{{d+1}\choose{2}}$ edges in $G$. Maxwell showed in 1864 that a necessary condition for a generic bar-and-joint framework with at least $d+1$ vertices to be rigid in ${\mathbb R}^d$ is that $G$ should have a $d$-sparse subgraph with $d|X|-{{d+1}\choose{2}}$ edges. This necessary condition is also sufficient when $d=1,2$ but not when $d\geq 3$. Cheng and Sitharam strengthened Maxwell's condition by showing that every maximal $d$-sparse subgraph of $G$ should have $d|X|-{{d+1}\choose{2}}$ edges when $d=3$. We extend their result to all $d\leq 11$.

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arXiv2019

Global rigidity of 2-dimensional linearly constrained frameworks

A linearly constrained framework in $\mathbb{R}^d$ is a point configuration together with a system of constraints which fixes the distances between some pairs of points and additionally restricts some of the points to lie in given affine subspaces. It is globally rigid if the configuration is uniquely defined by the constraint system, and is rigid if it is uniquely defined within some small open neighbourhood. Streinu and Theran characterised generic rigidity of linearly constrained frameworks in $\mathbb{R}^2$ in 2010. We obtain an analagous characterisation for generic global rigidity in $\mathbb{R}^2$. More precisely we show that a generic linearly constrained framework in $\mathbb{R}^2$ is globally rigid if and only if it is redundantly rigid and `balanced'. For generic frameworks which are not balanced, we determine the precise number of solutions to the constraint system whenever the underlying rigidity matroid of the given framework is connected. We also obtain a stress matrix sufficient condition and a Hendrickson type necessary condition for a generic linearly constrained framework to be globally rigid in $\mathbb{R}^d$.

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arXiv2018

Global rigidity of generic frameworks on the cylinder

We show that a generic framework $(G,p)$ on the cylinder is globally rigid if and only if $G$ is a complete graph on at most four vertices or $G$ is both redundantly rigid and $2$-connected. To prove the theorem we also derive a new recursive construction of circuits in the simple $(2,2)$-sparse matroid, and a characterisation of rigidity for generic frameworks on the cylinder when a single designated vertex is allowed to move off the cylinder.

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arXiv2018

Rigidity of linearly-constrained frameworks

We consider the problem of characterising the generic rigidity of bar-joint frameworks in $\mathbb{R}^d$ in which each vertex is constrained to lie in a given affine subspace. The special case when $d=2$ was previously solved by I. Streinu and L. Theran in 2010. We will extend their characterisation to the case when $d\geq 3$ and each vertex is constrained to lie in an affine subspace of dimension $t$, when $t=1,2$ and also when $t\geq 3$ and $d\geq t(t-1)$. We then point out that results on body-bar frameworks obtained by N. Katoh and S. Tanigawa in 2013 can be used to characterise when a graph has a rigid realisation as a $d$-dimensional body-bar framework with a given set of linear constraints.

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arXiv2017

Point-hyperplane frameworks, slider joints, and rigidity preserving transformations

A one-to-one correspondence between the infinitesimal motions of bar-joint frameworks in $\mathbb{R}^d$ and those in $\mathbb{S}^d$ is a classical observation by Pogorelov, and further connections among different rigidity models in various different spaces have been extensively studied. In this paper, we shall extend this line of research to include the infinitesimal rigidity of frameworks consisting of points and hyperplanes. This enables us to understand correspondences between point-hyperplane rigidity, classical bar-joint rigidity, and scene analysis. Among other results, we derive a combinatorial characterization of graphs that can be realized as infinitesimally rigid frameworks in the plane with a given set of points collinear. This extends a result by Jackson and Jordán, which deals with the case when three points are collinear.

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arXiv2016

The number of equivalent realisations of a rigid graph

Given a rigid realisation of a graph $G$ in ${\mathbb R}^2$, it is an open problem to determine the maximum number of pairwise non-congruent realisations which have the same edge lengths as the given realisation. This problem can be restated as finding the number of solutions of a related system of quadratic equations and in this context it is natural to consider the number of solutions in ${\mathbb C}^2$ rather that ${\mathbb R}^2$. We show that the number of complex solutions, $c(G)$, is the same for all generic realisations of a rigid graph $G$, characterise the graphs $G$ for which $c(G)=1$, and show that the problem of determining $c(G)$ can be reduced to the case when $G$ is $3$-connected and has no non-trivial $3$-edge-cuts. We consider the effect of the Henneberg moves and the vertex-splitting operation on $c(G)$. We use our results to determine $c(G)$ exactly for two important families of graphs, and show that the graphs in both families have $c(G)$ pairwise equivalent generic real realisations. We also show that every planar isostatic graph on $n$ vertices has at least $2^{n-3}$ pairwise equivalent real realisations.

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arXiv2016

Rigid cylindrical frameworks with two coincident points

We develop a rigidity theory for frameworks in $\mathbb{R}^3$ which have two coincident points but are otherwise generic and only infinitesimal motions which are tangential to a family of cylinders induced by the realisation are considered. We then apply our results to show that vertex splitting, under the additional assumption that the new edge is redundant, preserves the property of being generically globally rigid on families of concentric cylinders.

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arXiv2016

Global rigidity of 2-dimensional direction-length frameworks

A 2-dimensional direction-length framework is a collection of points in the plane which are linked by pairwise constraints that fix the direction or length of the line segments joining certain pairs of points. We represent it as a pair $(G,p)$, where $G=(V;D,L)$ is a `mixed' graph and $p:V\to{\mathbb R}^2$ is a point configuration for $V$. It is globally rigid if every direction-length framework $(G,q)$ which satisfies the same constraints can be obtained from $(G,p)$ by a translation or a rotation by $180^\circ$. We show that the problem of characterising when a generic framework $(G,p)$ is globally rigid can be reduced to the case when $G$ belongs to a special family of `direction irreducible' mixed graphs, and prove that {every} generic realisation of a direction irreducible mixed graph $G$ is globally rigid if and only if $G$ is 2-connected, direction-balanced and redundantly rigid.

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arXiv2016

Antistrong digraphs

An antidirected trail in a digraph is a trail (a walk with no arc repeated) in which the arcs alternate between forward and backward arcs. An antidirected path is an antidirected trail where no vertex is repeated. We show that it is NP-complete to decide whether two vertices $x,y$ in a digraph are connected by an antidirected path, while one can decide in linear time whether they are connected by an antidirected trail. A digraph $D$ is antistrong if it contains an antidirected $(x,y)$-trail starting and ending with a forward arc for every choice of $x,y\in V(D)$. We show that antistrong connectivity can be decided in linear time. We discuss relations between antistrong connectivity and other properties of a digraph and show that the arc-minimal antistrong spanning subgraphs of a digraph are the bases of a matroid on its arc-set. We show that one can determine in polynomial time the minimum number of new arcs whose addition to $D$ makes the resulting digraph the arc-disjoint union of $k$ antistrong digraphs. In particular, we determine the minimum number of new arcs which need to be added to a digraph to make it antistrong. We use results from matroid theory to characterize graphs which have an antistrong orientation and give a polynomial time algorithm for constructing such an orientation when it exists. This immediately gives analogous results for graphs which have a connected bipartite 2-detachment. Finally, we study arc-decompositions of antistrong digraphs and pose several problems and conjectures.

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arXiv2016

A characterisation of the generic rigidity of 2-dimensional point-line frameworks

A 2-dimensional point-line framework is a collection of points and lines in the plane which are linked by pairwise constraints that fix some angles between pairs of lines and also some point-line and point-point distances. It is rigid if every continuous motion of the points and lines which preserves the constraints results in a point-line framework which can be obtained from the initial framework by a translation or a rotation. We characterise when a generic point-line framework is rigid. Our characterisation gives rise to a polynomial algorithm for solving this decision problem.

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arXiv2015

Stress matrices and global rigidity of frameworks on surfaces

In 2005, Bob Connelly showed that a generic framework in $\bR^d$ is globally rigid if it has a stress matrix of maximum possible rank, and that this sufficient condition for generic global rigidity is preserved by the 1-extension operation. His results gave a key step in the characterisation of generic global rigidity in the plane. We extend these results to frameworks on surfaces in $\bR^3$. For a framework on a family of concentric cylinders, cones or ellipsoids, we show that there is a natural surface stress matrix arising from assigning edge and vertex weights to the framework, in equilibrium at each vertex. In the case of cylinders and ellipsoids, we show that having a maximum rank stress matrix is sufficient to guarantee generic global rigidity on the surface. We then show that this sufficient condition for generic global rigidity is preserved under 1-extension and use this to make progress on the problem of characterising generic global rigidity on the cylinder.

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arXiv2014

Complex zero-free regions at large |q| for multivariate Tutte polynomials (alias Potts-model partition functions) with general complex edge weights

We find zero-free regions in the complex plane at large |q| for the multivariate Tutte polynomial (also known in statistical mechanics as the Potts-model partition function) Z_G(q,w) of a graph G with general complex edge weights w = {w_e}. This generalizes a result of Sokal (cond-mat/9904146) that applies only within the complex antiferromagnetic regime |1+w_e| \le 1. Our proof uses the polymer-gas representation of the multivariate Tutte polynomial together with the Penrose identity.

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arXiv2014

Maxmaxflow and counting subgraphs

We introduce a new graph invariant Λ(G) that we call maxmaxflow, and put it in the context of some other well-known graph invariants, notably maximum degree and its relatives. We prove the equivalence of two "dual" definitions of maxmaxflow: one in terms of flows, the other in terms of cocycle bases. We then show how to bound the total number (or more generally, total weight) of various classes of subgraphs of G in terms of either maximum degree or maxmaxflow. Our results are motivated by a conjecture that the modulus of the roots of the chromatic polynomial of G can be bounded above by a function of Λ(G).

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arXiv2013

Necessary Conditions for the Generic Global Rigidity of Frameworks on Surfaces

A result due in its various parts to Hendrickson, Connelly, and Jackson and Jordán, provides a purely combinatorial characterisation of global rigidity for generic bar-joint frameworks in $\mathbb{R}^2$. The analogous conditions are known to be insufficient to characterise generic global rigidity in higher dimensions. Recently Laman-type characterisations of rigidity have been obtained for generic frameworks in $\mathbb{R}^3$ when the vertices are constrained to lie on various surfaces, such as the cylinder and the cone. In this paper we obtain analogues of Hendrickson's necessary conditions for the global rigidity of generic frameworks on the cylinder, cone and ellipsoid.

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arXiv2012

Radically solvable graphs

A 2-dimensional framework is a straight line realisation of a graph in the Euclidean plane. It is radically solvable if the set of vertex coordinates is contained in a radical extension of the field of rationals extended by the squared edge lengths. We show that the radical solvability of a generic framework depends only on its underlying graph and characterise which planar graphs give rise to radically solvable generic frameworks. We conjecture that our characterisation extends to all graphs.

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arXiv2008

Zero-free regions for multivariate Tutte polynomials (alias Potts-model partition functions) of graphs and matroids

The chromatic polynomial P_G(q) of a loopless graph G is known to be nonzero (with explicitly known sign) on the intervals (-\infty,0), (0,1) and (1,32/27]. Analogous theorems hold for the flow polynomial of bridgeless graphs and for the characteristic polynomial of loopless matroids. Here we exhibit all these results as special cases of more general theorems on real zero-free regions of the multivariate Tutte polynomial Z_G(q,v). The proofs are quite simple, and employ deletion-contraction together with parallel and series reduction. In particular, they shed light on the origin of the curious number 32/27.

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