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Erik Insko

Publications and source records attributed to Erik Insko.

29 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2016

A proof of the peak polynomial positivity conjecture

We say that a permutation $π=π_1π_2\cdots π_n \in \mathfrak{S}_n$ has a peak at index $i$ if $π_{i-1} < π_i > π_{i+1}$. Let $\mathcal{P}(π)$ denote the set of indices where $π$ has a peak. Given a set $S$ of positive integers, we define $\mathcal{P}_S(n)=\{π\in\mathfrak{S}_n:\mathcal{P}(π)=S\}$. In 2013 Billey, Burdzy, and Sagan showed that for subsets of positive integers $S$ and sufficiently large $n$, $| \mathcal{P}_S(n)|=p_S(n)2^{n-|S|-1}$ where $p_S(x)$ is a polynomial depending on $S$. They gave a recursive formula for $p_S(x)$ involving an alternating sum, and they conjectured that the coefficients of $p_S(x)$ expanded in a binomial coefficient basis centered at $\max(S)$ are all nonnegative. In this paper we introduce a new recursive formula for $|\mathcal{P}_S(n)|$ without alternating sums, and we use this recursion to prove that their conjecture is true.

math.CO↗
arXiv2016

Peaks Sets of Classical Coxeter Groups

We say a permutation $π=π_1π_2\cdotsπ_n$ in the symmetric group $\mathfrak{S}_n$ has a peak at index $i$ if $π_{i-1}<π_i>π_{i+1}$ and we let $P(π)=\{i \in \{1, 2, \ldots, n\} \, \vert \, \mbox{$i$ is a peak of $π$}\}$. Given a set $S$ of positive integers, we let $P (S; n)$ denote the subset of $\mathfrak{S}_n$ consisting of all permutations $π$, where $P(π) =S$. In 2013, Billey, Burdzy, and Sagan proved $|P(S;n)| = p(n)2^{n-\lvert S\rvert-1}$, where $p(n)$ is a polynomial of degree $\max(S)- 1$. In 2014, Castro-Velez et al. considered the Coxeter group of type $B_n$ as the group of signed permutations on $n$ letters and showed that $\lvert P_B(S;n)\rvert=p(n)2^{2n-|S|-1}$ where $p(n)$ is the same polynomial of degree $\max(S)-1$. In this paper we partition the sets $P(S;n) \subset \mathfrak{S}_n$ studied by Billey, Burdzy, and Sagan into subsets of $P(S;n)$ of permutations with peak set $S$ that end with an ascent to a fixed integer $k$ or a descent and provide polynomial formulas for the cardinalities of these subsets. After embedding the Coxeter groups of Lie type $C_n$ and $D_n$ into $\mathfrak{S}_{2n}$, we partition these groups into bundles of permutations $π_1π_2 \cdotsπ_n|π_{n+1}\cdots π_{2n}$ such that $π_1π_2\cdots π_n$ has the same relative order as some permutation $σ_1σ_2\cdotsσ_n \in \mathfrak{S}_n$. This allows us to count the number of permutations in types $C_n$ and $D_n$ with a given peak set $S$ by reducing the enumeration to calculations in the symmetric group and sums across the rows of Pascal's triangle.

math.GR↗
arXiv2015

The $q$-analog of Kostant's partition function and the highest root of the classical Lie algebras

Kostant's partition function counts the number of ways to represent a particular vector (weight) as a nonnegative integral sum of positive roots of a Lie algebra. For a given weight the $q$-analog of Kostant's partition function is a polynomial where the coefficient of $q^k$ is the number of ways the weight can be written as a nonnegative integral sum of exactly $k$ positive roots. In this paper we determine generating functions for the $q$-analog of Kostant's partition function when the weight in question is the highest root of the classical Lie algebras of types $B$, $C$ and $D$.

math.CO↗
arXiv2015

A Terrible Expansion of the Determinant

From a transfer formula in multivariate finite operator calculus, comes an expansion for the determinant similar to Ryser's formula for the permanent. Although this one contains many more terms than the usual determinant formula. To prove it, we consider the poset of ordered partitions, properties of the permutahedron, and some good old fashioned combinatorial techniques.

math.CO↗
arXiv2014

A new characterization of the exceptional Lie algebras

For a simple Lie algebra, over $\mathbb{C}$, we consider the weight which is the sum of all simple roots and denote it $\tildeα$. We formally use Kostant's weight multiplicity formula to compute the "dimension" of the zero-weight space. In type $A_r$, $\tildeα$ is the highest root, and therefore this dimension is the rank of the Lie algebra. In type $B_r$, this is the defining representation, with dimension equal to 1. In the remaining cases, the weight $\tildeα$ is not dominant and is not the highest weight of an irreducible finite-dimensional representation. Kostant's weight multiplicity formula, in these cases, is assigning a value to a virtual representation. The point, however, is that this number is nonzero if and only if the Lie algebra is classical. This gives rise to a new characterization of the exceptional Lie algebras as the only Lie algebras for which this value is zero.

math.RA↗
arXiv2014

On (t,r) Broadcast Domination Numbers of Grids

The domination number of a graph $G = (V,E)$ is the minimum cardinality of any subset $S \subset V$ such that every vertex in $V$ is in $S$ or adjacent to an element of $S$. Finding the domination numbers of $m$ by $n$ grids was an open problem for nearly 30 years and was finally solved in 2011 by Goncalves, Pinlou, Rao, and Thomassé. Many variants of domination number on graphs have been defined and studied, but exact values have not yet been obtained for grids. We will define a family of domination theories parameterized by pairs of positive integers $(t,r)$ where $1 \leq r \leq t$ which generalize domination and distance domination theories for graphs. We call these domination numbers the $(t,r)$ broadcast domination numbers. We give the exact values of $(t,r)$ broadcast domination numbers for small grids, and we identify upper bounds for the $(t,r)$ broadcast domination numbers for large grids and conjecture that these bounds are tight for sufficiently large grids.

math.CO↗
arXiv2013

The adjoint representation of a Lie algebra and the support of Kostant's weight multiplicity formula

Even though weight multiplicity formulas, such as Kostant's formula, exist their computational use is extremely cumbersome. In fact, even in cases when the multiplicity is well understood, the number of terms considered in Kostant's formula is factorial in the rank of the Lie algebra and the value of the partition function is unknown. In this paper we address the difficult question: What are the contributing terms to the multiplicity of the zero weight in the adjoint representation of a finite dimensional Lie algebra? We describe and enumerate the cardinalities of these sets (through linear homogeneous recurrence relations with constant coefficients) for the classical Lie algebras of Type $B$, $C$, and $D$, the Type $A$ case was computed by the first author in [5]. In addition, we compute the cardinality of the set of contributing terms for non-zero weight spaces in the adjoint representation. In the Type $B$ case, the cardinality of one such non-zero-weight is enumerated by the Fibonacci numbers. We end with a computational proof of a result of Kostant regarding the exponents of the respective Lie algebra for some low rank examples and provide a section with open problems in this area.

math.RT↗
arXiv2013

Affine pavings of regular nilpotent Hessenberg varieties and intersection theory of the Peterson variety

This paper describes a paving by affines for regular nilpotent Hessenberg varieties in all Lie types, namely a kind of cell decomposition that can be used to compute homology despite its weak closure conditions. Precup recently proved a stronger result; we include ours because we use different methods. We then use this paving to prove that the homology of the Peterson variety injects into the homology of the full flag variety. The proof uses intersection theory and expands the class of the Peterson variety in the homology of the flag variety in terms of the basis of Schubert classes. We explicitly identify some of the coefficients of Schubert classes in this expansion, which is a problem of independent interest in Schubert calculus.

math.AG↗
arXiv2013

Supercoiled Tangles and Stick Numbers of 2-bridge Links

Utilizing both twisting and writhing, we construct integral tangles with few sticks, leading to an efficient method for constructing polygonal 2-bridge links. Let L be a two bridge link with crossing number c, stick number s, and n tangles. It is shown that s is less than or equal to 2/3 c + 2n+3 . We also show that if c > 12n+3, then minimal stick representatives do not admit minimal crossing projections.

math.GT↗
arXiv2012

Patch ideals and Peterson varieties

Patch ideals encode neighbourhoods of a variety in GL_n/B. For Peterson varieties we determine generators for these ideals and show they are complete intersections, and thus Cohen-Macaulay and Gorenstein. Consequently, we combinatorially describe the singular locus of the Peterson variety; give an explicit equivariant K-theory localization formula; and extend some results of [B. Kostant '96] and of D. Peterson to intersections of Peterson varieties with Schubert varieties. We conjecture that the projectivized tangent cones are Cohen-Macaulay, and that their h-polynomials are nonnegative and upper-semicontinuous. Similarly, we use patch ideals to briefly analyze other examples of torus invariant subvarieties of GL_n/B, including Richardson varieties and Springer fibers.

math.AG↗