arXiv subjects

Henry Cohn

Publications and source records attributed to Henry Cohn.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

The stealthiest particle configurations in 8 and 24 dimensions

We show that the $E_8$ and Leech lattices generate the stealthiest isometry-invariant, locally square-integrable point processes of intensity $1$ in $\mathbb{R}^8$ and $\mathbb{R}^{24}$, respectively, and that they are the unique stealthiest processes. We also apply the proof technique to sphere packing and energy minimization, and we construct a $20$-dimensional periodic configuration that is stealthier than any known $20$-dimensional lattice with the same particle density. This periodic configuration is a formal dual of Vardy's $20$-dimensional sphere packing.

math.MG↗

arXiv2024

Variations on five-dimensional sphere packings

We analyze Sz\"oll\H{o}si's recent construction of a conjecturally optimal five-dimensional kissing configuration and produce a new such configuration, the fourth to be discovered. We construct five-dimensional sphere packings from these configurations, which augment Conway and Sloane's list of conjecturally optimal packings. We also construct a new kissing configuration in nine dimensions. None of these constructions improves on the known records, but they provide geometrically distinct constructions achieving these records.

math.MG↗

arXiv2024

Improved kissing numbers in seventeen through twenty-one dimensions

We prove that the kissing numbers in 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21 dimensions are at least 5730, 7654, 11692, 19448, and 29768, respectively. The previous records were set by Leech in 1967, and we improve on them by 384, 256, 1024, 2048, and 2048. Unlike the previous constructions, the new configurations are not cross sections of the Leech lattice minimal vectors. Instead, they are constructed by modifying the signs in the lattice vectors to open up more space for additional spheres.

math.MG↗

arXiv2024

Finite matrix multiplication algorithms from infinite groups

The Cohn-Umans (FOCS '03) group-theoretic framework for matrix multiplication produces fast matrix multiplication algorithms from three subsets of a finite group $G$ satisfying a simple combinatorial condition (the Triple Product Property). The complexity of such an algorithm then depends on the representation theory of $G$. In this paper we extend the group-theoretic framework to the setting of infinite groups. In particular, this allows us to obtain constructions in Lie groups, with favorable parameters, that are provably impossible in finite groups of Lie type (Blasiak, Cohn, Grochow, Pratt, and Umans, ITCS '23). Previously the Lie group setting was investigated purely as an analogue of the finite group case; a key contribution in this paper is a fully developed framework for obtaining bona fide matrix multiplication algorithms directly from Lie group constructions.

math.GR↗

arXiv2024

From sphere packing to Fourier interpolation

Viazovska's solution of the sphere packing problem in eight dimensions is based on a remarkable construction of certain special functions using modular forms. Great mathematics has consequences far beyond the problems that originally inspired it, and Viazovska's work is no exception. In this article, we'll examine how it has led to new interpolation theorems in Fourier analysis, specifically a theorem of Radchenko and Viazovska.

math.MG↗

arXiv2024

Optimality of spherical codes via exact semidefinite programming bounds

We show that the spectral embeddings of all known triangle-free strongly regular graphs are optimal spherical codes (the new cases are $56$ points in $20$ dimensions, $50$ points in $21$ dimensions, and $77$ points in $21$ dimensions), as are certain mutually unbiased basis arrangements constructed using Kerdock codes in up to $1024$ dimensions (namely, $2^{4k} + 2^{2k+1}$ points in $2^{2k}$ dimensions for $2 \le k \le 5$). As a consequence of the latter, we obtain optimality of the Kerdock binary codes of block length $64$, $256$, and $1024$, as well as uniqueness for block length $64$. We also prove universal optimality for $288$ points on a sphere in $16$ dimensions. To prove these results, we use three-point semidefinite programming bounds, for which only a few sharp cases were known previously. To obtain rigorous results, we develop improved techniques for rounding approximate solutions of semidefinite programs to produce exact optimal solutions.

math.MG↗

arXiv2022

Sign uncertainty principles and low-degree polynomials

We prove an asymptotically sharp version of the Bourgain-Clozel-Kahane and Cohn-Gon\c{c}alves sign uncertainty principles for polynomials of sublinear degree times a Gaussian, as the dimension tends to infinity. In particular, we show that polynomials whose degree is sublinear in the dimension cannot improve asymptotically on those of degree at most three. This question arises naturally in the study of both linear programming bounds for sphere packing and the spinless modular bootstrap bound for free bosons.

math.CA↗

arXiv2022

The work of Maryna Viazovska

On July 5th, 2022, Maryna Viazovska was awarded a Fields Medal for her solution of the sphere packing problem in eight dimensions, as well as further contributions to related extremal problems and interpolation problems in Fourier analysis. This article explains some of the ideas behind her work to a broad mathematical audience.

math.MG↗

arXiv2022

Three-point bounds for sphere packing

We define three-point bounds for sphere packing that refine the linear programming bound, and we compute these bounds numerically using semidefinite programming by choosing a truncation radius for the three-point function. As a result, we obtain new upper bounds on the sphere packing density in dimension 4 through 7 and 9 through 16. We also give a different three-point bound for lattice packing and conjecture that this second bound is sharp in dimension 4.

math.MG↗

arXiv2022

Matrix multiplication via matrix groups

In 2003, Cohn and Umans proposed a group-theoretic approach to bounding the exponent of matrix multiplication. Previous work within this approach ruled out certain families of groups as a route to obtaining $\omega = 2$, while other families of groups remain potentially viable. In this paper we turn our attention to matrix groups, whose usefulness within this framework was relatively unexplored. We first show that groups of Lie type cannot prove $\omega=2$ within the group-theoretic approach. This is based on a representation-theoretic argument that identifies the second-smallest dimension of an irreducible representation of a group as a key parameter that determines its viability in this framework. Our proof builds on Gowers' result concerning product-free sets in quasirandom groups. We then give another barrier that rules out certain natural matrix group constructions that make use of subgroups that are far from being self-normalizing. Our barrier results leave open several natural paths to obtain $\omega = 2$ via matrix groups. To explore these routes we propose working in the continuous setting of Lie groups, in which we develop an analogous theory. Obtaining the analogue of $\omega=2$ in this potentially easier setting is a key challenge that represents an intermediate goal short of actually proving $\omega = 2$. We give two constructions in the continuous setting, each of which evades one of our two barriers.

math.GR↗

arXiv2021

Sphere packing bounds via rescaling

We study the relationship between local and global density for sphere packings, and in particular the convergence of packing densities in large, compact regions to the Euclidean limit. We axiomatize key properties of sphere packing bounds by the concept of a packing bound function, and we study the special case of sandwich functions, which give a framework for inequalities given by the Lov\'asz sandwich theorem. We show that every packing bound function tends to a Euclidean limit on rectifiable sets, generalizing the work of Borodachov, Hardin, and Saff. Linear and semidefinite programming bounds yield packing bound functions, and we develop a Lasserre hierarchy that converges to the optimal sphere packing density.

math.MG↗

arXiv2020

Free partition functions and an averaged holographic duality

We study the torus partition functions of free bosonic CFTs in two dimensions. Integrating over Narain moduli defines an ensemble-averaged free CFT. We calculate the averaged partition function and show that it can be reinterpreted as a sum over topologies in three dimensions. This result leads us to conjecture that an averaged free CFT in two dimensions is holographically dual to an exotic theory of three-dimensional gravity with $U(1)^c \times U(1)^c$ symmetry and a composite boundary graviton. Additionally, for small central charge $c$, we obtain general constraints on the spectral gap of free CFTs using the spinning modular bootstrap, construct examples of Narain compactifications with a large gap, and find an analytic bootstrap functional corresponding to a single self-dual boson.

hep-th↗

arXiv2020

High-dimensional sphere packing and the modular bootstrap

We carry out a numerical study of the spinless modular bootstrap for conformal field theories with current algebra $U(1)^c \times U(1)^c$, or equivalently the linear programming bound for sphere packing in $2c$ dimensions. We give a more detailed picture of the behavior for finite $c$ than was previously available, and we extrapolate as $c \to \infty$. Our extrapolation indicates an exponential improvement for sphere packing density bounds in high dimensions. Furthermore, we study when these bounds can be tight. Besides the known cases $c=1/2$, $4$, and $12$ and the conjectured case $c=1$, our calculations numerically rule out sharp bounds for all other $c<90$, by combining the modular bootstrap with linear programming bounds for spherical codes.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

Dual linear programming bounds for sphere packing via modular forms

We obtain new restrictions on the linear programming bound for sphere packing, by optimizing over spaces of modular forms to produce feasible points in the dual linear program. In contrast to the situation in dimensions 8 and 24, where the linear programming bound is sharp, we show that it comes nowhere near the best packing densities known in dimensions 12, 16, 20, 28, and 32. More generally, we provide a systematic technique for proving separations of this sort.

math.MG↗

arXiv2019

Universal optimality of the $E_8$ and Leech lattices and interpolation formulas

We prove that the $E_8$ root lattice and the Leech lattice are universally optimal among point configurations in Euclidean spaces of dimensions $8$ and $24$, respectively. In other words, they minimize energy for every potential function that is a completely monotonic function of squared distance (for example, inverse power laws or Gaussians), which is a strong form of robustness not previously known for any configuration in more than one dimension. This theorem implies their recently shown optimality as sphere packings, and broadly generalizes it to allow for long-range interactions. The proof uses sharp linear programming bounds for energy. To construct the optimal auxiliary functions used to attain these bounds, we prove a new interpolation theorem, which is of independent interest. It reconstructs a radial Schwartz function $f$ from the values and radial derivatives of $f$ and its Fourier transform $\widehat{f}$ at the radii $\sqrt{2n}$ for integers $n\ge1$ in $\mathbb{R}^8$ and $n \ge 2$ in $\mathbb{R}^{24}$. To prove this theorem, we construct an interpolation basis using integral transforms of quasimodular forms, generalizing Viazovska's work on sphere packing and placing it in the context of a more conceptual theory.

math.MG↗

arXiv2018

Identifiability for graphexes and the weak kernel metric

In two recent papers by Veitch and Roy and by Borgs, Chayes, Cohn, and Holden, a new class of sparse random graph processes based on the concept of graphexes over $\sigma$-finite measure spaces has been introduced. In this paper, we introduce a metric for graphexes that generalizes the cut metric for the graphons of the dense theory of graph convergence. We show that a sequence of graphexes converges in this metric if and only if the sequence of graph processes generated by the graphexes converges in distribution. In the course of the proof, we establish a regularity lemma and determine which sets of graphexes are precompact under our metric. Finally, we establish an identifiability theorem, characterizing when two graphexes are equivalent in the sense that they lead to the same process of random graphs.

math.PR↗

arXiv2017

An optimal uncertainty principle in twelve dimensions via modular forms

We prove an optimal bound in twelve dimensions for the uncertainty principle of Bourgain, Clozel, and Kahane. Suppose $f \colon \mathbb{R}^{12} \to \mathbb{R}$ is an integrable function that is not identically zero. Normalize its Fourier transform $\widehat{f}$ by $\widehat{f}(\xi) = \int_{\mathbb{R}^d} f(x)e^{-2\pi i \langle x, \xi\rangle}\, dx$, and suppose $\widehat{f}$ is real-valued and integrable. We show that if $f(0) \le 0$, $\widehat{f}(0) \le 0$, $f(x) \ge 0$ for $|x| \ge r_1$, and $\widehat{f}(\xi) \ge 0$ for $|\xi| \ge r_2$, then $r_1r_2 \ge 2$, and this bound is sharp. The construction of a function attaining the bound is based on Viazovska's modular form techniques, and its optimality follows from the existence of the Eisenstein series $E_6$. No sharp bound is known, or even conjectured, in any other dimension. We also develop a connection with the linear programming bound of Cohn and Elkies, which lets us generalize the sign pattern of $f$ and $\widehat{f}$ to develop a complementary uncertainty principle. This generalization unites the uncertainty principle with the linear programming bound as aspects of a broader theory.

math.CA↗

arXiv2017

Which groups are amenable to proving exponent two for matrix multiplication?

The Cohn-Umans group-theoretic approach to matrix multiplication suggests embedding matrix multiplication into group algebra multiplication, and bounding $\omega$ in terms of the representation theory of the host group. This framework is general enough to capture the best known upper bounds on $\omega$ and is conjectured to be powerful enough to prove $\omega = 2$, although finding a suitable group and constructing such an embedding has remained elusive. Recently it was shown, by a generalization of the proof of the Cap Set Conjecture, that abelian groups of bounded exponent cannot prove $\omega = 2$ in this framework, which ruled out a family of potential constructions in the literature. In this paper we study nonabelian groups as potential hosts for an embedding. We prove two main results: (1) We show that a large class of nonabelian groups---nilpotent groups of bounded exponent satisfying a mild additional condition---cannot prove $\omega = 2$ in this framework. We do this by showing that the shrinkage rate of powers of the augmentation ideal is similar to the shrinkage rate of the number of functions over $(\mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z})^n$ that are degree $d$ polynomials; our proof technique can be seen as a generalization of the polynomial method used to resolve the Cap Set Conjecture. (2) We show that symmetric groups $S_n$ cannot prove nontrivial bounds on $\omega$ when the embedding is via three Young subgroups---subgroups of the form $S_{k_1} \times S_{k_2} \times \dotsb \times S_{k_\ell}$---which is a natural strategy that includes all known constructions in $S_n$. By developing techniques for negative results in this paper, we hope to catalyze a fruitful interplay between the search for constructions proving bounds on $\omega$ and methods for ruling them out.

math.GR↗