arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Mateusz Michałek.
Matroid base polytope and independence polytope are Cohen-Macaulay. There are plenty of examples when they are also Gorenstein. We provide a full classification of matroids whose independence polytope or base polytope is Gorenstein. This answers to a question raised by Herzog and Hibi.
We record an explicit counterexample to a refined form of Purdy's inequality for essential hyperplane arrangements in projective three-space. Let $\mathcal{A}$ be an arrangement of $n$ hyperplanes in $\mathbb{P}^3_{\mathbb{C}}$. Let $\ell$ be the number of distinct intersection lines of $\mathcal{A}$, and let $p$ be the number of intersection points, where an intersection point means a point at which at least three hyperplanes meet. The expected inequality is \[ p-\ell+n+2\geq 0. \] The classical obstruction is the rank $2+2$ product arrangement, or dually a configuration of points contained in two skew lines. We explain this obstruction first, and then show that it is not the only one. The reflection-arrangement search leads naturally to a subarrangement of the monomial reflection arrangement of type $G(3,3,4)$. Looking dually, this configuration is not contained in two skew lines, and has \[ f_0(S)=12,\qquad f_1(S)=58,\qquad f_2(S)=43. \] Therefore its dual arrangement has \[ n=12,\qquad \ell=58,\qquad p=43, \] and hence \[ p-\ell+n+2=-1. \] Thus the refined statement excluding only the two-skew-lines obstruction is false.
We show that the toric ideal of the Fano matroid polytope does not have a quadratic Gröbner basis. This resolves in the negative a strong version of White's conjecture from matroid theory. This result was found independently by De Loera, Ferroni, Morales, and Rambau. Our approach is based on a new characterization of regular unimodular flag triangulations, which reduces the problem to an instance of SMT involving boolean and real variables. We then use an SMT solver to prove unsatisfiability. Using this approach, we also show that all 8-element matroids which do not have the Fano matroid or its dual as a minor, with the possible exception of the matroid $T_8$, have toric ideals which admit quadratic Gröbner bases.
Let $P\subset\mathbb R^n$ be a convex polytope and let $\ell$ be a linear functional which is nonconstant on every edge of $P$. The induced acyclic orientation determines positive and negative Białynicki-Birula type partitions of $P$ into unions of relative interiors of faces. Our first result establishes a duality: the positive partition is a stratification if and only if the negative one is a stratification. Our second result connects poset invariants with monotone path polytopes. Assuming the induced vertex relation admits the structure of a graded poset, we prove that the Chow polynomial of the resulting vertex poset agrees with the $h$-polynomial of a (dual) monotone path polytope.
We present a family of flattening methods of tensors which we call Kronecker-Koszul flattenings, generalizing the famous Koszul flattenings and further equations of secant varieties studied among others by Landsberg, Manivel, Ottaviani and Strassen. We establish new border rank criteria given by vanishing of minors of Kronecker-Koszul flattenings. We obtain the first explicit polynomial equations -- tangency flattenings -- vanishing on secant varieties of Segre variety, but not vanishing on cactus varieties. Additionally, our polynomials have simple determinantal expressions. As another application, we provide a new, computer-free proof that the border rank of the $2\times2$ matrix multiplication tensor is $7$.
We investigate border ranks of twisted powers of polynomials and smoothability of symmetric powers of algebras. We prove that the latter are smoothable. For the former, we obtain upper bounds for the border rank in general and prove that they are optimal under mild conditions. We give applications to complexity theory. Many of the results rest on the notion of an encompassing polynomial, which we introduce.
Volume polynomials measure the growth of Minkowski sums of convex bodies and of tensor powers of positive line bundles on projective varieties. We show that Aluffi's covolume polynomials are precisely the polynomial differential operators that preserve volume polynomials, reflecting a duality between homology and cohomology. We then present several applications to matroid theory.
The relationship between convex geometry and algebraic geometry has deep historical roots, tracing back to classical works in enumerative geometry. In this paper, we continue this theme by studying two interconnected problems regarding projections of geometric objects in four-dimensional spaces: (1) Let $A$ be a convex body in $\mathbb{R}^4$, and let $(p_{12}, p_{13}, p_{14}, p_{23}, p_{24}, p_{34})$ be the areas of the six coordinate projections of $A$ in $\mathbb{R}^2$. Which tuples of six nonnegative real numbers can arise in this way? (2) Let $S$ be an irreducible surface in $(\mathbb{P}^1)^4$, and let $(p_{12}, p_{13}, p_{14}, p_{23}, p_{24}, p_{34})$ be the degrees of the six coordinate projections from $S$ to $(\mathbb{P}^1)^2$. Which tuples of six nonnegative integers can arise in this way? We show that these questions are governed by the Plücker relations for the Grassmannian $\text{Gr}(2,4)$ over the triangular hyperfield $\mathbb{T}_2$. We extend our analysis by determining the homology classes in $(\mathbb{P}^m)^n$ proportional to the fundamental classes of irreducible algebraic surfaces, resolving the algebraic Steenrod problem in this setting. Our results lead to several conjectures on realizable homology classes in smooth projective varieties and on the projection volumes of convex bodies.
We derive explicit formulas for the matroidal mixed Eulerian numbers. We resolve a question posed by Berget, Spink, and Tseng, demonstrating that the invariant defined by matroidal mixed Eulerian numbers is precisely equivalent to Derksen's $\mathcal{G}$-invariant. As an application, we provide the first explicit, non-recursive formula for mixed Eulerian numbers. Our combinatorial approach draws inspiration from the classical work of Schubert and incorporates the cutting-edge contributions of Huh.
White's conjecture predicts quadratic generators for the ideal of any matroid base polytope. We prove that White's conjecture for any matroid $M$ implies it also for any matroid $M'$, where $M$ and $M'$ differ by one basis. Our study is motivated by inner projections of algebraic varieties.
In this article, we study permanental varieties, i.e. varieties defined by the vanishing of permanents of fixed size of a generic matrix. Permanents and their varieties play an important, and sometimes poorly understood, role in combinatorics. However, there are essentially no geometric results about them in the literature, in very sharp contrast to the well-behaved and ubiquitous case of determinants and minors. Motivated by the study of the singular locus of the permanental hypersurface, we focus on the codimension of these varieties. We introduce a $\mathbb C^{*}$-action on matrices and prove a number of results. In particular, we improve a lower bound on the codimension of the aforementioned singular locus established by von zur Gathen in 1987.
In this paper we revisit the likelihood geometry of Gaussian graphical models. We give a detailed proof that the ML-degree behaves monotonically on induced subgraphs. Furthermore, we complete a missing argument that the ML-degree of the $n$-th cycle is larger than one for any $n\geq 4$, therefore completing the characterization that the only Gaussian graphical models with rational maximum likelihood estimator are the ones corresponding to chordal (decomposable) graphs. Finally, we prove that the formula for the ML-degree of a cycle conjectured by Drton, Sturmfels and Sullivant provides a correct lower bound.
In topology, one averages over local geometrical details to reveal robust global features. This approach proves crucial for understanding quantized bulk transport and exotic boundary effects of linear wave propagation in (meta-)materials. Moving beyond linear Hamiltonian systems, the study of topology in physics strives to characterize open (non-Hermitian) and interacting systems. Here, we establish a framework for the topological classification of driven-dissipative nonlinear systems. Specifically, we define a graph index for the Floquet semiclassical equations of motion describing such systems. The graph index builds upon topological vector analysis theory and combines knowledge of the particle-hole nature of fluctuations around each out-of-equilibrium stationary state. To test this approach, we divulge the topological invariants arising in a micro-electromechanical nonlinear resonator subject to forcing and a time-modulated potential. Our framework classifies the complete phase diagram of the system and reveals the topological origin of driven-dissipative phase transitions, as well as that of under- to over-damped responses. Furthermore, we predict topological phase transitions between symmetry-broken phases that pertain to population inversion transitions. This rich manifesting phenomenology reveals the pervasive link between topology and nonlinear dynamics, with broad implications for all fields of science.
We introduce the broad subclass of algebraic compressed sensing problems, where structured signals are modeled either explicitly or implicitly via polynomials. This includes, for instance, low-rank matrix and tensor recovery. We employ powerful techniques from algebraic geometry to study well-posedness of sufficiently general compressed sensing problems, including existence, local recoverability, global uniqueness, and local smoothness. Our main results are summarized in thirteen questions and answers in algebraic compressed sensing. Most of our answers concerning the minimum number of required measurements for existence, recoverability, and uniqueness of algebraic compressed sensing problems are optimal and depend only on the dimension of the model.
The exponent $σ(T)$ of a tensor $T\in\mathbb{F}^d\otimes\mathbb{F}^d\otimes\mathbb{F}^d$ over a field $\mathbb{F}$ captures the base of the exponential growth rate of the tensor rank of $T$ under Kronecker powers. Tensor exponents are fundamental from the standpoint of algorithms and computational complexity theory; for example, the exponent $ω$ of matrix multiplication can be characterized as $ω=2σ(\mathrm{MM}_2)$, where $\mathrm{MM}_2\in\mathbb{F}^4\otimes\mathbb{F}^4\otimes\mathbb{F}^4$ is the tensor that represents $2\times 2$ matrix multiplication. Our main result is an explicit construction of a sequence $\mathcal{U}_d$ of zero-one-valued tensors that is universal for the worst-case tensor exponent; more precisely, we show that $σ(\mathcal{U}_d)=σ(d)$ where $σ(d)=\sup_{T\in\mathbb{F}^d\otimes\mathbb{F}^d\otimes\mathbb{F}^d}σ(T)$. We also supply an explicit universal sequence $\mathcal{U}_Δ$ localised to capture the worst-case exponent $σ(Δ)$ of tensors with support contained in $Δ\subseteq [d]\times[d]\times [d]$; by combining such sequences, we obtain a universal sequence $\mathcal{T}_d$ such that $σ(\mathcal{T}_d)=1$ holds if and only if Strassen's asymptotic rank conjecture [Progr. Math. 120 (1994)] holds for $d$. Finally, we show that the limit $\lim_{d\rightarrow\infty}σ(d)$ exists and can be captured as $\lim_{d\rightarrow\infty} σ(D_d)$ for an explicit sequence $(D_d)_{d=1}^\infty$ of tensors obtained by diagonalisation of the sequences $\mathcal{U}_d$. As our second result we relate the absence of polynomials of fixed degree vanishing on tensors of low rank, or more generally asymptotic rank, with upper bounds on the exponent $σ(d)$. Using this technique, one may bound asymptotic rank for all tensors of a given format, knowing enough specific tensors of low asymptotic rank.
In this paper, we settle a conjecture due to Sturmfels and Uhler concerning generation of the prime ideal of the variety associated to the Gaussian graphical model of any cycle graph. Our methods are general and applicable to a large class of ideals with radical initial ideals.
We provide an approach to counting roots of polynomial systems, where each polynomial is a general linear combination of prescribed, fixed polynomials. Our tools rely on the theory of Khovanskii bases, combined with toric geometry, the Bernstein-Khovanskii-Kushnirenko (BKK) Theorem, and fiber products. As a direct application of this theory, we solve the problem of counting the number of approximate stationary states for coupled driven nonlinear resonators. We set up a system of polynomial equations that depends on three numbers $N, n$ and $M$ and whose solutions model the stationary states. The parameter $N$ is the number of coupled resonators, $2n - 1$ is the degree of nonlinearity of the underlying differential equation, and $M$ is the number of frequencies used in the approximation. We use our main theorems, that is, the generalized BKK Theorem and the Decoupling Theorem, to count the number of (complex) solutions of the polynomial system for an arbitrary degree of nonlinearity $2n - 1 \geq 3$, any number of resonators $N \geq 1$, and $M = 1$ harmonic. We also solve the case $N = 1, n = 2$ and $M = 2$ and give a computational way to check the number of solutions for $N = 1, n = 2$ and $M \geq 2$. This extends the results of arXiv:2208.08179.
We explain connections among several, a priori unrelated, areas of mathematics: combinatorics, algebraic statistics, topology and enumerative algebraic geometry. Our focus is on discrete invariants, strongly related to the theory of Lorentzian polynomials. The main concept joining the mentioned fields is a linear space of matrices.