arXiv subjects

Shoni Gilboa

Publications and source records attributed to Shoni Gilboa.

18 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

The Scaled Polarity transform and related inequalities

In this paper we deal with generalizations of the Mahler volume product for log-concave functions. We show that the polarity transform $\mathcal A$ can be rescaled so that the Mahler product it induces has upper and lower bounds of the same asymptotics. We discuss a similar result for the $\mathcal J$ transform. As an application, we extend the K\"onig-Milman duality of entropy result to the class of geometric log-concave functions.

math.FA↗

arXiv2023

Non-constant ground configurations in the disordered ferromagnet

The disordered ferromagnet is a disordered version of the ferromagnetic Ising model in which the coupling constants are non-negative quenched random. A ground configuration is an infinite-volume configuration whose energy cannot be reduced by finite modifications. It is a long-standing challenge to ascertain whether the disordered ferromagnet on the $\mathbb{Z}^D$ lattice admits non-constant ground configurations. We answer this affirmatively in dimensions $D\ge 4$, when the coupling constants are sampled independently from a sufficiently concentrated distribution. The obtained ground configurations are further shown to be translation-covariant with respect to $\mathbb{Z}^{D-1}$ translations of the disorder. Our result is proved by showing that the finite-volume interface formed by Dobrushin boundary conditions is localized, and converges to an infinite-volume interface. This may be expressed in purely combinatorial terms, as a result on the fluctuations of certain minimal cutsets in the lattice $\mathbb{Z}^D$ endowed with independent edge capacities.

math-ph↗

arXiv2022

Isobarycentric Inequalities

We prove the following isoperimetric type inequality: Given a finite absolutely continuous Borel measure on ${\mathbb R}^n$, halfspaces have maximal measure among all subsets with prescribed barycenter. As a consequence, we make progress towards a solution to a problem of Henk and Pollehn, which is equivalent to a Log-Minkowski inequality for a parallelotope and a centered convex body. Our probabilistic approach to the problem also gives rise to several inequalities and conjectures concerning the truncated mean of certain log-concave random variables.

math.PR↗

arXiv2020

The maximal number of $3$-term arithmetic progressions in finite sets in different geometries

Green and Sisask showed that the maximal number of $3$-term arithmetic progressions in $n$-element sets of integers is $\lceil n^2/2\rceil$; it is easy to see that the same holds if the set of integers is replaced by the real line or by any Euclidean space. We study this problem in general metric spaces, where a triple $(a,b,c)$ of points in a metric space is considered a $3$-term arithmetic progression if $d(a,b)=d(b,c)=\frac{1}{2}d(a,c)$. In particular, we show that the result of Green and Sisask extends to any Cartan--Hadamard manifold (in particular, to the hyperbolic spaces), but does not hold in spherical geometry or in the $r$-regular tree, for any $r\geq 3$.

math.CO↗

arXiv2020

Semi-random process without replacement

Semi-random processes involve an adaptive decision-maker, whose goal is to achieve some pre-determined objective in an online randomized environment. We introduce and study a semi-random multigraph process, which forms a no-replacement variant of the process that was introduced by Ben-Eliezer, Hefetz, Kronenberg, Parczyk, Shikhelman and Stojakovi\'c (2020). The process starts with an empty graph on the vertex set $[n]$. For every positive integers $q$ and $1\leq r\leq n$, in the $((q-1)n+r)$th round of the process, the decision-maker, called \emph{Builder}, is offered the vertex $\pi_q(r)$, where $\pi_1, \pi_2, \ldots$ is a sequence of permutations in $S_n$, chosen independently and uniformly at random. Builder then chooses an additional vertex (according to a strategy of his choice) and connects it by an edge to $\pi_q(r)$. For several natural graph properties, such as $k$-connectivity, minimum degree at least $k$, and building a given spanning graph (labeled or unlabeled), we determine the typical number of rounds Builder needs in order to construct a graph having the desired property. Along the way we introduce and analyze an urn model which may also have independent interest.

math.CO↗

arXiv2019

Some combinatorial results on smooth permutations

We show that any smooth permutation $\sigma\in S_n$ is characterized by the set ${\mathbf{C}}(\sigma)$ of transpositions and $3$-cycles in the Bruhat interval $(S_n)_{\leq\sigma}$, and that $\sigma$ is the product (in a certain order) of the transpositions in ${\mathbf{C}}(\sigma)$. We also characterize the image of the map $\sigma\mapsto{\mathbf{C}}(\sigma)$. As an application, we show that $\sigma$ is smooth if and only if the intersection of $(S_n)_{\leq\sigma}$ with every conjugate of a parabolic subgroup of $S_n$ admits a maximum. This also gives another approach for enumerating smooth permutations and subclasses thereof. Finally, we relate covexillary permutations to smooth ones and rephrase the results in terms of the (co)essential set in the sense of Fulton.

math.CO↗

arXiv2019

On the local structure of oriented graphs -- a case study in flag algebras

Let $G$ be an $n$-vertex oriented graph. Let $t(G)$ (respectively $i(G)$) be the probability that a random set of $3$ vertices of $G$ spans a transitive triangle (respectively an independent set). We prove that $t(G) + i(G) \geq \frac{1}{9}-o_n(1)$. Our proof uses the method of flag algebras that we supplement with several steps that make it more easily comprehensible. We also prove a stability result and an exact result. Namely, we describe an extremal construction, prove that it is essentially unique, and prove that if $H$ is sufficiently far from that construction, then $t(H) + i(H)$ is significantly larger than $\frac{1}{9}$. We go to greater technical detail than is usually done in papers that rely on flag algebras. Our hope is that as a result this text can serve others as a useful introduction to this powerful and beautiful method.

math.CO↗

arXiv2018

A probabilistic variant of Sperner's theorem and of maximal $r$-cover free families

A family of sets is called $r$-\emph{cover free} if no set in the family is contained in the union of $r$ (or less) other sets in the family. A $1$-cover free family is simply an antichain with respect to set inclusion. Thus, Sperner's classical result determines the maximal cardinality of a $1$-cover free family of subsets of an $n$-element set. Estimating the maximal cardinality of an $r$-cover free family of subsets of an $n$-element set for $r>1$ was also studied. In this note we are interested in the following probabilistic variant of this problem. Let $S_0,S_1,\ldots, S_r$ be independent and identically distributed random subsets of an $n$-element set. Which distribution minimizes the probability that $S_0\subseteq {\bigcup_{i=1}^r S_i}$? A natural candidate is the uniform distribution on an $r$-cover-free family of maximal cardinality. We show that for $r=1$ such distribution is indeed best possible. In a complete contrast, we also show that this is far from being true for every $r>1$ and $n$ large enough.

math.CO↗

arXiv2016

The Advantage of Truncated Permutations

Constructing a Pseudo Random Function (PRF) is a fundamental problem in cryptology. Such a construction, implemented by truncating the last $m$ bits of permutations of $\{0, 1\}^{n}$ was suggested by Hall et al. (1998). They conjectured that the distinguishing advantage of an adversary with $q$ queries, ${\bf Adv}_{n, m} (q)$, is small if $q = o (2^{(n+m)/2})$, established an upper bound on ${\bf Adv}_{n, m} (q)$ that confirms the conjecture for $m < n/7$, and also declared a general lower bound ${\bf Adv}_{n,m}(q)=\Omega(q^2/2^{n+m})$. The conjecture was essentially confirmed by Bellare and Impagliazzo (1999). Nevertheless, the problem of {\em estimating} ${\bf Adv}_{n, m} (q)$ remained open. Combining the trivial bound $1$, the birthday bound, and a result of Stam (1978) leads to the upper bound \begin{equation*} {\bf Adv}_{n,m}(q) = O\left(\min\left\{\frac{q(q-1)}{2^n},\,\frac{q}{2^{\frac{n+m}{2}}},\,1\right\}\right). \end{equation*} In this paper we show that this upper bound is tight for every $0\leq m<n$ and any $q$. This, in turn, verifies that the converse to the conjecture of Hall et al. is also correct, i.e., that ${\bf Adv}_{n, m} (q)$ is negligible only for $q = o (2^{(n+m)/2})$.

math.CO↗

arXiv2015

Distinguishing a truncated random permutation from a random function

An oracle chooses a function $f$ from the set of $n$ bits strings to itself, which is either a randomly chosen permutation or a randomly chosen function. When queried by an $n$-bit string $w$, the oracle computes $f(w)$, truncates the $m$ last bits, and returns only the first $n-m$ bits of $f(w)$. How many queries does a querying adversary need to submit in order to distinguish the truncated permutation from a random function? In 1998, Hall et al. showed an algorithm for determining (with high probability) whether or not $f$ is a permutation, using $O(2^{\frac{m+n}{2}})$ queries. They also showed that if $m < n/7$, a smaller number of queries will not suffice. For $m > n/7$, their method gives a weaker bound. In this manuscript, we show how a modification of the method used by Hall et al. can solve the porblem completely. It extends the result to essentially every $m$, showing that $\Omega(2^{\frac{m+n}{2}})$ queries are needed to get a non-negligible distinguishing advantage. We recently became aware that a better bound for the distinguishing advantage, for every $m<n$, follows from a result of Stam published, in a different context, already in 1978.

math.PR↗

arXiv2015

On degree anti-Ramsey numbers

The degree anti-Ramsey number $AR_d(H)$ of a graph $H$ is the smallest integer $k$ for which there exists a graph $G$ with maximum degree at most $k$ such that any proper edge colouring of $G$ yields a rainbow copy of $H$. In this paper we prove a general upper bound on degree anti-Ramsey numbers, determine the precise value of the degree anti-Ramsey number of any forest, and prove an upper bound on the degree anti-Ramsey numbers of cycles of any length which is best possible up to a multiplicative factor of $2$. Our proofs involve a variety of tools, including a classical result of Bollob\'as concerning cross intersecting families and a topological version of Hall's Theorem due to Aharoni, Berger and Meshulam.

math.CO↗

arXiv2015

Chebyshev-type Quadratures for Doubling Weights

A Chebyshev-type quadrature for a given weight function is a quadrature formula with equal weights. In this work we show that a method presented by Kane may be used to produce tight bounds for the minimal number of nodes required in Chebyshev-type quadratures for doubling weight functions. This extends a long line of research on Chebyshev-type quadratures starting with the 1937 work of Bernstein.

math.CA↗

arXiv2014

How many queries are needed to distinguish a truncated random permutation from a random function?

An oracle chooses a function $f$ from the set of $n$ bits strings to itself, which is either a randomly chosen permutation or a randomly chosen function. When queried by an $n$-bit string $w$, the oracle computes $f(w)$, truncates the $m$ last bits, and returns only the first $n-m$ bits of $f(w)$. How many queries does a querying adversary need to submit in order to distinguish the truncated permutation from the (truncated) function? In 1998, Hall et al. showed an algorithm for determining (with high probability) whether or not $f$ is a permutation, using $O(2^{\frac{m+n}{2}})$ queries. They also showed that if $m < n/7$, a smaller number of queries will not suffice. For $m > n/7$, their method gives a weaker bound. In this note, we first show how a modification of the approximation method used by Hall et al. can solve the problem completely. It extends the result to practically any $m$, showing that $\Omega(2^{\frac{m+n}{2}})$ queries are needed to get a non-negligible distinguishing advantage. However, more surprisingly, a better bound for the distinguishing advantage can be obtained from a result of Stam published, in a different context, already in 1978. We also show that, at least in some cases, Stam's bound is tight.

cs.CR↗

arXiv2014

Balanced permutations Even-Mansour ciphers

The $r$-rounds Even-Mansour block cipher is a generalization of the well known Even-Mansour block cipher to $r$ iterations. Attacks on this construction were described by Nikoli\'c et al. and Dinur et al., for $r = 2, 3$. These attacks are only marginally better than brute force, but are based on an interesting observation (due to Nikoli\'c et al.): for a "typical" permutation $P$, the distribution of $P(x) \oplus x$ is not uniform. This naturally raises the following question. Call permutations for which the distribution of $P(x) \oplus x$ is uniform "balanced." Is there a sufficiently large family of balanced permutations, and what is the security of the resulting Even-Mansour block cipher? We show how to generate families of balanced permutations from the Luby-Rackoff construction, and use them to define a $2n$-bit block cipher from the $2$-rounds Even-Mansour scheme. We prove that this cipher is indistinguishable from a random permutation of $\{0, 1\}^{2n}$, for any adversary who has oracle access to the public permutations and to an encryption/decryption oracle, as long as the number of queries is $o (2^{n/2})$. As a practical example, we discuss the properties and the performance of a $256$-bit block cipher that is based on our construction, and uses AES as the public permutation.

cs.CR↗

arXiv2014

A differential version of the Chebyshev-Markov-Stieltjes inequalities

We show that a differential version of the classical Chebyshev-Markov-Stieltjes inequalities holds for a broad family of weight functions. Such a differential version appears to be new. Our results apply to weight functions which are bounded away from zero and piecewise absolutely continuous and yield effective estimates when the weight satisfies additional regularity conditions.

math.CA↗

arXiv2013

Anti-Ramsey numbers of small graphs

The anti-Ramsey number $AR(n,G$), for a graph $G$ and an integer $n\geq|V(G)|$, is defined to be the minimal integer $r$ such that in any edge-colouring of $K_n$ by at least $r$ colours there is a multicoloured copy of $G$, namely, a copy of $G$ whose edges have distinct colours. In this paper we determine the anti-Ramsey numbers of all graphs having at most four edges.

math.CO↗

arXiv2013

Anti-Ramsey numbers of graphs with small connected components

The anti-Ramsey number, $AR(n,G)$, for a graph $G$ and an integer $n\geq|V(G)|$, is defined to be the minimal integer $r$ such that in any edge-colouring of $K_n$ by at least $r$ colours there is a multicoloured copy of $G$, namely, a copy of $G$ that each of its edges has a distinct colour. In this paper we determine, for large enough $n$, $AR(n,L\cup tP_2)$ and $AR(n,L\cup kP_3)$ for any large enough $t$ and $k$, and a graph $L$ satisfying some conditions. Consequently, we determine $AR(n,G)$, for large enough $n$, where $G$ is $P_3\cup tP_2$ for any $t\geq 3$, $P_4\cup tP_2$ and $C_3\cup tP_2$ for any $t\geq 2$, $kP_3$ for any $k\geq 3$, $tP_2\cup kP_3$ for any $t\geq 1$, $k\geq 2$, and $P_{t+1}\cup kP_3$ for any $t\geq 3$, $k\geq 1$. Furthermore, we obtain upper and lower bounds for $AR(n,G)$, for large enough $n$, where $G$ is $P_{k+1}\cup tP_2$ and $C_k\cup tP_2$ for any $k\geq 4$, $t\geq 1$.

math.CO↗

arXiv2013

On the Union of Arithmetic Progressions

We show that for every $\varepsilon>0$ there is an absolute constant $c(\varepsilon)>0$ such that the following is true. The union of any $n$ arithmetic progressions, each of length $n$, with pairwise distinct differences must consist of at least $c(\varepsilon)n^{2-\varepsilon}$ elements. We observe, by construction, that one can find $n$ arithmetic progressions, each of length $n$, with pairwise distinct differences such that the cardinality of their union is $o(n^2)$. We refer also to the non-symmetric case of $n$ arithmetic progressions, each of length $\ell$, for various regimes of $n$ and $\ell$.

math.CO↗