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Geometry

Point sets with no empty pentagon ★

Author(s): Wood

Problem   Classify the point sets with no empty pentagon.

Keywords: combinatorial geometry; visibility graph

Posted by David Wood
updated March 25th, 2019
2 comments
Number Theory » Combinatorial N.T.

Singmaster's conjecture ★★

Author(s): Singmaster

Conjecture   There is a finite upper bound on the multiplicities of entries in Pascal's triangle, other than the number $ 1 $.

The number $ 2 $ appears once in Pascal's triangle, $ 3 $ appears twice, $ 6 $ appears three times, and $ 10 $ appears $ 4 $ times. There are infinite families of numbers known to appear $ 6 $ times. The only number known to appear $ 8 $ times is $ 3003 $. It is not known whether any number appears more than $ 8 $ times. The conjectured upper bound could be $ 8 $; Singmaster thought it might be $ 10 $ or $ 12 $. See Singmaster's conjecture.

Keywords: Pascal's triangle

Posted by Zach Teitler
updated March 15th, 2019
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Algebra

Waring rank of determinant ★★

Author(s): Teitler

Question   What is the Waring rank of the determinant of a $ d \times d $ generic matrix?

For simplicity say we work over the complex numbers. The $ d \times d $ generic matrix is the matrix with entries $ x_{i,j} $ for $ 1 \leq i,j \leq d $. Its determinant is a homogeneous form of degree $ d $, in $ d^2 $ variables. If $ F $ is a homogeneous form of degree $ d $, a power sum expression for $ F $ is an expression of the form $ F = \ell_1^d+\dotsb+\ell_r^d $, the $ \ell_i $ (homogeneous) linear forms. The Waring rank of $ F $ is the least number of terms $ r $ in any power sum expression for $ F $. For example, the expression $ xy = \frac{1}{4}(x+y)^2 - \frac{1}{4}(x-y)^2 $ means that $ xy $ has Waring rank $ 2 $ (it can't be less than $ 2 $, as $ xy \neq \ell_1^2 $).

The $ 2 \times 2 $ generic determinant $ x_{1,1}x_{2,2}-x_{1,2}x_{2,1} $ (or $ ad-bc $) has Waring rank $ 4 $. The Waring rank of the $ 3 \times 3 $ generic determinant is at least $ 14 $ and no more than $ 20 $, see for instance Lower bound for ranks of invariant forms, Example 4.1. The Waring rank of the permanent is also of interest. The comparison between the determinant and permanent is potentially relevant to Valiant's "VP versus VNP" problem.

Keywords: Waring rank, determinant

Posted by Zach Teitler
updated March 15th, 2019
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Graph Theory

Monochromatic vertex colorings inherited from Perfect Matchings ★★★

Author(s):

Conjecture   For which values of $ n $ and $ d $ are there bi-colored graphs on $ n $ vertices and $ d $ different colors with the property that all the $ d $ monochromatic colorings have unit weight, and every other coloring cancels out?

Keywords:

Posted by Mario Krenn
updated March 4th, 2019
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Graph Theory

Cycle Double Covers Containing Predefined 2-Regular Subgraphs ★★★

Author(s): Arthur; Hoffmann-Ostenhof

Conjecture   Let $ G $ be a $ 2 $-connected cubic graph and let $ S $ be a $ 2 $-regular subgraph such that $ G-E(S) $ is connected. Then $ G $ has a cycle double cover which contains $ S $ (i.e all cycles of $ S $).

Keywords:

Posted by arthur
updated June 21st, 2017
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Graph Theory » Directed Graphs

Monochromatic reachability in arc-colored digraphs ★★★

Author(s): Sands; Sauer; Woodrow

Conjecture   For every $ k $, there exists an integer $ f(k) $ such that if $ D $ is a digraph whose arcs are colored with $ k $ colors, then $ D $ has a $ S $ set which is the union of $ f(k) $ stables sets so that every vertex has a monochromatic path to some vertex in $ S $.

Keywords:

Posted by fhavet
updated April 4th, 2017
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Graph Theory

3-Decomposition Conjecture ★★★

Author(s): Arthur; Hoffmann-Ostenhof

Conjecture   (3-Decomposition Conjecture) Every connected cubic graph $ G $ has a decomposition into a spanning tree, a family of cycles and a matching.

Keywords: cubic graph

Posted by arthur
updated January 24th, 2017
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Topology

Which outer reloids are equal to inner ones ★★

Author(s): Porton

Warning: This formulation is vague (not exact).

Question   Characterize the set $ \{f\in\mathsf{FCD} \mid (\mathsf{RLD})_{\mathrm{in}} f=(\mathsf{RLD})_{\mathrm{out}} f\} $. In other words, simplify this formula.

The problem seems rather difficult.

Keywords:

Posted by porton
updated December 1st, 2016
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Topology

A diagram about funcoids and reloids ★★

Author(s): Porton

Define for posets with order $ \sqsubseteq $:

  1. $ \Phi_{\ast} f = \lambda b \in \mathfrak{B}: \bigcup \{ x \in \mathfrak{A} \mid f x \sqsubseteq b \} $;
  2. $ \Phi^{\ast} f = \lambda b \in \mathfrak{A}: \bigcap \{ x \in \mathfrak{B} \mid f x \sqsupseteq b \} $.

Note that the above is a generalization of monotone Galois connections (with $ \max $ and $ \min $ replaced with suprema and infima).

Then we have the following diagram:

What is at the node "other" in the diagram is unknown.

Conjecture   "Other" is $ \lambda f\in\mathsf{FCD}: \top $.
Question   What repeated applying of $ \Phi_{\ast} $ and $ \Phi^{\ast} $ to "other" leads to? Particularly, does repeated applying $ \Phi_{\ast} $ and/or $ \Phi^{\ast} $ to the node "other" lead to finite or infinite sets?

Keywords: Galois connections

Posted by porton
updated November 29th, 2016
2 comments | 2 attachments
Topology

Outward reloid of composition vs composition of outward reloids ★★

Author(s): Porton

Conjecture   For every composable funcoids $ f $ and $ g $ $$(\mathsf{RLD})_{\mathrm{out}}(g\circ f)\sqsupseteq(\mathsf{RLD})_{\mathrm{out}}g\circ(\mathsf{RLD})_{\mathrm{out}}f.$$

Keywords: outward reloid

Posted by porton
updated September 10th, 2016
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Number Theory

Sum of prime and semiprime conjecture ★★

Author(s): Geoffrey Marnell

Conjecture   Every even number greater than $ 10 $ can be represented as the sum of an odd prime number and an odd semiprime .

Keywords: prime; semiprime

Posted by princeps
updated July 31st, 2016
2 comments
Topology

A funcoid related to directed topological spaces ★★

Author(s): Porton

Conjecture   Let $ R $ be the complete funcoid corresponding to the usual topology on extended real line $ [-\infty,+\infty] = \mathbb{R}\cup\{-\infty,+\infty\} $. Let $ \geq $ be the order on this set. Then $ R\sqcap^{\mathsf{FCD}}\mathord{\geq} $ is a complete funcoid.
Proposition   It is easy to prove that $ \langle R\sqcap^{\mathsf{FCD}}\mathord{\geq}\rangle \{x\} $ is the infinitely small right neighborhood filter of point $ x\in[-\infty,+\infty] $.

If proved true, the conjecture then can be generalized to a wider class of posets.

Keywords:

Posted by porton
updated July 28th, 2016
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Topology

Infinite distributivity of meet over join for a principal funcoid ★★

Author(s): Porton

Conjecture   $ f \sqcap \bigsqcup S = \bigsqcup \langle f \sqcap \rangle^{\ast} S $ for principal funcoid $ f $ and a set $ S $ of funcoids of appropriate sources and destinations.

Keywords: distributivity; principal funcoid

Posted by porton
updated July 27th, 2016
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Graph Theory » Extremal G.T.

Weak saturation of the cube in the clique ★

Author(s): Morrison; Noel

Problem  

Determine $ \text{wsat}(K_n,Q_3) $.

Keywords: bootstrap percolation; hypercube; Weak saturation

Posted by Jon Noel
updated April 6th, 2016
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Geometry

Convex Equipartitions with Extreme Perimeter ★★

Author(s): Nandakumar

To divide a given 2D convex region C into a specified number n of convex pieces all of equal area (perimeters could be different) such that the total perimeter of pieces is (1) maximized (2) minimized.

Remark: It appears maximizing the total perimeter is the easier problem.

Keywords: convex equipartition

Posted by Nandakumar
updated October 22nd, 2015
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Combinatorics

Turán Problem for $10$-Cycles in the Hypercube ★★

Author(s): Erdos

Problem   Bound the extremal number of $ C_{10} $ in the hypercube.

Keywords: cycles; extremal combinatorics; hypercube

Posted by Jon Noel
updated September 20th, 2015
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Combinatorics

Extremal $4$-Neighbour Bootstrap Percolation in the Hypercube ★★

Author(s): Morrison; Noel

Problem   Determine the smallest percolating set for the $ 4 $-neighbour bootstrap process in the hypercube.

Keywords: bootstrap percolation; extremal combinatorics; hypercube; percolation

Posted by Jon Noel
updated September 20th, 2015
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Combinatorics

Saturation in the Hypercube ★★

Author(s): Morrison; Noel; Scott

Question   What is the saturation number of cycles of length $ 2\ell $ in the $ d $-dimensional hypercube?

Keywords: cycles; hypercube; minimum saturation; saturation

Posted by Jon Noel
updated September 20th, 2015
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Graph Theory » Coloring » Vertex coloring

Cycles in Graphs of Large Chromatic Number ★★

Author(s): Brewster; McGuinness; Moore; Noel

Conjecture   If $ \chi(G)>k $, then $ G $ contains at least $ \frac{(k+1)(k-1)!}{2} $ cycles of length $ 0\bmod k $.

Keywords: chromatic number; cycles

Posted by Jon Noel
updated September 20th, 2015
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Combinatorics

The Double Cap Conjecture ★★

Author(s): Kalai

Conjecture   The largest measure of a Lebesgue measurable subset of the unit sphere of $ \mathbb{R}^n $ containing no pair of orthogonal vectors is attained by two open caps of geodesic radius $ \pi/4 $ around the north and south poles.

Keywords: combinatorial geometry; independent set; orthogonality; projective plane; sphere

Posted by Jon Noel
updated September 15th, 2015
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