Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Deletion-Induced Triangulations, Clifford T. Taylor

Theses and Dissertations--Mathematics

Let d > 0 be a fixed integer and let A ⊆ ℝ^d be a collection of n ≥ d + 2 points which we lift into ℝ^d+1. Further let k be an integer satisfying 0 ≤ k ≤ n-(d+2) and assign to each k-subset of the points of A a (regular) triangulation obtained by deleting the specified k-subset and projecting down the lower hull of the convex hull of the resulting lifting. Next, for each triangulation we form the characteristic vector defined by Gelfand, Kapranov, and Zelevinsky by assigning to each …

Singular Value Computation And Subspace Clustering, Qiao Liang

Theses and Dissertations--Mathematics

In this dissertation we discuss two problems. In the first part, we consider the problem of computing a few extreme eigenvalues of a symmetric definite generalized eigenvalue problem or a few extreme singular values of a large and sparse matrix. The standard method of choice of computing a few extreme eigenvalues of a large symmetric matrix is the Lanczos or the implicitly restarted Lanczos method. These methods usually employ a shift-and-invert transformation to accelerate the speed of convergence, which is not practical for truly large problems. With this in mind, Golub and Ye proposes an inverse-free preconditioned Krylov subspace method, …

Combinatorial Potpourri: Permutations, Products, Posets, And Pfaffians, Norman B. Fox

Theses and Dissertations--Mathematics

In this dissertation we first examine the descent set polynomial, which is defined in terms of the descent set statistics of the symmetric group. Algebraic and topological tools are used to explain why large classes of cyclotomic polynomials are factors of the descent set polynomial. Next the diamond product of two Eulerian posets is studied, particularly by examining the effect this product has on their cd-indices. A combinatorial interpretation involving weighted lattice paths is introduced to describe the outcome of applying the diamond product operator to two cd-monomials. Then the cd-index is defined for infinite posets, with …

Analysis And Constructions Of Subspace Codes, Carolyn E. Troha

Theses and Dissertations--Mathematics

Random network coding is the most effcient way to send data across a network, but it is very susceptible to errors and erasures. In 2008, Kotter and Kschischang introduced subspace codes as an algebraic approach to error correcting in random network coding. Since this paper, there has been much work in constructing large subspace codes, as well as exploring the properties of such codes. This dissertation explores properties of one particular construction and introduces a new construction for subspace codes. We begin by exploring properties of irreducible cyclic orbit codes, which were introduced in 2011 by Rosenthal et al. As …

Free Resolutions Associated To Representable Matroids, Nicholas D. Armenoff

Theses and Dissertations--Mathematics

As a matroid is naturally a simplicial complex, one can study its combinatorial properties via the associated Stanley-Reisner ideal and its corresponding free resolution. Using results by Johnsen and Verdure, we prove that a matroid is the dual to a perfect matroid design if and only if its corresponding Stanley-Reisner ideal has a pure free resolution, and, motivated by applications to their generalized Hamming weights, characterize free resolutions corresponding to the vector matroids of the parity check matrices of Reed-Solomon codes and certain BCH codes. Furthermore, using an inductive mapping cone argument, we construct a cellular resolution for the matroid …

Unimodality Questions In Ehrhart Theory, Robert Davis

Theses and Dissertations--Mathematics

An interesting open problem in Ehrhart theory is to classify those lattice polytopes having a unimodal h^*-vector.Although various sufficient conditions have been found, necessary conditions remain a challenge. Highly-structured polytopes, such as the polytope of real doubly-stochastic matrices, have been proven to possess unimodal h^*-vectors, but the same is unknown even for small variations of it.

In this dissertation, we mainly consider two particular classes of polytopes: reflexive simplices and the polytope of symmetric real doubly-stochastic matrices. For the first class, we discuss an operation that preserves reflexivity, integral closure, and unimodality of the h^{* …}

Determinantal Ideals From Symmetrized Skew Tableaux, Bill Robinson

Theses and Dissertations--Mathematics

We study a class of determinantal ideals called skew tableau ideals, which are generated by t x t minors in a subset of a symmetric matrix of indeterminates. The initial ideals have been studied in the 2 x 2 case by Corso, Nagel, Petrovic and Yuen. Using liaison techniques, we have extended their results to include the original determinantal ideals in the 2 x 2 case, as well as special cases of the ideals in the t x t case. In particular, for any skew tableau ideal of this form, we have defined an elementary biliaison between it and one …

The Krylov Subspace Methods For The Computation Of Matrix Exponentials, Hao Wang

Theses and Dissertations--Mathematics

The problem of computing the matrix exponential e^tA arises in many theoretical and practical problems. Many methods have been developed to accurately and efficiently compute this matrix function or its product with a vector, i.e., e^tAv. In the past few decades, with the increasing need of the computation for large sparse matrices, iterative methods such as the Krylov subspace methods have proved to be a powerful class of methods in dealing with many linear algebra problems. The Krylov subspace methods have been introduced for computing matrix exponentials by Gallopoulos and Saad, and the corresponding error bounds …

Polyhedral Problems In Combinatorial Convex Geometry, Liam Solus

Theses and Dissertations--Mathematics

In this dissertation, we exhibit two instances of polyhedra in combinatorial convex geometry. The first instance arises in the context of Ehrhart theory, and the polyhedra are the central objects of study. The second instance arises in algebraic statistics, and the polyhedra act as a conduit through which we study a nonpolyhedral problem.

In the first case, we examine combinatorial and algebraic properties of the Ehrhart h*-polynomial of the r-stable (n,k)-hypersimplices. These are a family of polytopes which form a nested chain of subpolytopes within the (n,k)-hypersimplex. We show that a well-studied unimodular triangulation of the (n,k)-hypersimplex restricts to a …