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We introduce multicritical Schur measures, which are probability laws on integer partitions which give rise to non-generic fluctuations at their edge. They are in the same universality classes as one-dimensional momentum-space models of free fermions in flat confining potentials, studied by Le Doussal, Majumdar and Schehr. These universality classes involve critical exponents of the form 1/(2m+1), with m a positive integer, and asymptotic distributions given by Fredholm determinants constructed from higher order Airy kernels, extending the generic Tracy-Widom GUE distribution recovered for m=1. We also compute limit shapes for the multicritical Schur measures, discuss the finite temperature setting, and exhibit an exact mapping to the multicritical unitary matrix models previously encountered by Periwal and Shevitz., Comment: 50 pages, 8 figures, long version of arXiv:2012.01995 [math.CO]

In the first part, we introduce a notion a degree of edge-colorings of bicubic plane graphs and proves some local formula of the graded number of colorings. In the second part, we give a new proof of a result of Fisk saying that any two edge-3-colorings of a planar bicubic graph are Kempe equivalent. Additionaly we show that the degree of colorings behaves well with respect to Kempe equivalence., Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, comments welcome

We give a description of the well known Zeta map on Dyck paths which sends the dinv,area statistics to the area,bounce statistics. Our description uses Dyck paths area sequences and can be implemented easily., 12 pages

An Hadamard matrix is a square matrix $H\in M_N(\pm1)$ whose rows and pairwise orthogonal. More generally, we can talk about the complex Hadamard matrices, which are the square matrices $H\in M_N(\mathbb C)$ whose entries are on the unit circle, $|H_{ij}|=1$, and whose rows and pairwise orthogonal. The main examples are the Fourier matrices, $F_N=(w^{ij})$ with $w=e^{2\pi i/N}$, and at the level of the general theory, the complex Hadamard matrices can be thought of as being some sort of exotic, generalized Fourier matrices. We discuss here the basic theory of the Hadamard matrices, real and complex, with emphasis on the complex matrices, and their geometric and analytic aspects., Comment: 400 pages

We introduce the notion of an asymptotically automatic sequence, which generalises the notion of an automatic sequence, and we prove a variant of Cobham's theorem for the newly introduced class of sequences., Comment: 17 pages

This is a joint introduction to classical and free probability, which are twin sisters. We first review the foundations of classical probability, notably with the main limiting theorems (CLT, CCLT, PLT, CPLT), and with a look into examples coming from Lie groups and random matrices. Then we present the foundations and main results of free probability, notably with free limiting theorems, and with a look into examples coming from quantum groups and random matrices. We discuss then a number of more advanced aspects, in relation on one hand with free geometry, and on the other hand with questions in operator algebras coming from subfactor theory., 400 pages. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2208.03600

A polyhedron $\textbf{P} \subset \mathbb{R}^3$ has Rupert's property if a hole can be cut into it, such that a copy of $\textbf{P}$ can pass through this hole. There are several works investigating this property for some specific polyhedra: for example, it is known that all 5 Platonic and 9 out of the 13 Archimedean solids admit Rupert's property. A commonly believed conjecture states that every convex polyhedron is Rupert. We prove that Rupert's problem is algorithmically decidable for polyhedra with algebraic coordinates. We also design a probabilistic algorithm which can efficiently prove that a given polyhedron is Rupert. Using this algorithm we not only confirm this property for the known Platonic and Archimedean solids, but also prove it for one of the remaining Archimedean polyhedra and many others. Moreover, we significantly improve on almost all known Nieuwland numbers and finally conjecture, based on statistical evidence, that the Rhombicosidodecahedron is in fact not Rupert., Comment: To appear in Mathematics of Computation

We show that the Freiman--Ruzsa theorem, characterising finite sets with bounded doubling, leads to an alternative proof of a characterisation of Meyer sets, that is, relatively dense subsets of Euclidean spaces whose difference sets are uniformly discrete., Comment: 11 pages

We prove that the class of 231-avoiding permutations satisfies a convergence law, i.e. that for any first-order sentence $\Psi$, in the language of two total orders, the probability $p_{n,\Psi}$ that a uniform random 231-avoiding permutation of size $n$ satisfies $\Psi$ admits a limit as $n$ is large. Moreover, we establish two further results about the behaviour and value of $p_{n,\Psi}$: (i) it is either bounded away from $0$, or decays exponentially fast; (ii) the set of possible limits is dense in $[0,1]$. Our tools come mainly from analytic combinatorics and singularity analysis., Comment: 13 pages

An identifying code $C$ of a graph $G$ is a dominating set of $G$ such that any two distinct vertices of $G$ have distinct closed neighbourhoods within $C$. These codes have been widely studied for over two decades. We give an improvement over all the best known upper bounds, some of which have stood for over 20 years, for identifying codes in trees, proving the upper bound of $(n+\ell)/2$, where $n$ is the order and $\ell$ is the number of leaves (pendant vertices) of the graph. In addition to being an improvement in size, the new upper bound is also an improvement in generality, as it actually holds for bipartite graphs having no twins (pairs of vertices with the same closed or open neighbourhood) of degree 2 or greater. We also show that the bound is tight for an infinite class of graphs and that there are several structurally different families of trees attaining the bound. We then use our bound to derive a tight upper bound of $2n/3$ for twin-free bipartite graphs of order $n$, and characterize the extremal examples, as $2$-corona graphs of bipartite graphs. This is best possible, as there exist twin-free graphs, and trees with twins, that need $n-1$ vertices in any of their identifying codes. We also generalize the existing upper bound of $5n/7$ for graphs of order $n$ and girth at least 5 when there are no leaves, to the upper bound $\frac{5n+2\ell}{7}$ when leaves are allowed. This is tight for the $7$-cycle $C_7$ and for all stars., 13 pages, 3 figures

By modifying the automaton used by P{\"o}nitz and Tittman [4], and considering loops of length up to 26, we obtain 2.662343 as an upper bound for the connective constant in the lattice Z 2 .

Rhombus Penrose tilings are tilings of the plane by two decorated rhombi such that the decoration match at the junction between two tiles (like in a jigsaw puzzle). In dynamical terms, they form a tiling space of finite type. If we remove the decorations, we get, by definition, a sofic tiling space that we here call geometrical Penrose tilings. Here, we show how to compute the patterns of a given size which appear in these tilings by two different method: one based on the substitutive structure of the Penrose tilings and the other on their definition by the cut and projection method. We use this to prove that the geometrical Penrose tilings are characterized by a small set of patterns called vertex-atlas, i.e., they form a tiling space of finite type. Though considered as folk, no complete proof of this result has been published, to our knowledge.

We consider multidimensional random walks in pyramids, which by definition are cones formed by finite intersections of half-spaces. The main object of interest is the survival probability $\mathbb{P}(\tau>n)$, $\tau$ denoting the first exit time from a fixed pyramid. When the drift belongs to the interior of the cone, the survival probability sequence converges to the non-exit probability $\mathbb{P}(\tau=\infty)$, which is positive. In this note, we quantify the speed of convergence, and prove that the exponential rate of convergence may be computed by means of a certain min-max of the Laplace transform of the random walk increments. We illustrate our results with various examples., Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, to appear in "ALEA, Latin American Journal of Probability and Mathematical Statistics"

Let $G$ be a connected graph with maximum degree $\Delta \geq 3$ distinct from $K_{\Delta + 1}$. Generalizing Brooks' Theorem, Borodin, Kostochka and Toft proved that if $p_1, \dots, p_s$ are non-negative integers such that $p_1 + \dots + p_s \geq \Delta - s$, then $G$ admits a vertex partition into parts $A_1, \dots, A_s$ such that, for $1 \leq i \leq s$, $G[A_i]$ is $p_i$-degenerate. Here we show that such a partition can be performed in linear time. This generalizes previous results that treated subcases of a conjecture of Abu-Khzam, Feghali and Heggernes~\cite{abu2020partitioning}, which our result settles in full., Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, 5 algorithms

The number of embeddings of a partially ordered set $S$ in a partially ordered set $T$ is the number of subposets of $T$ isomorphic to $S$. If both, $S$ and $T$, have only one unique maximal element, we define good embeddings as those in which the maximal elements of $S$ and $T$ overlap. We investigate the number of good and all embeddings of a rooted poset $S$ in the family of all binary trees on $n$ elements considering two cases: plane (when the order of descendants matters) and non-plane. Furthermore, we study the number of embeddings of a rooted poset $S$ in the family of all planted plane trees of size $n$. We derive the asymptotic behaviour of good and all embeddings in all cases and we prove that the ratio of good embeddings to all is of the order $\Theta(1/\sqrt{n})$ in all cases, where we provide the exact constants. Furthermore, we show that this ratio is non-decreasing with $S$ in the plane binary case and asymptotically non-decreasing with $S$ in the non-plane binary case and in the planted plane case. Finally, we comment on the case when $S$ is disconnected., Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures

We introduce the notion of delineation. A graph class C is said delineated by twin-width (or simply, delineated) if for every hereditary closure D of a subclass of C, it holds that D has bounded twin-width if and only if D is monadically dependent. An effective strengthening of delineation for a class C implies that tractable FO model checking on C is perfectly understood: On hereditary closures of subclasses D of C, FO model checking on D is fixed-parameter tractable (FPT) exactly when D has bounded twin-width. Ordered graphs [BGOdMSTT, STOC '22] and permutation graphs [BKTW, JACM '22] are effectively delineated, while subcubic graphs are not. On the one hand, we prove that interval graphs, and even, rooted directed path graphs are delineated. On the other hand, we observe or show that segment graphs, directed path graphs (with arbitrarily many roots), and visibility graphs of simple polygons are not delineated. In an effort to draw the delineation frontier between interval graphs (that are delineated) and axis-parallel two-lengthed segment graphs (that are not), we investigate the twin-width of restricted segment intersection classes. It was known that (triangle-free) pure axis-parallel unit segment graphs have unbounded twin-width [BGKTW, SODA '21]. We show that K_{t,t}-free segment graphs, and axis-parallel H_t-free unit segment graphs have bounded twin-width, where H_t is the half-graph or ladder of height t. In contrast, axis-parallel H₄-free two-lengthed segment graphs have unbounded twin-width. We leave as an open question whether unit segment graphs are delineated. More broadly, we explore which structures (large bicliques, half-graphs, or independent sets) are responsible for making the twin-width large on the main classes of intersection and visibility graphs. Our new results, combined with the FPT algorithm for first-order model checking on graphs given with O(1)-sequences [BKTW, JACM '22], give rise to a variety of algorithmic win-win arguments. They all fall in the same framework: If p is an FO definable graph parameter that effectively functionally upperbounds twin-width on a class C, then p(G) ⩾ k can be decided in FPT time f(k) ⋅ |V(G)|^O(1). For instance, we readily derive FPT algorithms for k-Ladder on visibility graphs of 1.5D terrains, and k-Independent Set on visibility graphs of simple polygons. This showcases that the theory of twin-width can serve outside of classes of bounded twin-width., LIPIcs, Vol. 249, 17th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2022), pages 9:1-9:18

Given a graph G and two independent sets I_s and I_t of size k, the Independent Set Reconfiguration problem asks whether there exists a sequence of independent sets (each of size k) I_s = I₀, I₁, I₂, …, I_𝓁 = I_t such that each independent set is obtained from the previous one using a so-called reconfiguration step. Viewing each independent set as a collection of k tokens placed on the vertices of a graph G, the two most studied reconfiguration steps are token jumping and token sliding. In the Token Jumping variant of the problem, a single step allows a token to jump from one vertex to any other vertex in the graph. In the Token Sliding variant, a token is only allowed to slide from a vertex to one of its neighbors. Like the Independent Set problem, both of the aforementioned problems are known to be W[1]-hard on general graphs (for parameter k). A very fruitful line of research [Bodlaender, 1988; Grohe et al., 2017; Telle and Villanger, 2019; Pilipczuk and Siebertz, 2021] has showed that the Independent Set problem becomes fixed-parameter tractable when restricted to sparse graph classes, such as planar, bounded treewidth, nowhere-dense, and all the way to biclique-free graphs. Over a series of papers, the same was shown to hold for the Token Jumping problem [Ito et al., 2014; Lokshtanov et al., 2018; Siebertz, 2018; Bousquet et al., 2017]. As for the Token Sliding problem, which is mentioned in most of these papers, almost nothing is known beyond the fact that the problem is polynomial-time solvable on trees [Demaine et al., 2015] and interval graphs [Marthe Bonamy and Nicolas Bousquet, 2017]. We remedy this situation by introducing a new model for the reconfiguration of independent sets, which we call galactic reconfiguration. Using this new model, we show that (standard) Token Sliding is fixed-parameter tractable on graphs of bounded degree, planar graphs, and chordal graphs of bounded clique number. We believe that the galactic reconfiguration model is of independent interest and could potentially help in resolving the remaining open questions concerning the (parameterized) complexity of Token Sliding., LIPIcs, Vol. 244, 30th Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2022), pages 15:1-15:14

A separable quantum state shared between parties $A$ and $B$ can be symmetrically extended to a quantum state shared between party $A$ and parties $B_1,\ldots ,B_k$ for every $k\in\mathbf{N}$. Quantum states that are not separable, i.e., entangled, do not have this property. This phenomenon is known as "monogamy of entanglement". We show that monogamy is not only a feature of quantum theory, but that it characterizes the minimal tensor product of general pairs of convex cones $\mathsf{C}_A$ and $\mathsf{C}_B$: The elements of the minimal tensor product $\mathsf{C}_A\otimes_{\min} \mathsf{C}_B$ are precisely the tensors that can be symmetrically extended to elements in the maximal tensor product $\mathsf{C}_A\otimes_{\max} \mathsf{C}^{\otimes_{\max} k}_B$ for every $k\in\mathbf{N}$. Equivalently, the minimal tensor product of two cones is the intersection of the nested sets of $k$-extendible tensors. It is a natural question when the minimal tensor product $\mathsf{C}_A\otimes_{\min} \mathsf{C}_B$ coincides with the set of $k$-extendible tensors for some finite $k$. We show that this is universally the case for every cone $\mathsf{C}_A$ if and only if $\mathsf{C}_B$ is a polyhedral cone with a base given by a product of simplices. Our proof makes use of a new characterization of products of simplices up to affine equivalence that we believe is of independent interest., Comment: 16 pages, 2 figures

The median function is a location/consensus function that maps any profile $\pi$ (a finite multiset of vertices) to the set of vertices that minimize the distance sum to vertices from $\pi$. The median function satisfies several simple axioms: Anonymity (A), Betweeness (B), and Consistency (C). McMorris, Mulder, Novick and Powers (2015) defined the ABC-problem for consensus functions on graphs as the problem of characterizing the graphs (called, ABC-graphs) for which the unique consensus function satisfying the axioms (A), (B), and (C) is the median function. In this paper, we show that modular graphs with $G^2$-connected medians (in particular, bipartite Helly graphs) are ABC-graphs. On the other hand, the addition of some simple local axioms satisfied by the median function in all graphs (axioms (T), and (T$_2$)) enables us to show that all graphs with connected median (comprising Helly graphs, median graphs, basis graphs of matroids and even $\Delta$-matroids) are ABCT-graphs and that benzenoid graphs are ABCT$_2$-graphs. McMorris et al (2015) proved that the graphs satisfying the pairing property (called the intersecting-interval property in their paper) are ABC-graphs. We prove that graphs with the pairing property constitute a proper subclass of bipartite Helly graphs and we discuss the complexity status of the recognition problem of such graphs.

We show that determining if an $n$-vertex graph has twin-width at most 4 is NP-complete, and requires time $2^{\Omega(n/\log n)}$ unless the Exponential-Time Hypothesis fails. Along the way, we give an elementary proof that $n$-vertex graphs subdivided at least $2 \log n$ times have twin-width at most 4. We also show how to encode trigraphs $H$ (2-edge colored graphs involved in the definition of twin-width) into graphs $G$, in the sense that every $d$-sequence (sequence of vertex contractions witnessing that the twin-width is at most $d$) of $G$ inevitably creates $H$ as an induced subtrigraph, whereas there exists a partial $d$-sequence that actually goes from $G$ to $H$. We believe that these facts and their proofs can be of independent interest., Comment: 30 pages, 17 figures

International audience; The chromatic number, which refers to the minimum number of colours required to colour the vertices of graphs properly, is one of the most central notions of the graph chromatic theory. Several of its aspects of interest have been investigated in the literature, including variants for modifications of proper colourings. These variants include, notably, the achromatic number of graphs, which is the maximum number of colours required to colour the vertices of graphs properly so that each possible combination of distinct colours is assigned along some edge. The behaviours of this parameter have led to many investigations of interest, bringing to light both similarities and discrepancies with the chromatic number. This work takes place in a recent trend aiming at extending the chromatic theory of graphs to the realm of signed graphs, and, in particular, at investigating how classic results adapt to the signed context. Most of the works done in that line to date are with respect to two main generalisations of proper colourings of signed graphs, attributed to Zaslavsky and Guenin. Generalising the achromatic number to signed graphs was initiated recently by Lajou, his investigations being related to Guenin's colourings. We here pursue this line of research, but with taking Zaslavsky's colourings as our notion of proper colourings. We study the general behaviour of our resulting variant of the achromatic number, mainly by investigating how known results on the classic achromatic number generalise to our context. Our results cover, notably, bounds, standard operations on graphs, and complexity aspects.

In the Token Sliding problem we are given a graph $G$ and two independent sets $I_s$ and $I_t$ in $G$ of size $k \geq 1$. The goal is to decide whether there exists a sequence $\langle I_1, I_2, \ldots, I_\ell \rangle$ of independent sets such that for all $i \in \{1,\ldots, \ell\}$ the set $I_i$ is an independent set of size $k$, $I_1 = I_s$, $I_\ell = I_t$ and $I_i \triangle I_{i + 1} = \{u, v\} \in E(G)$. Intuitively, we view each independent set as a collection of tokens placed on the vertices of the graph. Then, the problem asks whether there exists a sequence of independent sets that transforms $I_s$ into $I_t$ where at each step we are allowed to slide one token from a vertex to a neighboring vertex. In this paper, we focus on the parameterized complexity of Token Sliding parameterized by $k$. As shown by Bartier et al., the problem is W[1]-hard on graphs of girth four or less, and the authors posed the question of whether there exists a constant $p \geq 5$ such that the problem becomes fixed-parameter tractable on graphs of girth at least $p$. We answer their question positively and prove that the problem is indeed fixed-parameter tractable on graphs of girth five or more, which establishes a full classification of the tractability of Token Sliding parameterized by the number of tokens based on the girth of the input graph.

We establish a list of characterizations of bounded twin-width for hereditary, totally ordered binary structures. This has several consequences. First, it allows us to show that a (hereditary) class of matrices over a finite alphabet either contains at least $n!$ matrices of size $n \times n$, or at most $c^n$ for some constant $c$. This generalizes the celebrated Stanley-Wilf conjecture/Marcus-Tardos theorem from permutation classes to any matrix class over a finite alphabet, answers our small conjecture [SODA '21] in the case of ordered graphs, and with more work, settles a question first asked by Balogh, Bollob\'as, and Morris [Eur. J. Comb. '06] on the growth of hereditary classes of ordered graphs. Second, it gives a fixed-parameter approximation algorithm for twin-width on ordered graphs. Third, it yields a full classification of fixed-parameter tractable first-order model checking on hereditary classes of ordered binary structures. Fourth, it provides a model-theoretic characterization of classes with bounded twin-width., Comment: 53 pages, 18 figures

This article is concerned with the constants that appear in Harish-Chandra's character formula for stable discrete series of real reductive groups, although it does not require any knowledge about real reductive groups or discrete series. In Harish-Chandra's work the only information we have about these constants is that they are uniquely determined by an inductive property. Later Goresky-Kottwitz-MacPherson and Herb gave different formulas for these constants. In this article we generalize these formulas to the case of arbitrary finite Coxeter groups (in this setting, discrete series no longer make sense), and give a direct proof that the two formulas agree. We actually prove a slightly more general identity that also implies the combinatorial identity underlying the discrete series character identities of Morel. We deduce this identity from a general abstract theorem giving a way to calculate the alternating sum of the values of a valuation on the chambers of a Coxeter arrangement. We also introduce a ring structure on the set of valuations on polyhedral cones in Euclidean space with values in a fixed ring. This gives a theoretical framework for the valuation appearing in Appendix A of the Goresky-Kottwitz-MacPherson paper. In Appendix B we extend the notion of $2$-structures (due to Herb) to pseudo-root systems., 58 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables; to appear in the Journal of Combinatorial Algebra

In this article, we focus on a periodic resource allocation problem applied to a dynamical system which comes from a biological system. More precisely, we consider a system with $N$ resources and $N$ activities, each activity use the allocated resource to evolve up to a given time $T > 0$ where a control (represented by a given permutation) will be applied on the system to reallocate the resources. The goal is to find the optimal control strategies which optimize the cost or the benefit of the system. This problem can be illustrated by an industrial biological application, namely, the optimization of a mixing strategy to enhance the growth rate in a microalgal raceway system. A mixing device, such as a paddle wheel, is considered to control the rearrangement of the depth of the algae cultures, hence the light perceived at each lap. We prove that if the dynamics of the system is periodic, then the period corresponds to one reallocation whatever the order of the involved permutation matrix is. A nonlinear optimization problem for one reallocation process is then introduced. Since $N!$ permutations need to be tested in the general case, it can be numerically solved only for a limited number of $N$. To overcome this difficulty, we introduce a second optimization problem which provides a suboptimal solution of the initial problem, but whose solution can be determined explicitly. A sufficient condition to characterize cases where the two problems have the same solution is given. Some numerical experiments are performed to assess the benefit of optimal strategies in various settings., International Journal of Robust and Nonlinear Control, Wiley, 2022

In 2017, Davis, Nelson, Petersen, and Tenner [Discrete Math. 341 (2018),3249--3270] initiated the combinatorics of pinnacles in permutations. We provide a simple and efficient recursion to compute $p_n(S)$, the number of permutations of $S_n$ with pinnacle set $S$, and a conjectural closed formula for the related numbers $q_n(S)$. We determine the lexicographically minimal elements of the orbits of the modified Foata-Strehl action, prove that these elements form a lower ideal of the left weak order and characterize and count the maximal elements of this ideal., 16 pages, LaTEX

Let $\theta = [0; a_1, a_2, \dots]$ be the continued fraction expansion of an irrational real number $\theta \in (0, 1)$. It is well-known that the characteristic Sturmian word of slope $\theta$ is the limit of a sequence of finite words $(M_k)_{k \ge 0}$, with $M_k$ of length $q_k$ (the denominator of the $k$-th convergent to $\theta$) being a suitable concatenation of $a_k$ copies of $M_{k-1}$ and one copy of $M_{k-2}$. Our first result extends this to any Sturmian word. Let $b \ge 2$ be an integer. Our second result gives the continued fraction expansion of any real number $\xi$ whose $b$-ary expansion is a Sturmian word ${\bf s}$ over the alphabet $\{0, b-1\}$. This extends a classical result of B\"ohmer who considered only the case where ${\bf s}$ is characteristic. As a consequence, we obtain a formula for the irrationality exponent of $\xi$ in terms of the slope and the intercept of ${\bf s}$., Comment: 44 pages

Real numbers from the interval [0, 1] are randomly selected with uniform distribution. There are $n$ of them and they are revealed one by one. However, we do not know their values but only their relative ranks. We want to stop on recently revealed number maximizing the probability that that number is closest to $\frac{1}{2}$. We design an optimal stopping algorithm achieving our goal and prove that its probability of success is asymptotically equivalent to $\frac{1}{\sqrt{n}}\sqrt{\frac{2}{\pi}}$., Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures

We study two families of probability measures on integer partitions, which are Schur measures with parameters tuned in such a way that the edge fluctuations are characterized by a critical exponent different from the generic $1/3$. We find that the first part asymptotically follows a "higher-order analogue" of the Tracy-Widom GUE distribution, previously encountered by Le Doussal, Majumdar and Schehr in quantum statistical physics. We also compute limit shapes, and discuss an exact mapping between one of our families and the multicritical unitary matrix models introduced by Periwal and Shevitz., 12 pages, 3 figures (v2: minor modifications and clarifications). Extended abstract for FPSAC 2021

A contraction sequence of a graph consists of iteratively merging two of its vertices until only one vertex remains. The recently introduced twin-width graph invariant is based on contraction sequences. More precisely, if one puts red edges between two vertices representing non-homogeneous subsets, the twin-width is the minimum integer $d$ such that a contraction sequence keeps red degree at most $d$. By changing the condition imposed on the trigraphs (i.e., graphs with some edges being red) and possibly slightly tweaking the notion of contractions, we show how to characterize the well-established bounded rank-width, tree-width, linear rank-width, path-width, and proper minor-closed classes by means of contraction sequences. As an application we give a transparent alternative proof of the celebrated Courcelle's theorem (actually of its generalization by Courcelle, Makowsky, and Rotics), that MSO$_2$ (resp. MSO$_1$) model checking on graphs with bounded tree-width (resp. bounded rank-width) is fixed-parameter tractable in the size of the input sentence. We then explore new avenues along the general theme of contraction sequences both in order to refine the landscape between bounded tree-width and bounded twin-width (via spanning twin-width) and to capture more general classes than bounded twin-width. To this end, we define an oriented version of twin-width, where appearing red edges are oriented away from the newly contracted vertex, and the mere red out-degree should remain bounded. Surprisingly, classes of bounded oriented twin-width coincide with those of bounded twin-width. Finally we examine, from an algorithmic standpoint, the concept of partial contraction sequences, where, instead of terminating on a single-vertex graph, the sequence ends when reaching a particular target class., Comment: 27 pages, 3 figures

In the present paper, we use difference Galois theory to study the nature of the generating function counting walks with small steps in the quarter plane. These series are trivariate formal power series $Q(x,y,t)$ that count the number of walks confined in the first quadrant of the plane with a fixed set of admissible steps, called the model of the walk. While the variables $x$ and $y$ are associated to the ending point of the path, the variable $t$ encodes its length. In this paper, we prove that in the unweighted case, $Q(x,y,t)$ satisfies an algebraic differential relation with respect to $t$ if and only if it satisfies an algebraic differential relation with respect $x$ (resp. $y$). Combined with other papers, we are able to characterize the $t$-differential transcendence of the $79$ models of walks listed by Bousquet-M\'elou and Mishna.

We consider the system of equations $A_k(x)=p(x)A_{k-1}(x)(q(x)+\sum_{i=0}^k A_i(x))$ for $k\geq r+1$ where $A_i(x)$, $0\leq i \leq r$, are some given functions and show how to obtain a close form for $A(x)=\sum_{k\geq 0}A_k(x)$. We apply this general result to the enumeration of certain subsets of Dyck, Motzkin, skew Dyck, and skew Motzkin paths, defined recursively according to the first return decomposition with a monotonically non-increasing condition relative to the maximal ordinate reached by an occurrence of a given pattern $\pi$., Comment: 6 pages, 4 tables

We study the asymptotic behaviour of random integer partitions under a new probability law that we introduce, the Plancherel-Hurwitz measure. This distribution, which has a natural definition in terms of Young tableaux, is a deformation of the classical Plancherel measure which appears naturally in the context of Hurwitz numbers, enumerating certain transposition factorisations in symmetric groups. We study a regime in which the number of factors in the underlying factorisations grows linearly with the order of the group, and the corresponding topological objects, Hurwitz maps, are of high genus. We prove that the limiting behaviour exhibits a new, twofold, phenomenon: the first part becomes very large, while the rest of the partition has the standard Vershik-Kerov-Logan-Shepp limit shape. As a consequence, we obtain asymptotic estimates for unconnected Hurwitz numbers with linear Euler characteristic, which we use to study random Hurwitz maps in this regime. This result can also be interpreted as the return probability of the transposition random walk on the symmetric group after linearly many steps., Comment: 24 pages, 6 figures

Cluster integrable systems are a broad class of integrable systems modelled on bipartite dimer models on the torus. Many discrete integrable dynamics arise by applying sequences of local transformations, which form the cluster modular group of the cluster integrable system. This cluster modular group was recently characterized by the first author and Inchiostro. There exist some discrete integrable dynamics that make use of non-local transformations associated with geometric $R$-matrices. In this article we characterize the generalized cluster modular group -- which includes both local and non-local transformations -- in terms of extended affine symmetric groups. We also describe the action of the generalized cluster modular group on the spectral data associated with cluster integrable systems., 26 pages, 11 figures, final version to appear in Combinatorial Theory

A metric basis in a graph $G$ is a smallest possible set $S$ of vertices of $G$, with the property that any two vertices of $G$ are uniquely recognized by using a vector of distances to the vertices in $S$. A strong metric basis is a variant of metric basis that represents a smallest possible set $S'$ of vertices of $G$ such that any two vertices $x,y$ of $G$ are uniquely recognized by a vertex $v\in S'$ by using either a shortest $x-v$ path that contains $y$, or a shortest $y-v$ path that contains $x$. Given a graph $G$, there exist sometimes some vertices of $G$ such that they forcedly belong to every metric basis or to every strong metric basis of $G$. Such vertices are called (resp. strong) basis forced vertices in $G$. It is natural to consider finding them, in order to find a (strong) metric basis in a graph. However, deciding about the existence of these vertices in arbitrary graphs is in general an NP-hard problem, which makes desirable the problem of searching for (strong) basis forced vertices in special graph classes. This article centers the attention in the class of unicyclic graphs. It is known that a unicyclic graph can have at most two basis forced vertices. In this sense, several results aimed to classify the unicyclic graphs according to the number of basis forced vertices they have are given in this work. On the other hand, with respect to the strong metric bases, it is proved in this work that unicyclic graphs can have as many strong basis forced vertices as we would require. Moreover, some characterizations of the unicyclic graphs concerning the existence or not of such vertices are given in the exposition as well., Comment: 26 pages, 3 figures

We show that corner polyhedra and 3-connected Schnyder labelings join the growing list of planar structures that can be set in exact correspondence with (weighted) models of quadrant walks via a bijection due to Kenyon, Miller, Sheffield and Wilson. Our approach leads to a first polynomial time algorithm to count these structures, and to the determination of their exact asymptotic growth constants: the number $p_n$ of corner polyhedra and $s_n$ of 3-connected Schnyder labelings of size $n$ respectively satisfy $(p_n)^{1/n}\to 9/2$ and $(s_n)^{1/n}\to 16/3$ as $n$ goes to infinity. While the growth rates are rational, like in the case of previously known instances of such correspondences, the exponent of the asymptotic polynomial correction to the exponential growth does not appear to follow from the now standard Denisov-Wachtel approach, due to a bimodal behavior of the step set of the underlying tandem walk. However a heuristic argument suggests that these exponents are $-1-\pi/\arccos(9/16)\approx -4.23$ for $p_n$ and $-1-\pi/\arccos(22/27)\approx -6.08$ for $s_n$, which would imply that the associated series are not D-finite., Comment: 28 pages

A box is the cartesian product of real intervals, which are either bounded or equal to $\mathbb{R}$. A box is said to be $d$-local if at most $d$ of the intervals are bounded. In this paper, we investigate the recently introduced local boxicity of a graph $G$, which is the minimum $d$ such that $G$ can be represented as the intersection of $d$-local boxes in some dimension. We prove that all graphs of maximum degree $\Delta$ have local boxicity $O(\Delta)$, while almost all graphs of maximum degree $\Delta$ have local boxicity $\Omega(\Delta)$, improving known upper and lower bounds. We also give improved bounds on the local boxicity as a function of the number of edges or the genus. Finally, we investigate local boxicity through the lens of chromatic graph theory. We prove that the family of graphs of local boxicity at most 2 is $\chi$-bounded, which means that the chromatic number of the graphs in this class can be bounded by a function of their clique number. This extends a classical result on graphs of boxicity at most 2., Comment: 17 pages, 1 figure. v3: final version

It is known that the size of the largest common subtree (i.e., the maximum agreement subtree) of two independent random binary trees with $n$ given labeled leaves is of order between $n^{0.366}$ and $n^{1/2}$. We improve the lower bound to order $n^{0.4464}$ by constructing a common subtree recursively and by proving a lower bound for its asymptotic growth. The construction is a modification of an algorithm proposed by D. Aldous by splitting the tree at the centroid and by proceeding recursively.

Isoradial embeddings of planar graphs play a crucial role in the study of several models of statistical mechanics, such as the Ising and dimer models. Kenyon and Schlenker give a combinatorial characterization of planar graphs admitting an isoradial embedding, and describe the space of such embeddings. In this paper we prove two results of the same type for generalizations of isoradial embeddings: isoradial immersions and minimal immersions. We show that a planar graph admits a flat isoradial immersion if and only if its train-tracks do not form closed loops, and that a bipartite graph has a minimal immersion if and only if it is minimal. In both cases we describe the space of such immersions. The techniques used are different in both settings, and distinct from those of Kenyon and Schlenker. We also give an application of our results to the dimer model defined on bipartite graphs admitting minimal immersions., 47 pages, 27 figures. Added in v2: diagram providing a visualisation of main theorems and the result of Kenyon/Schlenker, Corollary 29 proving that $X_G=Y_G$ if $G$ is minimal, $\mathbb{Z}^2$-periodic. Added in v3: Conj 1 is now Thm 31: a graph without train-tracks self-intersection is minimal iff the set of angle maps satisfying Kasteleyn's condition is not empty. v4: accepted version

We prove that the diagonal of any finite product of algebraic functions of the form \begin{align*} {(1-x_1-\dots-x_n)^R}, \qquad R\in\mathbb{Q}, \end{align*} is a generalized hypergeometric function, and we provide an explicit description of its parameters. The particular case $(1-x-y)^R/(1-x-y-z)$ corresponds to the main identity of Abdelaziz, Koutschan and Maillard in [AKM2020, {\S}3.2]. Our result is useful in both directions: on the one hand it shows that Christol's conjecture holds true for a large class of hypergeometric functions, on the other hand it allows for a very explicit and general viewpoint on the diagonals of algebraic functions of the type above. Finally, in contrast to [AKM2020], our proof is completely elementary and does not require any algorithmic help., Comment: To appear in Proceedings of the AMS

We prove that the size of the e-core of a partition taken under the Poissonised Plancherel measure converges in distribution to, as the Poisson parameter goes to infinity and after a suitable renormalisation, a sum of e-1 mutually independent Gamma distributions with explicit parameters. Such a result already exists for the uniform measure on the set of partitions of n as n goes to infinity, the parameters of the Gamma distributions being all equal. We rely on the fact that the descent set of a partition is a determinantal point process under the Poissonised Plancherel measure and on a central limit theorem for such processes., Comment: 38 pages, 8 figures. To appear in Annales de l'Institut Henri Poincar\'e, Probability and Statistics

The main goal of this note is to provide a First-Order Logic with Betweenness (FOLB) axiomatization of the main classes of graphs occurring in Metric Graph Theory, in analogy to Tarski's axiomatization of Euclidean geometry. We provide such an axiomatization for weakly modular graphs and their principal subclasses (median and modular graphs, bridged graphs, Helly graphs, dual polar graphs, etc), basis graphs of matroids and even $\Delta$-matroids, partial cubes and their subclasses (ample partial cubes, tope graphs of oriented matroids and complexes of oriented matroids, bipartite Pasch and Peano graphs, cellular and hypercellular partial cubes, almost-median graphs, netlike partial cubes), and Gromov hyperbolic graphs. On the other hand, we show that some classes of graphs (including chordal, planar, Eulerian, and dismantlable graphs), closely related with Metric Graph Theory, but defined in a combinatorial or topological way, do not allow such an axiomatization.

Let $S=(s_n)_{n\geq 1}$ be a sequence with elements in a commutative monoid $(\mathcal{M},+,0)$. In this paper, we provide an explicit formula for $$\sum_{\la} C(\la) q^{\sum_{n\geq 1} \la_n\cdot s_n}$$ where $\la=(\la_1,\ldots)$ run through some subsets of over-partitions, and $C(\la)$ is a certain product of ``colors'' assigned to the parts of $\la$, and $q^s$ is a formal power of $q$ for $s\in M$. This formula allows us not only to retrieve several known Schmidt-type theorems but also to provide new Schmidt-type theorems for non-periodic sequences $S$. For example, when $(M,+,0)=(\mathbb{Z}_{\geq 0},+,0)$, $s_n=1$ if there exists $i\geq 1$ such $n=\{i(i-1)/2+1\}$ and $s_n=0$ otherwise, we obtain the following statement: for all non-negative integer $m$, the number of partitions such that $\sum_{i\geq 1}\la_{i(i-1)/2+1} =m$ is equal to the number of plane partitions of $m$. Furthermore, we introduce a new family of partitions, the block partitions, generalizing the $k$-elongated partitions. From that family of partitions, we provide a generalization of a Schmidt-type theorem due to Andrews and Paule regarding $k$-elongated partitions and establish a link with the Eulerian polynomials., 18 pages. 2 figures

In Chen and Turunen (Commun Math Phys 374(3):1577-1643, 2020), we have studied the Boltzmann random triangulation of the disk coupled to an Ising model on its faces with Dobrushin boundary condition at its critical temperature. In this paper, we investigate the phase transition of this model by extending our previous results to arbitrary temperature: We compute the partition function of the model at all temperatures, and derive several critical exponents associated with the infinite perimeter limit. We show that the model has a local limit at any temperature, whose properties depend drastically on the temperature. At high temperatures, the local limit is reminiscent of the uniform infinite half-planar triangulation decorated with a subcritical percolation. At low temperatures, the local limit develops a bottleneck of finite width due to the energy cost of the main Ising interface between the two spin clusters imposed by the Dobrushin boundary condition. This change can be summarized by a novel order parameter with a nice geometric meaning. In addition to the phase transition, we also generalize our construction of the local limit from the two-step asymptotic regime used in Chen and Turunen (2020) to a more natural diagonal asymptotic regime. We obtain in this regime a scaling limit related to the length of the main Ising interface, which coincides with predictions from the continuum theory of quantum surfaces (a.k.a. Liouville quantum gravity)., Communications in Mathematical Physics, 397 (2), ISSN:1432-0916, ISSN:0010-3616

A class of counting problems ask for the number of regions of a central hyperplane arrangement. By duality, this is the same as counting the vertices of a zonotope. We give several efficient algorithms, based on a linear optimization oracle, that solve this and related enumeration problems. More precisely, our algorithms compute the vertices of a zonotope from the set of its generators and inversely, recover the generators of a zonotope from its vertices. A variation of the latter algorithm also allows to decide whether a polytope, given as its vertex set, is a zonotope and when it is not, to compute its greatest zonotopal summand., Comment: 22 pages, 2 figures

In a digraph, a quasi-kernel is a subset of vertices that is independent and such that every vertex can reach some vertex in that set via a directed path of length at most two. Whereas Chv\'atal and Lov\'asz proved in 1974 that every digraph has a quasi-kernel, very little is known so far about the complexity of finding small quasi-kernels. In 1976 Erd\H{o}s and Sz\'ekely conjectured that every sink-free digraph $D = (V, A)$ has a quasi-kernel of size at most $|V|/2$. Obviously, if $D$ has two disjoint quasi-kernels then it has a quasi-kernel of size at most $|V|/2$, and in 2001 Gutin, Koh, Tay and Yeo conjectured that every sink-free digraph has two disjoint quasi-kernels. Yet, they constructed in 2004 a counterexample, thereby disproving this stronger conjecture. We shall show that, not only sink-free digraphs occasionally fail to contain two disjoint quasi-kernels, but it is computationally hard to distinguish those that do from those that do not. We also prove that the problem of computing a small quasi-kernel is polynomial time solvable for orientations of trees but is computationally hard in most other cases (and in particular for restricted acyclic digraphs).

Recent works of Andrews--Newman and Hopkins--Sellers unveil an interesting relation between two partition statistics, the crank and the mex. They state that, for a positive integer $n$, there are as many partitions of $n$ with non-negative crank as partitions of $n$ with odd mex. In this paper, we give a bijective proof of a generalization of this identity provided by Hopkins, Sellers, and Stanton. Our method uses an alternative definition of the Durfee decomposition, whose combinatorial link to the crank was recently studied by Hopkins, Sellers, and Yee., Comment: 12 pages

International audience; We examine connections between combinatorial notions that arise in machine learning and topological notions in cubical/simplicial geometry. These connections enable to export results from geometry to machine learning. Our first main result is based on a geometric construction by Tracy Hall (2004) of a partial shelling of the cross-polytope which can not be extended. We use it to derive a maximum class of VC dimension 3 that has no corners. This refutes several previous works in machine learning from the past 11 years. In particular, it implies that all previous constructions of optimal unlabeled sample compression schemes for maximum classes are erroneous. On the positive side we present a new construction of an unlabeled sample compression scheme for maximum classes. We leave as open whether our unlabeled sample compression scheme extends to ample (a.k.a. lopsided or extremal) classes, which represent a natural and far-reaching generalization of maximum classes. Towards resolving this question, we provide a geometric characterization in terms of unique sink orientations of the 1-skeletons of associated cubical complexes.

The Burning Number Conjecture claims that for every connected graph $G$ of order $n,$ its burning number satisfies $b(G) \le \lceil \sqrt{n} \rceil.$ While the conjecture remains open, we prove that it is asymptotically true when the order of the graph is much larger than its \emph{growth}, which is the maximal distance of a vertex to a well-chosen path in the graph. We prove that the conjecture for graphs of bounded growth reduces to a finite number of cases. We provide the best-known bound on the burning number of a connected graph $G$ of order $n,$ given by $b(G) \le \sqrt{4n/3} + 1,$ improving on the previously known $\sqrt{3n/2}+O(1)$ bound. Using the improved upper bound, we show that the conjecture almost holds for all graphs with minimum degree at least $3$ and holds for all large enough graphs with minimum degree at least $4$. The previous best-known result was for graphs with minimum degree $23$., 10 pages

By definition, a rigid graph in $\mathbb{R}^d$ (or on a sphere) has a finite number of embeddings up to rigid motions for a given set of edge length constraints. These embeddings are related to the real solutions of an algebraic system. Naturally, the complex solutions of such systems extend the notion of rigidity to $\mathbb{C}^d$. A major open problem has been to obtain tight upper bounds on the number of embeddings in $\mathbb{C}^d$, for a given number $|V|$ of vertices, which obviously also bound their number in $\mathbb{R}^d$. Moreover, in most known cases, the maximal numbers of embeddings in $\mathbb{C}^d$ and $\mathbb{R}^d$ coincide. For decades, only the trivial bound of $O(2^{d\cdot |V|})$ was known on the number of embeddings.Recently, matrix permanent bounds have led to a small improvement for $d\geq 5$. This work improves upon the existing upper bounds for the number of embeddings in $\mathbb{R}^d$ and $S^d$, by exploiting outdegree-constrained orientations on a graphical construction, where the proof iteratively eliminates vertices or vertex paths. For the most important cases of $d=2$ and $d=3$, the new bounds are $O(3.7764^{|V|})$ and $O(6.8399^{|V|})$, respectively. In general, the recent asymptotic bound mentioned above is improved by a factor of $1/ \sqrt{2}$. Besides being the first substantial improvement upon a long-standing upper bound, our method is essentially the first general approach relying on combinatorial arguments rather than algebraic root counts.