Browsing by Author "Linnell, Peter A."

Now showing 1 - 20 of 38
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    Abacus-Tournament Models of Hall-Littlewood Polynomials
    Wills, Andrew Johan (Virginia Tech, 2016-01-08)
    In this dissertation, we introduce combinatorial interpretations for three types of HallLittlewood polynomials (denoted Rλ, Pλ, and Qλ) by using weighted combinatorial objects called abacus-tournaments. We then apply these models to give combinatorial proofs of properties of Hall-Littlewood polynomials. For example, we show why various specializations of Hall-Littlewood polynomials produce the Schur symmetric polynomials, the elementary symmetric polynomials, or the t-analogue of factorials. With the abacus-tournament model, we give a bijective proof of a Pieri rule for Hall-Littlewood polynomials that gives the Pλ-expansion of the product of a Hall-Littlewood polynomial Pµ with an elementary symmetric polynomial ek. We also give a bijective proof of certain cases of a second Pieri rule that gives the Pλ-expansion of the product of a Hall-Littlewood polynomial Pµ with another Hall-Littlewood polynomial Q(r) . In general, proofs using abacus-tournaments focus on canceling abacus-tournaments and then finding weight-preserving bijections between the sets of uncanceled abacus-tournaments.
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    Accuracy of Computer Generated Approximations to Julia Sets
    Hoggard, John W. (Virginia Tech, 2000-07-31)
    A Julia set for a complex function 𝑓 is the set of all points in the complex plane where the iterates of 𝑓 do not form a normal family. A picture of the Julia set for a function can be generated with a computer by coloring pixels (which we consider to be small squares) based on the behavior of the point at the center of each pixel. We consider the accuracy of computer generated pictures of Julia sets. Such a picture is said to be accurate if each colored pixel actually contains some point in the Julia set. We extend previous work to show that the pictures generated by an algorithm for the family λe² are accurate, for appropriate choices of parameters in the algorithm. We observe that the Julia set for meromorphic functions with polynomial Schwarzian derivative is the closure of those points which go to infinity under iteration, and use this as a basis for an algorithm to generate pictures for such functions. A pixel in our algorithm will be colored if the center point becomes larger than some specified bound upon iteration. We show that using our algorithm, the pictures of Julia sets generated for the family λtan(z) for positive real λ are also accurate. We conclude with a cautionary example of a Julia set whose picture will be inaccurate for some apparently reasonable choices of parameters, demonstrating that some care must be exercised in using such algorithms. In general, more information about the nature of the function may be needed.
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    Analysis of the BiCG Method
    Renardy, Marissa (Virginia Tech, 2013-05-31)
    The Biconjugate Gradient (BiCG) method is an iterative Krylov subspace method that utilizes a 3-term recurrence.  BiCG is the basis of several very popular methods, such as BiCGStab.  The short recurrence makes BiCG preferable to other Krylov methods because of decreased memory usage and CPU time.  However, BiCG does not satisfy any optimality conditions and it has been shown that for up to n/2-1 iterations, a special choice of the left starting vector can cause BiCG to follow {em any} 3-term recurrence.  Despite this apparent sensitivity, BiCG often converges well in practice.  This paper seeks to explain why BiCG converges so well, and what conditions can cause BiCG to behave poorly.  We use tools such as the singular value decomposition and eigenvalue decomposition to establish bounds on the residuals of BiCG and make links between BiCG and optimal Krylov methods.
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    Analytic versions of the zero divisor conjecture
    Puls, Michael (Virginia Tech, 1995)
    One of the most famous and frustrating problems in algebra is the zero divisor conjecture. In this work we study some analytical versions of this conjecture. We will give sufficient conditions to determine when elements of CG are uniform non zero divisors, we also give sufficient conditions to determine when elements of CG are p-zero divisors. Examples of p-zero divisors will also be given. Also a measure theoretic approach to the zero divisor conjecture will be given.
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    Characterizing Zero Divisors of Group Rings
    Welch, Amanda Renee (Virginia Tech, 2015-06-15)
    The Atiyah Conjecture originates from a paper written 40 years ago by Sir Michael Atiyah, a famous mathematician and Fields medalist. Since publication of the paper, mathematicians have been working to solve many questions related to the conjecture, but it is still open. The conjecture is about certain topological invariants attached to a group 𝐺. There are examples showing that the conjecture does not hold in general. These examples involve something like the lamplighter group (the wreath product ℤ/2ℤ ≀ ℤ). We are interested in looking at examples where this is not the case. We are interested in the specific case where 𝐺 is a finitely generated group in which the Prüfer group can be embedded as the center. The Prüfer group is a 𝑝-group for some prime 𝑝 and its finite subgroups have unbounded order, in particular the finite subgroups of G will have unbounded order. To understand whether any form of the Atiyah conjecture is true for 𝐺, it will first help to determine whether the group ring 𝑘𝐺 of the group 𝐺 has a classical ring of quotients for some field 𝑘. To determine this we will need to know the zero divisors for the group ring 𝑘𝐺. Our investigations will be divided into two cases, namely when the characteristic of the field 𝑘 is the same as the prime p for the Prüfer group and when it is different.
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    A Classification of some Quadratic Algebras
    McGilvray, H. C. Jr. (Virginia Tech, 1998-07-02)
    In this paper, for a select group of quadratic algebras, we investigate restrictions necessary on the generators of the ideal for the resulting algebra to be Koszul. Techniques include the use of Gröbner bases and development of Koszul resolutions. When the quadratic algebra is Koszul, we provide the associated linear resolution of the field. When not Koszul, we describe the maps of the resolution up to the instance of nonlinearity.
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    Cohomology of Finite Groups
    Linnell, Peter A. (University of Essen, 1992)
    This is a short lecture course on the cohomology of finite groups. Topics include Künneth formula, cup products and cohomology ring, differential graded algebras, Evens norm map and the Steenrod operations.
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    Cycle-Free Twisted Face-Pairing 3-Manifolds
    Gartland, Christopher John (Virginia Tech, 2014-05-29)
    In 2-dimensional topology, quotients of polygons by edge-pairings provide a rich source of examples of closed, connected, orientable surfaces. In fact, they provide all such examples. The 3-dimensional analogue of an edge-pairing of a polygon is a face-pairing of a faceted 3-ball. Unfortunately, quotients of faceted 3-balls by face-pairings rarely provide us with examples of 3-manifolds due to singularities that arise at the vertices. However, any face-pairing of a faceted 3-ball may be slighted modified so that its quotient is a genuine manifold, i.e. free of singularities. The modified face-pairing is called a twisted face-pairing. It is natural to ask which closed, connected, orientable 3-manifolds may be obtained as quotients of twisted face-pairings. In this paper, we focus on a special class of face-pairings called cycle-free twisted face-pairings and give description of their quotient spaces in terms of integer weighted graphs. We use this description to prove that most spherical 3-manifolds can be obtained as quotients of cycle-free twisted face-pairings, but the Poincaré homology 3-sphere cannot.
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    D-branes and K-homology
    Jia, Bei (Virginia Tech, 2013-04-19)
    In this thesis the close relationship between the topological $K$-homology group of the spacetime manifold $X$ of string theory and D-branes in string theory is examined. An element of the $K$-homology group is given by an equivalence class of $K$-cycles $[M,E,\phi]$, where $M$ is a closed spin$^c$ manifold, $E$ is a complex vector bundle over $M$, and $\phi: M\rightarrow X$ is a continuous map. It is proposed that a $K$-cycle $[M,E,\phi]$ represents a D-brane configuration wrapping the subspace $\phi(M)$. As a consequence, the $K$-homology element defined by $[M,E,\phi]$ represents a class of D-brane configurations that have the same physical charge. Furthermore, the $K$-cycle representation of D-branes resembles the modern way of characterizing fundamental strings, in which the strings are represented as two-dimensional surfaces with maps into the spacetime manifold. This classification of D-branes also suggests the possibility of physically interpreting D-branes wrapping singular subspaces of spacetime, enlarging the known types of singularities that string theory can cope with.
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    Discrete Riemann Maps and the Parabolicity of Tilings
    Repp, Andrew S. (Virginia Tech, 1998-05-04)
    The classical Riemann Mapping Theorem has many discrete analogues. One of these, the Finite Riemann Mapping Theorem of Cannon, Floyd, Parry, and others, describes finite tilings of quadrilaterals and annuli. It relates to several combinatorial moduli, similar in nature to the classical modulus. The first chapter surveys some of these discrete analogues. The next chapter considers appropriate extensions to infinite tilings of half-open quadrilaterals and annuli. In this chapter we prove some results about combinatorial moduli for such tilings. The final chapter considers triangulations of open topological disks. It has been shown that one can classify such triangulations as either parabolic or hyperbolic, depending on whether an associated combinatorial modulus is infinite or finite. We obtain a criterion for parabolicity in terms of the degrees of vertices that lie within a specified distance of a given base vertex.
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    Finite Generation of Ext-Algebras for Monomial Algebras
    Cone, Randall Edward (Virginia Tech, 2010-11-30)
    The use of graphs in algebraic studies is ubiquitous, whether the graphs be finite or infinite, directed or undirected. Green and Zacharia have characterized finite generation of the cohomology rings of monomial algebras, and thereafter G. Davis determined a finite criteria for such generation in the case of cycle algebras. Herein, we describe the construction of a finite directed graph upon which criteria can be established to determine finite generation of the cohomology ring of in-spoked cycle" algebras, a class of algebras that includes cycle algebras. We then show the further usefulness of this constructed graph by studying other monomial algebras, including d-Koszul monomial algebras and a new class of monomial algebras which we term "left/right-symmetric" algebras.
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    First Cohomology of Some Infinitely Generated Groups
    Eastridge, Samuel Vance (Virginia Tech, 2017-04-25)
    The goal of this paper is to explore the first cohomology group of groups G that are not necessarily finitely generated. Our focus is on l^p-cohomology, 1 leq p leq infty, and what results regarding finitely generated groups change when G is infinitely generated. In particular, for abelian groups and locally finite groups, the l^p-cohomology is non-zero when G is countable, but vanishes when G has sufficient cardinality. We then show that the l^infty-cohomology remains unchanged for many classes of groups, before looking at several results regarding the injectivity of induced maps from embeddings of G-modules. We present several new results for countable groups, and discuss which results fail to hold in the general uncountable case. Lastly, we present results regarding reduced cohomology, including a useful lemma extending vanishing results for finitely generated groups to the infinitely generated case.
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    First l²-Cohomology Groups
    Eastridge, Samuel Vance (Virginia Tech, 2015-06-15)
    We want to take a look at the first cohomology group H^1(G, l^2(G)), in particular when G is locally-finite. First, though, we discuss some results about the space H^1(G, C G) for G locally-finite, as well as the space H^1(G, l^2(G)) when G is finitely generated. We show that, although in the case when G is finitely generated the embedding of C G into l^2(G) induces an embedding of the cohomology groups H^1(G, C G) into H^1(G, l^2(G)), when G is countably-infinite locally-finite, the induced homomorphism is not an embedding. However, even though the induced homomorphism is not an embedding, we still have that H^1(G, l^2(G)) neq 0 when G is countably-infinite locally-finite. Finally, we give some sufficient conditions for H^1(G,l^2(G)) to be zero or non-zero.
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    Geometric Properties of Over-Determined Systems of Linear Partial Difference Equations
    Boquet, Grant Michael (Virginia Tech, 2010-02-19)
    We relate linear constant coefficient systems of partial difference equations (a discretization of a system of linear partial differential equations) satisfying some collection of scalar polynomial equations to systems defined over the coordinate ring of an algebraic variety. This motivates the extension of behavioral systems theory (a generalization of classical systems theory where inputs and outputs are lumped together) to the setting where the ring of operators is an affine domain and the signal space is restricted to signals which satisfy the same scalar polynomial equations. By recognizing the role of the kernel representation's Gröbner basis in the Cauchy problem, we extend notions of controllability from the classical behavioral setting to accommodate this generalization. We then address the question as to when an autonomous behavior admits a Livšic-system state-space representation, where the state update equations are overdetermined leading to the requirement that the input and output signals satisfy their own compatibility difference equations. This leads to a frequency domain setting involving input and output holomorphic vector bundles and a transfer function given by a meromorphic bundle map. An analogue of the Hankel realization theorem developed by J. Ball and V. Vinnikov then leads to a Livšic-system state-space representation for an autonomous behavior satisfying some natural additional conditions.
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    Graphs and Noncommutative Koszul Algebras
    Hartman, Gregory Neil (Virginia Tech, 2002-04-23)
    A new connection between combinatorics and noncommutative algebra is established by relating a certain class of directed graphs to noncommutative Koszul algebras. The directed graphs in this class are called full graphs and are defined by a set of criteria on the edges. The structural properties of full graphs are studied as they relate to the edge criteria. A method is introduced for generating a Koszul algebra Lambda from a full graph G. The properties of Lambda are examined as they relate to the structure of G, with special attention being given to the construction of a projective resolution of certain semisimple Lambda-modules based on the structural properties of G. The characteristics of the Koszul algebra Lambda that is derived from the product of two full graphs G' and G' are studied as they relate to the properties of the Koszul algebras Lambda' and Lambda' derived from G' and G'.
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    Homology of Group Von Neumann Algebras
    Mattox, Wade (Virginia Tech, 2012-07-17)
    In this paper the following conjecture is studied: the group von Neumann algebra N(G) is a flat CG-module if and only if the group G is locally virtually cyclic. This paper proves that if G is locally virtually cyclic, then N(G) is flat as a CG-module. The converse is proved for the class of all elementary amenable groups without infinite locally finite subgroups. Foundational cases for which the conjecture is shown to be true are the groups G=Z, G=ZxZ, G=Z*Z, Baumslag-Solitar groups, and some infinitely-presented variations of Baumslag-Solitar groups. Modules other than N(G), such as L^p-spaces and group C*-algebras, are considered as well. The primary tool that is used to achieve many of these results is group homology.
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    Infinite Groebner Bases And Noncommutative Polly Cracker Cryptosystems
    Rai, Tapan S. (Virginia Tech, 2004-03-23)
    We develop a public key cryptosystem whose security is based on the intractability of the ideal membership problem for a noncommutative algebra over a finite field. We show that this system, which is the noncommutative analogue of the Polly Cracker cryptosystem, is more secure than the commutative version. This is due to the fact that there are a number of ideals of noncommutative algebras (over finite fields) that have infinite reduced Groebner bases, and can be used to generate a public key. We present classes of such ideals and prove that they do not have a finite Groebner basis under any admissible order. We also examine various techniques to realize finite Groebner bases, in order to determine whether these ideals can be used effectively in the design of a public key cryptosystem. We then show how some of these classes of ideals, which have infinite reduced Groebner bases, can be used to design a public key cryptosystem. We also study various techniques of encryption. Finally, we study techniques of cryptanalysis that may be used to attack the cryptosystems that we present. We show how poorly constructed public keys can in fact, reveal the private key, and discuss techniques to design public keys that adequately conceal the private key. We also show how linear algebra can be used in ciphertext attacks and present a technique to overcome such attacks. This is different from the commutative version of the Polly Cracker cryptosystem, which is believed to be susceptible to "intelligent" linear algebra attacks.
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    Left Orderable Residually Finite p-groups
    Withrow, Camron Michael (Virginia Tech, 2014-01-03)
    Let p and q be distinct primes, and G an elementary amenable group that is a residually finite p-group and a residually finite q-group. We conjecture that such groups G are left orderable. In this paper we show some results which came as attempts to prove this conjecture. In particular we give a condition under which split extensions of residually finite p-groups are again residually finite p-groups. We also give an example which shows that even for elementary amenable groups, it is not sufficient for biorderablity that the group be a residually finite p-group and a residually finite q-group.
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    Moment sequences and their applications
    Li, Xiaoguang (Virginia Tech, 1994-07-05)
    In this dissertation, we first present a unified treatment of compact moment problems, both the truncated and full moment cases. Second, we define the lower and upper functions V±(ð₁,... ð n) on the convex hull of the curve Γn = {(t,.·.,tn): t ∈ [0,1] } for each positive integer n. Explicit formulas of these functions are derived and applied to the study of the subnormal completion problem in operator theory. Last, we show that certain power functions are the building blocks of completely positive functions; by our definition, these functions are the continuous functions on the interval [0, 1] that map each Hausdorff moment sequence of a probability measure into another one.
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    Monomial Dynamical Systems over Finite Fields
    Colon-Reyes, Omar (Virginia Tech, 2005-04-28)
    Linking the structure of a system with its dynamics is an important problem in the theory of finite dynamical systems. For monomial dynamical systems, that is, a system that can be described by monomials, information about the limit cycles can be obtained from the monomials themselves. In particular, this work contains sufficient and necessary conditions for a monomial dynamical system to have only fixed points as limit cycles.