All Questions
1,907 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
55
votes
0
answers
2k
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What did Gelfand mean by suggesting to study "Heredity Principle" structures instead of categories?
Israel Gelfand wrote in his remarkable talk "Mathematics as an adequate language (a few remarks)", given at "The Unity of Mathematics" Conference in honor of his 90th birthday, the ...
- 1,238
36
votes
0
answers
2k
views
Correspondence between eigenvalue distributions of random unitary and random orthogonal matrices
In the course of a physics problem (arXiv:1206.6687), I stumbled on a curious correspondence between the eigenvalue distributions of the matrix product $U\bar{U}$, with $U$ a random unitary matrix and ...
- 188k
35
votes
0
answers
1k
views
Orthogonal vectors with entries from $\{-1,0,1\}$
Let $\mathbf{1}$ be the all-ones vector, and suppose $\mathbf{1}, \mathbf{v_1}, \mathbf{v_2}, \ldots, \mathbf{v_{n-1}} \in \{-1,0,1\}^n$ are mutually orthogonal non-zero vectors. Does it follow that $...
- 6,351
24
votes
0
answers
1k
views
conjectures regarding a new Renyi information quantity
In a recent paper http://arxiv.org/abs/1403.6102, we defined a quantity that we called the "Renyi conditional mutual information" and investigated several of its properties. We have some open ...
- 483
23
votes
0
answers
8k
views
An $n \times n$ matrix $A$ is similar to its transpose $A^{\top}$: elementary proof?
A famous result in linear algebra is the following.
An $n \times n$ matrix $A$ over a field $\mathbb{F}$ is similar to its transpose $A^T$.
I know one proof using the Smith Normal Form (SNF). ...
- 3,320
21
votes
0
answers
520
views
Is the exponent of $2$ in the Pythagorean theorem the "same $2$" as $[\mathbb{C} : \mathbb{R}]$?
I posted this question in Math StackExchange a couple years ago; due to the recent surge in interest, and following the feedback of several users, I've decided to cross-post it here. I apologize for ...
- 1,206
21
votes
0
answers
904
views
Cauchy matrices with elementary symmetric polynomials
$\newcommand{\vx}{\mathbf{x}}$
Let $e_k(\vx)$ denote the elementary symmetric polynomial, defined for $k=0,1,\ldots,n$ over a vector $\vx=(x_1,\ldots,x_n)$ by
\begin{equation*}
e_k(\vx) := \sum_{1 \...
- 28.6k
18
votes
0
answers
571
views
Fundamental Theorem of Algebra via multiple integrals
Consider the product of complex linear monic polynomials times polynomials of degree less than $n$, that is $\big( (z-\lambda), p(z)\big)\mapsto (z-\lambda)p(z)$. If we represent a polynomial by its ...
- 60.5k
18
votes
0
answers
540
views
A curious switch in infinite dimensions
Let $V$ be a finite dimensional real vector space. Let $GL(V)$ be the set of invertible linear transformations, and $\Phi(V)$ be the set of all linear transformations. We can also characterize $\Phi(V)...
- 7,583
17
votes
0
answers
604
views
Bunnity of multilinear maps
Is there a way to compute the following nullity of multilinear maps? As it is different from any nullity I know of, I call it bunnity after myself:-)) If it already has a name, it be nice to know it. ...
- 12.3k
16
votes
0
answers
755
views
Is there a "natural" proof of the equality $4^2=2^4$?
This question, or rather any answer that it might receive, would probably belong to the realm of Awfully sophisticated proof for simple facts. Still, I claim that I have quite serious motivation for ...
- 18.4k
16
votes
0
answers
574
views
Are $0, 1, 4, 7, 8$ the only dimensions in which a bivector-valued cross product exists?
It is a well-known mathematical curiosity that ordinary (vector-valued) cross products over $\mathbb{R}$ exist only in dimensions $0, 1, 3$ and $7$ (this fact is related to Hurwitz's theorem that real ...
- 1,206
16
votes
0
answers
488
views
An inequality for matrix norms
Working on a problem in combinatorics I come up with the following inequality on matrix norms, which I checked it also numerically:
Let $A=(a_{ij})$ be a real symmetric $n\times n$ matrix with ...
- 4,484
16
votes
0
answers
808
views
Determinant inequality involving Hermitian, positive definite matrices
Let $A,B,C\in M_{n}(\mathbb C)$ be Hermitian and positive-definite matrices such that $A+B+C=I_{n}$.
Show that
$$\det\left(6(A^3+B^3+C^3)+I_{n}\right)\ge 5^n\det(A^2+B^2+C^2)$$
This question has been ...
- 269
16
votes
0
answers
784
views
How to explain the picturesque patterns in François Brunault's matrix?
How to explain the patterns in the matrix defined in François Brunault's
answer to the question Freeness of a Z[x] module depicted below? --
Choosing colors according to the highest power of 2 which ...
- 19.6k
15
votes
0
answers
446
views
The rank of a "triangle-free" matrix
This is a version of the question I asked recently, but the assumptions got now strengthened substantially.
Suppose that $A=(a_{ij})_{1\le i,j\le n}$ is a square matrix with all elements in $\{0,\...
- 23k
14
votes
0
answers
601
views
Is the Zariski density proof of Cayley-Hamilton circular?
This old MO thread and its comments contains a discussion of the Zariski density proof of Cayley-Hamilton (I have also asked a separate question about the proof Victor gives in the comments here). ...
- 118k
14
votes
0
answers
810
views
Cardinality vs. isomorphism type of vector spaces without choice
One of the classical uses of the existence of bases of vector spaces (which is equivalent to the axiom of choice) is the following theorem:
If $V$ is an infinite vector space over a field $F$, and $...
- 39.7k
14
votes
0
answers
660
views
Who stated and proved the "Hopf lemma" on bilinear maps?
If $A\otimes B\rightarrow C$ is a nondegenerate linear map, where $A, B, C$ are vector spaces over an algebraically closed field, then $\dim C\ge \dim A + \dim B -1$.
Nondegenerate here means that ...
- 1,811
14
votes
0
answers
4k
views
Minimum tiling of a rectangle by squares
Given the $n\times m$ rectangle, I want to compute the minimum number of integer-sided squares needed to tile it (possibly of different sizes).
Is there an efficient way to calculate this?
- 1,015
13
votes
0
answers
446
views
Unit polynomial vector fields on the sphere
Let $\mathbb{S}^3 \subset \mathbb{R}^4$ be the unit $3$-sphere. Is there a classification available for $3$-homogeneous polynomial, unit norm, vector fields on $\mathbb{S}^3$?
More explicitly, a $3$-...
- 501
13
votes
0
answers
786
views
Seek for a algebro-geometric proof: the group homomorphism $\mathrm{SL}(2,\mathbb{Z}) \rightarrow \mathrm{SL}(2,\mathbb{Z}/N\mathbb{Z})$ is surjective
It is a well-known fact that the group homomorphism $\mathrm{SL}(2,\mathbb{Z}) \rightarrow \mathrm{SL}(2,\mathbb{Z}/N\mathbb{Z})$ is surjective.
What I want is a proof by method of algebraic geometry. ...
- 1,168
13
votes
0
answers
237
views
A Dynkin type classification result in linear algebra
Let $G$ be a finite directed acyclic graph. The Cartan matrix $C_G=C$ of $G$ is defined as the matrix with rows and colums indexed by the vertices of $G$ and $c_{i,j}$ counts the number of paths from $...
- 26.5k
13
votes
0
answers
809
views
Can one Gershgorin circle (only) contain all eigenvalues, when the other circles are not contained in it
In short, following a question from my students, I am trying to find a special case where all the eigenvalues of a matrix lie within only one circle, but not in the others, and the other circles are ...
- 673
13
votes
0
answers
257
views
Is the set of power matrices decidable?
Let $\text{Mat}(n\times n,\mathbb{Z})$ denote the collection of integer $n\times n$ matrices. We say $M\in \text{Mat}(n\times n,\mathbb{Z})$ is a power matrix if there is an integer $k>1$ and a ...
- 48.8k
13
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0
answers
348
views
A determinant problem for primes $p\equiv 1\pmod4$
Let $p$ be an odd prime, and let $A_p$ denote the matrix
$$[a_{ij}]_{1\le i,j\le (p-1)/2},$$
where
$$a_{1j}=\left(\frac jp\right),\ \ \text{and}\ \ a_{ij}=\left(\frac{i^2+j^2}p\right)\ \text{for}\ i&...
- 15.6k
13
votes
0
answers
1k
views
Pointwise (Hadamard) matrix product and the rank
$\DeclareMathOperator{\rk}{rk}$
Suppose that $A$ is a square matrix of order $n$. If, for any polynomials $P$ and $Q$ with $\deg P+\deg Q\le 2$, we have
$$ P(A)\circ Q(A^t) = P(1)Q(1)\, I_n \tag{$\...
- 23k
13
votes
0
answers
713
views
Regular languages of matrices and their generating functions
My question is somewhat related to this question.
Let us fix natural numbers $k$ and $C$. Let $A$ be an automaton whose alphabet consists of $k\times k$ matrices with integer coefficients of ...
- 3,897
12
votes
0
answers
321
views
Combinatorial proof of invertibility of a symmetric matrix associated to the ring of matrices over a finite field
Let $F$ be a finite field of $q$ elements with characteristic $p$. Let $M_n(F)$ be the ring of $n\times n$ matrices over $F$. We define a $q^{n^2}\times q^{n^2}$ symmetric matrix $L$ over the ...
- 38.6k
12
votes
0
answers
277
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How many steps on $S_n$ are required to span $V\wedge V$, $V = K^n$?
Let $A$ be a set of generators of $G=S_n$; assume $e\in A$,
$A=A^{-1}$. Let $V = K^n$, $K$ a field. Consider the natural
action of $G$ on $V$ (namely, $g(e_i) = e_{g(i)}$) and on $W = V\wedge V$
(...
- 20.2k
12
votes
0
answers
508
views
More mysterious properties of Gram matrix
This is another question related to the mysterious properties of the Gram matrix in dimension $4$. Here's the previous question.
The following fact could be extracted from 0402087:
For any $a_i\...
- 4,316
12
votes
0
answers
218
views
Which ordering of factors is needed to obtain this kind of determinantal inequalities?
Let $A$ and $B$ be $n\times n$ Hermitian positive definite matrices. The curious determinantal inequality given here, which can be stated as $$\det (A^{4}+ ABBA+BAAB+B^{4})\ge\det(A^{4}+ AABB+BBAA+B^{...
- 13.4k
12
votes
0
answers
314
views
Ratio of entries of A and log A where A is a triangular matrix
Consider triangular matrices $A = \left( {a(n,k)} \right)$ of arbitrary order with $a(n,k) = 0$ if $n + k$ is odd and $a(n,n - 2k) = \frac{{n!}}{{k!(n - 2k)!}}\frac{{(m + n - k - 1)!}}{{(m + n - 1)!}}$...
- 5,612
12
votes
0
answers
825
views
Eigenvalues of permutations of a real matrix: how complex can they be?
This is sort of complementary to this thread. I’ll repeat the definitions here:
For a matrix $M\in GL(n,\mathbb R)$, consider the $n!$ matrices obtained by permutations of the rows (say) of $M$ and ...
- 13.4k
12
votes
0
answers
603
views
On a tentative generalization of the Schmidt decomposition
Background
I am a PhD student in Physics and I am currently developing quite refined computer codes that allow to simulate many-body quantum systems living on a lattice. The difficulty resides in ...
- 141
12
votes
0
answers
349
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Matroids with prescribed independent sets
Let $A$ be a finite set. Let $B$ be a family of subsets of $A$. We are interested in a matroid with a minimum rank such that every element of $B$ is independent. The answer is obvious - a uniform ...
- 1,791
11
votes
0
answers
541
views
How to determine the sign for the sum over all simple paths in the graph
$\DeclareMathOperator\perm{perm}\DeclareMathOperator\len{len}$Let $A$ be the adjacency matrix of a tree $T$ for some ordering $v_1,...,v_n$ of the vertices, and let $D=xI-A$ its characteristic ...
- 1,362
11
votes
0
answers
158
views
Characterization of certain 4-dimensional lattices
Let $\Lambda \subset {\bf Q}^4$ be a lattice, i.e., $\Lambda$ is a free abelian group and $\Lambda \otimes {\bf Q} = {\bf Q^4}$.
The determinants of those dilation-rotations (i.e. linear maps of ${\bf ...
- 11.9k
11
votes
0
answers
227
views
Matrices that admit a power that is symmetric
We fix an integer $n\geq 2$. Let $S_n$ be the set of real symmetric matrices in $M_n(\mathbb{R})$. We consider the algebraic sets $Y_k=\{A\in M_n(\mathbb{R});A^k\in S_n\},k\geq 2$ and the sequence $...
- 3,741
11
votes
0
answers
764
views
Fast computation of matrix product $AXA^T$ with fixed $A$?
Suppose we have two $n$-by-$n$ matrices $X$ and $A$, where $A$ is known and $X$ may change in different invocations, and we want to compute $AXA^T$. Is there an algorithm that beats the naive one of ...
- 75
11
votes
0
answers
313
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Jaffard's theorem - finite matrices
For infinite matrices, Jaffard's theorem states that if $(A(k,l))_{k,l\in \mathbb{Z}}$ is invertible and satisfies
$$
A(k,l) \leq C (1+\left|k-l\right|)^{-r},
$$
for some $C>0$,
then
$$
A^{-1}(k,...
- 393
11
votes
0
answers
683
views
Formula or estimates for $\frac{\operatorname{Tr}(AB)}{\operatorname{Tr}(A)}$
Given two positive definite matrices $A,B$ with nonnegative entries, I seek convenient ways to analytically compute or estimate $\frac{\operatorname{Tr}(AB)}{\operatorname{Tr}(A)}$, where $\...
- 325
11
votes
0
answers
632
views
An elementary linear algebra problem
Let $K$ be a field, and let $E$ be the algebra of $n\times n$ matrices over $K$. Let $V_0$ and $V_1$ be the (left) $E$-modules of matrices of size $n\times n_0$ and $n\times n_1$. Let $W \subseteq V_0$...
- 4,015
11
votes
0
answers
305
views
Generalized Classical Adjoints and Factorizations of the Characteristic Polynomial
This is idle noodling, and I'm prepared to learn that it's foolish as well as idle. But....
Let $M$ be an $n\times n$ matrix over, oh, let's say an algebraically closed field for now. There have ...
- 23k
11
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Quantifying the failure of the Cholesky factorization test for indefinite matrices
The Cholesky factorization is the classic test to check if a matrix is positive definite. In infinite precision it is also an exact test: A matrix has a Cholesky factorization iff it is positive ...
- 3,217
10
votes
0
answers
399
views
Words and ranks
Let me state two problems that look very much alike. The first one can be solved putting together answers that different people have given to some questions I asked here a few weeks ago. The second ...
- 20.2k
10
votes
0
answers
312
views
Triangle $X'\to X\to X''\to\Sigma X'$ splits if $X\simeq X'\oplus X''$?
Given a commutative ring $R$ and a distinguished triangle $X'\to X\to X''\xrightarrow e\Sigma X'$ in the derived category $D(R)$, where $X',X,X''$ are perfect complexes. If we have an equivalence $X\...
user20948
10
votes
0
answers
393
views
Interpretation of determinants on commutative rings
In real Euclidian space, the result of the determinant can be interpreted as the oriented volume of the image of the unit cube under an invertible linear map.
This interpretation conceptually depends ...
- 323
10
votes
0
answers
237
views
Generalized eigen property of a matrix
Given a $n \times n$ invertible matrix $A$, I am interested in the set
$$
\mathcal{S}(A) = \{ D \textrm{ diagonal matrix } \mid \det(D - A) = 0 \}.
$$
Thus, for all eigenvalues $\lambda_i$, we have $...
- 909
10
votes
0
answers
420
views
Gram matrix determinant in dimension 4 and $E_8$
Consider a determinant of a Gram matrix in dimension $4$.
$$\begin{vmatrix}
1 & -\cos(\alpha_1) & -\cos(\alpha_2) & -\cos(\alpha_3)\\
-\cos(\alpha_1) & 1 & -\cos(\alpha_6)& -\...
- 4,316