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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 ...
Dmitri Zaitsev's user avatar
38 votes
0 answers
1k views

Groups whose complex irreducible representations are finite dimensional

By a complex irreducible representation of a group $G$, I mean a simple $\mathbb CG$-module. So my representations need not be unitary and we are working in the purely algebraic setting. It is easy ...
Benjamin Steinberg's user avatar
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 $...
Nathaniel Johnston's user avatar
32 votes
0 answers
649 views

Existence of orthogonal basis of symmetric $n\times n$ matrices, where each matrix is unitary?

For a positive integer $n$, let $S_n$ denote the set of $n\times n$ symmetric matrices over $\mathbb{C}$. As a complex vector space, this set has dimension $\mathrm{dim}(S_n)=\binom{n+1}{2}$. The ...
Mark Girard's user avatar
30 votes
0 answers
1k views

Is there a field $F$ which is isomorphic to $F(X,Y)$ but not to $F(X)$?

Is there a field $F$ such that $F \cong F(X,Y)$ as fields, but $F \not \cong F(X)$ as fields? I know only an example of a field $F$ such that $F$ isomorphic to $F(x,y)$ : this is something like $F=k(...
Watson's user avatar
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30 votes
0 answers
3k views

Greatly expanded new edition of a Bourbaki chapter on algebra?

Recently I discovered by accident that Bourbaki issued in 2012 a radically expanded version of their 1958 Chapter 8 Modules et anneaux semi-simples (like other chapters, initially in French) within ...
Jim Humphreys's user avatar
28 votes
0 answers
527 views

What algebraic structure characterizes all natural operations between differential operators and differential forms?

On a smooth manifold $M$ one can define various algebraic structures, natural with respect to diffeomorphisms: the differential graded-commutative algebra $\Omega(M)$ of differential forms on $M$; ...
Dmitri Pavlov's user avatar
23 votes
0 answers
463 views

Topological loops vs. algebro-geometric suspension in Hochschild homology

Let $k$ be a base commutative ring, and let $A$ be a (unital but not necessarily commutative) $k$-algebra. The cone on $A$ is the ring $CA$ of infinite matrices $(a_{ij})_{i,j \geq 1}$ that are ...
Aaron Mazel-Gee's user avatar
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). ...
Sungjin Kim's user avatar
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21 votes
0 answers
868 views

Noncommutative arithmetic mean geometric mean inequality and symmetric polynomials

While analyzing convergence speed of stochastic-gradient methods for convex optimization problems, Recht et al (2011) posed a tantalizing conjecture. It seems quite tricky, so after having struggled a ...
Suvrit's user avatar
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21 votes
0 answers
2k views

The Fourier Transform of taking Eigenvalues

The purpose of this question is to ask about the Fourier transform of the map which associate to an $n$ by $n$ matrix its $n$ eigenvalues, or some function of the $n$ eigenvalues. The main motivation ...
Gil Kalai's user avatar
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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 \...
Suvrit's user avatar
  • 28.6k
18 votes
0 answers
734 views

How boundedly generated is $SL_3(\mathbb{Z})$?

The group $G = \mathrm{SL}_3(\mathbb{Z})$ is known to be boundedly generated, that is, there exists some $m \in \mathbb{N}$, and $g_1, \dots, g_m \in G$ such that we have the following equality of ...
Pablo's user avatar
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17 votes
0 answers
399 views

Number of $F_p$-matrices ac=ca, bd = db , ad - da = cb - bc is polynomial in p ? ("Manin matrix variety" - normal ? Cohen–Macaulay ? )

Consider four $n\times n$ matrices $a,b,c,d$ over finite field $F_q$ (or $F_p$ for simplicity), such that they satisfy three equations: $ac=ca,bd=db, ad-da=cb-bc $. Thus an affine algebraic manifold ...
Alexander Chervov's user avatar
17 votes
0 answers
1k views

Relations in a certain Lie algebra

Let ${\mathfrak g}$ be the (real) Lie algebra generated by infinitely many generators $D_i, E_i$ with $i=1,2,3,\dots$ subject to the following relations for any natural numbers $i,j$: \begin{gather*} [...
Terry Tao's user avatar
  • 114k
17 votes
0 answers
704 views

When is the determinant an $8$-th power?

I am working over $\mathbb{R}$ (though most of the story goes over any field). I am looking for linear spaces of matrices such that the restriction of the determinant to this spaces can be written (...
Libli's user avatar
  • 7,300
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 ...
pregunton's user avatar
  • 1,206
16 votes
0 answers
487 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 ...
Mostafa - Free Palestine's user avatar
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 ...
Krokop's user avatar
  • 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 ...
Stefan Kohl's user avatar
  • 19.6k
16 votes
0 answers
860 views

Is "being a full ring of quotients" a Morita invariant property?

Definition and context: An (associative, unital, not necessarily commutative) ring $R$ is called classical if every regular element of $R$ is a unit. Equivalently, $R$ is its own classical ring of ...
Torsten Schoeneberg's user avatar
15 votes
0 answers
217 views

If a map between unital rings preserves multiplication and successor, does it preserve addition?

Welcome to my first MathOverflow posting! This is a question about rings, all of them assumed to be both unital and associative. Let $f\colon R\to S$ be a map between rings such that $f(xy)=f(x)f(y)$ ...
Fred Wehrung's user avatar
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,\...
Seva's user avatar
  • 23k
14 votes
0 answers
558 views

Rings that fail to satisfy the strong rank condition

In T.Y. Lam's book Lectures on Modules and Rings, a ring $R$ is said to satisfy the strong rank condition if, for every natural number $n$, there is no right $R$-module monomorphism $R^{n+1}\to R^n$. ...
Karl Lorensen's user avatar
14 votes
0 answers
378 views

A hard Lefschetz theorem for nilCoxeter algebras

Let $W$ be a finite Coxeter group and $\mathcal{N}(W)$ its nilCoxeter algebra (over the reals, say), as defined at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nil-Coxeter_algebra. $\mathcal{N}(W)$ has a natural ...
Richard Stanley's user avatar
14 votes
0 answers
537 views

Determining the kernel of a Vandermonde-like matrix

The kernel of a Vandermonde matrix can be determined using >this< formula. The following type of matrix has a similar structure, and should also have a one-dimensional kernel. $V= \begin{...
trion's user avatar
  • 241
14 votes
0 answers
1k views

Kaplansky's theorem and Axiom of choice

Kaplansky in his paper titled by Projective Modules gave an important and essential theorem as follow: Theorem: Let $R$ be a ring, $M$ an $R$-module which is a direct sum of (any number of) countably ...
Ali Reza's user avatar
  • 1,788
14 votes
1 answer
2k views

Finite dimensional real division algebras

A celebrated theorem of Milnor and Kervaire asserts that any finite dimensional (not necessarily associative, unital) division algebra over the real numbers has dimension 1,2,4 or 8. This result is ...
Adam Epstein's user avatar
  • 2,550
13 votes
0 answers
573 views

Classical (i.e. commutative) spaces with quantum symmetry but no classical symmetry

In a recent preprint (arXiv:2311.04889), my coauthors and I constructed a sequence of graphs with no classical symmetry which nevertheless have quantum symmetry. For graphs this had been an open ...
David Roberson's user avatar
13 votes
0 answers
571 views

Why is it so hard to give examples of differentially closed fields?

The theory of algebraically closed field, say in characteristic zero, and of differentially closed fields (of characteristic zero) have much in common: quantifier elimination and (hence) decidability; ...
Gro-Tsen's user avatar
  • 32.4k
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 $...
Mare's user avatar
  • 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 ...
Itay's user avatar
  • 673
13 votes
0 answers
355 views

Analog of Haar element in an algebra

In a Hopf algebra $H $ (over some field $ k $), there is the notion of a Haar element $ h \in H$. This is an element of the algebra which has the property that if $ V $ is a representation of $ H $, ...
Joel Kamnitzer's user avatar
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{$\...
Seva's user avatar
  • 23k
13 votes
0 answers
338 views

When does Hochschild homology commute with infinite products?

Let $A$ be an associative algebra. Its zeroth Hochschild homology $\mathrm{HH}_0(A)$ is the cokernel of the linear map $A^{\wedge 2} \to A$, $a \wedge b \mapsto ab - ba$. I.e. you quotient the ...
Theo Johnson-Freyd's user avatar
13 votes
0 answers
458 views

Descartes rule of signs for a noncommutative polynomial in matrix variables

Recently, while studying certain notions of "averaging" a set of input matrices, I obtained a nonlinear polynomial in matrix variables. A simple example is \begin{equation*} \mathcal{G}(X) := X^n - \...
Suvrit's user avatar
  • 28.6k
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 ...
Łukasz Grabowski's user avatar
12 votes
0 answers
187 views

Why is $ULU=NU$ (a refinement of $|N|=q^{n^2-n}$)?

Let $G=GL_n(\mathbb{F}_q)$, $U$, $L$, $N$ the subsets of upper-triangular unipotent, lower-triangular unipotent, all unipotent matrices respectively. Then $ULU=NU$ means that for any $g\in G$ the ...
Anton Mellit's user avatar
  • 3,752
12 votes
0 answers
542 views

Does Wedderburn's Little Theorem hold constructively?

Wedderburn's Little Theorem states that every finite division ring is commutative. Perhaps even more surprising, this implies that every finite reduced ring is commutative. The proofs that I am aware ...
Martin Brandenburg's user avatar
12 votes
0 answers
224 views

Do compact inverse-property loops (or just compact Moufang loops) have invariant uniformities and bi-invariant Haar measure?

So, the overall question is in the title: Does a compact topological loop with the inverse property have a Haar measure that is simultaneously left and right invariant? (And we can restrict to ...
Harry Altman's user avatar
  • 2,585
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 ...
Benjamin Steinberg's user avatar
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\...
Daniil Rudenko's user avatar
12 votes
2 answers
799 views

A (linear) optimization problem subject to (linear) matrix inequality constraints

Let $A \in \mathbb{R}^{n \times n}$ be a Hurwitz matrix, i.e. $A$ satisfies $\mathrm{Re}\,\lambda_i< 0$, where $\{\lambda_i\}_{i=1}^n$ is the set of eigenvalues of $A$. Suppose that the trace of $A$...
Ludwig's user avatar
  • 2,712
12 votes
0 answers
185 views

Hopf-Galois extensions where the "extension" is a module?

For $H$ a Hopf-algebra, an $H$-Hopf-Galois extension is a map of rings $\phi\colon\thinspace A\to B$ such that $H$ coacts on $B$ over $A$, $B\otimes_AB\cong B\otimes H$, and the cofixed points, or the ...
Jonathan Beardsley's user avatar
12 votes
0 answers
267 views

Finitely generated skew-fields

There is a well known theorem saying that a commutative field that is finitely generated as a ring has to be finite (Kaplansky). Is the same true for non-commutative "fields" (usually called ...
Miroslav Korbelar's user avatar
12 votes
0 answers
276 views

How can you unitalize a higher category?

Given an associative nonunital algebra $A$, there are (at least) two standard ways to produce a unital algebra $A'$ together with a map $A \to A'$. Following the discussion in the comments below, ...
Theo Johnson-Freyd's user avatar
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^{...
Wolfgang's user avatar
  • 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 $a(n,n - 2k) = \frac{{n!}}{{k!(n - 2k)!}}\frac{{(m + n - k - 1)!}}{{(m + n - 1)!}}$...
Johann Cigler's user avatar
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 ...
Wolfgang's user avatar
  • 13.4k
12 votes
0 answers
533 views

Does there exist a Noetherian ring of finite injective dimension but higher Krull dimension?

Definition: a (not necessarily commutative) left and right Noetherian ring $R$ is said to be Auslander-Gorenstein if (i) $R$ has finite left and right injective dimension (in which case it turns out ...
Christopher's user avatar

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