Questions tagged [pfaffian]
Every question that is related to the Pfaffian polynomial and its traits.
20 questions
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Does the Pfaffian have a geometric meaning?
While reviewing the proof of Gauss-Bonnet in John Lee's book, I noticed the following paragraph:
"
...In a certain sense, this might be considered a very satisfactory generalization of Gauss-Bonnet. ...
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14
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1
answer
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Generalizing the Pfaffian: families of matrices whose determinants are perfect powers of polynomials in the entries
Let $n$ be a positive integer, and let $M = (m_{ij})$ be a skew $2n \times 2n$ matrix. That is, we have $m_{ij} = -m_{ji}$ for $1 \leq i, j \leq 2n$. Then it is well-known that
$$\det M = p(M)^2,$$
...
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12
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1
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Determinant is to Pfaffian as resultant is to what?
This is an irresponsible question: I do not have done any thinking on it, or even literature search.
I just became curious whether there is some modification of the notion of a common root of two ...
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11
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1
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Pfaffian equals complex determinant?
Let $V$ be a Euclidean vector space and let $V^{\mathbb{C}} = V \oplus V$ be its complexification, with complex structure
$$J = \begin{pmatrix} 0 & -\mathrm{id}\\ \mathrm{id} & 0 \end{pmatrix}....
- 9,853
11
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Detailed modern references for basic properties of Pfaffians over commutative rings
Pfaffians are important to algebraic combinatorics, at least.
This is to propose the making of a 'wiki' list, more modern, precise and compressed than e.g. the relevant Wikipedia page (nothing against ...
- 6,051
10
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0
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350
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Local meaning of the Pfaffian of the curvature
The Ricci and scalar curvatures have very nice pointwise interpretations (using the local expression for the volume form for example). So, (at least Ricci) having special metrics (like Einstein) can ...
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8
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2
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Pfaffian representation of the Fermat quintic
It is known (see for instance Beauville - Determinantal hypersurfaces) that a generic homogeneous polynomial in $5$ variables of degree $5$ with complex coefficients can be written as the Pfaffian of ...
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7
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2
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Laplace-like / cofactor expansion for Pfaffian
Wikipedia presents a recursive definition of the Pfaffian of a skew-symmetric matrix as $$ \operatorname{pf}(A)=\sum_{{j=1}\atop{j\neq i}}^{2n}(-1)^{i+j+1+\theta(i-j)}a_{ij}\operatorname{pf}(A_{\hat{\...
- 8,597
5
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1
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Rational map given by pfaffians
Consider a general skew-symmetric $(n+1)\times (n+1)$ matrix $Z$, and let su map $Z$ to the point of $\mathbb{P}^n$ determined by $[pf_0(Z):\dots:pf_n(Z)]$ where the $pf_i(Z)$ are the principal ...
user117617
5
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2
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389
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Pfaffian of several skew-linear transformations / matrices
Introduction: Let's assume we have a 2-form $\alpha=(1/2)\sum_{j,k=1}^n a_{jk}\ e_j\wedge e_k$, where $n=2m$, and $a_{jk}\in\mathbb C$. We know that $\alpha^{\wedge m}=\alpha\wedge\alpha\dots\wedge\...
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3
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Detecting if a polynomial is a Pfaffian
Given an explicit polynomial, is there any kind of trick/algorithm to check whether it is a pfaffian of a matrix with linear entries?
The pfaffian can be defined as $\sqrt{{\rm det}(A) } $ when $A$ ...
- 3,779
4
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1
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Algorithms to count perfect matchings in near planar graphs
It is well known that counting perfect matchings is tractable in planar graphs (due to Kastelyn).
I am interested in classes of (for lack of a better word) "near" planar graphs (1-planar, ...
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4
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2
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209
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Computation of the pfaffian of a particular matrix
This question was originally asked in (https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/4265063/computation-of-the-pfaffian-of-a-particular-matrix). I did not find any satisfactory answer there. So I am ...
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4
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2
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580
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Singularities of Pfaffian hypersurfaces
Let $X\subset\mathbb{P}^4$ be an hypersurface of degree six given by the Pfaffian of a $6\times 6$ matrix $M$ whose entries are quadratic forms in the homogeneous coordinates of $\mathbb{P}^4$. I am ...
user61586
4
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0
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82
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Combinatorial interpretation of a pfaffian identity?
Let $n$ be a positive even integer. We introduce three types of skew-symmetric matrices, $A_{n+2}$, $B_n$ and $C_n$ (the subscript denotes the dimension of the matrices)
in terms of the variables $z_1,...
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3
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1
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the pfaffian-adjugate and its counterparts for matrices odd size
Let $R$ be a commutative ring (zero characteristic). Take a skew-symmetric matrix $A\in Mat^{skew-sym}(n,R)$.
If $n$ is even, then $\det(A)=Pf^2(A)$ and there exists the "Pfaffian adjugate/adjoint" ...
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3
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1
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429
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A specific integration with Grassmann variables
I have recently read (for example, here) that this relation below is true
$$ \int dz \: e^{\frac{1}{2} \sum_{ij} z_i A_{ij} z_j} = Pf(\mathbf{A}),
$$
where $Pf(\mathbf{A})$ is the Pfaffian of an even ...
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3
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Question on the model completeness of the real field expanded by restricted Pfaffian functions
Currently I'm reading "Model completeness results for expansions of the ordered field
of real numbers by restricted Pfaffian functions and the exponential function" by Wilkie, and I do not ...
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0
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Pfaffian generalization
The identity
$$\left|
\begin{array}{cccc}
x & y_1 & y_2 & y_3 \\
z_1 & 0 & a & b \\
z_2 & -a & 0 & c \\
z_3 & -b & -c & 0 \\
\end{array}
\right|=\...
- 12.3k
2
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0
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Orthogonality of Pfaffian polynomials in $SO(2m)$
I've been struggling here to invert some integral equation involving Pfaffians, and it would be very nice if you could shed some light on the problem.
Let's go to it. Let $V=\{-1,1\}^{m}$ and $S = \...
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