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Questions tagged [quadratic-forms]

Algebraic and geometric theory of quadratic forms and symmetric bilinear forms, e.g., values attained by quadratic forms, isotropic subspaces, the Witt ring, invariants of quadratic forms, the discriminant and Clifford algebra of a quadratic form, Pfister forms, automorphisms of quadratic forms.

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Hermitian forms over quaternion algebra

Notations: Let $Q=(a,b)$ be a quaternion algebra over a field of characteristic $\neq 2$, i.e. $i^2=a, j^2=b, k=ij, ij=-ji$. Consider $K=k(t)(\alpha)$, where $\alpha=\sqrt{at^2+b}$. Let $\sigma=Int(i)\...
user40597's user avatar
8 votes
3 answers
2k views

Integral orthogonal group for indefinite ternary quadratic form

I have the indefinite quadratic form $q(x,y,z) = 19 x^2 + 5 y^2 - z^2.$ It's not my fault. I find, on reflection, that I have no idea how to describe the orthogonal group of this over the integers. ...
Will Jagy's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
447 views

Does this quadratic form over a large field represent 1?

I have a field $K$ of transcendence degree two over $\mathbb{R}$, and elements $a_1,a_2,a_3\in K$. I would like to understand the set $$ Q = \{ u\in K^3 : \sum_i a_iu_i^2 = 1\} $$ In particular, I ...
Neil Strickland's user avatar
8 votes
4 answers
6k views

Solving a System of Quadratic Equations

I have many polynomial equations in many variables which I want to jointly minimize (in a mean square sense, but you could pick a different reasonable measure which favors anything where all ...
bobuhito's user avatar
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5 votes
3 answers
476 views

Proving the existence of an integral quadratic form

Theorem 11 (Conway & Sloane, Sphere Packings, Lattices and Groups, 3rd Edition, pp 383, Ch 15). If a system of putative $p$-adic symbols for each $p$ satisfies the determinant, oddity, and $p$-...
cdubey's user avatar
  • 85
3 votes
1 answer
254 views

Intuition on a certain class of quadratic optimization problems

Let $\mathcal{X} = \{\mathbf{X}\in\mathbb{C}^{d\times d}:\|\mathbf{X}\|\leq 1\}$, where $\|\cdot\|$ is the Frobenius norm. Let $\mathbf{y}\in\mathbb{C}^{d\times 1}$. We are familiar with the following ...
Lord Soth's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
128 views

A description of the isometry group $O(U\oplus E_8)$?

Are there any good description of the isometry group $O(U\oplus E_8)$? Here $U$ denotes the hyperbolic lattice and $E_8$ the root lattice of type $E_8$.
Andrew's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
359 views

How to determine $O(L)$ is finite or not?

Let $L$ be an indefinite {\it non-unimodular} integral lattice. I am particularly interested in unimodular cases, such as $U(2)\oplus A_4, U\oplus D_4$. Are there any general method to determine ...
Andrew's user avatar
  • 21
1 vote
2 answers
252 views

Impossible Range for Minkowski-Like Sum of Squares

Given coprime positive integers M,N, and a corresponding integer z outside of the range (for all integers x,a,b,c) of $Mx^2-N(a^2+b^2+c^2)$, is there any such z which is "deceptive", meaning that it ...
bobuhito's user avatar
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5 votes
3 answers
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A nice necessary and sufficient condition on positive semi-definiteness of a matrix with a special structure

Let $$ A = \begin{pmatrix} \sum_{j\ne 1}a_{1j} & -a_{12} & \cdots & -a_{1n}\\ -a_{21} & \sum_{j\ne 2}a_{2j} & \cdots & -a_{2n}\\ \vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \...
Mohammad Khosravi's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
261 views

Name for a Specific Type of Non-Symmetric Bilinear Form

Let $V$ be a finite dimensional vector space, with some choice of basis $\{e_i\}_{i \in I}$. With respect to an idempotent bijection $B:I \to I$, define a bilinear form by $$ g = \sum_{i=1}^N \lambda_{...
Milan Bernolak's user avatar
0 votes
3 answers
2k views

rank of outer product

I would like to ask if you may know how to prove this claim or any theorem related: Given 9 points (x,y,z) lie on unit sphere in 3 dimensional space such that any 4 points are not on the same plane. ...
thomeou's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
607 views

Automorphism groups of indefinite non-unimodular integer lattices

Does anyone know of any papers in which structural aspects of the orthogonal group of some indefinite non-unimodular integral lattice are calculated? The exact lattice isn't so important and they don'...
user36896's user avatar
5 votes
0 answers
376 views

primes represented by indefinite quadratic forms

Let $Q$ be an indefinite binary quadratic form with discriminant $D$ and one class per genus (keep the example $x^2 - 2y^2$ in mind). If one asks about the set $P = \{ p : p \text{ prime and } p = Q(...
Victor Miller's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
137 views

What are the Voronoi cones in 4 variables?

Question: What are the top dimensional cones of the 2nd Voronoi decomposition of the space of positive definite forms in $4$ variables? The 2nd Voronoi decomposition of the cone of positive definite ...
Numma1Stunna's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
2k views

Maximum dimension of an isotropic subspace in a quadratic space

i hope my question is not too trivial. Let's suppose we have a vector space $V$ with a unimodular quadratic form $q$ of signature $(m,n)$. My question is: which is the maximum dimension of an ...
michael waltz's user avatar
5 votes
0 answers
308 views

Algorithm for solutions to quadratic forms over number fields

Are there any know (preferably implemented) algorithms to find solutions to quadratic forms over number fields (or global fields)? I am especially interested in the quaternary case. There exist some ...
Casaubon's user avatar
  • 101
0 votes
1 answer
311 views

Subspace generated by positive vectors

Hi everyone, first of all i must admit i'm very familiar with quadratic forms and positive subspaces, so i'm sorry if my question is too trivial. So, here's my problem: Let $L$ be a real vector space ...
Filippo Amaducci's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
396 views

Tangent space to positive oriented Grassmannians

Let $L$ be a real vector space of dimension 22 and $q$ a quadratic form on $L$ of signature $(3,19)$. Let $V\subset L$ be a positive oriented subspace of dimension 2 and $G^{po}(2,L)$ be the ...
Filippo Amaducci's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
653 views

Existence of non-trivial solution to non linear polynomial system

I need to find conditions for the existence of non-trivial solutions to a multivariable polynomial system in two cases: The first case: $f1: a_1x^2+a_2xy+a_3y^2+a_4z^2=0$ $f2: b_1x^2+b_2xy+b_3y^2+...
user34985's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
775 views

Positive subspaces of quadratic forms

here's my question: Let $V$ be a k-dimensional vector space over $\mathbb{R}$ and $q$ a quadratic form on $V$ of signature $(m,n)$ , $m+n=k$. We have $W\subset V$ a positive (with respect to the ...
Tony Harrison's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
120 views

Tensor product with $\mathbb{R}$ of an even unimodular lattice

Let $\Lambda$ be an unimodular even lattice of signature $(m,n)$. By a classifying theorem by Milnor, $\Lambda$ must be of the form $U^k\oplus E_8(\pm 1)^l$, where $U$ is the hyperbolic plane. Now ...
Tony Harrison's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
107 views

pavings and quadratic forms

Hi, let $L$ be a lattice isomorphic to $\mathbb{Z}^r$ for some positive integer $r$ and $E=L\otimes \mathbb{R}$. An integral paving in $E$ is a set $\Sigma$ of integral polytopes (the vertices are ...
melan's user avatar
  • 31
8 votes
1 answer
432 views

Did Smith correctly state the mass formula?

Did Smith correctly state the mass formula? H.J.S. "normal form" Smith was the first, in 1867, to state the mass formula for integral quadratic forms in a genus of 4 or more variables. This was ...
Ben Wieland's user avatar
  • 8,717
2 votes
1 answer
339 views

Question about Gauss composition law over PID.

Let $m$ be a square free integer, $\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{m})$ a quadratic field extension of $\mathbb{Q}$, $\Delta$ is its discriminant and $O_{\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{m})/\mathbb{Q}}$ its ring of integers. We ...
M.Souf's user avatar
  • 433
5 votes
0 answers
596 views

Literature on Exponential of a Quadratic Form

Let $A_i$, $i=1,\dots,L$ be given $N\times N$ positive definite real matrices. I have this sum of exponentials \begin{align} f(\mathbf{x})=\sum_{i=1}^{L}\operatorname{exp}(-{\mathbf{x}^T\mathbf{A}_i\...
dineshdileep's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
389 views

Filling in a rational orthogonal matrix given one row

Quick version: given natural $n$ and a row of $n$ integers such that the sum of the squares is another square, call it $m^2.$ For $n=5,6,7$ is it always possible to fill in the rest of an $n$ by $n$ ...
Will Jagy's user avatar
  • 25.7k
8 votes
1 answer
2k views

A spectral inequality for positive-definite matrices

Question. Given a positive-definite $n \times n$ matrix $A = (a_{ij})$ with eigenvalues $$ \lambda_1 \leq \cdots \leq \lambda_n , $$ is there a sharp upper bound for the product $\lambda_2 \cdots \...
alvarezpaiva's user avatar
  • 13.5k
12 votes
1 answer
775 views

Would a closed universe with special relativity violate causality? Does the universe have to be simply connected?

This question may be more appropriate for physics.stackexchange.com, but it would be helpful to get feedback from experts in Minkowski geometry. The classic twin paradox is a false thought experiment ...
Brian Rushton's user avatar
15 votes
1 answer
1k views

Quadratic forms and $p$-adic integers

I want to prove a result on equivalences of quadratic forms over $\mathbb{Q}_p$, with a control on the height of the change-of-basis matrix. (I am more generally interested in hermitian forms over ...
Martin Orr's user avatar
  • 1,500
1 vote
0 answers
192 views

Orthogonal transformations with trivial spinor norm as product of reflections $r_w$ with $(w,w)=-2$

I'm trying to prove that, for a standard unimodular even lattice $\Lambda$ (by standard I mean that it is direct sum of copies of the hyperbolic plane $U$ and $E_8$) every element of $O^+(\Lambda)$, i....
Konrad's user avatar
  • 83
9 votes
1 answer
748 views

Does there exist a half-integer weight theta function which is is equivalent to 1 modulo 4?

Given a quadratic form $F$ in $n$ variables, there is an associated theta function $\theta_F(z) = \sum_{m \in \mathbb{Z}} q^{F(m)}$, which is a modular form of weight $n/2$. Letting $F(m) = m^2$ ...
stl's user avatar
  • 585
0 votes
0 answers
407 views

Solutions to a quadratic congruence

Fix an odd prime $p$. Let $\alpha = (\alpha_0,\dots,\alpha_k)$ be a solution to the congruence $\sum_{i=0}^{k} \alpha_i^2 \equiv x \mod p$. Now consider the number $N_\alpha$ of solutions to the ...
Gary's user avatar
  • 1
0 votes
2 answers
194 views

Quadratic subextension of the function field of quadric.

Assume $F$ is a field of characteristic $\neq 2$. Let $(V,q)$ be a quadratic space such that $\rm dim~ q\geq 3$. When $q$ is irreducible it is known that there exist a purely transcendental field ...
Yahoo's user avatar
  • 57
0 votes
0 answers
270 views

Solution Existence of a System of Complex Quadratic Equations

Consider $ {x_k}_{k = 1}^K \in \mathbb{C}^{N \times 1}$ a set of $K$ complex vector variables of length $N$. I am interested in finding the existence of a solution of the following quadratic set of ...
mikitov's user avatar
  • 342
1 vote
0 answers
192 views

Non-negative Quadratic forms with Exterior Forms

Hello All, I apologize if the following question is too elementary. Any suggestion is greatly appreciated. Thank you. Let $n\geqslant 4$, $X$ be an $n$-dimensional inner product space over $\mathbb{...
Munmoon Salehi's user avatar
7 votes
0 answers
674 views

Mock modular forms and (indefinite) quadratic forms

Define the function $$f(q,z,y) = \sum_{n \ge 0,m,l} c(n,m,l) q^n z^m y^l$$ where $c(n,m,l)$ is defined by $$ c(n,m,l) = \begin{cases} (-1)^{s+l} & \text{if } 4n - m^2 + l^2 = 2s(s+1)\\ 0 & \...
Richard Eager's user avatar
12 votes
2 answers
3k views

On the positive definiteness of a linear combination of matrices

In my work in PDE, the following problem in linear algebra came up. Any help in this direction is appreciated. QUESTION: Let $m,n\in\mathbb{N}$ and let $A_1,\ldots, A_m\in M_n(\mathbb{R})$ be real, ...
Tatin's user avatar
  • 895
8 votes
1 answer
781 views

genus and spinor genus over a number field

Let $F$ be a number field with ring of integers $\mathfrak{o}$. Let $(V,Q)$ be a quadratic space of dimension $n$ over $F$, and let $L$ be a free lattice in $V$ (i.e. $L\cong\mathfrak{o}^n$). If the ...
7 votes
3 answers
1k views

Realizing proper pure octonions as conjugates

Let us take the octonions as having all integer coefficients and the multiplication table at BAEZ We have a standard conjugation operator with $\bar{1} = 1$ and $\bar{e_i}= - e_i,$ extend by ...
Will Jagy's user avatar
  • 25.7k
2 votes
2 answers
293 views

Convex optimization problem to QPP

Briefly, have the following problem: \begin{equation} \sum_{i = 0}^n a_i \ (max [ F_i( \bar x ), 0 ] )^2 \rightarrow min, \\\\ s.t.\\\\ A \bar x \leq b \end{equation} where $ F( \bar x ) $ is a ...
Artem Pianykh's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
253 views

two non-degenerate quadratic forms on $GF(2)^2r$

I know this: There are two non-degenerate quadratic forms on $GF(2)^2r$. The hyperbolic form may be taken to be $Q^+(x)=x_0 x_1 + \cdots +x_{2r-2}x_{2r-1}$ , and the elliptic form to be $Q^-(x)=x^...
mj125's user avatar
  • 179
1 vote
1 answer
265 views

''Local-global-principle'' for certain isometries of lattices

Hi everybody. I am trying to understand a proof of Kneser. the assertion is on a ''weak version'' of the local-global principle certain isometries: It is Satz (30.9) in kneser book ''Quadratische ...
user25160's user avatar
  • 103
1 vote
1 answer
177 views

if $\Pi_1$ and $\Pi_2$ be elliptic planes then $\Pi_1 \oplus \Pi_2 $ is still elliptic?

Let $\Omega \in\Lambda^{4}\big(V^{ \star }\big)$ be volume form. Define symplectic bilinear form $q: \Pi \oplus \Pi \rightarrow R $ $\big( \alpha ,\beta \big) \longrightarrow \alpha \...
user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
210 views

Gram matrix modulo 4

Suppose we have a full rank, integer sublattice $L$ of the integer lattice $\mathbb Z^d$, where we fix the dimension $d$. Consider the Gram matrix $M$ of $L$, relative to some basis for $L$, and ...
Sinai Robins's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
442 views

The quadratic form $x^2+ny^2$ via prime factors

Elementary algebra shows that the product of two numbers in the form $x^2 + ny^2$ again has the same form, since if $p = (a^2 + nb^2)$ and $q = (c^2 + nd^2)$, $$pq = (a^2 + nb^2)(c^2 + nd^2) = (ac \...
Stemkoski's user avatar
  • 161
4 votes
1 answer
393 views

Can an ellipsoid be moved freely inside another ellipsoid?

An origin centric ellipsoid is defined by any positive semi-definite $n$ by $n$ matrix $X$, by taking all vectors $v$ such that $v^tXv\leq1$. Call two origin centric ellipsoid equivalent if one can be ...
puzne's user avatar
  • 87
2 votes
3 answers
348 views

if Y-X is positive semi-definite, are the eigenvalues of Y bigger?

So $X$ and $Y$ are Hermitian matrices (or just symmetric real) of size $n$ by $n$ and suppose $Y\succeq X$, namely $Y-X$ is positive-semidefinite. Now write the eigenvalues of $Y$ as $\alpha_1\leq\...
puzne's user avatar
  • 87
1 vote
1 answer
213 views

Weyl asymptotics vs. form perturbations

Consider Hilbert spaces $V$,$H$; a closed quadratic form $a$ with domain $V$; and its associated operator $A$ on $H$. (If necessary, the form can be assumed to be coercive.) For the sake of simplicity,...
Delio Mugnolo's user avatar
19 votes
0 answers
1k views

Does this variant of a theorem of Hasse (really due to Gauss) have an "elementary" proof?

BACKGROUND Here are 3 theorems of varying difficulty. Let $M$ be the $Z/2$ subspace of $Z/2[[x]]$ spanned by $f^k$, with the $k>0$ and odd, and $f=x+x^9+x^{25}+x^{49}+\cdots$. For $g$ in $M$, let $...
paul Monsky's user avatar
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