Unanswered Questions
49,207 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
22
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870
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Can two drums almost sound the same?
Let $D\subset \mathbb R^2$ be a region and let $\Lambda=\{\lambda_1,\lambda_2,\dots\}$ be the set of eigenvalues of the Laplacian $-\Delta$ (with boundary condition $\psi=0$ on $\partial D$).
Mark Kac,...
- 3,054
22
votes
0
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450
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Why does the random shift in the QR eigenvalue algorithm work in the non-symmetric case over the complex field
I tried to implement the QR algorithm for non-symmetric matrices with complex entries to show to my students. The main part of the implementation was standard: the Householder reduction to the ...
- 61.9k
22
votes
0
answers
547
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Sphere with bounded curvature
Let $V$ be a body in $\mathbb{R}^3$ bounded by a smooth sphere with principal curvatures at most 1 (by absolute value).
Is it true that
$$\mathop{\rm vol} V\ge \mathop{\rm vol} B,$$
where $B$ denotes ...
- 45k
22
votes
0
answers
757
views
Are Erdős polynomials irreducible?
Define the Erdős polynomial to be $f_n(x):= \sum \limits_{0 \leq i,j \leq n}^{}{x^{ij}}$ (the name is motivated by http://oeis.org/A027424).
For example for $n=5$, the polynomial is given by $x^{25}+...
- 26.5k
22
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0
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402
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What is the covering density of a very thin annulus? Is it $\frac{\pi\sqrt{51\sqrt{17}-107}}{16}$?
Take some very small $\epsilon>0$, and consider the annulus/ring given by the set $\{(r,\theta)\ |\ 1-\epsilon\le r\le1\}\subset \mathbb{R}^2$.
We wish to place translated copies of this annulus ...
- 3,068
22
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0
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842
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Whither Kronecker's Jugendtraum?
Kronecker's Jugendtraum (Hilbert's 12th problem) asks us to find for any number field $K$ an explicit collection of complex-valued functions whose explicitly described special values generate the ...
- 1,267
22
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0
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1k
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Do we know how to determine the $2^{2020}$ decimal of $\sqrt{2}$?
In the case of $\dfrac{1}{7^{800}}$ it's easy, to find the $2^{2020}$ decimal, but what about the simplest of the irrational numbers.
Question: Do we know how to determine the $2^{2020}$ decimal of $\...
- 4,074
22
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0
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Characterising critical points of $E(f)=\int_{M}| \bigwedge^2 df|^2 \text{Vol}_{M}$
$\newcommand{\id}{\operatorname{Id}}$
$\newcommand{\R}{\mathbb{R}}$
$\newcommand{\TM}{\operatorname{TM}}$
$\newcommand{\Hom}{\operatorname{Hom}}$
$\newcommand{\Cof}{\operatorname{Cof}}$
$\newcommand{\...
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22
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483
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What are the indecomposable $U_q\mathfrak{sl}(2)$-modules?
Let $\mathfrak g=\mathfrak{sl}(2)$.
Let $\zeta$ be a primitive root of unity of even order. Say $\zeta=e^{2\pi i/6}$, for concreteness.
Let $U_q\mathfrak g$ be Lusztig's integral form of the ...
- 43.2k
22
votes
0
answers
550
views
Zero curves of Tutte Polynomials?
There is an extensive theory of the real and complex roots of the chromatic polynomial of a graph, a substantial fraction of this being due to the connections between the chromatic polynomial and a ...
- 12.7k
22
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0
answers
424
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Unoriented bordism and homology, reference?
The following has undoubtedly been known to the experts for years, but I only noticed it the other day. Can anyone give a reference?
One can prove Thom's theorem to the effect that every mod $2$ ...
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22
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0
answers
577
views
Are the reals really a fraction field?
In an answer to this question I was led to show the trick proving that $\mathbb R$ is the fraction field of some strict subring $A\subsetneq \mathbb R=\operatorname{Frac}(A)$.
A crucial point in the ...
- 47.5k
22
votes
0
answers
866
views
Bar construction vs. twisted tensor product
One may study the cohomology of a space $E$ expressed as a homotopy pullback of $X$ and $Y$ over $Z$ using either the Eilenberg-Moore spectral sequence or the Serre spectral sequence for the fibration ...
- 985
22
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811
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Combinatorics of Quantum Schubert Polynomials
Let $S_n$ be the symmetric group. Let $s_i$ denote the adjacent transposition $(i \ i+1)$. For any permutation $w\in S_n$, an expression $w=s_{i_1}s_{i_2}\cdots s_{i_p}$ of minimal possible length is ...
- 4,952
22
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676
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Are there "chain complexes" and "homology groups" taking values in pairs of topological spaces?
Throughout this question, notation of the form $(X,A)$ denotes a sufficiently nice pair of topological spaces. I think for most of what I'm saying here, it is enough to assume that the inclusion $A \...
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22
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0
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499
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Infinitely many planets on a line, with Newtonian gravity
(I previously asked essentially this on physics.stackexchange, but was actually
hoping for answers with something closer to a proof than what I got there.)
Suppose we have a unit mass planet at each ...
user5810
22
votes
0
answers
3k
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Origins of the Nerve Theorem
Recently, I've read two papers which have cited the Nerve Theorem, one crediting Borsuk with the result and another Leray. Here is the question:
Who was the first to prove the Nerve Theorem?
- 15.5k
22
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584
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The multiplication game on the free group
Fix $W\subseteq\mathbb F_2$ and consider the following two-person game: Player 1 and Player 2 simultaneously choose $x$ and $y$ in $\mathbb F_2$. The first player wins, say one dollar, iff $xy\in W$. ...
- 6,034
22
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0
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626
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Smooth thickenings of non-smoothable manifolds
It is known that any closed topological manifold is homotopy equivalent to an open smooth manifold.
Question 1. What can be said about the smallest
dimension of a smooth manifold
that is homotopy ...
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22
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1k
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Given a lattice L with n elements, are there finite groups H < G such that L $\cong$ the lattice of subgroups between H and G?
If there is no restriction on $n$, this is a famous open problem. I'm wondering if any recent work has been done for small $n>6$. I believe the question is answered (positively) for $n=6$ by ...
- 1,241
22
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2k
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Is the equivariant cohomology an equivariant cohomology?
Suppose a finite group $G$ acts piecewise linearly on a polyhedron $X$. Then there are two kinds of equivariant cohomology (or homology).
$\bullet$ With coefficients in a $\Bbb Z G$-module $M$. A ...
- 5,575
22
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0
answers
1k
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Fake CM elliptic curves
Suppose one has an elliptic curve $E$ over $\mathbb{Q}$ with conductor $N < k^3$ for some (large) positive $k$, with the property that its Fourier coefficients satisfy
$$
a_p=0, \; \mbox{ for all }...
- 2,381
22
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0
answers
773
views
bound on the genus of a fiber of the Albanese map of a surface with $h^1({\mathcal O})=1$?
This is maybe more an open problem than a question, since I have seriously thought about it and asked several people working on algebraic surfaces with no success. I hope somebody here can ...
- 6,253
22
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0
answers
969
views
Poincaré-Hopf and Mathai-Quillen for Chern classes?
One. The Poincaré-Hopf theorem is usually stated as a formula for the Euler characteristic of the tangent bundle TM. Is there a version for Euler classes, of oriented real vector bundles?
It seems ...
- 27.9k
22
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Numbers of distinct products obtained by permuting the factors
Let $n \in \mathbb{N}$. Is it true that for every $k \in \{1, \dots, n!\}$ there are
some group $G$ and pairwise distinct elements $g_1, \dots, g_n \in G$ such that the set
$\{g_{\sigma(1)} \cdot \ \...
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21
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0
answers
274
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The "stained glass window problem": Draw many random chords in a circle; which kind of polygon ($3$-gon, $4$-gon, etc.) occupies the most total area?
Draw $n$ random chords in a circle, where each chord connects two independent uniformly random points on the circle.
As $n\to\infty$, which kind of polygon (triangle, quadrilateral, pentagon, etc.) ...
- 3,567
21
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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
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0
answers
764
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+300
Snakes on a plane
A sleeping bag for a baby snake in $d$ dimensions (no, really) is a subset of $\mathbb{R}^d$ which can cover (via translation and rotation) every (piecewise-smooth for concreteness) curve of unit ...
- 20.5k
21
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0
answers
416
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Can a 4D spacecraft, with just a single rigid thruster, achieve any rotational velocity?
(Copied from MSE. Offering four bounties over time, I got no response, other than twenty-nine upvotes.)
It seems preposterous at first glance. I just want to be sure. Even in 3D the behaviour of ...
- 281
21
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0
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2k
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Cartan–Oka vanishing in one variable without $\overline{\partial}$?
This is a literature question, about possible proofs of some very basic results in complex analysis.
Some key facts about holomorphic functions are proved via reduction to smooth functions, using $\...
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21
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473
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Are braid groups known to not be linear over $\mathbb{Z}$?
$\DeclareMathOperator\GL{GL}$It is known that every braid group $B_n$ embeds as a subgroup of $\GL_m(\mathbb{Z}[q^{\pm 1},t^{\pm 1}])$, where $m=n(n-1)/2$ (see Krammer - Braid groups are linear). This ...
- 3,740
21
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0
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473
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Is there a "direct" proof of the Galois symmetry on centre of group algebra?
Let $G$ be a finite group, and $n$ an integer coprime to $|G|$. Then we have the following map, which is clearly not a morphism of groups in general: $$g\mapsto g^n.$$
This induces a linear ...
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21
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0
answers
865
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Does the Witten genus determine $\mathrm{tmf}$ (or $\mathrm{TMF}$)?
$\newcommand\specfont[1]{\mathrm{#1}}$$\newcommand\MSpin{\specfont{MSpin}}\newcommand\KO{\specfont{KO}}\newcommand\KU{\specfont{KU}}\newcommand\MString{\specfont{MString}}\newcommand\tmf{\specfont{tmf}...
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0
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861
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A mysterious paper of Stallings that was supposed to appear in the Annals
In Stallings's paper
Stallings, John, Groups with infinite products, Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 68 (1962), 388–389.
he briefly discusses how to prove "several generalizations" of Brown's ...
- 353
21
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0
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453
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Does every 5-celled animal tile the plane?
An animal in the plane is a finite set of grid-aligned unit squares in $\mathbb{R}^2$. (The definition is the same as a polyomino, but where we relax the connectivity requirement.) One may ...
- 3,068
21
votes
0
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696
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A Green's function for the Laplacian on k-forms
Let $X$ be a compact, oriented, Riemannian $n$-fold. Then we have a Laplacian operator $\Delta = d d^{\ast} + d^{\ast} d$ from $\Omega^k(X)$ to itself. We have the Hodge decomposition $\Omega^k(X) = \...
- 156k
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2k
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Recent developments in the proof of Fermat's last theorem
I posted on Mathematics Stack Exchange, but was encouraged to post on MathOverFlow instead.
It has been 20 years since Fermat's last theorem was proved by Andrew Wiles.
Has there been any ...
- 311
21
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0
answers
777
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Is the mapping class group of $\Bbb{CP}^n$ known?
In his paper "Concordance spaces, higher simple homotopy theory, and applications", Hatcher calcuates the smooth, PL, and topological mapping class groups of the $n$-torus $T^n$. This requires an ...
- 9,580
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0
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919
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"Compactness for computability" - does it ever happen?
Throughout, "computable structure" means "first-order structure in a computable language with domain $\omega$ whose atomic diagram is computable."
Say that a computable structure $...
- 20.5k
21
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0
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793
views
Class field theory and the class group
Let $k$ be a finite abelian extension of $\mathbb{Q}$. Class field theory states that $k$ corresponds to some open subgroup of finite index $U_k \subset \mathbb{A}_{\mathbb{Q}}^*/ \mathbb{Q}^*$ where $...
- 21.3k
21
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0
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441
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Straight-line drawing of regular polyhedra
Find the minimum number of straight lines needed to cover a crossing-free straight-line drawing of the icosahedron $(13\dots 15)$ and of the dodecahedron $(9\dots 10)$ (in the plane).
For example, ...
- 4,535
21
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0
answers
717
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If $X\times Y$ is homotopy equivalent to a finite-dimensional CW Complex, are $X$ and $Y$ as well?
Is there a space $X$ that is not homotopy equivalent to a finite-dimensional CW complex for which there exists a space $Y$ such that the product space $X\times Y$ is homotopy equivalent to a finite-...
- 211
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0
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1k
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A question about sigma algebras and rectangles
Let P be the statement: Every subset of plane belongs to the sigma algebra generated by $\{A \times B : A, B \subseteq \mathbb{R}\}$.
Let Q be the statement: Every continuum-sized family of subsets ...
- 9,641
21
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0
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1k
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Is the Dieudonne module actually a cohomology group?
One often times thinks of the Dieudonne module $M(X)$ of a $p$-divisible group (say over $k$, a perfect characteristic $p$ field) as being some sort of cohomology theory
$$M:\left\{p\text{- divisible ...
- 787
21
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0
answers
904
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In what sense is the braid group $B_3$ the universal central extension of the modular group $\Gamma$?
First let's recall some definitions. Let $G$ be a perfect group, so that
$$H^2(G, A) \cong \text{Hom}(H_2(G), A)$$
for all abelian groups $A$ by universal coefficients. This means that when $A = ...
- 118k
21
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0
answers
658
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A multiple integral
Let us consider the multiple integral
$$I_{n}=\int_{-\infty }^{\infty }ds_{1}\int_{-\infty}^{s_{1}}ds_{2}\cdots
\int_{-\infty }^{s_{2n-1}}ds_{2n}\;\cos {(s_{1}^{2}-s_{2}^{2})}\;\cdots
\cos {(s_{2n-1}...
- 16.5k
21
votes
0
answers
617
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Bounding failures of the integral Hodge and Tate conjectures
It is well know that the integral versions of the Hodge and Tate conjectures can fail. I once heard an off hand comment however that they should only fail by a "bounded amount". My question is what ...
- 21.3k
21
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0
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869
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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 ...
- 28.6k
21
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0
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2k
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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 ...
- 24.7k
21
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0
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904
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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