Unanswered Questions
3,136 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
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On the first sequence without triple in arithmetic progression
In this Numberphile video (from 3:36 to 7:41), Neil Sloane explains an amazing sequence:
It is the lexicographically first among the sequences of positive integers without triple in arithmetic ...
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51
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0
answers
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Does every triangle-free graph with maximum degree at most 6 have a 5-colouring?
A very specific case of Reed's Conjecture
Reed's $\omega$,$\Delta$, $\chi$ conjecture proposes that every graph has $\chi \leq \lceil \tfrac 12(\Delta+1+\omega)\rceil$. Here $\chi$ is the chromatic ...
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45
votes
0
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A = B (but not quite); 3-d arrays with multiple recurrences
Many years ago, I discovered the remarkable array (apparently originally discovered by Ramanujan)
1
1 3
2 10 15
6 40 105 105
24 196 700 1260 945
...
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41
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Is there anything to the obvious analogy between Joyal's combinatorial species and Goodwillie calculus?
Combinatorial species and calculus of functors both take the viewpoint that many interesting functors can be expanded in a kind of Taylor series. Many operations familiar from actual calculus can be ...
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36
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3-colorings of the unit distance graph of $\Bbb R^3$
Let $\Gamma$ be the unit distance graph of $\Bbb R^3$: points $(x,y)$ form an edge if $|x,y|=1$.
Let $(A,B,C,D)$ be a unit side rhombus in the plane, with a transcendental diagonal, e.g. $A = (\alpha,...
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35
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0
answers
949
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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 $...
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32
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The easily bored sequence
If we want to compare the repetitiveness of two finite words, it looks reasonable, first of all, to consider more repetitive the word repeating more times one of its factors, and secondarily to ...
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32
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Vertex coloring inherited from perfect matchings (motivated by quantum physics)
Added (19.01.2021): Dustin Mixon wrote a blog post about the question where he reformulated and generalized the question.
Added (25.12.2020): I made a youtube video to explain the question in detail.
...
32
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Minimal number of intersections in a convex $n$-gon?
For a convex polygon $P$, draw all the diagonals of $P$ and consider the intersection points made by those diagonals. Let $f(n)$ be the minimal number of such intersections where $P$ ranges over all ...
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A Combinatorial Abstraction for The "Polynomial Hirsch Conjecture"
Consider $t$ disjoint families of subsets of {1,2,…,n}, ${\cal F}_1,{\cal F_2},\dots {\cal F_t}$ .
Suppose that
(*)
For every $i \lt j \lt k$
and every $R \in {\cal F}_i$, and $T \in {\cal F}_k$,
...
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29
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0
answers
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Linking formulas by Euler, Pólya, Nekrasov-Okounkov
Consider the formal product
$$F(t,x,z):=\prod_{j=0}^{\infty}(1-tx^j)^{z-1}.$$
(a) If $z=2$ then on the one hand we get Euler's
$$F(t,x,2)=\sum_{n\geq0}\frac{(-1)^nx^{\binom{n}2}}{(x;x)_n}t^n,$$
on the ...
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29
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0
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Why do polytopes pop up in Lagrange inversion?
I'd be interested in hearing people's viewpoints on this. Looking for an intuitive perspective. See Wikipedia for descriptions of polytopes and the Lagrange inversion theorem/formula (LIF) for ...
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27
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A conjecture about inclusion–exclusion
$\newcommand\calF{\mathcal{F}}
\def\cupdot {\stackrel{\bullet}{\cup}}
\def\minusdot {\stackrel{\bullet}{\setminus}}$This post presents a conjecture that we have with some colleagues. It is about ...
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27
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890
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A question on simultaneous conjugation of permutations
Given $a,b\in S_n$ such that their commutator has at least $n-4$ fixed points, is there an element $z\in S_n$ such that $a^z=a^{-1}$, and $b^z=b^{-1}$? Here $a^z:=z^{-1}az$.
Magma says that the ...
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26
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0
answers
904
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Which sets of roots of unity give a polynomial with nonnegative coefficients?
The question in brief: When does a subset $S$ of the complex $n$th roots of unity have the property that
$$\prod_{\alpha\, \in \,S} (z-\alpha)$$
gives a polynomial in $\mathbb R[z]$ with ...
- 13.3k
24
votes
0
answers
752
views
How much of the plane is 4-colorable?
In 1981, Falconer proved that the measurable chromatic number of the plane is at least 5. That is, there are no measurable sets $A_1,A_2,A_3,A_4\subseteq\mathbb{R}^2$, each avoiding unit distances, ...
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24
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486
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Is the Poset of Graphs Automorphism-free?
For $n\geq 5$, let $\mathcal {P}_n$ be the set of all isomorphism classes of graphs with n vertices. Give this set the poset structure given by $G \le H$ if and only if $G$ is a subgraph of $H$.
Is ...
23
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Do all possible trees arise as orbit trees of some permutation groups?
I.Motivation from descriptive set theory
(Contains some quotes from Maciej Malicki's paper.)
The classical theorem of Birkhoff-Kakutani implies that every metrizable topological group G admits a ...
CommunityBot
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22
votes
0
answers
544
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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 ...
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22
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805
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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 ...
- 13.3k
22
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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?
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21
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answers
430
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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, ...
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21
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0
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597
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Coloring a Ferrers diagram
I've shopped the problem below around a bit and it seems like it might be known, or not that hard to resolve, but so far I've come up empty-handed.
Say that a coloring of the dots of a Ferrers ...
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21
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0
answers
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 ...
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21
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902
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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 \...
- 28.5k
21
votes
1
answer
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Tiling rectangle with trominoes — an invariant
There are two types of trominoes, straight shapes and L-shaped. Suppose a rectangle $R$ admits at least one tiling using trominoes, with an even number of L-trominoes.
EDIT: we do not admit ALL ...
CommunityBot
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20
votes
0
answers
559
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Hall's Marriage Theorem and intervals
In Hall's Marriage Theorem, we have a set $B$ of brides and $G$ of
grooms, where each bride $b$ has an acceptable set $A_b \subseteq G$
of grooms. A matching $m:B\to G$ is an injection such that $m(b)
...
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19
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0
answers
595
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Large values of characters of the symmetric group
For $g$ an element of a group and $\chi$ an irreducible character, there are two easy bounds for the character value $\chi(g)$: First, the bound $|\chi(g)|\leq \chi(1)$ by the dimension of the ...
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19
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0
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420
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Row of the character table of symmetric group with most negative entries
The row of the character table of $S_n$ corresponding to the trivial representation has all entries positive, and by orthogonality clearly it is the only one like this.
Is it true that for $n\gg 0$, ...
- 23.1k
19
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0
answers
611
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Simpler proofs of certain Ramsey numbers
The reason for the gorgeous simplicity of the classic proofs of $R(3,3)$, $R(4,4)$, $R(3,4)$ and $R(3,5)$ is that essentially all you need is the trivial bound and a picture.
But for bigger Ramsey ...
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19
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769
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A Linear Order from AP Calculus
In teaching my calculus students about limits and function domination, we ran into the class of functions
$$\Theta=\{x^\alpha (\ln{x})^\beta\}_{(\alpha,\beta)\in\mathbb{R}^2}$$
Suppose we say that $...
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0
answers
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coloring ${\mathbb Z}^k$
This question is related to but seems to be simpler than this one, so perhaps somebody can solve it.
Question. Is there $k\ge 1$ and a coloring of vertices of the lattice ${\mathbb Z}^k$ in $k$ ...
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18
votes
0
answers
568
views
What is the geometric intuition behind Wilf-Zeilberger theory?
This problem is somehow inspired by a bunch of impressive posts of combinatorial identities by T. Amdeberhan. Earlier this month I learnt from computer scientists that they have a generic algorithmic ...
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18
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0
answers
432
views
An algebraic strengthening of the Saturation Conjecture
The Saturation Conjecture (proved by Knutson-Tao) asserts that
$c_{n\mu,n\nu}^{n\lambda}\neq 0\Rightarrow c_{\mu,\nu}^{\lambda} \neq
0$, where $c$ denotes a Littlewood-Richardson coefficient and $n$ ...
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18
votes
0
answers
380
views
Deforming a basis of a polynomial ring
The ring $Symm$ of symmetric functions in infinitely many variables is well-known to be a polynomial ring in the elementary symmetric functions, and has a $\mathbb Z$-basis of Schur functions $\{S_\...
- 27.7k
17
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0
answers
367
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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 ...
- 24.4k
17
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487
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Does the Ackermann function count something?
Let $\mathrm{FinSet}$ be the category of finite sets.
A finite set structure is a faithful functor $F\colon C\to \mathrm{FinSet}$ such that, for any $n\geq 1$, there are only finitely many isomorphism ...
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17
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589
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Finite version special case Jacobi triple product formula
In this paper, Shanks uses the following formula:
$$ \sum_{s=0}^{n-1}q^{s(2n+1)} \times \left( \prod_{k=s+1}^{n} \dfrac{1-q^{2k}}{1-q^{2k-1}}\right) = \sum_{s=1}^{2n} q^{\frac{s(s-1)}{2}}$$
to get a ...
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17
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0
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1k
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Almost monochromatic point sets
There are many sort of equivalent theorems about monochromatic configurations in finite colorings, such as Van der Waerden, Hales-Jewett or Gallai's theorem, the latter of which states that in a ...
- 18.6k
17
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0
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846
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Ramsey's theorem for the first uncountable ordinal
Sierpiński proved that a version of Ramsey's theorem for colourings of pairs of countable ordinals fails miserably by comparing the ordering of $\omega_1$ with the linear ordering of (a subset of) the ...
- 11.3k
17
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975
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What to do with results you found but cannot prove(outside your research area)?
Not sure if MathOverflow is still a place to discuss such things, but I'll give it a try. Tell me an alternative site, in case it is wrong here. I translated a representation-theory/combinatorial ...
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17
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532
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Question about combinatorics on words
Let $\{a_1,a_2,...,a_n\}$ be an alphabet and let $\{u_1,...,u_n\}$ be words in this alphabet, and $a_i\mapsto u_i$ be a substitution $\phi$.
Question: Is there an algorithm to check if for some $m,k$...
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0
answers
430
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Need explicit formula for certain "$q$-numbers" involving gcd's
The question is motivated by yet another possible approach to a combinatorial problem formulated previously in "Special" meanders. I'm not giving details of the connection as I believe the ...
CommunityBot
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17
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0
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820
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What's the big deal about $M_{13}$?
$M_{13}$ is the Mathieu groupoid defined by Conway in
Conway, J. H. $M_{13}$. Surveys in combinatorics, 1997 (London), 1–11,
London Math. Soc. Lecture Note Ser., 241, Cambridge Univ. Press, ...
CommunityBot
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0
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420
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Do the coefficients of these irreducible polynomials always become periodic?
Fix $n\in\mathbb N$ and a starting polynomial (or seed) $p_n=a_0+a_1x+\dots+a_nx^n$ with $a_k\in\mathbb Z\ \forall k$ and $a_0a_n\ne0$.
Define $p_{n+1},p_{n+2},\dots$ recursively by $p_r = p_{r-1}+...
CommunityBot
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17
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0
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501
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Maximum automorphism group for a 3-connected cubic graph
The following arose as a side issue in a project on graph reconstruction.
Problem: Let $a(n)$ be the greatest order of the automorphism group of a 3-connected cubic graph with $n$ vertices. Find a ...
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17
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853
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Is there a n/2 version of the Erdős-Hanani conjecture?
This question comes out of REU research from this past summer. Unfortunately weeks of thought led to only trivial observations and the conclusion that the problem is quite hard.
Fix $k,t$. Let $F$ be ...
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17
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540
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Does a symplectic group act on a tensor power of a spin representation?
$\DeclareMathOperator\Spin{Spin}\DeclareMathOperator\Sp{Sp}$More specifically, let $S_k$ be the spin representation of $\Spin(2k+1)$.
Then is there are action of $\Sp(2r-2)$ on $\bigotimes^{2r}S_k$ ...
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17
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0
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909
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Combinatorial identity involving the Coxeter numbers of root systems
The setup is:
$R$ = irreducible (reduced) root system;
$D$ = connected Dynkin diagram of $R$, with nodes numbered $1,2,...,r$;
$\hat D$ = extended Dynkin diagram, nodes numbered $0,1,2,...,r$;
$\...
- 13.3k
16
votes
0
answers
549
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Identity involving Schur polynomials, binomial coefficients and contents of partition
Let $C_{\lambda,\mu}$ be the coefficients defined as
$$ s_\lambda\left(\frac{x_1}{1-x_1},...,\frac{x_N}{1-x_N}\right)=\sum_{\mu\supset \lambda}C_{\lambda\mu}s_\mu(x_1,...,x_N),$$
where $s$ are the ...
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