Ezra Miller

Subword complexes in Coxeter groups

Abstract Let ( Π , Σ ) be a Coxeter system. An ordered list of elements in Σ and an element in Π determine a subword complex , as introduced in Knutson and Miller (Ann. of Math. (2) (2003), to appear). Subword complexes are demonstrated here to be homeomorphic to balls or spheres, and their Hilbert series are shown to reflect combinatorial properties of reduced expressions in Coxeter groups. Two formulae for double Grothendieck polynomials, one of which appeared in Fomin and Kirillov (Proceedings of the Sixth Conference in Formal Power Series and Algebraic Combinatorics, DIMACS, 1994, pp. 183–190), are recovered in the context of simplicial topology for subword complexes. Some open questions related to subword complexes are presented.

Homological methods for hypergeometric families

We analyze the behavior of the holonomic rank in families of holonomic systems over complex algebraic varieties by providing homological criteria for rank-jumps in this general setting. Then we investigate rank-jump behavior for hypergeometric systems H_A(\beta) arising from a d x n integer matrix A and a parameter \beta \in \CC^d. To do so we introduce an Euler-Koszul functor for hypergeometric families over \CC^d, whose homology generalizes the notion of a hypergeometric system, and we prove a homology isomorphism with our general homological construction above. We show that a parameter \beta is rank-jumping for H_A(\beta) if and only if \beta lies in the Zariski closure of the set of \ZZ^d-graded degrees \alpha where the local cohomology \bigoplus_{i<d}H^i_\frakm(\CC[\NN A])_\alpha of the semigroup ring \CC[\NN A] supported at its maximal graded ideal \frakm is nonzero. Consequently, H_A(\beta) has no rank-jumps over \CC^d if and only if \CC[\NN A] is Cohen-Macaulay of dimension d.

Generic and cogeneric monomial ideals

Abstract Monomial ideals which are generic with respect to either their generators or irreducible components have minimal free resolutions encoded by simplicial complexes. There are numerous equivalent ways to say that a monomial ideal is generic or cogeneric. For a generic monomial ideal, the associated primes satisfy a saturated chain condition, and the Cohen–Macaulay property implies shellability for both the Scarf complex and the Stanley–Reisner complex. Reverse lexicographic initial ideals of generic lattice ideals are generic. Cohen–Macaulayness for cogeneric ideals is characterized combinatorially; in the cogeneric case, the Cohen–Macaulay type is greater than or equal to the number of irreducible components. Methods of proof include Alexander duality and Stanley’s theory of local h -vectors.

Persistent homology analysis of brain artery trees

New representations of tree-structured data objects, using ideas from topological data analysis, enable improved statistical analyses of a population of brain artery trees. A number of representations of each data tree arise from persistence diagrams that quantify branching and looping of vessels at multiple scales. Novel approaches to the statistical analysis, through various summaries of the persistence diagrams, lead to heightened correlations with covariates such as age and sex, relative to earlier analyses of this data set. The correlation with age continues to be significant even after controlling for correlations from earlier significant summaries.

Sticky central limit theorems on open books

Given a probability distribution on an open book (a metric space obtained by gluing a disjoint union of copies of a half-space along their boundary hyperplanes), we define a precise concept of when the Frechet mean (barycenter) is sticky. This nonclassical phenomenon is quantified by a law of large numbers (LLN) stating that the empirical mean eventually almost surely lies on the (codimension 1 and hence measure 0) spine that is the glued hyperplane, and a central limit theorem (CLT) stating that the limiting distribution is Gaussian and supported on the spine. We also state versions of the LLN and CLT for the cases where the mean is nonsticky (i.e., not lying on the spine) and partly sticky (i.e., is, on the spine but not sticky).

Polyhedral computational geometry for averaging metric phylogenetic trees

This paper investigates the computational geometry relevant to calculations of the Frechet mean and variance for probability distributions on the phylogenetic tree space of Billera, Holmes and Vogtmann, using the theory of probability measures on spaces of nonpositive curvature developed by Sturm. We show that the combinatorics of geodesics with a specified fixed endpoint in tree space are determined by the location of the varying endpoint in a certain polyhedral subdivision of tree space. The variance function associated to a finite subset of tree space has a fixed

Decompositions of commutative monoid congruences and binomial ideals

C^\infty

Positivity and Kleiman transversality in equivariant K-theory of homogeneous spaces

algebraic formula within each cell of the corresponding subdivision, and is continuously differentiable in the interior of each orthant of tree space. We use this subdivision to establish two iterative methods for producing sequences that converge to the Frechet mean: one based on Sturms Law of Large Numbers, and another based on descent algorithms for finding optima of smooth functions on convex polyhedra. We present properties and biological applications of Frechet means and extend our main results to more general globally nonpositively curved spaces composed of Euclidean orthants.

Gröbner geometry of vertex decompositions and of flagged tableaux

Primary decomposition of commutative monoid congruences is insensitive to certain features of primary decomposition in commutative rings. These features are captured by the more refined theory of mesoprimary decomposition of congruences, introduced here complete with witnesses and associated prime objects. The combinatorial theory of mesoprimary decomposition lifts to arbitrary binomial ideals in monoid algebras. The resulting binomial mesoprimary decomposition is a new type of intersection decomposition for binomial ideals that enjoys computational efficiency and independence from ground field hypotheses. Binomial primary decompositions are easily recovered from mesoprimary decomposition.

Tree-Oriented Analysis of Brain Artery Structure

We prove the conjectures of Graham-Kumar and Griffeth-Ram concerning the alternation of signs in the structure constants for torus-equivariant K-theory of generalized flag varieties G/P. These results are immediate consequences of an equivariant homological Kleiman transversality principle for the Borel mixing spaces of homogeneous spaces, and their subvarieties, under a natural group action with finitely many orbits. The computation of the coefficients in the expansion of the equivariant K-class of a subvariety in terms of Schubert classes is reduced to an Euler characteristic using the homological transversality theorem for non-transitive group actions due to S. Sierra. A vanishing theorem, when the subvariety has rational singularities, shows that the Euler characteristic is a sum of at most one term--the top one--with a well-defined sign. The vanishing is proved by suitably modifying a geometric argument due to M. Brion in ordinary K-theory that brings Kawamata-Viehweg vanishing to bear.