arXiv research

Combinatorial proof of grid homology properties.

Using bordered Floer theory, we give a combinatorial construction and proof of invariance for the hat version of Heegaard Floer homology. As a part of the proof, we also establish combinatorially the invariance of the linear-categorical representation of the strongly-based mapping class groupoid given by the same theor…

Proves a formula in Heegaard Floer homology using combinatorial methods.

Proved a combinatorial conjecture in machine learning.

It follows implicitly from recent work in Heegaard Floer theory that lens spaces are homology cobordant exactly when they are oriented homeomorphic. We provide a new combinatorial proof using the Heegaard Floer d-invariants, which themselves may be defined combinatorially for lens spaces.

Combines combinatorial method to extend Milnor invariants to welded links.

The proof of Brouwer's fixed-point theorem based on Sperner's lemma is often presented as an elementary combinatorial alternative to advanced proofs based on algebraic topology. The goal of this note is to show that: (i) the combinatorial proof of Sperner's Lemma can be considered as a cochain-level version, written in…

New proof for discrete Morse theory using combinatorial construction.

For triangulated surfaces, we introduce the combinatorial Calabi flow which is an analogue of smooth Calabi flow. We prove that the solution of combinatorial Calabi flow exists for all time. Moreover, the solution converges if and only if Thurston's circle packing exists. As a consequence, combinatorial Calabi flow pro…

We prove that the "minus" version of Lipshitz's double-point enhanced grid homology is a knot invariant through purely combinatorial means.

Sarkar and Wang have given a combinatorial algorithm for computing Heegaard Floer homology and Plamenevskaya has improved their method to compute Ozsvath-Szabo invariant. In this paper, applying the combinatorial method to stabilizations of an open book, we prove basic properties of Ozsvath-Szabo invariant.

Using a Heegaard diagram for the pullback of a knot $K \subset S^3$ in its cyclic branched cover $Σ_m(K)$ obtained from a grid diagram for $K$, we give a combinatorial proof for the invariance of the associated combinatorial knot Floer homology over $\mathbb{Z}$.

We revisit the proof by Qin et al. (2014) of bounded regret of the C$^2$UCB contextual combinatorial bandit. We demonstrate an error in the proof of volumetric expansion of the moment matrix, used in upper bounding a function of context vector norms. We prove a relaxed inequality that yields the originally-stated regre…

Researchers solved a number-theoretic hypothesis to determine the spin parity of k-differentials.

We provide an intergral lift of the combinatorial definition of Heegaard Floer homology for nice diagrams, and show that the proof of independence using convenient diagrams adapts to this setting.

The traditional Riemann Mapping Theorem can be proved with circle packing techniques. We prove the Combinatorial Riemann Mapping Theorem for tilings of bounded size using circle packings.

Robot untangles knots by walking and switching crossings.

A degree-regular triangulation is one in which each vertex has identical degree. Our main result is that any such triangulation of a (possibly non-compact) surface $S$ is geometric, that is, it is combinatorially equivalent to a geodesic triangulation with respect to a constant curvature metric on $S$, and we list the …

We consider a stabilized version of hat Heegaard Floer homology of a 3-manifold Y (i.e. the U=0 variant of Heegaard Floer homology for closed 3-manifolds). We give a combinatorial algorithm for constructing this invariant, starting from a Heegaard decomposition for Y, and give a combinatorial proof of its invariance pr…

A combinatorial proof of the Gordon Conjecture: The sum of two Heegaard splittings is stabilized if and only if one of the two summands is stabilized.

Using a Heegaard diagram for the pullback of a knot $K \subset S^3$ in its cyclic double branched cover $Σ_2(K)$, we give a combinatorial proof for the invariance of knot Floer homology over $\mathbb{Z}$.

A combinatorial condition is obtained for when immersed or embedded incompressible surfaces in compact 3-manifolds with tori boundary components remain incompressible after Dehn surgery. A combinatorial characterisation of hierarchies is described. A new proof is given of the topological rigidity theorem of Hass and Sc…

Via a computer search, Altshuler and Steinberg found that there are 1296 +1 combinatorial 3-manifolds on nine vertices, of which only one is non-sphere. This exceptional 3-manifold $K^{3}_{9}$ triangulates the twisted $S^{2}$-bundle over $S^{1}$. It was first constructed by Walkup. In this paper, we present a computer-…

We develop a tighter implementation of basic PL topology, which keeps track of some combinatorial structure beyond PL homeomorphism type. With this technique we clarify some aspects of PL transversality and give combinatorial proofs of a number of known results. New results include a combinatorial characterization of c…

We investigate the combinatorial analogues, in the context of normal surfaces, of taut and transversely measured (codimension 1) foliations of 3-manifolds. We establish that the existence of certain combinatorial structures, a priori weaker than the existence of the corresponding foliation, is sufficient to guarantee t…

We use a simple geometric argument and small cancellation properties of link groups to prove that alternating links are non-trivial. This proof uses only classic results in topology and combinatorial group theory.

We show that the analog of Hamilton's Ricci flow in the combinatorial setting produces solutions which converge exponentially fast to Thurston's circle packing on surfaces. As a consequence, a new proof of Thurston's existence of circle packing theorem is obtained. As another consequence, Ricci flow suggests a new algo…

Following the general strategy proposed by G.Rybnikov, we present a proof of his well-known result, that is, the existence of two arrangements of lines having the same combinatorial type, but non-isomorphic fundamental groups. To do so, the Alexander Invariant and certain invariants of combinatorial line arrangements a…

The paper explores orthogeodesics on hyperbolic surfaces and their integer traces.

Simpler proof for non-basic sets in 2D.

Let $M$ be an $n$-vertex combinatorial triangulation of a $\ZZ_2$-homology $d$-sphere. In this paper we prove that if $n \leq d + 8$ then $M$ must be a combinatorial sphere. Further, if $n = d + 9$ and $M$ is not a combinatorial sphere then $M$ can not admit any proper bistellar move. Existence of a 12-vertex triangula…

This research connects combinatorial Teichmüller space geometry to Weil-Petersson geometry.

We define Discrete Quasi-Einstein metrics (DQE-metrics) as the critical points of discrete total curvature functional on triangulated 3-manifolds. We study DQE-metrics by introducing some combinatorial curvature flows. We prove that these flows produce solutions which converge to discrete quasi-Einstein metrics when th…

Combinatorial approach to $α$-Ricci and Lin-Lu-Yau Ricci curvatures on graphs

A few years ago Kramer and Laubenbacher introduced a discrete notion of homotopy for simplicial complexes. In this paper, we compute the discrete fundamental group of the order complex of the Boolean lattice. As it turns out, it is equivalent to computing the discrete homotopy group of the 1-skeleton of the permutahedr…

Link Floer homology is an invariant for links defined using a suitable version of Lagrangian Floer homology. In an earlier paper, this invariant was given a combinatorial description with mod 2 coefficients. In the present paper, we give a self-contained presentation of the basic properties of link Floer homology, incl…

We give completely combinatorial proofs of the main results of [3] using polygons. Namely, we prove that the mapping class group of a surface with boundary acts faithfully on a finitely-generated linear category. Along the way we prove some foundational results regarding the relevant objects from bordered Heegaard Floe…

We prove that the complement of any affine 2-arrangement in R^d is minimal, that is, it is homotopy equivalent to a cell complex with as many i-cells as its i-th rational Betti number. For the proof, we provide a Lefschetz-type hyperplane theorem for complements of 2-arrangements, and introduce Alexander duality for co…

We define a combinatorial structure on 3-manifolds that combines the model manifolds constructed in Minsky's proof of the ending lamination conjecture with the layered triangulations defined by Jaco and Rubinstein.

This paper gives new and elementary combinatorial topological proofs of the classification of unoriented and oriented rational knots and links. These proofs are based on the known classification of alternating knots through flyping, and the calculus of continued fractions. We characterize the class of strongly invertib…

Tucker and Ky Fan's lemma are combinatorial analogs of the Borsuk-Ulam theorem (BUT). In 1996, Yu. A. Shashkin proved a version of Fan's lemma, which is a combinatorial analog of the odd mapping theorem (OMT). We consider generalizations of these lemmas for BUT-manifolds, i.e. for manifolds that satisfy BUT. Proofs rel…

Two triples of triangles having pairwise disjoint outlines in 3-space are called combinatorially isotopic if one triple can be obtained from the other by a continuous motion during which the outlines of the triangles remain pairwise disjoint. We conjecture that it can be algorithmically checked if an (ordered or unorde…

Unified framework for geometric computation of minimum-area homotopy.

A proof of non-existence of Lagrangian embeddings of the Klein bottle K in \CP^2 is given. We exploit the existence of a special embedding of K in a symplectic Lefschetz pencil on \CP^2 and study its monodromy. As the main technical tool, we develop the theory of mapping class groups, considered as quotients of special…

We give a combinatorial proof, using the hyperbolicity of the curve graphs, of the bounded geodesic image theorem of Masur and Minsky. Recently it has been shown that curve graphs are uniformly hyperbolic, thus a universal bound can be given for the diameter of the geodesic image. We also generalize the theorem for pro…

Extends Thurston's combinatorial characterization to all branched coverings of the 2-sphere.

We present a combinatorial proof for the existence of the sign refined grid homology in lens spaces, and a self contained proof that $\partial_{\mathbb{Z}}^2 = 0$. We also present a Sage program that computes $\widehat{\mathrm{GH}} (L(p,q),K;\mathbb{Z})$, and provide empirical evidence supporting the absence of torsion…

Here are versions of the proofs of two classic theorems of combinatorial topology. The first is the result that piecewise linearly homeomorphic simplicial complexes are related by stellar moves. This is used in the proof, modelled on that of Pachner, of the second theorem. This states that moves from only a finite coll…