No Arabic abstract
We study the maximum likelihood degree (ML degree) of toric varieties, known as discrete exponential models in statistics. By introducing scaling coefficients to the monomial parameterization of the toric variety, one can change the ML degree. We show that the ML degree is equal to the degree of the toric variety for generic scalings, while it drops if and only if the scaling vector is in the locus of the principal $A$-determinant. We also illustrate how to compute the ML estimate of a toric variety numerically via homotopy continuation from a scaled toric variety with low ML degree. Throughout, we include examples motivated by algebraic geometry and statistics. We compute the ML degree of rational normal scrolls and a large class of Veronese-type varieties. In addition, we investigate the ML degree of scaled Segre varieties, hierarchical loglinear models, and graphical models.
We study the critical points of the likelihood function over the Fermat hypersurface. This problem is related to one of the main problems in statistical optimization: maximum likelihood estimation. The number of critical points over a projective variety is a topological invariant of the variety and is called maximum likelihood degree. We provide closed formulas for the maximum likelihood degree of any Fermat curve in the projective plane and of Fermat hypersurfaces of degree 2 in any projective space. Algorithmic methods to compute the ML degree of a generic Fermat hypersurface are developed throughout the paper. Such algorithms heavily exploit the symmetries of the varieties we are considering. A computational comparison of the different methods and a list of the maximum likelihood degrees of several Fermat hypersurfaces are available in the last section.
We study the proalgebraic space which is the inverse limit of all finite branched covers over a normal toric variety $X$ with branching set the invariant divisor under the action of $(mathbb{C}^*)^n$. This is the proalgebraic toric-completion $X_{mathbb{Q}}$ of $X$. The ramification over the invariant divisor and the singular invariant divisors of $X$ impose topological constraints on the automorphisms of $X_{mathbb{Q}}$. Considering this proalgebraic space as the toric functor on the adelic complex plane multiplicative semigroup, we calculate its automorphic group. Moreover we show that its vector bundle category is the direct limit of the respective categories of the finite toric varieties coverings defining the proalgebraic toric-completion.
We give a characterization of all complete smooth toric varieties whose rational homotopy is of elliptic type. All such toric varieties of complex dimension not more than three are explicitly described.
Motivated by the study of the secant variety of the Segre-Veronese variety we propose a general framework to analyze properties of the secant varieties of toric embeddings of affine spaces defined by simplicial complexes. We prove that every such secant is toric, which gives a way to use combinatorial tools to study singularities. We focus on the Segre-Veronese variety for which we completely classify their secants that give Gorenstein or $mathbb Q$-Gorenstein varieties. We conclude providing the explicit description of the singular locus.
We investigate the equivariant intersection cohomology of a toric variety. Considering the defining fan of the variety as a finite topological space with the subfans being the open sets (that corresponds to the toric topology given by the invariant open subsets), equivariant intersection cohomology provides a sheaf (of graded modules over a sheaf of graded rings) on that fan space. We prove that this sheaf is a minimal extension sheaf, i.e., that it satisfies three relatively simple axioms which are known to characterize such a sheaf up to isomorphism. In the verification of the second of these axioms, a key role is played by equivariantly formal toric varieties, where equivariant and usual (non-equivariant) intersection cohomology determine each other by Kunneth type formulae. Minimal extension sheaves can be constructed in a purely formal way and thus also exist for non-rational fans. As a consequence, we can extend the notion of an equivariantly formal fan even to this general setup. In this way, it will be possible to introduce virtual intersection cohomology for equivariantly formal non-rational fans.