For a planar simplicial complex Delta contained in R^2, Schumaker proved that a lower bound on the dimension of the space C^r_k(Delta) of planar splines of smoothness r and polynomial degree at most k on Delta is given by a polynomial P_Delta(r,k), a
nd Alfeld-Schumaker showed this polynomial gives the correct dimension when k >= 4r+1. Examples due to Morgan-Scott, Tohaneanu, and Yuan show that the equality dim C^r_k(Delta) = P_Delta(r,k) can fail when k = 2r or 2r+1. We prove that the equality dim C^r_k(Delta)= P_Delta(r,k) cannot hold in general for k <= (22r+7)/10.
Extending work of M. Zarzar, we evaluate the potential of Goppa-type evaluation codes constructed from linear systems on projective algebraic surfaces with small Picard number. Putting this condition on the Picard number provides some control over th
e numbers of irreducible components of curves on the surface and hence over the minimum distance of the codes. We find that such surfaces do not automatically produce good codes; the sectional genus of the surface also has a major influence. Using that additional invariant, we derive bounds on the minimum distance under the assumption that the hyperplane section class generates the Neron-Severi group. We also give several examples of codes from such surfaces with minimum distance better than the best known bounds in Grassls tables.
Geometrically characterized (GC) sets were introduced by Chung-Yao in their work on polynomial interpolation in R^d. Conjectures on the structure of GC sets have been proposed by Gasca-Maeztu for the planar case, and in higher dimension by de Boor an
d Apozyan-Hakopian. We investigate GC sets in dimension three or more, and show that one way to obtain such sets is from the combinatorics of simplicial complexes.
A standard construction in approximation theory is mesh refinement. For a simplicial or polyhedral mesh D in R^k, we study the subdivision D obtained by subdividing a maximal cell of D. We give sufficient conditions for the module of splines on D to
split as the direct sum of splines on D and splines on the subdivided cell. As a consequence, we obtain dimension formulas and explicit bases for several commonly used subdivisions and their multivariate generalizations.
This survey gives an overview of several fundamental algebraic constructions which arise in the study of splines. Splines play a key role in approximation theory, geometric modeling, and numerical analysis, their properties depend on combinatorics, t
opology, and geometry of a simplicial or polyhedral subdivision of a region in R^k, and are often quite subtle. We describe four algebraic techniques which are useful in the study of splines: homology, graded algebra, localization, and inverse systems. Our goal is to give a hands-on introduction to the methods, and illustrate them with concrete examples in the context of splines. We highlight progress made with these methods, such as a formula for the third coefficient of the polynomial giving the dimension of the spline space in high degree, much of which builds on pioneering work of Schumaker, Alfeld-Schumaker, and Billera. The objects appearing here may be computed using the Macaulay2 software system.
We compute the linear strand of the minimal free resolution of the ideal generated by k x k sub-permanents of an n x n generic matrix and of the ideal generated by square-free monomials of degree k. The latter calculation gives the full minimal free
resolution by work of Biagioli-Faridi-Rosas. Our motivation is to lay groundwork for the use of commutative algebra in algebraic complexity theory. We also compute several Hilbert functions relevant for complexity theory.
For a d-dimensional polyhedral complex P, the dimension of the space of piecewise polynomial functions (splines) on P of smoothness r and degree k is given, for k sufficiently large, by a polynomial f(P,r,k) of degree d. When d=2 and P is simplicial,
Alfeld and Schumaker determined a formula for all three coefficients of f. However, in the polyhedral case, no formula is known. Using localization techniques and specialized dual graphs associated to codimension--2 linear spaces, we obtain the first three coefficients of f(P,r,k), giving a complete answer when d=2.
Let A be a union of smooth plane curves C_i, such that each singular point of A is quasihomogeneous. We prove that if C is a smooth curve such that each singular point of A U C is also quasihomogeneous, then there is an elementary modification of ran
k two bundles, which relates the O_{P^2} module Der(log A) of vector fields on P^2 tangent to A to the module Der(log A U C). This yields an inductive tool for studying the splitting of the bundles Der(log A) and Der(log A U C), depending on the geometry of the divisor A|_C on C.
Alfeld introduced a subdivision AS(n) of an n-simplex, generalizing the Clough-Tocher split of a triangle. A formula for the dimension of the spline space C^r_k(AS(n)) was conjectured recently by Foucart-Sorokina. We prove that the graded module of C
^r-splines on the cone over AS(n) is isomorphic to the module D^{r+1}(A_n) of multiderivations on the type A_n Coxeter arrangement. A theorem of Terao shows that the module of multiderivations of a Coxeter arrangement is free and gives an explicit basis. As a consequence the conjectured formula holds.
Let U be a basepoint free four-dimensional subpace of the space of sections of bidegree (a,b) on X = P^1 x P^1, with a and b at least 2. The sections corresponding to U determine a regular map from X to P^3. We show that there can be at most one line
ar syzygy on the associated bigraded ideal I_U in the bigraded ring k[s,t;u,v]. Existence of a linear syzygy, coupled with the assumption that U is basepoint free, implies the existence of an additional special pair of minimal first syzygies. Using results of Botbol, we show that these three syzygies are sufficient to determine the implicit equation of the image of X in P^3; we also show that the singular locus must contain a line.
