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1. On the stationarity for nonlinear optimization problems with polyhedral constraints

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s10107-023-01979-9  

   di Serafino, Daniela; Hager, William W.; Toraldo, Gerardo; Viola, Marco (May 2023, Mathematical Programming)

   Abstract For polyhedral constrained optimization problems and a feasible point$$\textbf{x}$$ $x$, it is shown that the projection of the negative gradient on the tangent cone, denoted$$\nabla _\varOmega f(\textbf{x})$$ ${\nabla }_{\Omega }f\left(x\right)$, has an orthogonal decomposition of the form$$\varvec{\beta }(\textbf{x}) + \varvec{\varphi }(\textbf{x})$$ $\beta \left(x\right)+\phi \left(x\right)$. At a stationary point,$$\nabla _\varOmega f(\textbf{x}) = \textbf{0}$$ ${\nabla }_{\Omega }f\left(x\right)=0$so$$\Vert \nabla _\varOmega f(\textbf{x})\Vert $$ $\Vert {\nabla }_{\Omega }f\left(x\right)\Vert$reflects the distance to a stationary point. Away from a stationary point,$$\Vert \varvec{\beta }(\textbf{x})\Vert $$ $\Vert \beta \left(x\right)\Vert$and$$\Vert \varvec{\varphi }(\textbf{x})\Vert $$ $\Vert \phi \left(x\right)\Vert$measure different aspects of optimality since$$\varvec{\beta }(\textbf{x})$$ $\beta \left(x\right)$only vanishes when the KKT multipliers at$$\textbf{x}$$ $x$have the correct sign, while$$\varvec{\varphi }(\textbf{x})$$ $\phi \left(x\right)$only vanishes when$$\textbf{x}$$ $x$is a stationary point in the active manifold. As an application of the theory, an active set algorithm is developed for convex quadratic programs which adapts the flow of the algorithm based on a comparison between$$\Vert \varvec{\beta }(\textbf{x})\Vert $$ $\Vert \beta \left(x\right)\Vert$and$$\Vert \varvec{\varphi }(\textbf{x})\Vert $$ $\Vert \phi \left(x\right)\Vert$. 

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2. Block mapping class groups and their finiteness properties

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s10711-025-00985-9  

   Aramayona, J; Aroca, J; Cumplido, M; Skipper, R; Wu, X (April 2025, Geometriae Dedicata)

   Abstract Given$$g \in \mathbb N \cup \{0, \infty \}$$ $g\in N\cup \{0,\infty \}$, let$$\Sigma _g$$ ${\Sigma }_g$denote the closed surface of genusgwith a Cantor set removed, if$$g<\infty $$ $g<\infty$; or the blooming Cantor tree, when$$g= \infty $$ $g=\infty$. We construct a family$$\mathfrak B(H)$$ $B\left(H\right)$of subgroups of$${{\,\textrm{Map}\,}}(\Sigma _g)$$ $\text{Map}\left({\Sigma }_g\right)$whose elements preserve ablock decompositionof$$\Sigma _g$$ ${\Sigma }_g$, andeventually like actlike an element ofH, whereHis a prescribed subgroup of the mapping class group of the block. The group$$\mathfrak B(H)$$ $B\left(H\right)$surjects onto an appropriate symmetric Thompson group of Farley–Hughes; in particular, it answers positively. Our main result asserts that$$\mathfrak B(H)$$ $B\left(H\right)$is of type$$F_n$$ $F_n$if and only ifHis. As a consequence, for every$$g\in \mathbb N \cup \{0, \infty \}$$ $g\in N\cup \{0,\infty \}$and every$$n\ge 1$$ $n\ge 1$, we construct a subgroup$$G <{{\,\textrm{Map}\,}}(\Sigma _g)$$ $G<\text{Map}\left({\Sigma }_g\right)$that is of type$$F_n$$ $F_n$but not of type$$F_{n+1}$$ $F_{n+1}$, and which contains the mapping class group of every compact surface of genus$$\le g$$ $\le g$and with non-empty boundary. 

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3. Better Hardness Results for the Minimum Spanning Tree Congestion Problem

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s00453-024-01278-5  

   Luu, Huong; Chrobak, Marek (January 2025, Algorithmica)

   Abstract In the spanning tree congestion problem, given a connected graphG, the objective is to compute a spanning treeTinGthat minimizes its maximum edge congestion, where the congestion of an edgeeofTis the number of edges inGfor which the unique path inTbetween their endpoints traversese. The problem is known to be$$\mathbb{N}\mathbb{P}$$ $NP$-hard, but its approximability is still poorly understood, and it is not even known whether the optimum solution can be efficiently approximated with ratioo(n). In the decision version of this problem, denoted$${\varvec{K}-\textsf {STC}}$$ $K-\mathrm{STC}$, we need to determine ifGhas a spanning tree with congestion at mostK. It is known that$${\varvec{K}-\textsf {STC}}$$ $K-\mathrm{STC}$is$$\mathbb{N}\mathbb{P}$$ $NP$-complete for$$K\ge 8$$ $K\ge 8$, and this implies a lower bound of 1.125 on the approximation ratio of minimizing congestion. On the other hand,$${\varvec{3}-\textsf {STC}}$$ $3-\mathrm{STC}$can be solved in polynomial time, with the complexity status of this problem for$$K\in { \left\{ 4,5,6,7 \right\} }$$ $K\in \left(4,,,5,,,6,,,7\right)$remaining an open problem. We substantially improve the earlier hardness results by proving that$${\varvec{K}-\textsf {STC}}$$ $K-\mathrm{STC}$is$$\mathbb{N}\mathbb{P}$$ $NP$-complete for$$K\ge 5$$ $K\ge 5$. This leaves only the case$$K=4$$ $K=4$open, and improves the lower bound on the approximation ratio to 1.2. Motivated by evidence that minimizing congestion is hard even for graphs of small constant radius, we also consider$${\varvec{K}-\textsf {STC}}$$ $K-\mathrm{STC}$restricted to graphs of radius 2, and we prove that this variant is$$\mathbb{N}\mathbb{P}$$ $NP$-complete for all$$K\ge 6$$ $K\ge 6$. 

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4. Generalized Parking Function Polytopes

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s00026-023-00671-1  

   Hanada, Mitsuki; Lentfer, John; Vindas-Meléndez, Andrés R (June 2024, Annals of Combinatorics)

   Abstract A classical parking function of lengthnis a list of positive integers$$(a_1, a_2, \ldots , a_n)$$ $(a_1,a_2,\dots ,a_n)$whose nondecreasing rearrangement$$b_1 \le b_2 \le \cdots \le b_n$$ $b_1\le b_2\le \cdots \le b_n$satisfies$$b_i \le i$$ $b_i\le i$. The convex hull of all parking functions of lengthnis ann-dimensional polytope in$${\mathbb {R}}^n$$ $R^n$, which we refer to as the classical parking function polytope. Its geometric properties have been explored in Amanbayeva and Wang (Enumer Combin Appl 2(2):Paper No. S2R10, 10, 2022) in response to a question posed by Stanley (Amer Math Mon 127(6):563–571, 2020). We generalize this family of polytopes by studying the geometric properties of the convex hull of$${\textbf{x}}$$ $x$-parking functions for$${\textbf{x}}=(a,b,\dots ,b)$$ $x=(a,b,\cdots ,b)$, which we refer to as$${\textbf{x}}$$ $x$-parking function polytopes. We explore connections between these$${\textbf{x}}$$ $x$-parking function polytopes, the Pitman–Stanley polytope, and the partial permutahedra of Heuer and Striker (SIAM J Discrete Math 36(4):2863–2888, 2022). In particular, we establish a closed-form expression for the volume of$${\textbf{x}}$$ $x$-parking function polytopes. This allows us to answer a conjecture of Behrend et al. (2022) and also obtain a new closed-form expression for the volume of the convex hull of classical parking functions as a corollary. 

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5. Restricted spaces of holomorphic sections vanishing along subvarieties

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s00209-025-03706-w  

   Coman, Dan; Marinescu, George; Nguyên, Viêt-Anh (May 2025, Mathematische Zeitschrift)

   Abstract LetXbe a compact normal complex space of dimensionnandLbe a holomorphic line bundle onX. Suppose that$$\Sigma =(\Sigma _1,\ldots ,\Sigma _\ell )$$ $\Sigma =({\Sigma }_1,\dots ,{\Sigma }_{\ell })$is an$$\ell $$ $\ell$-tuple of distinct irreducible proper analytic subsets ofX,$$\tau =(\tau _1,\ldots ,\tau _\ell )$$ $\tau =({\tau }_1,\dots ,{\tau }_{\ell })$is an$$\ell $$ $\ell$-tuple of positive real numbers, and let$$H^0_0(X,L^p)$$ $H_0^0(X,L^p)$be the space of holomorphic sections of$$L^p:=L^{\otimes p}$$ $L^p:=L^{\otimes p}$that vanish to order at least$$\tau _jp$$ ${\tau }_{j}p$along$$\Sigma _j$$ ${\Sigma }_j$,$$1\le j\le \ell $$ $1\le j\le \ell$. If$$Y\subset X$$ $Y\subset X$is an irreducible analytic subset of dimensionm, we consider the space$$H^0_0 (X|Y, L^p)$$ $H_0^0\left(X\right|Y,L^p)$of holomorphic sections of$$L^p|_Y$$ $L^p{|}_Y$that extend to global holomorphic sections in$$H^0_0(X,L^p)$$ $H_0^0(X,L^p)$. Assuming that the triplet$$(L,\Sigma ,\tau )$$ $(L,\Sigma ,\tau )$is big in the sense that$$\dim H^0_0(X,L^p)\sim p^n$$ $dim{H}_0^0(X,L^p)\sim p^n$, we give a general condition onYto ensure that$$\dim H^0_0(X|Y,L^p)\sim p^m$$ $dim{H}_0^0\left(X\right|Y,L^p)\sim p^m$. WhenLis endowed with a continuous Hermitian metric, we show that the Fubini-Study currents of the spaces$$H^0_0(X|Y,L^p)$$ $H_0^0\left(X\right|Y,L^p)$converge to a certain equilibrium current onY. We apply this to the study of the equidistribution of zeros inYof random holomorphic sections in$$H^0_0(X|Y,L^p)$$ $H_0^0\left(X\right|Y,L^p)$as$$p\rightarrow \infty $$ $p\to \infty$. 

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