The Peterson hit problem seeks a minimal set of generators for the polynomial algebra $\mathcal P_k=\mathbb F_2[x_1,\ldots,x_k]$ as a module over the mod--2 Steenrod algebra. While completely resolved for $k \leq 4$, the unrestricted problem remains widely open for $k \geq 5$, where the combinatorial explosion of basis elements renders exact algorithmic computation intractable. To bypass full Gaussian elimination, we model the degree--$d$ hit space via a sparse matrix driven by the Cartan formula and Lucas's theorem, shifting the focus to the construction of certified matrix minors. We first prove that strict spike monomials exactly characterize the zero rows, establishing a hard structural limit on coordinate-level annihilators. To bound the matrix rank from above (cohit lower bound), we derive exact zero-column formulae, which are strictly refined by the exact homology of the $\operatorname{Sq}^1$-layer and systematic linear dependencies induced by Adem relations. To bound the rank from below (cohit upper bound), we extract explicit independent column families: singleton columns yield permutation minors, acyclic pivot systems optimize triangular minors across all row orders, and $q$-support columns are formalized through hypergraph incidence. Crucially, we identify a congruence family that decomposes precisely into simplicial boundary matrices over $\mathbb F_2$, yielding a sharp closed-form rank formula. The resulting two-sided bounds are universally computable for every $k \geq 1$ and $d \geq 0$. Significantly, these results establish the absolute limits of purely combinatorial approaches to the hit problem, cleanly separating universal discrete certificates from the degree-specific resolutions provided by representation theory and weight filtrations.
The Peterson hit problem seeks a minimal set of generators for the polynomial algebra $P_s = \mathbb{F}_2[x_1,\dots,x_s]$ as an unstable module over the mod-2 Steenrod algebra $\mathcal{A}$. For rank five, general admissible bases fail, and the interplay between Kameko periodicity and modular invariants becomes computationally complex. In this paper, we study the rank-five cohit module in the generic family $N_d = 27\cdot 2^d - 5$. Exact sparse elimination in degree $49$ processes $292825$ monomials, yielding a hit rank of $289969$ and a cohit dimension of $2856$. We determine the exact weight summands and prove that the weight-$(3,3,2,2,1)$ summand is exactly the kernel of Kameko's operation, with dimension $1891$. These exact values systematically correct the corresponding rank-five kernel and dimension assertions in Nguyen Khac Tin's previous paper. An exact invariant calculation shows that the general linear group invariants in degree $49$ form a one-dimensional space generated by a $283$-term polynomial, and we prove that the fifth Singer cohomological transfer is an isomorphism in this family. Geometrically, the Hilbert-Poincare series of the unoriented cobordism ring gives the dimension of the degree-$49$ cobordism group as $5692$. We prove that the Milnor hypersurface $H_{2,48} \subset \mathbb{R}P^2 \times \mathbb{R}P^{48}$ represents the unique nonzero indecomposable class by computing a tangential Stiefel-Whitney number, providing an explicit geometric generator. However, the evident map from $H_{2,48}$ to the classifying space $B(\mathbb{Z}/2)^5$ sends its fundamental class to a homology class with nonzero $Sq^2_*$. Consequently, this geometric generator cannot be identified with the functional dual of the algebraic invariant, establishing a precise boundary between the Steenrod-theoretic invariant line and the geometric cobordism generator.
We determine all equality cases in the Tu--Deng bound $|S_{t,k}|\le 2^{k-1}$. If the $k$-bit cyclic word of $t$ has $R$ ones, $Z$ zeros, and cyclic one-gap lengths $g_1,\ldots,g_Z$, then equality holds if and only if $g_i\ge Z-1$ for every $i$. This resolves Conjecture~3.20 of Flori, Randriambololona, Cohen and Mesnager, and we also enumerate all equality parameters. For $R\ge Z$ we determine the sharp first stability gap and all extremal words, while for $R<Z$ we obtain an exact quantization of the deficit and an explicit run-sensitive lower bound. The proofs are structural: an explicit matrix conjugation identifies the auxiliary enumerators in the two recent complete proofs of the Tu--Deng conjecture. We then develop a rooted coarsening model for all coefficients, prove one-sided deletion rigidity and an exact Macaulay-flux identity, and derive a Macaulay--M\"obius formula from the bounded simplex at the highest cyclic level.
We extend the trace--determinant framework of Nayak, Sharma, and Mishra~\cite{nayak2026} for bounding the H-eigenvalues of symmetric positive definite tensors. First, we replace the Arithmetic--Geometric Mean (AM--GM) relaxation underlying previous bounds by the exact solution of the associated constrained optimization problem, yielding sharp upper and lower bounds that are attained on the admissible spectral variety. Second, we incorporate higher-order power sums as additional spectral invariants and prove a structural theorem showing that any extremizer over a $K$-invariant feasibility region has at most $K$ distinct spectral values. This reduces the problem to a finite collection of low-dimensional polynomial systems and yields a hierarchy of increasingly tight bounds. For the four-invariant case $(T,S,p_3,D)$, we develop a complete theory including solution-count estimates, a multistart Newton algorithm, and sharpness conditions. We also derive closed-form bounds in small dimensions, establish perturbation estimates, and obtain refined Lyapunov region-of-attraction bounds. Numerical experiments for dimensions up to $d=100$ show that the sharp three-invariant bound reduces the median relative overestimation gap from $53\%$ to $6\%$ while maintaining low computational cost. The framework is validated on tensors with real H-spectrum.
We give explicit complex polynomials $P,Q$ in three independent standard real Gaussian variables such that \[ {\mathbb E}(P^m)=0,\qquad {\mathbb E}(QP^m)=m!\neq0 \] for every $m\geq1$. In natural complex linear coordinates, $P$ has five terms and total degree $4$. Hence the Gaussian Moments Conjecture is false in every dimension $n\geq3$. We also give a six-term cubic example in four variables, which was found first and already proves failure for every $n\geq4$. Both examples follow from the same coefficient identity. The search was prompted by Levent Alp\"oge's public announcement of an explicit three-dimensional counterexample to the Jacobian Conjecture. Although the main theorem of Derksen, van den Essen, and Zhao is stated globally in dimension, its proof has fixed-dimensional content: a noninvertible cubic-homogeneous Keller map in $r$ variables forces the failure of ${\mathrm GMC}(2r)$. Tracking a standard Bass--Connell--Wright reduction of the announced map gives a conservative cubic-homogeneous counterexample in $79$ variables, and hence a route-based failure of ${\mathrm GMC}(158)$. That route is nonconstructive at the final Gaussian step and does not furnish explicit polynomials $P,Q$. The much smaller explicit failures in dimensions $4$ and $3$ below were not derived from the announced Jacobian map.
Raz proposed a program to prove arithmetic circuit lower bounds through the explicit construction of elusive functions. These are polynomial maps from a low dimensional space to a high dimensional ambient space whose image is contained in no subvariety of low complexity. Here, complexity is prescribed in terms of the dimension and degree of parametric maps into the ambient space defining the subvariety. Elusive functions are abundant: finding explicit ones with parameters typical of generic polynomial maps implies Valiant's hypothesis that VP$\neq$VNP. But no such construction is known. Raz devised elusive functions with weaker parameters to derive explicit degree d polynomials in n variables requiring superlinear circuit size at depth $d=o(\log n)$. We present a new method to analyse and construct elusive functions, with coordinate maps restricted to monomials. To prove elusiveness, we identify a hitting set of points, each a tuple of roots of unity coupled based on the exponents of the monomial maps. Using Chebotarev's theorem on roots of unity, we show that for every low complexity subvariety, the function evaluated at some point in the hitting set eludes it. For this strategy to work, it suffices that the iterated sumset of a certain set of numbers (derived from the exponents) expands exponentially. We thus reduce open explicit construction problems in elusive functions to purely additive combinatorial ones, whose resolutions imply as yet unknown lower bounds. Informed by iterated sumset expansion, we devise new elusive functions. We construct explicit elusive curves of exponential degree, resolving an open problem posed by Garg, Makam, Oliveira, and Wigderson as a testament to the difficulty of elusiveness proofs. We improve Raz's superlinear bound quadratically (with circuit size to input size ratio as the metric) below $o(\log n/\log\log n)$ depths.
Let $\mathfrak{X}_k\subseteq{\sf Mat}_{m, n}$ denote the variety of $m\times n$ complex matrices with rank at most $k$. The power series and rational expressions for the Hilbert series of $\mathfrak{X}_k$ are known by geometric arguments, and equating these expressions yields a family of formulas generalizing the classical Cauchy and dual Cauchy identities. We pose the problem of giving a direct combinatorial proof of these formulas for $0<k<\min\{m, n\}$. When $k=1$ or $k=\min\{m, n\}-1$, we give such a proof via an explicit sign-reversing involution on certain sets of Littlewood--Richardson tableaux.