The central curve of a linear program

Series
Algebra Seminar
Time
Tuesday, February 28, 2012 - 2:05pm for 1 hour (actually 50 minutes)
Location
Skiles 006
Speaker
Cynthia Vinzant – University of Michigan
Organizer
Josephine Yu
The central curve of a linear program is an algebraic curve specified by a hyperplane arrangement and a cost vector. This curve is the union of the various central paths for minimizing or maximizing the cost function over any region in this hyperplane arrangement. I will discuss the algebraic properties of this curve and its beautiful global geometry, both of which are controlled by the corresponding matroid and hyperplane arrangement.