Bapat's concavity conjecture for quotients of permanents

Let b0,b1,,bkb_0,b_1,\ldots,b_k be fixed vectors in R++n=(0,)n\mathbb{R}_{++}^n=(0,\infty)^n, where 0k<n0\leq k<n. For vectors v1,,vnv_1,\ldots,v_n, write per(v1,,vn)\operatorname{per}(v_1,\ldots,v_n) for the permanent of the matrix whose rows are these vectors. Bapat's conjecture. The function

xper(b1,,bk,x,,x)per(b0,b1,,bk,x,,x)x\mapsto \frac{\operatorname{per}(b_1,\ldots,b_k,x,\ldots,x)}{\operatorname{per}(b_0,b_1,\ldots,b_k,x,\ldots,x)}

is concave on R++n\mathbb{R}_{++}^n.

The quotients generalize symmetric-function means, and the conjecture is an instance of concavity phenomena for permanents. It was proved in the source using concavity properties of hyperbolic polynomials, so the conjecture is solved.

Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

Petter Brändén, “Solutions to two problems on permanents”, arXiv:1104.3531 (2011).

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