Clay's position-matrix eigenvalue conjectures for the single-shelf shuffle

From papers

Let n3n\geq 3, and let MM be the position matrix of a single-shelf shuffle, with

M(i,j)=12i((i1j1)+(i1nj)),1i,jn.M(i,j)=\frac{1}{2^i}\left(\binom{i-1}{j-1}+\binom{i-1}{n-j}\right),\quad 1\leq i,j\leq n.

For a vector vRnv\in\mathbb{R}^n, write v(k)v(k) for its kkth coordinate.

Clay's position-matrix eigenvalue conjectures. The following assertions hold:

  1. (1/4,v)(1/4,v) is an eigenvalue-eigenvector pair of MM, with multiplicity at least one, where
v(k)=n23nk+32k(k+1)1.v(k)=n^2-3nk+\frac{3}{2}k(k+1)-1.
  1. The non-zero eigenvalues of MM are 2i2^{-i}, where 0in10\leq i\leq n-1 is an even integer.

These conjectures concern the spectrum of the position matrix arising from the single-shelf shuffling model. The source attributes them to Clay and provides no evidence here that either conjecture has been resolved.

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Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

Raghavendra Tripathi, “On the position matrix of single-shelf shuffle and card guessing”, arXiv:2602.07920 (2026).

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