Robert M. Corless
Ontario Research Centre for Computer Algebra and The Rotman Institute of Philosophy, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada
What can we learn from Bohemian Matrices?
Abstract: At MEGA 2019 in Madrid I gave a talk on some then-recent work on Bohemian matrices, which was joint work with several colleagues. That talk introduced the idea of a family of structured matrices with population taken from a set of bounded height; see www.bohemianmatrices.com. In this talk I look more deeply at a specific family of Bohemian matrices, namely skew-symmetric tridiagonal matrices with various simple populations. There are several surprises even in so simple a family. I will prove a theorem about this family, a theorem that I discovered computationally. It is not a particularly deep theorem, but it has some remarkable effects on the computations with this simple family. The theorem also leads to a dreadful pun (alas, only in English) which I may not be able to prevent myself from inflicting on you. Luckily for me, because the talk will be virtual, you will be unable to throw tomatoes or other vegetables at me in reaction.