Multidimensional permanents of polystochastic matrices

Abstract: A $d$-dimensional matrix is called \emph{$1$-polystochastic} if it is non-negative and the sum over each line equals~$1$. Such a matrix that has a single $1$ in each line and zeros elsewhere is called a \emph{$1$-permutation} matrix. A \emph{diagonal} of a $d$-dimensional matrix of order $n$ is a choice of $n$ elements, no two in the same hyperplane. The \emph{permanent} of a $d$-dimensional matrix is the sum over the diagonals of the product of the elements within the diagonal. For a given order $n$ and dimension $d$, the set of $1$-polystochastic matrices forms a convex polytope that includes the $1$-permutation matrices within its set of vertices. For even $n$ and odd $d$, we give a construction for a class of $1$-permutation matrices with zero permanent. Consequently, we show that the set of $1$-polystochastic matrices with zero permanent contains at least $n^{n^{3/2}(1/2-o(1))}$ $1$-permutation matrices and contains a polytope of dimension at least $cn^{3/2}$ for fixed $c,d$ and even $n\to\infty$. We also provide counterexamples to a conjecture by Taranenko about the location of local extrema of the permanent. For odd $d$, we give a construction of $1$-permutation matrices that decompose into a convex linear sum of positive diagonals. These combine with a theorem of Taranenko to provide counterexamples to a conjecture by Dow and Gibson generalising van der Waerden's conjecture to higher dimensions.