Coxeter Complex Research Articles

Shi arrangements and low elements in Coxeter groups

AbstractGiven an arbitrary Coxeter system and a non‐negative integer , the ‐Shi arrangement of is a subarrangement of the Coxeter hyperplane arrangement of . The classical Shi arrangement () was introduced in the case of affine Weyl groups by Shi to study Kazhdan–Lusztig cells for . As two key results, Shi showed that each region of the Shi arrangement contains exactly one element of minimal length in and that the union of their inverses form a convex subset of the Coxeter complex. The set of ‐low elements in were introduced to study the word problem of the corresponding Artin–Tits (braid) group and they turn out to produce automata to study the combinatorics of reduced words in . In this article, we generalize and extend Shi's results to any Coxeter system for any : (1) the set of minimal length elements of the regions in a ‐Shi arrangement is precisely the set of ‐low elements, settling a conjecture of the first and third authors in this case; (2) the union of the inverses of the (0‐)low elements form a convex subset in the Coxeter complex, settling a conjecture by the third author, Nadeau and Williams.

Building planar polygon spaces from the projective braid arrangement

Abstract The moduli space of planar polygons with generic side lengths is a smooth, closed manifold. It is known that these manifolds contain the moduli space of distinct points on the real projective line as an open dense subset. Kapranov showed that the real points of the Deligne–Mumford–Knudson compactification can be obtained from the projective Coxeter complex of type 𝐴 (equivalently, the projective braid arrangement) by iteratively blowing up along the minimal building set. In this paper, we show that these planar polygon spaces can also be obtained from the projective Coxeter complex of type 𝐴 by performing an iterative cellular surgery along a subcollection of the minimal building set. Interestingly, this subcollection is determined by the combinatorial data associated with the length vector called the genetic code.

Contingency Tables with Variable Margins (with an Appendix by Pavel Etingof)

Motivated by applications to perverse sheaves, we study combinatorics of two cell decompositions of the symmetric product of the complex line, refining the complex stratification by multiplicities. Contingency matrices, appearing in classical statistics, parametrize the cells of one such decomposition, which has the property of being quasi-regular. The other, more economical, decomposition, goes back to the work of Fox-Neuwirth and Fuchs on the cohomology of braid groups. We give a criterion for a sheaf constructible with respect to the ''contingency decomposition'' to be constructible with respect to the complex stratification. We also study a polyhedral ball which we call the stochastihedron and whose boundary is dual to the two-sided Coxeter complex (for the root system $A_n$) introduced by T.K. Petersen. The Appendix by P. Etingof studies enumerative aspects of contingency matrices. In particular, it is proved that the ''meta-matrix'' formed by the numbers of contingency matrices of various sizes, is totally positive.

Generalized coinvariant algebras for wreath products

Let r be a positive integer and let Gn be the reflection group of n×n monomial matrices whose entries are rth complex roots of unity and let k≤n. We define and study two new graded quotients Rn,k and Sn,k of the polynomial ring C[x1,…,xn] in n variables. When k=n, both of these quotients coincide with the classical coinvariant algebra attached to Gn. The algebraic properties of our quotients are governed by the combinatorial properties of k-dimensional faces in the Coxeter complex attached to Gn (in the case of Rn,k) and r-colored ordered set partitions of {1,2,…,n} with k blocks (in the case of Sn,k). Our work generalizes a construction of Haglund, Rhoades, and Shimozono from the symmetric group Sn to the more general wreath products Gn.

A two-sided analogue of the Coxeter complex

For any Coxeter system (W, S) of rank n, we introduce an abstract boolean complex (simplicial poset) of dimension 2n − 1 which contains the Coxeter complex as a relative subcomplex. Faces are indexed by triples (J,w,K), where J and K are subsets of the set S of simple generators, and w is a minimal length representative for the double parabolic coset WJ wWK . There is exactly one maximal face for each element of the group W . The complex is shellable and thin, which implies the complex is a sphere for the finite Coxeter groups. In this case, a natural refinement of the h-polynomial is given by the “two-sided” W -Eulerian polynomial, i.e., the generating function for the joint distribution of left and right descents in W .

Parabolic double cosets in Coxeter groups

Parabolic subgroups WI of Coxeter systems (W,S) and their ordinary and double cosets W/WI and WI\W/WJ appear in many contexts in combinatorics and Lie theory, including the geometry and topology of generalized flag varieties and the symmetry groups of regular polytopes. The set of ordinary cosets wWI , for I ⊆ S, forms the Coxeter complex of W , and is well-studied. In this extended abstract, we look at a less studied object: the set of all double cosets WIwWJ for I,J ⊆ S. Each double coset can be presented by many different triples (I, w, J). We describe what we call the lex-minimal presentation and prove that there exists a unique such choice for each double coset. Lex-minimal presentations can be enumerated via a finite automaton depending on the Coxeter graph for (W, S). In particular, we present a formula for the number of parabolic double cosets with a fixed minimal element when W is the symmetric group Sn. In that case, parabolic subgroups are also known as Young subgroups. Our formula is almost always linear time computable in n, and the formula can be generalized to any Coxeter group.

Shadows in Coxeter Groups

For a given w in a Coxeter group W, the elements u smaller than w in Bruhat order can be seen as the end alcoves of stammering galleries of type w in the Coxeter complex Sigma . We generalize this notion and consider sets of end alcoves of galleries that are positively folded with respect to certain orientation phi of Sigma . We call these sets shadows. Positively folded galleries are closely related to the geometric study of affine Deligne–Lusztig varieties, MV polytopes, Hall–Littlewood polynomials, and many more algebraic structures. In this paper, we will introduce various notions of orientations and hence shadows and study some of their algorithmic properties.

Coxeter submodular functions and deformations of Coxeter permutahedra

We describe the cone of deformations of a Coxeter permutahedron, or equivalently, the nef cone of the toric variety associated to a Coxeter complex. This class of polytopes contains important families such as weight polytopes, signed graphic zonotopes, Coxeter matroids, root cones, and Coxeter associahedra. Our description extends the known correspondence between generalized permutahedra, polymatroids, and submodular functions to any finite reflection group.

Old recurrence formulae for growth series of Coxeter groups

Several classical formulae for the growth series of a Coxeter group are proved in a new way, using the structure of the Coxeter complex, the Davis complex, or the Tits non-complex.

Some combinatorial identities appearing in the calculation of the cohomology of Siegel modular varieties

In the computation of the intersection cohomology of Shimura varieties, or of the L 2 cohomology of equal rank locally symmetric spaces, combinatorial identities involving averaged discrete series characters of real reductive groups play a large technical role. These identities can become very complicated and are not always well-understood (see for example the appendix of [8]). We propose a geometric approach to these identities in the case of Siegel modular varieties using the combinatorial properties of the Coxeter complex of the symmetric group. Apart from some introductory remarks about the origin of the identities, our paper is entirely combinatorial and does not require any knowledge of Shimura varieties or of representation theory.

A Two-Sided Analogue of the Coxeter Complex

For any Coxeter system $(W,S)$ of rank $n$, we study an abstract boolean complex (simplicial poset) of dimension $2n-1$ that contains the Coxeter complex as a relative subcomplex. For finite $W$, this complex is first described in work of Hultman. Faces are indexed by triples $(I,w,J)$, where $I$ and $J$ are subsets of the set $S$ of simple generators, and $w$ is a minimal length representative for the parabolic double coset $W_I w W_J$. There is exactly one maximal face for each element of the group $W$. The complex is shellable and thin, which implies the complex is a sphere for the finite Coxeter groups. In this case, a natural refinement of the $h$-polynomial is given by the "two-sided" $W$-Eulerian polynomial, i.e., the generating function for the joint distribution of left and right descents in $W$.

Parabolic Double Cosets in Coxeter Groups

Parabolic subgroups $W_I$ of Coxeter systems $(W,S)$, as well as their ordinary and double quotients $W / W_I$ and $W_I \backslash W / W_J$, appear in many contexts in combinatorics and Lie theory, including the geometry and topology of generalized flag varieties and the symmetry groups of regular polytopes. The set of ordinary cosets $w W_I$, for $I \subseteq S$, forms the Coxeter complex of $W$, and is well-studied. In this article we look at a less studied object: the set of all double cosets $W_I w W_J$ for $I, J \subseteq S$. Double cosets are not uniquely presented by triples $(I,w,J)$. We describe what we call the lex-minimal presentation, and prove that there exists a unique such object for each double coset. Lex-minimal presentations are then used to enumerate double cosets via a finite automaton depending on the Coxeter graph for $(W,S)$. As an example, we present a formula for the number of parabolic double cosets with a fixed minimal element when $W$ is the symmetric group $S_n$ (in this case, parabolic subgroups are also known as Young subgroups). Our formula is almost always linear time computable in $n$, and we show how it can be generalized to any Coxeter group with little additional work. We spell out formulas for all finite and affine Weyl groups in the case that $w$ is the identity element.

Walls in Milnor Fiber Complexes

For a real reflection group the reflecting hyperplanes cut out on the unit sphere a simplicial complex called the Coxeter complex. Abramenko showed that each reflecting hyperplane meets the Coxeter complex in another Coxeter complex if and only if the Coxeter diagram contains no subdiagram of type D_4 , F_4 or H_4 . The present paper extends Abramenko's result to a wider class of complex reflection groups. These groups have a Coxeter-like presentation and a Coxeter-like complex called the Milnor fiber complex. Our first main theorem classifies the groups whose reflecting hyperplanes meet the Milnor fiber complex in another Milnor fiber complex. To understand better the walls that fail to be Milnor fiber complexes we introduce Milnor walls. Our second main theorem generalizes Abramenko's result in a second way. It says that each wall of a Milnor fiber complex is a Milnor wall if and only if the diagram contains no subdiagram of type D_4 , F_4 , or H_4 .

The Steinberg torus of a Weyl group as a module over the Coxeter complex

Associated with each irreducible crystallographic root system $$\varPhi $$?, there is a certain cell complex structure on the torus obtained as the quotient of the ambient space by the coroot lattice of $$\varPhi $$?. This is the Steinberg torus. A main goal of this paper is to exhibit a module structure on (the set of faces of) this complex over the (set of faces of the) Coxeter complex of $$\varPhi $$?. The latter is a monoid under the Tits product of faces. The module structure is obtained from geometric considerations involving affine hyperplane arrangements. As a consequence, a module structure is obtained on the space spanned by affine descent classes of a Weyl group, over the space spanned by ordinary descent classes. The latter constitute a subalgebra of the group algebra, the classical descent algebra of Solomon. We provide combinatorial models for the module of faces when $$\varPhi $$? is of type A or C.

The generalized triangle inequalities in thick Euclidean buildings of rank 2

We describe the set of possible vector valued side lengths of n-gons in thick Euclidean buildings of rank 2. This set is determined by a finite set of homogeneous linear inequalities, which we call the generalized triangle inequalities. These inequalities are given in terms of the combinatorics of the spherical Coxeter complex associated to the Euclidean building.

Geometric combinatorics of Weyl groupoids

We extend properties of the weak order on finite Coxeter groups to Weyl groupoids admitting a finite root system. In particular, we determine the topological structure of intervals with respect to weak order, and show that the set of morphisms with fixed target object forms an ortho-complemented meet semilattice. We define the Coxeter complex of a Weyl groupoid with finite root system and show that it coincides with the triangulation of a sphere cut out by a simplicial hyperplane arrangement. As a consequence, one obtains an algebraic interpretation of many hyperplane arrangements that are not reflection arrangements.

A Diagrammatic Temperley‐Lieb Categorification

The monoidal category of Soergel bimodules categorifies the Hecke algebra of a finite Weyl group. In the case of the symmetric group, morphisms in this category can be drawn as graphs in the plane. We define a quotient category, also given in terms of planar graphs, which categorifies the Temperley‐Lieb algebra. Certain ideals appearing in this quotient are related both to the 1‐skeleton of the Coxeter complex and to the topology of 2D cobordisms. We demonstrate how further subquotients of this category will categorify the irreducible modules of the Temperley‐Lieb algebra.

Hyperbolic configurations of roots and Hecke algebras

This paper deals with infinite Coxeter groups. We use geometric techniques to prove two main results. One is of Lie-theoretic nature; it shows the existence of many hyperbolic configurations of three pairwise disjoint roots in a given Coxeter complex, provided it is not an Euclidean tiling. The other is both of algebraic and measure-theoretic nature since it deals with Hecke algebras; it shows that for automorphism groups of buildings, convolution algebras of bi-invariant functions are never commutative, provided the building is not Euclidean. Proofs are of geometric nature: the main idea is to exhibit and use enough trees of valency ⩾3 inside a non-affine Coxeter complex.

The Quiver of an Algebra Associated to the Mantaci-Reutenauer Descent Algebra and the Homology of Regular Semigroups

We develop the homology theory of the algebra of a regular semigroup, which is a particularly nice case of a quasi-hereditary algebra in good characteristic. Directedness is characterized for these algebras, generalizing the case of semisimple algebras studied by Munn and Ponizovksy. We then apply homological methods to compute (modulo group theory) the quiver of a right regular band of groups, generalizing Saliola’s results for a right regular band. Right regular bands of groups come up in the representation theory of wreath products with symmetric groups in much the same way that right regular bands appear in the representation theory of finite Coxeter groups via the Solomon-Tits algebra of its Coxeter complex. In particular, we compute the quiver of Hsiao’s algebra, which is related to the Mantaci-Reutenauer descent algebra.

Intersections of apartments

We show that, if a building is endowed with its complete system of apartments, and if each panel is contained in at least four chambers, then the intersection of two apartments can be any convex subcomplex contained in an apartment. This combinatorial result is particularly interesting for lower-dimensional convex subcomplexes of apartments, where we definitely need the assumption on the four chambers per panel in the building. The corresponding statement is not true anymore for arbitrary systems of apartments, and counter-examples for infinite convex subcomplexes exist for any type of buildings. However, when we restrict to finite convex subcomplexes, the above remains true for arbitrary systems of apartments if and only if every finite subset of chambers of the standard Coxeter complex is contained in the convex hull of two chambers.