The Bruhat--Chevalley order on involutions of the hyperoctahedral group and combinatorics of $B$-orbit closures

Abstract

Let $G$ be the symplectic group, $Φ=C_n$ its root system, $B\subset G$ its standard Borel subgroup, $W$ the Weyl group of $Φ$. To each involution $σ\in W$ one can assign the $B$-orbit $Ω_σ$ contained in the dual space of the Lie algebra of the unipotent radical of $B$. We prove that $Ω_σ$ is contained in the Zariski closure of $Ω_τ$ if and only of $σ\leqτ$ with respect to the Bruhat--Chevalley order. We also prove that $\dimΩ_σ$ is equal to $l(σ)$, the length of $σ$ in $W$.