Tilting mutation of gentle algebras and its combinatorial description

Abstract

Tilting mutation provides a natural way to construct derived-equivalent algebras by replacing an indecomposable summand of a tilting object. In this paper, we study tilting mutation of gentle algebras via generalized $\mathrm{BB}$-tilting modules. For a gentle algebra $A=\mathbb{k} Q/\langle I\rangle$ and a vertex $k\in Q_0$, we first give a necessary and sufficient condition, expressed in terms of the arrows and relations incident with $k$, for the corresponding minimal left approximation of $P(k)$ to yield a tilting mutation. This criterion applies uniformly to vertices with or without loops. When the mutation exists, we determine the irreducible morphisms between the indecomposable summands of the mutated tilting module and use them to construct explicitly the Gabriel quiver and defining relations of its endomorphism algebra. In particular, we obtain a combinatorial mutation $(Q,I)\mapsto(Q',I')$ of gentle pairs such that $μ_k^+(A)\cong \mathbb{k} Q'/\langle I'\rangle,$ so the resulting algebra is again gentle and derived equivalent to $A$. Finally, we formulate the dual cotilting mutation and its combinatorial description via opposite gentle pairs.