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Christophe Hohlweg

Publications and source records attributed to Christophe Hohlweg.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

Weak order on groups generated by involutions

In this article, we propose to initiate the general study of involution systems. An {\em involution system}, that is, a group $W$ generated by a set of involutions $S$, is naturally endowed with a {\em weak order} arising from orienting the Cayley graph of $(W,S)$. In the case of a Coxeter system $(W,S)$, Bj\"orner showed that the weak order is a complete meet-semilattice. This fact has many important consequences for Coxeter systems and their related structures. In this article, we discuss the following question: For which involution systems is the weak order a complete meet-semilattice? The class of involution systems that satisfies this condition is larger than the class of Coxeter systems (it contains, for instance, Cactus groups). In the case of an involution system with sign character, we provide a finite presentation by generators and relations and a classification in rank 3. We also obtain new characterizations of Coxeter systems in terms of the weak order, and prove a number of results on certain subclasses of these involution systems. Finally, we discuss further works and open problems in relation to biautomatic structures, geometric representations, mediangle graphs, and more.

math.GR↗
arXiv2026

On generating functions and automata associated to reflections in Coxeter systems

In this article, we study two combinatorial problems concerning the set of reflections of a Coxeter system. The first problem asks whether the language of palindromic reduced words for reflections is regular, and the second is about finding formulas for the Poincar\'e series of reflections, namely the generating function of reflection lengths. These two problems were inspired by a conjecture of Stembridge stating that the Poincar\'e series of reflections is rational and by the solution provided by de Man. To address the first problem, we introduce reflection-prefixes, arising naturally from palindromic reduced words. We study their connections with the root poset, dominance order on roots, and dihedral reflection subgroups. Using $m$-canonical automata associated with $m$-Shi arrangements, we prove that the language of reduced words for reflection-prefixes is regular. For the second problem, we focus on affine Coxeter groups. In this case, we derive a simple formula for the Poincar\'e series using symmetries of the Hasse diagram of the root poset.

math.GR↗
arXiv2024

A conjecture on descents, inversions and the weak order

In this article, we discuss the notion of partition of elements in an arbitrary Coxeter system $(W,S)$: a partition of an element $w$ is a subset $\mathcal P\subseteq W$ such that the left inversion set of $w$ is the disjoint union of the left inversion set of the elements in $\mathcal P$. Partitions of elements of $W$ arises in the study of the Belkale-Kumar product on the cohomology $H^*(X,\mathbb Z)$, where $X$ is the complete flag variety of any complex semi-simple algebraic group. Partitions of elements in the symmetric group $\mathcal S_n$ are also related to the {\em Babington-Smith model} in algebraic statistics or to the simplicial faces of the Littlewood-Richardson cone. We state the conjecture that the number of right descents of $w$ is the sum of the number of right descents of the elements of $\mathcal P$ and prove that this conjecture holds in the cases of symmetric groups (type $A$) and hyperoctahedral groups (type $B$).

math.CO↗
arXiv2023

The Primitive Eulerian polynomial

We introduce the Primitive Eulerian polynomial $P_{\cal A}(z)$ of a central hyperplane arrangement ${\cal A}$. It is a reparametrization of its cocharacteristic polynomial. Previous work of the first author implicitly show that, for simplicial arrangements, $P_{\cal A}(z)$ has nonnegative coefficients. For reflection arrangements of type A and B, the same work interprets the coefficients of $P_{\cal A}(z)$ using the (flag)excedance statistic on (signed) permutations. The main result of this article is to provide an interpretation of the coefficients of $P_{\cal A}(z)$ for all simplicial arrangements only using the geometry and combinatorics of ${\cal A}$. This new interpretation sheds more light to the case of reflection arrangements and, for the first time, gives combinatorial meaning to the coefficients of the Primitive Eulerian polynomial of the reflection arrangement of type D. In type B, we find a connection between the Primitive Eulerian polynomial and the $1/2$-Eulerian polynomial of Savage and Viswanathan (2012). We present some real-rootedness results and conjectures for $P_{\cal A}(z)$.

math.CO↗
arXiv2023

Shi arrangements and low elements in Coxeter groups

Given an arbitrary Coxeter system $(W,S)$ and a nonnegative integer $m$, the $m$-Shi arrangement of $(W,S)$ is a subarrangement of the Coxeter hyperplane arrangement of $(W,S)$. The classical Shi arrangement ($m=0$) was introduced in the case of affine Weyl groups by Shi to study Kazhdan-Lusztig cells for $W$. As two key results, Shi showed that each region of the Shi arrangement contains exactly one element of minimal length in $W$ and that the union of their inverses form a convex subset of the Coxeter complex. The set of $m$-low elements in $W$ 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 $W$. In this article, we generalize and extend Shi's results to any Coxeter system for any $m$: (1) the set of minimal length elements of the regions in a $m$-Shi arrangement is precisely the set of $m$-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.

math.CO↗
arXiv2022

Shi arrangements and low elements in affine Coxeter groups

Given an affine Coxeter group $W$, the corresponding Shi arrangement is a refinement of the corresponding Coxeter hyperplane arrangements that was introduced by Shi to study Kazhdan-Lusztig cells for $W$. In particular, Shi showed that each region of the Shi arrangement contains exactly one element of minimal length in $W$. Low elements in $W$ were introduced to study the word problem of the corresponding Artin-Tits (braid) group and turns out to produce automata to study the combinatorics of reduced words in $W$. In this article, we show in the case of an affine Coxeter group that the set of minimal length elements of the regions in the Shi arrangement is precisely the set of low elements, settling a conjecture of Dyer and the second author in this case. As a byproduct of our proof, we show that the descent-walls -- the walls that separate a region from the fundamental alcove -- of any region in the Shi arrangement are precisely the descent walls of the alcove of its corresponding low element.

math.CO↗
arXiv2019

On the Limit Set of Root Systems of Coxeter Groups acting on Lorentzian spaces

The notion of limit roots of a Coxeter group W was recently introduced (see arXiv:1112.5415 and arXiv:1303.6710): they are the accumulation points of directions of roots of a root system for W. In the case where the root system lives in a Lorentzian space W admits a faithful representation as a discrete reflection group of isometries on a hyperbolic space; the accumulation set of any of its orbits is then classically called the limit set of W. In this article we show that the limit roots of a Coxeter group W acting on a Lorentzian space is equal to the limit set of W seen as a discrete reflection group of hyperbolic isometries. We aim for this article to be as self-contained as possible in order to be accessible to the community familiar with reflection groups and root systems and to the community familiar with discrete subgroups of isometries in hyperbolic geometry.

math.GR↗
arXiv2019

The facial weak order on hyperplane arrangements

We extend the facial weak order from finite Coxeter groups to central hyperplane arrangements. The facial weak order extends the poset of regions of a hyperplane arrangement to all its faces. We provide four non-trivially equivalent definitions of the facial weak order of a central arrangement: (1) by exploiting the fact that the faces are intervals in the poset of regions, (2) by describing its cover relations, (3) using covectors of the corresponding oriented matroid, and (4) using certain sets of normal vectors closely related to the geometry of the corresponding zonotope. Using these equivalent descriptions, we show that when the poset of regions is a lattice, the facial weak order is a lattice. In the case of simplicial arrangements, we further show that this lattice is semidistributive and give a description of its join-irreducible elements. Finally, we determine the homotopy type of all intervals in the facial weak order.

math.CO↗
arXiv2018

Polytopal realizations of finite type $\mathbf{g}$-vector fans

This paper shows the polytopality of any finite type $\mathbf{g}$-vector fan, acyclic or not. In fact, for any finite Dynkin type $Γ$, we construct a universal associahedron $\mathsf{Asso}_{\mathrm{un}}(Γ)$ with the property that any $\mathbf{g}$-vector fan of type $Γ$ is the normal fan of a suitable projection of $\mathsf{Asso}_{\mathrm{un}}(Γ)$.

math.CO↗
arXiv2016

Chains in shard lattices and BHZ posets

For every finite Coxeter group W , we prove that the number of chains in the shard intersection lattice introduced by Reading on the one hand and in the BHZ poset introduced by Bergeron, Zabrocki and the third author on the other hand, are the same. We also show that these two partial orders are related by an equality between generating series for their M{ö}bius numbers, and provide a dimension-preserving bijection between the order complex on the BHZ poset and the pulling triangulation of the permutahedron arising from the right weak order, analogous to the bijection defined by Reading between the order complex of the shard poset and the same triangulation of the permutahedron.

math.CO↗
arXiv2016

Small roots, low elements, and the weak order in Coxeter groups

In this article we provide a new finite class of elements in any Coxeter system (W,S) called low elements. They are defined from Brink and Howlett's small roots, which are strongly linked to the automatic structure of (W,S). Our first main result is to show that they form a Garside shadow in (W,S), i.e., they contain S and are closed under join (for the right weak order) and by taking suffixes. These low elements are the key to prove that all finitely generated Artin-Tits groups have a finite Garside family. This result was announced in a note with P. Dehornoy (P. Dehornoy, M. Dyer, and C. Hohlweg. Garside families in Artin-Tits monoids and low elements in Coxeter groups. Comptes Rendus Mathematique, 353:403-408., 2015.) in which the present article was referred to under the following working title: Monotonicity of dominance-depth on root systems and applications. The proof is based on a fundamental property enjoyed by small roots and which is our second main result; the set of small root is bipodal. For a natural number n, we define similarly n-low elements from n-small roots and conjecture that the set of n-small roots is bipodal, implying the set of n-low elements is a Garside shadow; we prove this conjecture for affine Coxeter groups and Coxeter groups whose graph is labelled by 3 and infinity. To prove the latter, we extend the root poset on positive roots to a weak order on the root system and define a Bruhat order on the root system, and study the paths in those orders in order to establish a criterion to prove bipodality involving only finite dihedral reflection subgroups.

math.GR↗
arXiv2016

Automata, reduced words, and Garside shadows in Coxeter groups

In this article, we introduce and investigate a class of finite deterministic automata that all recognize the language of reduced words of a finitely generated Coxeter system (W,S). The definition of these automata is straightforward as it only requires the notion of weak order on (W,S) and the related notion of Garside shadows in (W,S), an analog of the notion of a Garside family. Then we discuss the relations between this class of automata and the canonical automaton built from Brink and Howlett's small roots. We end this article by providing partial positive answers to two conjectures: (1) the automata associated to the smallest Garside shadow is minimal; (2) the canonical automaton is minimal if and only if the support of all small roots is spherical, i.e., the corresponding root system is finite.

math.CO↗
arXiv2016

The facial weak order and its lattice quotients

We investigate a poset structure that extends the weak order on a finite Coxeter group $W$ to the set of all faces of the permutahedron of $W$. We call this order the facial weak order. We first provide two alternative characterizations of this poset: a first one, geometric, that generalizes the notion of inversion sets of roots, and a second one, combinatorial, that uses comparisons of the minimal and maximal length representatives of the cosets. These characterizations are then used to show that the facial weak order is in fact a lattice, generalizing a well-known result of A. Björner for the classical weak order. Finally, we show that any lattice congruence of the classical weak order induces a lattice congruence of the facial weak order, and we give a geometric interpretation of their classes. As application, we describe the facial boolean lattice on the faces of the cube and the facial Cambrian lattice on the faces of the corresponding generalized associahedron.

math.CO↗
arXiv2016

Imaginary cones and limit roots of infinite Coxeter groups

Let (W,S) be an infinite Coxeter system. To each geometric representation of W is associated a root system. While a root system lives in the positive side of the isotropy cone of its associated bilinear form, an imaginary cone lives in the negative side of the isotropic cone. Precisely on the isotropic cone, between root systems and imaginary cones, lives the set E of limit points of the directions of roots (see arXiv:1112.5415). In this article we study the close relations of the imaginary cone (see arXiv:1210.5206) with the set E, which leads to new fundamental results about the structure of geometric representations of infinite Coxeter groups. In particular, we show that the W-action on E is minimal and faithful, and that E and the imaginary cone can be approximated arbitrarily well by sets of limit roots and imaginary cones of universal root subsystems of W, i.e., root systems for Coxeter groups without braid relations (the free object for Coxeter groups). Finally, we discuss open questions as well as the possible relevance of our framework in other areas such as geometric group theory.

math.GR↗
arXiv2016

On inversion sets and the weak order in Coxeter groups

In this article, we investigate the existence of joins in the weak order of an infinite Coxeter group W. We give a geometric characterization of the existence of a join for a subset X in W in terms of the inversion sets of its elements and their position relative to the imaginary cone. Finally, we discuss inversion sets of infinite reduced words and the notions of biconvex and biclosed sets of positive roots.

math.GR↗
arXiv2014

Garside families in Artin-Tits monoids and low elements in Coxeter groups

We show that every finitely generated Artin-Tits group admits a finite Garside family, by introducing the notion of a low element in a Coxeter group and proving that the family of all low elements in a Coxeter system (W, S) with S finite includes S and is finite and closed under suffix and join with respect to the right weak order.

math.GR↗
arXiv2013

Asymptotical behaviour of roots of infinite Coxeter groups

Let W be an infinite Coxeter group. We initiate the study of the set E of limit points of "normalized" positive roots (representing the directions of the roots) of W. We show that E is contained in the isotropic cone of the bilinear form B associated to a geometric representation, and illustrate this property with numerous examples and pictures in rank 3 and 4. We also define a natural geometric action of W on E, and then we exhibit a countable subset of E, formed by limit points for the dihedral reflection subgroups of W. We explain that this subset is built from the intersection with Q of the lines passing through two positive roots, and finally we establish that it is dense in E.

math.GR↗