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Hunter Spink

Publications and source records attributed to Hunter Spink.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

Long range divided differences, clusters, and Graham-positivity

We study torus-orbit closures in the type $A$ complete flag variety naturally associated to cones in the positive cluster fan, together with their left $S_n$-translates. The torus-equivariant degree maps can be computed via composites of long-range divided difference operations encoded by noncrossing alternating forests, and we give combinatorial algorithms to expand the torus-equivariant homology classes into Graham-positive combinations of Schubert cycles. As applications we obtain combinatorial Graham-positive Schubert cycle expansions for all torus-invariant curves (generalizing the AJS-Billey formula for torus-fixed points), generic torus-orbit closures, and Richardson varieties for Bruhat intervals $[w,wc']$ where $c'\le s_{n-1}s_{n-2}\cdots s_1$. Projecting to Grassmannians we also obtain Graham-positive Grassmannian Schubert cycle decompositions of torus-orbit closures associated to lattice path matroids on permuted ground sets.

math.AG↗
arXiv2026

The Springer Geometry of Specht Polynomials and Schubert cycle positivity for two row Springer fiber components

We show that the type A Springer representation is realized geometrically in the homology of the complete flag variety by Specht polynomials. For any partition, we identify the classical Specht polynomial generators of the Specht module with the classes of a family of disjoint Levi--Richardson varieties, and this family degenerates to the corresponding Springer fiber. This factors Springer's Schubert positivity problem for Springer fiber components through a chain of positive expansions, from Specht polynomials through the Joseph polynomials to the Schubert cycles. For two-row partitions we make each of these expansions combinatorially explicit, giving manifestly nonnegative Schubert cycle expansions of both the Levi-Richardson cycles and the Springer fiber components. This resolves Springer's question for two-row fibers and proves two conjectures of Precup and Sabando-Alvarez, and identifies the Springer basis with the web basis for two-row Specht modules. As an application, we deduce the Schubert cycle expansions of the components of the Poisson degeneracy locus of the flag variety.

math.AG↗
arXiv2026

Grove polynomials and $K$-theoretic quasisymmetry

We define the grove polynomials, a set-valued extension of forest polynomials. We show that they are $K$-theoretically dual to the quasisymmetric Schubert cells which pave the quasisymmetric flag variety, in the same way that Grothendieck polynomials are dual to Schubert cells in the complete flag variety. As a consequence, the finite truncations of the multi-fundamental quasisymmetric functions of Lam-Pylyavskyy acquire a geometric interpretation as $K$-theoretic representatives of quasisymmetric Schubert cells.

math.CO↗
arXiv2026

The Quasisymmetric Grassmannian

We construct a complex of toric varieties we call the quasisymmetric Grassmannian inside the Grassmannian of $r$-planes in $\mathbb{C}^n$. Each irreducible component is a positroid variety and an $S_n$ translate of a toric Richardson variety of ribbon shape. We describe it as the vanishing locus of equations $\Delta_A\Delta_{A'}=0$ in Pl\"ucker coordinates determined by a new noncrossing combinatorial object we call the quasisymmetric Johnson graph. We give an affine paving, and show that its cohomology ring is a quasisymmetric modification of the Borel presentation of the Grassmannian's cohomology, with fundamental quasisymmetric polynomials playing the role of Schur polynomials.

math.AG↗
arXiv2026

The Coxeter Flag Variety

For a Coxeter element $c$ in a Weyl group $W$, we define the $c$-Coxeter flag variety $\operatorname{CFl}_c\subset G/B$ as the union of left-translated Richardson varieties $w^{-1}X^{wc}_w$. This is a complex of toric varieties whose geometry is governed by the lattice $\operatorname{NC}(W,c)$ of $c$-noncrossing partitions. We show that $\operatorname{CFl}_c$ is the common vanishing locus of the generalized Pl\"ucker coordinates indexed by $W\setminus\operatorname{NC}(W,c)$. We also construct an explicit affine paving of $\operatorname{CFl}_c$ and identify the $T$-weights of each cell in terms of $c$-clusters. This paving gives a GKM description of $H^\bullet(\operatorname{CFl}_c)$ and $H^\bullet_{T_{ad}}(\operatorname{CFl}_c)$ in terms of the induced Cayley subgraph on $\operatorname{NC}(W,c)$, and we show these rings are naturally isomorphic for different choices of $c$. In type $\mathrm{A}$, this recovers the quasisymmetric flag variety for a special $c$, and for general $c$ we show the cohomology ring has a presentation as permuted quasisymmetric coinvariants.

math.AG↗
arXiv2025

Fano compactifications of mutation algebras

In this article, we introduce the notion of mutation semigroup algebras. This concept simultaneously generalizes cluster algebras and semigroup algebras. We show that, under some mild conditions on the singularities, the spectrum $U={\rm Spec}(R)$ of a mutation semigroup algebra $R$ admits a log Fano compactification $U\hookrightarrow X$. The compactification $X$ can be chosen to be a $\mathbb{Q}$-factorial log Fano variety whenever $U$ is $\mathbb{Q}$-factorial. Furthermore, we prove that a $\mathbb{Q}$-factorial klt Fano variety $X$ is of cluster type if and only if its Cox ring ${\rm Cox}(X)$ is a ${\rm Cl}(X)$-graded mutation semigroup algebra. In order to enlighten the previous theorems, we provide several explicit examples motivated by birational geometry, representation theory, and combinatorics.

math.AG↗
arXiv2025

Richardson tableaux and Schubert positivity

We compute the Schubert cycle expansion of those irreducible components of Springer fibers equal to Richardson varieties. This generalizes work of G\"uemes in the case of a hook shape and answers a question of Karp-Precup.

math.CO↗
arXiv2025

Lattice Models for Double Whittaker Polynomials and Motivic Chern Classes

We will describe solvable lattice models whose partition functions depend on two sets of variables, $x_1,\cdots,x_n$ and $y_1, y_2, \cdots $ that have different connections with the representation theory of $\text{GL}(n,F)$ where $F$ is a nonarchimedean local field. If the boundary conditions are chosen in one way, they are essentially the Motivic Chern classes that were used very effectively by Aluffi, Mihalcea, Sch\"urmann and Su (AMSS) to study such problems. In particular, using this specialization we can obtain deformations $r_{u,v}$ of the Kazhdan-Lusztig R-polynomials that were used by Bump, Nakasuji and Naruse to study matrix coefficients of intertwining operators (introduced by Casselman). Thus we are able see that the recursion formula for the $r_{u,v}$ is a reflection of the Yang-Baxter equation. On the other hand, with more general boundary conditions, specializing the parameters $y_i\to 0$ we recover colored lattice models that were previously used by Brubaker, Buciumas, Bump and Gustafsson to represent Iwahori Whittaker functions on $GL(n,F)$. Thus we term the resulting two-variable-set family of functions as ``double Whittaker polynomials.''

math.RT↗
arXiv2025

Vector-valued Laurent polynomial equations, toric vector bundles and matroids

Let $L \subset \mathbb{C}^r \otimes \mathbb{C}[x_1^\pm, \ldots, x_n^\pm]$ be a finite dimensional subspace of vector-valued Laurent polynomials invariant under the action of torus $(\mathbb{C}^*)^n$. We study subvarieties in the torus, defined by equations $f = 0$ for generic $f \in L$. We generalize the BKK theorem, that counts the number of solutions of a system of Laurent polynomial equations generic for their Newton polytopes, to this setting. The answer is in terms of mixed volume of certain virtual polytopes encoding discrete invariants of $L$ which involves matroid data. Moreover, we prove an Alexandrov-Fenchel type inequality for these virtual polytopes. Finally, we extend this inequality to non-representable polymatroids. This extends the usual Alexandrov-Fenchel inequality for polytopes as well as log-concavity results related to matroids.

math.AG↗
arXiv2025

Equivariant quasisymmetry and noncrossing partitions

We introduce a definition of ``equivariant quasisymmetry'' for polynomials in two sets of variables. Using this definition we define quasisymmetric generalizations of the theory of double Schur and double Schubert polynomials that we call double fundamental polynomials and double forest polynomials, where the subset of ``noncrossing partitions'' plays the role of $S_n$. In subsequent work we will show this combinatorics is governed by a new geometric construction we call the ``quasisymmetric flag variety'' which plays the same role for equivariant quasisymmetry as the usual flag variety plays in the classical story.

math.CO↗
arXiv2025

On the number and sizes of double cosets of Sylow subgroups of the symmetric group

Let $P_n$ be a Sylow $p$-subgroup of the symmetric group $S_n$. We investigate the number and sizes of the $P_n\setminus S_n\ /\ P_n$ double cosets, showing that most double cosets have maximal size when $p$ is odd, or equivalently, that $P_n\cap P_n^x=1$ for most $x\in S_n$ when $n$ is large. We also find that all possible sizes of such double cosets occur, modulo a list of small exceptions.

math.GR↗
arXiv2024

The geometry of quasisymmetric coinvariants

We develop a quasisymmetric analogue of the theory of Schubert cycles, building off of our previous work on a quasisymmetric analogue of Schubert polynomials and divided differences. Our constructions result in a natural geometric interpretation for the ring of quasisymmetric coinvariants.

math.AG↗
arXiv2024

Schubert polynomial expansions revisited

We give an elementary approach utilizing only the divided difference formalism for obtaining expansions of Schubert polynomials that are manifestly nonnegative, by studying solutions to the equation $\sum Y_i\partial_i=\mathrm{id}$ on polynomials with no constant term. This in particular recovers the pipe dream and slide polynomial expansions. We also show that slide polynomials satisfy an analogue of the divided difference formalisms for Schubert polynomials and forest polynomials, which gives a simple method for extracting the coefficients of slide polynomials in the slide polynomial decomposition of an arbitrary polynomial.

math.CO↗
arXiv2024

Quasisymmetric divided differences

We develop a quasisymmetric analogue of the combinatorial theory of Schubert polynomials and the associated divided difference operators. Our counterparts are "forest polynomials", and a new family of linear operators, whose theory of compositions is governed by forests and the "Thompson monoid". Our approach extends naturally to $m$-colored quasisymmetric functions. We then give several applications of our theory to fundamental quasisymmetric functions, the study of quasisymmetric coinvariant rings and their associated harmonics, and positivity results for various expansions. In particular we resolve a conjecture of Aval-Bergeron-Li regarding quasisymmetric harmonics.

math.CO↗
arXiv2023

K-classes of delta-matroids and equivariant localization

Delta-matroids are "type B" generalizations of matroids in the same way that maximal orthogonal Grassmannians are generalizations of Grassmannians. A delta-matroid analogue of the Tutte polynomial of a matroid is the interlace polynomial. We give a geometric interpretation for the interlace polynomial via the K-theory of maximal orthogonal Grassmannians. To do so, we develop a new Hirzebruch-Riemann-Roch-type formula for the type B permutohedral variety.

math.CO↗
arXiv2022

Algebraic and o-minimal flows beyond the cocompact case

Let $X \subset \mathbb{C}^n$ be an algebraic variety, and let $\Lambda \subset \mathbb{C}^n$ be a discrete subgroup whose real and complex spans agree. We describe the topological closure of the image of $X$ in $\mathbb{C}^n / \Lambda$, thereby extending a result of Peterzil-Starchenko in the case when $\Lambda$ is cocompact. We also obtain a similar extension when $X\subset \mathbb{R}^n$ is definable in an o-minimal structure with no restrictions on $\Lambda$, and as an application prove the following conjecture of Gallinaro: for a closed semi-algebraic $X\subset \mathbb{C}^n$ (such as a complex algebraic variety) and $\exp:\mathbb{C}^n\to (\mathbb{C}^*)^n$ the coordinate-wise exponential map, we have $\overline{\exp(X)}=\exp(X)\cup \bigcup_{i=1}^m \exp(C_i)\cdot \mathbb{T}_i$ where $\mathbb{T}_i\subset (\mathbb{C}^*)^n$ are positive-dimensional compact real tori and $C_i\subset \mathbb{C}^n$ are semi-algebraic.

math.AG↗
arXiv2022

Signed permutohedra, delta-matroids, and beyond

We establish a connection between the algebraic geometry of the type B permutohedral toric variety and the combinatorics of delta-matroids. Using this connection, we compute the volume and lattice point counts of type B generalized permutohedra. Applying tropical Hodge theory to a new framework of "tautological classes of delta-matroids," modeled after certain vector bundles associated to realizable delta-matroids, we establish the log-concavity of a Tutte-like invariant for a broad family of delta-matroids that includes all realizable delta-matroids. Our results include new log-concavity statements for all (ordinary) matroids as special cases.

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