arXiv subjects

Jérémie Bouttier

Publications and source records attributed to Jérémie Bouttier.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Distance statistics of block-weighted planar quadrangulations

We study random planar quadrangulations in which each block -- i.e., each simple (without multiple edges) component -- is assigned a weight $u$. We derive an explicit expression for the distance-dependent two-point function, defined as the generating function of such block-weighted maps with two marked edges at a fixed graph distance. Using contour integral representations in two variables combined with a delicate saddle-point analysis, we compute the associated distance profile in the scaling limit of large quadrangulations. We recover the known phase transition at $u = 9/5$, characterized by distinct scaling exponents and different scaling functions, below, at, and above criticality. We also discuss the block distance profile, where the two marked edges are conditioned to lie within the same block.

math.CO↗

arXiv2026

Enumeration of plane hypermaps with a mixed boundary I

Plane hypermaps are plane maps endowed with a proper coloration of their inner faces in black or white. We consider the problem of enumerating plane hypermaps with prescribed face degrees and a $k$-alternating boundary condition: by this we mean the colors of inner faces incident to the outer face alternates at most $2k$ times when turning around the hypermap. The present paper deals with the cases $k=1,2$, the general case being left to the forthcoming part II. Our approach relies on the so-called slice decomposition and uses crucially the notion of accessibility, which exploits the canonical orientation of hypermaps and the marking variable $t$ associated with vertices, to enumerate pointed hypermaps by decomposing them according to the set of all vertices that can access to the marked vertex. This process enables us to express the generating functions of hypermaps with mixed boundaries in terms of the generating functions of hypermap slices and to recover, in a purely combinatorial way, some formulas previously obtained through algebraic methods.

math.CO↗

arXiv2026

Enumeration of maps with tight boundaries and the Zhukovsky transformation

We consider maps with tight boundaries, i.e. maps whose boundaries have minimal length in their homotopy class, and discuss the properties of their generating functions $T^{(g)}_{\ell_1,\ldots,\ell_n}$ for fixed genus $g$ and prescribed boundary lengths $\ell_1,\ldots,\ell_n$, with a control on the degrees of inner faces. We find that these series appear as coefficients in the expansion of $ω^{(g)}_n(z_1,\ldots,z_n)$, a fundamental quantity in the Eynard-Orantin theory of topological recursion, thereby providing a combinatorial interpretation of the Zhukovsky transformation used in this context. This interpretation results from the so-called trumpet decomposition of maps with arbitrary boundaries. In the planar bipartite case, we obtain a fully explicit formula for $T^{(0)}_{2\ell_1,\ldots,2\ell_n}$ from the Collet-Fusy formula. We also find recursion relations satisfied by $T^{(g)}_{\ell_1,\ldots,\ell_n}$, which consist in adding an extra tight boundary, keeping the genus $g$ fixed. Building on a result of Norbury and Scott, we show that $T^{(g)}_{\ell_1,\ldots,\ell_n}$ is equal to a parity-dependent quasi-polynomial in $\ell_1^2,\ldots,\ell_n^2$ times a simple power of the basic generating function $R$. In passing, we provide a bijective derivation in the case $(g,n)=(0,3)$, generalizing a recent construction of ours to the non bipartite case.

math.CO↗

arXiv2025

The slice decomposition of planar hypermaps

The slice decomposition is a bijective method for enumerating planar maps (graphs embedded in the sphere) with control over face degrees. In this paper, we extend the slice decomposition to the richer setting of hypermaps, naturally interpreted as properly face-bicolored maps, where the degrees of faces of each color can be controlled separately. This setting is closely related with the two-matrix model and the Ising model on random maps, which have been intensively studied in theoretical physics, leading to several enumerative formulas for hypermaps that were still awaiting bijective proofs. Generally speaking, the slice decomposition consists in cutting along geodesics. A key feature of hypermaps is that the geodesics along which we cut are directed, following the canonical orientation of edges imposed by the coloring. This orientation requires us to introduce an adapted notion of slices, which admit a recursive decomposition that we describe. Using these slices as fundamental building blocks, we obtain new bijective decompositions of several families of hypermaps: disks (pointed or not) with a monochromatic boundary, cylinders with monochromatic boundaries (starting with trumpets or cornets having one geodesic boundary), and disks with a "Dobrushin" boundary condition. In each case, the decomposition ultimately expresses these objects as sequences of slices whose increments correspond to downward-skip free (Lukasiewicz-type) walks subject to natural constraints. Our approach yields bijective proofs of several explicit expressions for hypermap generating functions. In particular, we provide a combinatorial explanation of the algebraicity and of the existence of rational parametrizations for these generating functions when face degrees are bounded.

math.CO↗

arXiv2024

Enumeration of planar bipartite tight irreducible maps

We consider planar bipartite maps which are both tight, i.e. without vertices of degree $1$, and $2b$-irreducible, i.e. such that each cycle has length at least $2b$ and such that any cycle of length exactly $2b$ is the contour of a face. It was shown by Budd that the number $\mathcal N_n^{(b)}$ of such maps made out of a fixed set of $n$ faces with prescribed even degrees is a polynomial in both $b$ and the face degrees. In this paper, we give an explicit expression for $\mathcal N_n^{(b)}$ by a direct bijective approach based on the so-called slice decomposition. More precisely, we decompose any of the maps at hand into a collection of $2b$-irreducible tight slices and a suitable two-face map. We show how to bijectively encode each $2b$-irreducible slice via a $b$-decorated tree drawn on its derived map, and how to enumerate collections thereof. We then discuss the polynomial counting of two-face maps, and show how to combine it with the former enumeration to obtain $\mathcal N_n^{(b)}$.

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arXiv2024

On quasi-polynomials counting planar tight maps

A tight map is a map with some of its vertices marked, such that every vertex of degree $1$ is marked. We give an explicit formula for the number $N_{0,n}(d_1,\ldots,d_n)$ of planar tight maps with $n$ labeled faces of prescribed degrees $d_1,\ldots,d_n$, where a marked vertex is seen as a face of degree $0$. It is a quasi-polynomial in $(d_1,\ldots,d_n)$, as shown previously by Norbury. Our derivation is bijective and based on the slice decomposition of planar maps. In the non-bipartite case, we also rely on enumeration results for two-type forests. We discuss the connection with the enumeration of non necessarily tight maps. In particular, we provide a generalization of Tutte's classical slicings formula to all non-bipartite maps.

math.CO↗

arXiv2024

Multicritical Schur measures and higher-order analogues of the Tracy-Widom distribution

We introduce multicritical Schur measures, which are probability laws on integer partitions which give rise to non-generic fluctuations at their edge. They are in the same universality classes as one-dimensional momentum-space models of free fermions in flat confining potentials, studied by Le Doussal, Majumdar and Schehr. These universality classes involve critical exponents of the form 1/(2m+1), with m a positive integer, and asymptotic distributions given by Fredholm determinants constructed from higher order Airy kernels, extending the generic Tracy-Widom GUE distribution recovered for m=1. We also compute limit shapes for the multicritical Schur measures, discuss the finite temperature setting, and exhibit an exact mapping to the multicritical unitary matrix models previously encountered by Periwal and Shevitz.

math.CO↗

arXiv2023

Nesting statistics in the O(n) loop model on random planar maps

In the O(n) loop model on random planar maps, we study the depth - in terms of the number of levels of nesting - of the loop configuration, by means of analytic combinatorics. We focus on the 'refined' generating series of pointed disks or cylinders, which keep track of the number of loops separating the marked point from the boundary (for disks), or the two boundaries (for cylinders). For the general O(n) loop model, we show that these generating series satisfy functional relations obtained by a modification of those satisfied by the unrefined generating series. In a more specific O(n) model where loops cross only triangles and have a bending energy, we explicitly compute the refined generating series. We analyse their non generic critical behavior in the dense and dilute phases, and obtain the large deviations function of the nesting distribution, which is expected to be universal. Using the framework of Liouville quantum gravity (LQG), we show that a rigorous functional KPZ relation can be applied to the multifractal spectrum of extreme nesting in the conformal loop ensemble (CLE) in the Euclidean unit disk, as obtained by Miller, Watson and Wilson, or to its natural generalisation to the Riemann sphere. It allows us to recover the large deviations results obtained for the critical O(n) random planar map models. This offers, at the refined level of large deviations theory, a rigorous check of the fundamental fact that the universal scaling limits of random planar map models as weighted by partition functions of critical statistical models are given by LQG random surfaces decorated by independent CLEs.

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arXiv2022

Bijective enumeration of planar bipartite maps with three tight boundaries, or how to slice pairs of pants

We consider planar maps with three boundaries, colloquially called pairs of pants. In the case of bipartite maps with controlled face degrees, a simple expression for their generating function was found by Eynard and proved bijectively by Collet and Fusy. In this paper, we obtain an even simpler formula for \emph{tight} pairs of pants, namely for maps whose boundaries have minimal length in their homotopy class. We follow a bijective approach based on the slice decomposition, which we extend by introducing new fundamental building blocks called bigeodesic triangles and diangles, and by working on the universal cover of the triply punctured sphere. We also discuss the statistics of the lengths of minimal separating loops in (non necessarily tight) pairs of pants and annuli, and their asymptotics in the large volume limit.

math.CO↗

arXiv2022

From point processes to quantum optics and back

Some fifty years ago, in her seminal PhD thesis, Odile Macchi introduced permanental and determinantal point processes. Her initial motivation was to provide models for the set of detection times in fundamental bosonic or fermionic optical experiments, respectively. After two rather quiet decades, these point processes have quickly become standard examples of point processes with nontrivial, yet tractable, correlation structures. In particular, determinantal point processes have been since the 1990s a technical workhorse in random matrix theory and combinatorics, and a standard model for repulsive point patterns in machine learning and spatial statistics since the 2010s. Meanwhile, our ability to experimentally probe the correlations between detection events in bosonic and fermionic optics has progressed tremendously. In Part I of this survey, we provide a modern introduction to the concepts in Macchi's thesis and their physical motivation, under the combined eye of mathematicians, physicists, and signal processers. Our objective is to provide a shared basis of knowledge for later cross-disciplinary work on point processes in quantum optics, and reconnect with the physical roots of permanental and determinantal point processes.

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arXiv2021

Enumeration of planar constellations with an alternating boundary

A planar hypermap with a boundary is defined as a planar map with a boundary, endowed with a proper bicoloring of the inner faces. The boundary is said alternating if the colors of the incident inner faces alternate along its contour. In this paper we consider the problem of counting planar hypermaps with an alternating boundary, according to the perimeter and to the degree distribution of innerfaces of each color. The problem is translated into a functional equation with a catalytic variable determining the corresponding generating function. In the case of constellations - hypermaps whose all inner faces of a given color have degree $m\geq 2$, and whose all other inner faces have a degree multiple of $m$ - we completely solve the functional equation, and show that the generating function is algebraic and admits an explicit rational parametrization. We finally specialize to the case of Eulerian triangulations - hypermaps whose all inner faces have degree $3$ - and compute asymptotics which are needed in another work by the second author, to prove the convergence of rescaled planar Eulerian triangulations to the Brownian map.

math.CO↗

arXiv2021

Multicritical random partitions

We study two families of probability measures on integer partitions, which are Schur measures with parameters tuned in such a way that the edge fluctuations are characterized by a critical exponent different from the generic $1/3$. We find that the first part asymptotically follows a "higher-order analogue" of the Tracy-Widom GUE distribution, previously encountered by Le Doussal, Majumdar and Schehr in quantum statistical physics. We also compute limit shapes, and discuss an exact mapping between one of our families and the multicritical unitary matrix models introduced by Periwal and Shevitz.

math.CO↗

arXiv2019

Planar maps and random partitions

This habilitation thesis summarizes the research that I have carried out from 2005 to 2019. It is organized in four chapters. The first three deal with random planar maps. Chapter 1 is about their metric properties: from a general map-mobile bijection, we compute the three-point function of quadrangulations, before discussing the connection with continued fractions. Chapter 2 presents the slice decomposition, a unified bijective approach that applies notably to irreducible maps. Chapter 3 concerns the $O(n)$ loop model on planar maps: by a combinatorial decomposition, we obtain the phase diagram before studying loop nesting statistics. Chapter 4 deals with random partitions and Schur processes, from steep domino tilings to fermionic systems.

math-ph↗

arXiv2019

New edge asymptotics of skew Young diagrams via free boundaries

We study edge asymptotics of poissonized Plancherel-type measures on skew Young diagrams (integer partitions). These measures can be seen as generalizations of those studied by Baik--Deift--Johansson and Baik--Rains in resolving Ulam's problem on longest increasing subsequences of random permutations and the last passage percolation (corner growth) discrete versions thereof. Moreover they interpolate between said measures and the uniform measure on partitions. In the new KPZ-like 1/3 exponent edge scaling limit with logarithmic corrections, we find new probability distributions generalizing the classical Tracy--Widom GUE, GOE and GSE distributions from the theory of random matrices.

math.CO↗

arXiv2019

The periodic Schur process and free fermions at finite temperature

We revisit the periodic Schur process introduced by Borodin in 2007. Our contribution is threefold. First, we provide a new simpler derivation of its correlation functions via the free fermion formalism. In particular, we shall see that the process becomes determinantal by passing to the grand canonical ensemble, which gives a physical explanation to Borodin's "shift-mixing" trick. Second, we consider the edge scaling limit in the simplest nontrivial case, corresponding to a deformation of the poissonized Plancherel measure on partitions. We show that the edge behavior is described, in a certain crossover regime different from that for the bulk, by the universal finite-temperature Airy kernel, which was previously encountered by Johansson and Le Doussal et al. in other models, and whose extreme value statistics interpolates between the Tracy-Widom GUE and the Gumbel distributions. We also define and prove convergence for a stationary extension of our model. Finally, we compute the correlation functions for a variant of the periodic Schur process involving strict partitions, Schur's P and Q functions, and neutral fermions.

math-ph↗

arXiv2018

The free boundary Schur process and applications I

We investigate the free boundary Schur process, a variant of the Schur process introduced by Okounkov and Reshetikhin, where we allow the first and the last partitions to be arbitrary (instead of empty in the original setting). The pfaffian Schur process, previously studied by several authors, is recovered when just one of the boundary partitions is left free. We compute the correlation functions of the process in all generality via the free fermion formalism, which we extend with the thorough treatment of "free boundary states". For the case of one free boundary, our approach yields a new proof that the process is pfaffian. For the case of two free boundaries, we find that the process is not pfaffian, but a closely related process is. We also study three different applications of the Schur process with one free boundary: fluctuations of symmetrized last passage percolation models, limit shapes and processes for symmetric plane partitions, and for plane overpartitions.

math.PR↗

arXiv2018

Perfect sampling algorithm for Schur processes

We describe random generation algorithms for a large class of random combinatorial objects called Schur processes, which are sequences of random (integer) partitions subject to certain interlacing conditions. This class contains several fundamental combinatorial objects as special cases, such as plane partitions, tilings of Aztec diamonds, pyramid partitions and more generally steep domino tilings of the plane. Our algorithm, which is of polynomial complexity, is both exact (i.e. the output follows exactly the target probability law, which is either Boltzmann or uniform in our case), and entropy optimal (i.e. it reads a minimal number of random bits as an input). The algorithm encompasses previous growth procedures for special Schur processes related to the primal and dual RSK algorithm, as well as the famous domino shuffling algorithm for domino tilings of the Aztec diamond. It can be easily adapted to deal with symmetric Schur processes and general Schur processes involving infinitely many parameters. It is more concrete and easier to implement than Borodin's algorithm, and it is entropy optimal. At a technical level, it relies on unified bijective proofs of the different types of Cauchy and Littlewood identities for Schur functions, and on an adaptation of Fomin's growth diagram description of the RSK algorithm to that setting. Simulations performed with this algorithm suggest interesting limit shape phenomena for the corresponding tiling models, some of which are new.

math.PR↗

arXiv2018

Bumping sequences and multispecies juggling

Building on previous work by four of us (ABCN), we consider further generalizations of Warrington's juggling Markov chains. We first introduce "multispecies" juggling, which consist in having balls of different weights: when a ball is thrown it can possibly bump into a lighter ball that is then sent to a higher position, where it can in turn bump an even lighter ball, etc. We both study the case where the number of balls of each species is conserved and the case where the juggler sends back a ball of the species of its choice. In this latter case, we actually discuss three models: add-drop, annihilation and overwriting. The first two are generalisations of models presented in (ABCN) while the third one is new and its Markov chain has the ultra fast convergence property. We finally consider the case of several jugglers exchanging balls. In all models, we give explicit product formulas for the stationary probability and closed form expressions for the normalisation factor if known.

math.CO↗