arXiv subjects

Lauren Williams

Publications and source records attributed to Lauren Williams.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2024

A cluster of results on amplituhedron tiles

The amplituhedron is a mathematical object which was introduced to provide a geometric origin of scattering amplitudes in $\mathcal{N}=4$ super Yang Mills theory. It generalizes \emph{cyclic polytopes} and the \emph{positive Grassmannian}, and has a very rich combinatorics with connections to cluster algebras. In this article we provide a series of results about tiles and tilings of the $m=4$ amplituhedron. Firstly, we provide a full characterization of facets of BCFW tiles in terms of cluster variables for $\mbox{Gr}_{4,n}$. Secondly, we exhibit a tiling of the $m=4$ amplituhedron which involves a tile which does not come from the BCFW recurrence -- the \emph{spurion} tile, which also satisfies all cluster properties. Finally, strengthening the connection with cluster algebras, we show that each standard BCFW tile is the positive part of a cluster variety, which allows us to compute the canonical form of each such tile explicitly in terms of cluster variables for $\mbox{Gr}_{4,n}$. This paper is a companion to our previous paper ``Cluster algebras and tilings for the $m=4$ amplituhedron''.

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arXiv2022

Schubert polynomials, the inhomogeneous TASEP, and evil-avoiding permutations

Consider a lattice of n sites arranged around a ring, with the $n$ sites occupied by particles of weights $\{1,2,\dots,n\}$; the possible arrangements of particles in sites thus corresponds to the $n!$ permutations in $S_n$. The inhomogeneous totally asymmetric simple exclusion process (or TASEP) is a Markov chain on the set of permutations, in which two adjacent particles of weights $i<j$ swap places at rate $x_i - y_{n+1-j}$ if the particle of weight $j$ is to the right of the particle of weight $i$. (Otherwise nothing happens.) In the case that $y_i=0$ for all $i$, the stationary distribution was conjecturally linked to Schubert polynomials by Lam-Williams, and explicit formulas for steady state probabilities were subsequently given in terms of multiline queues by Ayyer-Linusson and Arita-Mallick. In the case of general $y_i$, Cantini showed that $n$ of the $n!$ states have probabilities proportional to products of double Schubert polynomials. In this paper we introduce the class of evil-avoiding permutations, which are the permutations avoiding the patterns $2413, 4132, 4213$ and $3214$. We show that there are $\frac{(2+\sqrt{2})^{n-1}+(2-\sqrt{2})^{n-1}}{2}$ evil-avoiding permutations in $S_n$, and for each evil-avoiding permutation $w$, we give an explicit formula for the steady state probability $ψ_w$ as a product of double Schubert polynomials. We also show that the Schubert polynomials that arise in these formulas are flagged Schur functions, and give a bijection in this case between multiline queues and semistandard Young tableaux.

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arXiv2021

From multiline queues to Macdonald polynomials via the exclusion process

Recently James Martin introduced multiline queues, and used them to give a combinatorial formula for the stationary distribution of the multispecies asymmetric simple exclusion exclusion process (ASEP) on a circle. The ASEP is a model of particles hopping on a one-dimensional lattice, which was introduced around 1970, and has been extensively studied in statistical mechanics, probability, and combinatorics. In this article we give an independent proof of Martin's result, and we show that by introducing additional statistics on multiline queues, we can use them to give a new combinatorial formula for both the symmetric Macdonald polynomials P_{lambda}(x; q, t), and the nonsymmetric Macdonald polynomials E_{lambda}(x; q, t), where lambda is a partition. This formula is rather different from others that have appeared in the literature, such as the formulas due to Haglund, Haiman, and Loehr, the formula due to Ram and Yip, and the one due to Lenart. Our proof uses results of Cantini, de Gier, and Wheeler, who recently linked the multispecies ASEP on a circle to Macdonald polynomials.

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arXiv2021

Introduction to Cluster Algebras. Chapters 4-5

This is a preliminary draft of Chapters 4-5 of our forthcoming textbook "Introduction to Cluster Algebras." Chapters 1-3 have been posted as arXiv:1608.05735. This installment contains: Chapter 4. New patterns from old Chapter 5. Finite type classification

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arXiv2021

Introduction to Cluster Algebras. Chapter 6

This is a preliminary draft of Chapter 6 of our forthcoming textbook "Introduction to Cluster Algebras." Chapters 1-3 have been posted as arXiv:1608.05735. Chapters 4-5 have been posted as arXiv:1707.07190. This installment contains: Chapter 6. Cluster structures in commutative rings

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arXiv2021

Schubert polynomials and the inhomogeneous TASEP on a ring

Consider a lattice of n sites arranged around a ring, with the $n$ sites occupied by particles of weights $\{1,2,\dots,n\}$; the possible arrangements of particles in sites thus corresponds to the $n!$ permutations in $S_n$. The \emph{inhomogeneous totally asymmetric simple exclusion process} (or TASEP) is a Markov chain on the set of permutations, in which two adjacent particles of weights $i<j$ swap places at rate $x_i - y_{n+1-j}$ if the particle of weight $j$ is to the right of the particle of weight $i$. (Otherwise nothing happens.) In the case that $y_i=0$ for all $i$, the stationary distribution was conjecturally linked to Schubert polynomials by Lam-Williams, and explicit formulas for steady state probabilities were subsequently given in terms of multiline queues by Ayyer-Linusson and Arita-Mallick. In the case of general $y_i$, Cantini showed that $n$ of the $n!$ states have probabilities proportional to double Schubert polynomials. In this paper we introduce the class of \emph{evil-avoiding permutations}, which are the permutations avoiding the patterns $2413, 4132, 4213$ and $3214$. We show that there are $\frac{(2+\sqrt{2})^{n-1}+(2-\sqrt{2})^{n-1}}{2}$ evil-avoiding permutations in $S_n$, and for each evil-avoiding permutation $w$, we give an explicit formula for the steady state probability $ψ_w$ as a product of double Schubert polynomials. We also show that the Schubert polynomials that arise in these formulas are flagged Schur functions, and give a bijection in this case between multiline queues and semistandard Young tableaux.

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arXiv2020

Network Parameterizations for the Grassmannian

Deodhar introduced his decomposition of partial flag varieties as a tool for understanding Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials. The Deodhar decomposition of the Grassmannian is also useful in the context of soliton solutions to the KP equation, as shown by Kodama and the second author. Deodhar components S_D of the Grassmannian are in bijection with certain tableaux D called Go-diagrams, and each component is isomorphic to (K*)^a \times (K)^b for some non-negative integers a and b. Our main result is an explicit parameterization of each Deodhar component in the Grassmannian in terms of networks. More specifically, from a Go-diagram D we construct a weighted network N_D and its weight matrix W_D, whose entries enumerate directed paths in N_D. By letting the weights in the network vary over K or K* as appropriate, one gets a parameterization of the Deodhar component S_D. One application of such a parameterization is that one may immediately determine which Plucker coordinates are vanishing and nonvanishing, by using the Lindstrom-Gessel-Viennot Lemma. We also give a (minimal) characterization of each Deodhar component in terms of Plucker coordinates. A main tool for us is the work of Marsh and Rietsch on Deodhar components in the flag variety.

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arXiv2020

Compact formulas for Macdonald polynomials and quasisymmetric Macdonald polynomials

We present several new and compact formulas for the modified and integral form of the Macdonald polynomials, building on the compact "multiline queue" formula for Macdonald polynomials due to Corteel, Mandelshtam, and Williams. We also introduce a new quasisymmetric analogue of Macdonald polynomials. These "quasisymmetric Macdonald polynomials" refine the (symmetric) Macdonald polynomials and specialize to the quasisymmetric Schur polynomials defined by Haglund, Luoto, Mason, and van Willigenburg.

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arXiv2020

Cylindric rhombic tableaux and the two-species ASEP on a ring

The asymmetric simple exclusion exclusion process (ASEP) is a model of particles hopping on a one-dimensional lattice of n sites. It was introduced around 1970, and since then has been extensively studied by researchers in statistical mechanics, probability, and combinatorics. Recently the ASEP on a lattice with open boundaries has been linked to Koornwinder polynomials, and the ASEP on a ring has been linked to Macdonald polynomials. In this article we study the two-species asymmetric simple exclusion process (ASEP) on a ring, in which two kinds of particles ("heavy" and "light"), as well as "holes," can hop both clockwise and counterclockwise (at rates 1 or t depending on the particle types) on a ring of n sites. We introduce some new tableaux on a cylinder called cylindric rhombic tableaux (CRT), and use them to give a formula for the stationary distribution of the two-species ASEP -- each probability is expressed as a sum over all CRT of a fixed type. When lambda is a partition in {0,1,2}^n, we then give a formula for the nonsymmetric Macdonald polynomial E_{lambda} and the symmetric Macdonald polynomial P_{lambda} by refining our tableaux formulas for the stationary distribution.

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arXiv2020

Combinatorics of the two-species ASEP and Koornwinder moments

In previous work, the first and third authors introduced staircase tableaux, which they used to give combinatorial formulas for the stationary distribution of the asymmetric simple exclusion process (ASEP) and for the moments of the Askey-Wilson weight function. The fact that the ASEP and Askey-Wilson moments are related at all is quite surprising, and is due to Uchiyama-Sasamoto-Wadati. The ASEP is a model of particles hopping on a one-dimensional lattice of N sites with open boundaries, particles can enter and exit at both left and right borders. It was introduced around 1970 and is cited as a model for both traffic flow and translation in protein synthesis. Meanwhile, the Askey-Wilson polynomials are a family of orthogonal polynomials in one variable, they sit at the top of the hierarchy of classical orthogonal polynomials. So we have the relationship ASEP -- staircase tableaux -- Askey-Wilson moments It is well-known that Askey-Wilson polynomials can be viewed as the one-variable case of the multivariate Koornwinder polynomials, also known as the Macdonald polynomials for the type BC root system. It is natural then to ask whether one can generalize the relationships among the ASEP, Askey-Wilson moments, and staircase tableaux, in such a way that Koornwinder moments replace Askey-Wilson moments. In a recent work, we demonstrated a close connection between Koornwinder moments and the two-species ASEP (a particle model involving two species of particles with different "weights"). In this article we introduce rhombic staircase tableaux, and show that we have the relationship 2-species ASEP -- rhombic staircase tableaux -- Koornwinder moments In particular, we give formulas for the steady state distribution of the two-species ASEP and for Koornwinder moments, in terms of rhombic staircase tableaux.

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arXiv2019

Compact formulas for Macdonald polynomials and quasisymmetric Macdonald polynomials

We present several new and compact formulas for the modified and integral form of the Macdonald polynomials, building on the compact "multiline queue" formula for Macdonald polynomials due to Corteel, Mandelshtam and Williams. We also introduce a new quasisymmetric analogue of Macdonald polynomials. These quasisymmetric Macdonald polynomials refine the (symmetric) Macdonald polynomials and specialize at $q=t=0$ to the quasisymmetric Schur polynomials defined by Haglund, Luoto, Mason, and van Willigenburg. This is an extended abstract.

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arXiv2019

Higher secondary polytopes and regular plabic graphs

Given a configuration $A$ of $n$ points in $\mathbb{R}^{d-1}$, we introduce the higher secondary polytopes $Σ_{A,1},\dots, Σ_{A,n-d}$, which have the property that $Σ_{A,1}$ agrees with the secondary polytope of Gelfand--Kapranov--Zelevinsky, while the Minkowski sum of these polytopes agrees with Billera--Sturmfels' fiber zonotope associated with (a lift of) $A$. In a special case when $d=3$, we refer to our polytopes as higher associahedra. They turn out to be related to the theory of total positivity, specifically, to certain combinatorial objects called plabic graphs, introduced by the second author in his study of the totally positive Grassmannian. We define a subclass of regular plabic graphs and show that they correspond to the vertices of the higher associahedron $Σ_{A,k}$, while square moves connecting them correspond to the edges of $Σ_{A,k}$. Finally we connect our polytopes to soliton graphs, the contour plots of soliton solutions to the KP equation, which were recently studied by Kodama and the third author. In particular, we confirm their conjecture that when the higher times evolve, soliton graphs change according to the moves for plabic graphs.

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arXiv2019

Newton-Okounkov bodies, cluster duality, and mirror symmetry for Grassmannians

We use cluster structures and mirror symmetry to explicitly describe a natural class of Newton-Okounkov bodies for Grassmannians. We consider the Grassmannian $X=Gr_{n-k}(\mathbb C^n)$, as well as the mirror dual Landau-Ginzburg model $(\check{X}^\circ, W_q:\check{X}^\circ \to \mathbb C)$, where $\check{X}^\circ$ is the complement of a particular anti-canonical divisor in a Langlands dual Grassmannian $\check{X} = Gr_k((\mathbb C^n)^*)$, and the superpotential W_q has a simple expression in terms of Plücker coordinates. Grassmannians simultaneously have the structure of an $\mathcal{A}$-cluster variety and an $\mathcal{X}$-cluster variety. Given a cluster seed G, we consider two associated coordinate systems: a $\mathcal X$-cluster chart $Φ_G:(\mathbb C^*)^{k(n-k)}\to X^{\circ}$ and a $\mathcal A$-cluster chart $Φ_G^{\vee}:(\mathbb C^*)^{k(n-k)}\to \check{X}^\circ$. To each $\mathcal X$-cluster chart $Φ_G$ and ample `boundary divisor' $D$ in $X\setminus X^{\circ}$, we associate a Newton-Okounkov body $Δ_G(D)$ in $\mathbb R^{k(n-k)}$, which is defined as the convex hull of rational points. On the other hand using the $\mathcal A$-cluster chart $Φ_G^{\vee}$ on the mirror side, we obtain a set of rational polytopes, described by inequalities, by writing the superpotential $W_q$ in the $\mathcal A$-cluster coordinates, and then "tropicalising". Our main result is that the Newton-Okounkov bodies $Δ_G(D)$ and the polytopes obtained by tropicalisation coincide. As an application, we construct degenerations of the Grassmannian to toric varieties corresponding to these Newton-Okounkov bodies. Additionally, when $G$ corresponds to a plabic graph, we give a formula for the lattice points of the Newton-Okounkov bodies, which has an interpretation in terms of quantum Schubert calculus.

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arXiv2019

Macdonald-Koornwinder moments and the two-species exclusion process

Introduced in the late 1960's, the asymmetric exclusion process (ASEP) is an important model from statistical mechanics which describes a system of interacting particles hopping left and right on a one-dimensional lattice with open boundaries. It has been known for awhile that there is a tight connection between the partition function of the ASEP and moments of Askey-Wilson polynomials, a family of orthogonal polynomials which are at the top of the hierarchy of classical orthogonal polynomials in one variable. On the other hand, Askey-Wilson polynomials can be viewed as a specialization of the multivariate Macdonald-Koornwinder polynomials (also known as Koornwinder polynomials), which in turn give rise to the Macdonald polynomials associated to any classical root system via a limit or specialization. In light of the fact that Koornwinder polynomials generalize the Askey-Wilson polynomials, it is natural to ask whether one can find a particle model whose partition function is related to Koornwinder polynomials. In this article we answer this question affirmatively, by showing that the "homogeneous" Koornwinder moments at q=t recover the partition function for the two-species exclusion process. We also provide a "hook length" formula for Koornwinder moments when q=t=1.

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arXiv2018

Combinatorics of cluster structures in Schubert varieties

We give an explicit combinatorial description of cluster structures in Schubert varieties of the Grassmannian in terms of (target labelings of) Postnikov's plabic graphs. This description is a natural generalization of the description given by (Scott 2006) for the Grassmannian and has been believed by experts essentially since (Scott 2006), though the statement was not formally written down until (Müller-Speyer 2016). To prove this conjecture we use a result of (Leclerc 2016), who used the module category of the preprojective algebra to prove that coordinate rings of many Richardson varieties in the complete flag variety admit cluster structures. We also adapt a construction of (Karpman 2016) to build cluster seeds associated to reduced expressions. Further, we explicitly describe cluster structures in skew Schubert varieties using plabic graphs whose boundary vertices need not be labeled in cyclic order.

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arXiv2017

Cluster duality and mirror symmetry for Grassmannians

In this article we use the cluster structure on the Grassmannian and the combinatorics of plabic graphs to exhibit a new aspect of mirror symmetry for Grassmannians in terms of polytopes. For our $A$-model, we consider the Grassmannian $\mathbb X=Gr_{n-k}(\mathbb{C}^n)$. The $B$-model is a Landau-Ginzburg model $(\check{\mathbb X}^\circ, W_q:\check{\mathbb X}^\circ \to \mathbb{C})$, where $\check{\mathbb X}^\circ$ is the complement of a particular anti-canonical divisor in a Langlands dual Grassmannian $\check{\mathbb X} = Gr_k((\mathbb{C}^n)^*)$, and the superpotential $W_q$ has a simple expression in terms of Plücker coordinates, see [MarshRietsch]. From a given plabic graph $G$ we obtain two coordinate systems: using work of Postnikov and Talaska we have a positive chart $Φ_G:(\mathbb{C}^*)^{k(n-k)}\to \mathbb X$ in our $A$-model, and using work of Scott we have a cluster chart $Φ_G^{\vee}:(\mathbb{C}^*)^{k(n-k)}\to \check{\mathbb X}$ in our $B$-model. To each positive chart $Φ_G$ and choice of positive integer $r$, we associate a polytope $NO_G^r$, which we construct as the convex hull of a set of integer lattice points. This polytope is an example of a Newton-Okounkov polytope associated to the line bundle $\mathcal O(r)$ on $\mathbb X$. On the other hand, using the cluster chart $Φ_G^{\vee}$ and the same positive integer $r$, we obtain a polytope $Q_G^r$ -- described in terms of inequalities -- by "tropicalizing" the composition $W_{t^r}\circ Φ_G^{\vee}$. Our main result is that the polytopes $NO_G^r$ and $Q_G^r$ coincide.

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arXiv2015

Symmetric matrices, Catalan paths, and correlations

Kenyon and Pemantle (2014) gave a formula for the entries of a square matrix in terms of connected principal and almost-principal minors. Each entry is an explicit Laurent polynomial whose terms are the weights of domino tilings of a half Aztec diamond. They conjectured an analogue of this parametrization for symmetric matrices, where the Laurent monomials are indexed by Catalan paths. In this paper we prove the Kenyon-Pemantle conjecture, and apply this to a statistics problem pioneered by Joe (2006). Correlation matrices are represented by an explicit bijection from the cube to the elliptope.

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arXiv2015

Bruhat Interval Polytopes

Let u and v be permutations on n letters, with u <= v in Bruhat order. A Bruhat interval polytope Q_{u,v} is the convex hull of all permutation vectors z = (z(1), z(2),...,z(n)) with u <= z <= v. Note that when u=e and v=w_0 are the shortest and longest elements of the symmetric group, Q_{e,w_0} is the classical permutohedron. Bruhat interval polytopes were studied recently by Kodama and the second author, in the context of the Toda lattice and the moment map on the flag variety. In this paper we study combinatorial aspects of Bruhat interval polytopes. For example, we give an inequality description and a dimension formula for Bruhat interval polytopes, and prove that every face of a Bruhat interval polytope is a Bruhat interval polytope. A key tool in the proof of the latter statement is a generalization of the well-known lifting property for Coxeter groups. Motivated by the relationship between the lifting property and R-polynomials, we also give a generalization of the standard recurrence for R-polynomials. Finally, we define a more general class of polytopes called Bruhat interval polytopes for G/P, which are moment map images of (closures of) totally positive cells in the non-negative part of G/P, and are a special class of Coxeter matroid polytopes. Using tools from total positivity and the Gelfand-Serganova stratification, we show that the face of any Bruhat interval polytope for G/P is again a Bruhat interval polytope for G/P.

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