The irreducible representations of two intermediate Casimir elements associated to the recoupling of three identical irreducible representations of $U_q(mathfrak{sl}_2)$ are considered. It is shown that these intermediate Casimirs are related by a conjugation involving braid group representations. Consequently, the entries of the braid group matrices are explicitly given in terms of the $q$-Racah polynomials which appear as $6j$-symbols in the Racah problem for $U_q(mathfrak{sl}_2)$. Formulas for these polynomials are derived from the algebraic relations satisfied by the braid group representations.
Let $mathfrak{g}$ be a semisimple simply-laced Lie algebra of finite type. Let $mathcal{C}$ be an abelian categorical representation of the quantum group $U_q(mathfrak{g})$ categorifying an integrable representation $V$. The Artin braid group $B$ of $mathfrak{g}$ acts on $D^b(mathcal{C})$ by Rickard complexes, providing a triangulated equivalence $Theta_{w_0}:D^b(mathcal{C}_mu) to D^b(mathcal{C}_{w_0(mu)})$, where $mu$ is a weight of $V$ and $Theta_{w_0}$ is a positive lift of the longest element of the Weyl group. We prove that this equivalence is t-exact up to shift when $V$ is isotypic, generalising a fundamental result of Chuang and Rouquier in the case $mathfrak{g}=mathfrak{sl}_2$. For general $V$, we prove that $Theta_{w_0}$ is a perverse equivalence with respect to a Jordan-Holder filtration of $mathcal{C}$. Using these results we construct, from the action of $B$ on $V$, an action of the cactus group on the crystal of $V$. This recovers the cactus group action on $V$ defined via generalised Schutzenberger involutions, and provides a new connection between categorical representation theory and crystal bases. We also use these results to give new proofs of theorems of Berenstein-Zelevinsky, Rhoades, and Stembridge regarding the action of symmetric group on the Kazhdan-Lusztig basis of its Specht modules.
We study braid group actions on Yangians associated with symmetrizable Kac-Moody Lie algebras. As an application, we focus on the affine Yangian of type A and use the action to prove that the image of the evaluation map contains the diagonal Heisenberg algebra inside $hat{mathfrak{gl}}_N$.
Motivated by physical and topological applications, we study representations of the group $mathcal{LB}_3$ of motions of $3$ unlinked oriented circles in $mathbb{R}^3$. Our point of view is to regard the three strand braid group $mathcal{B}_3$ as a subgroup of $mathcal{LB}_3$ and study the problem of extending $mathcal{B}_3$ representations. We introduce the notion of a emph{standard extension} and characterize $mathcal{B}_3$ representations admiting such an extension. In particular we show, using a classification result of Tuba and Wenzl, that every irreducible $mathcal{B}_3$ representation of dimension at most $5$ has a (standard) extension. We show that this result is sharp by exhibiting an irreducible $6$-dimensional $mathcal{B}_3$ representation that has no extensions (standard or otherwise). We obtain complete classifications of (1) irreducible $2$-dimensional $mathcal{LB}_3$ representations (2) extensions of irreducible $3$-dimensional $mathcal{B}_3$ representations and (3) irreducible $mathcal{LB}_3$ representations whose restriction to $mathcal{B}_3$ has abelian image.
Let $mathfrak{g}_0$ be a simple Lie algebra of type ADE and let $U_q(mathfrak{g})$ be the corresponding untwisted quantum affine algebra. We show that there exists an action of the braid group $B(mathfrak{g}_0)$ on the quantum Grothendieck ring $K_t(mathfrak{g})$ of Hernandez-Leclercs category $C_{mathfrak{g}}^0$. Focused on the case of type $A_{N-1}$, we construct a family of monoidal autofunctors ${mathscr{S}_i}_{iin mathbb{Z}}$ on a localization $T_N$ of the category of finite-dimensional graded modules over the quiver Hecke algebra of type $A_{infty}$. Under an isomorphism between the Grothendieck ring $K(T_N)$ of $T_N$ and the quantum Grothendieck ring $K_t({A^{(1)}_{N-1}})$, the functors ${mathscr{S}_i}_{1le ile N-1}$ recover the action of the braid group $B(A_{N-1})$. We investigate further properties of these functors.
The cyclotomic Birman-Murakami-Wenzl (or BMW) algebras B_n^k, introduced by R. Haring-Oldenburg, are extensions of the cyclotomic Hecke algebras of Ariki-Koike, in the same way as the BMW algebras are extensions of the Hecke algebras of type A. In this paper we focus on the case n=2, producing a basis of B_2^k and constructing its left regular representation.