A generalized spline on a graph $G$ with edges labeled by ideals in a ring $R$ consists of a vertex-labeling by elements of $R$ so that the labels on adjacent vertices $u, v$ differ by an element of the ideal associated to the edge $uv$. We study the
$R$-module of generalized splines and produce minimum generating sets for several families of graphs and edge-labelings: $1)$ for all graphs when the edge-labelings consist of at most two finitely-generated ideals, and $2)$ for cycles when the edge-labelings consist of principal ideals generated by elements of the form $(ax+by)^2$ in the polynomial ring $mathbb{C}[x,y]$. We obtain the generators using a constructive algorithm that is suitable for computer implementation and give several applications, including contextualizing several results in classical (analytic) splines.
Recent work of Shareshian and Wachs, Brosnan and Chow, and Guay-Paquet connects the well-known Stanley-Stembridge conjecture in combinatorics to the dot action of the symmetric group $S_n$ on the cohomology rings $H^*(Hess(S,h))$ of regular semisimpl
e Hessenberg varieties. In particular, in order to prove the Stanley-Stembridge conjecture, it suffices to construct (for any Hessenberg function $h$) a permutation basis of $H^*(Hess(S,h))$ whose elements have stabilizers isomorphic to Young subgroups. In this manuscript we give several results which contribute toward this goal. Specifically, in some special cases, we give a new, purely combinatorial construction of classes in the $T$-equivariant cohomology ring $H^*_T(Hess(S,h))$ which form permutation bases for subrepresentations in $H^*_T(Hess(S,h))$. Moreover, from the definition of our classes it follows that the stabilizers are isomorphic to Young subgroups. Our constructions use a presentation of the $T$-equivariant cohomology rings $H^*_T(Hess(S,h))$ due to Goresky, Kottwitz, and MacPherson. The constructions presented in this manuscript generalize past work of Abe-Horiguchi-Masuda, Chow, and Cho-Hong-Lee.
Webs are planar graphs with boundary that describe morphisms in a diagrammatic representation category for $mathfrak{sl}_k$. They are studied extensively by knot theorists because braiding maps provide a categorical way to express link diagrams in te
rms of webs, producing quantum invariants like the well-known Jones polynomial. One important question in representation theory is to identify the relationships between different bases; coefficients in the change-of-basis matrix often describe combinatorial, algebraic, or geometric quantities (like, e.g., Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials). By flattening the braiding maps, webs can also be viewed as the basis elements of a symmetric-group representation. In this paper, we define two new combinatorial structures for webs: band diagrams and their one-dimensional projections, shadows, that measure depths of regions inside the web. As an application, we resolve an open conjecture that the change-of-basis between the so-called Specht basis and web basis of this symmetric-group representation is unitriangular for $mathfrak{sl}_3$-webs. We do this using band diagrams and shadows to construct a new partial order on webs that is a refinement of the usual partial order. In fact, we prove that for $mathfrak{sl}_2$-webs, our new partial order coincides with the tableau partial order on webs studied by the authors and others. We also prove that though the new partial order for $mathfrak{sl}_3$-webs is a refinement of the previously-studied tableau order, the two partial orders do not agree for $mathfrak{sl}_3$.
Hessenberg varieties are subvarieties of the flag variety parametrized by a linear operator $X$ and a nondecreasing function $h$. The family of Hessenberg varieties for regular $X$ is particularly important: they are used in quantum cohomology, in co
mbinatorial and geometric representation theory, in Schubert calculus and affine Schubert calculus. We show that the classes of a regular Hessenberg variety in the cohomology and $K$-theory of the flag variety are given by making certain substitutions in the Schubert polynomial (respectively Grothendieck polynomial) for a permutation that depends only on $h$. Our formula and our methods are different from a recent result of Abe, Fujita, and Zeng that gives the class of a regular Hessenberg variety with more restrictions on $h$ than here.
A sequence of $S_n$-representations ${V_n}$ is said to be uniformly representation stable if the decomposition of $V_n = bigoplus_{mu} c_{mu,n} V(mu)_n$ into irreducible representations is independent of $n$ for each $mu$---that is, the multiplicitie
s $c_{mu,n}$ are eventually independent of $n$ for each $mu$. Church-Ellenberg-Farb proved that the cohomology of flag varieties (the so-called diagonal coinvariant algebra) is uniformly representation stable. We generalize their result from flag varieties to all Springer fibers. More precisely, we show that for any increasing subsequence of Young diagrams, the corresponding sequence of Springer representations form a graded co-FI-module of finite type (in the sense of Church-Ellenberg-Farb). We also explore some combinatorial consequences of this stability.
This paper studies the geometry and combinatorics of three interrelated varieties: Springer fibers, Steinberg varieties, and parabolic Hessenberg varieties. We prove that each parabolic Hessenberg variety is the pullback of a Steinberg variety under
the projection of the flag variety to an appropriate partial flag variety and we give three applications of this result. The first application constructs an explicit paving of all Steinberg varieties in Lie type $A$ in terms of semistandard tableaux. As a result, we obtain an elementary proof of a theorem of Steinberg and Shimomura that the well-known Kostka numbers count the maximal-dimensional irreducible components of Steinberg varieties. The second application proves an open conjecture for certain parabolic Hessenberg varieties in Lie type A by showing that their Betti numbers equal those of a specific union of Schubert varieties. The third application proves that the irreducible components of parabolic Hessenberg varieties are in bijection with the irreducible components of the Steinberg variety. All three of these applications extend our geometric understanding of the three varieties at the heart of this paper, a full understanding of which is unknown even for Springer varieties, despite over forty years worth of work.
Springer fibers are subvarieties of the flag variety parametrized by partitions; they are central objects of study in geometric representation theory. Schubert varieties are subvarieties of the flag variety that induce a well-known basis for the coho
mology of the flag variety. This paper relates these two varieties combinatorially. We prove that the Betti numbers of the Springer fiber associated to a partition with at most three rows or two columns are equal to the Betti numbers of a specific union of Schubert varieties.
This survey paper describes Springer fibers, which are used in one of the earliest examples of a geometric representation. We will compare and contrast them with Schubert varieties, another family of subvarieties of the flag variety that play an impo
rtant role in representation theory and combinatorics, but whose geometry is in many respects simpler. The end of the paper describes a way that Springer fibers and Schubert varieties are related, as well as open questions.
This survey paper describes the role of splines in geometry and topology, emphasizing both similarities and differences from the classical treatment of splines. The exposition is non-technical and contains many examples, with references to more thorough treatments of the subject.
Given a graph whose edges are labeled by ideals in a ring, a generalized spline is a labeling of each vertex by a ring element so that adjacent vertices differ by an element of the ideal associated to the edge. We study splines over the ring Z/mZ. Pr
evious work considered splines over domains, in which very different phenomena occur. For instance when the ring is the integers, the elements of bases for spline modules are indexed by the vertices of the graph. However we prove that over Z/mZ spline modules can essentially have any rank between 1 and n. Using the classification of finite Z-modules, we begin the work of classifying splines over Z/mZ and produce minimum generating sets for splines on cycles over Z/mZ. We close with many open questions.
