We obtain an explicit formula for a certain weighted enumeration of lozenge tilings of a hexagon with an arbitrary triangular hole. The complexity of our expression depends on the distance from the hole to the center of the hexagon. This proves and generalizes conjectures of Ciucu et al., who considered the case of plain enumeration when the triangle is located at or very near the center. Our proof uses Askey-Wilson polynomials as a tool to relate discrete and continuous Selberg-type integrals.
The work of Mills, Robbins, and Rumsey on cyclically symmetric plane partitions yields a simple product formula for the number of lozenge tilings of a regular hexagon, which are invariant under roation by $120^{\circ}$. In this paper we generalize this result by enumerating the cyclically symmetric lozenge tilings of a hexagon in which four triangles have been removed in the center.
Propp conjectured that the number of lozenge tilings of a semiregular hexagon of sides $2n-1$, $2n-1$ and $2n$ which contain the central unit rhombus is precisely one third of the total number of lozenge tilings. Motivated by this, we consider the more general situation of a semiregular hexagon of sides $a$, $a$ and $b$. We prove explicit formulas for the number of lozenge tilings of these hexagons containing the central unit rhombus, and obtain Propp's conjecture as a corollary of our results.
Proctor's work on staircase plane partitions yields an enumeration of lozenge tilings of a halved hexagon on the triangular lattice. Rohatgi recently extended this tiling enumeration to a halved hexagon with a triangle removed from the boundary. In this paper we prove a generalization of the results of Proctor and Rohatgi by enumerating lozenge tilings of a halved hexagon in which an array of adjacent triangles has been removed from the boundary.
We $q$-enumerate lozenge tilings of a hexagon with three bowtie-shaped regions have been removed from three non-consecutive sides. The unweighted version of the result generalizes a problem posed by James Propp on enumeration of lozenge tilings of a hexagon of side-lengths $2n,2n+3,2n,2n+3,2n,2n+3$ (in cyclic order) with the central unit triangles on the $(2n+3)$-sides removed.
Motivated by a conjecture posed by Fulmek and Krattenthaler, we provide product formulas for the number of lozenge tilings of a semiregular hexagon containing a horizontal intrusion. As a direct corollary, we obtain a product formula for the number of boxed plane partitions with a certain restriction. We also investigate the asymptotic behavior of the ratio between the number of lozenge tilings of a semiregular hexagon containing a horizontal intrusion and that of a semiregular hexagon without an intrusion.
In a recent paper, Lai and Rohatgi proved a "shuffling theorem" for lozenge tilings of a hexagon with "dents" (i.e., missing triangles). Here, we shall point out that this follows immediately from the enumeration of Gelfand--Tsetlin patterns with given bottom row. This observation is also contained in a recent preprint of Byun.
Eisenk"olbl gave a formula for the number of lozenge tilings of a hexagon on the triangular lattice with three unit triangles removed from along alternating sides. In earlier work, the first author extended this to the situation when an arbitrary set of unit triangles is removed from along alternating sides of the hexagon. In this paper we address the general case when an arbitrary set of unit triangles is removed from along the boundary of the hexagon.
It has been proven that the lozenge tilings of a quartered hexagon on the triangular lattice are enumerated by a simple product formula. In this paper we give a new proof for the tiling formula by using Kuo's graphical condensation. Our result generalizes a Proctor's theorem on enumeration of plane partitions contained in a "maximal staircase".
We give a formula for the number of lozenge tilings of a hexagon on the triangular lattice with unit triangles removed from arbitrary positions along two non-adjacent, non-opposite sides. Our formula implies that for certain families of such regions, the ratios of their numbers of tilings are given by simple product formulas.
MacMahon proved a simple product formula for the generating function of plane partitions fitting in a given box. The theorem implies a $q$-enumeration of lozenge tilings of a semi-regular hexagon on the triangular lattice. In this paper we generalize MacMahon's classical theorem by $q$-enumerating lozenge tilings of a new family of hexagons with four adjacent triangles removed from their boundary.
Proctor proved a formula for the number of lozenge tilings of a hexagon with side-lengths $a,b,c,a,b,c$ after removing a "maximal staircase." Ciucu then presented a weighted version of Proctor's result. Here we present weighted and unweighted formulas for a similar region which has an additional unit triangle removed. We use Kuo's graphical condensation method to prove the results. By applying the factorization theorem of Ciucu, we obtain a formula for the number of lozenge tilings of a hexagon with three holes on consecutive edges.
We generalize a special case of a theorem of Proctor on the enumeration of lozenge tilings of a hexagon with a maximal staircase removed, using Kuo's graphical condensation method. Additionally, we prove a formula for a weighted version of the given region. The result also extends work of Ciucu and Fischer. By applying the factorization theorem of Ciucu, we are also able to generalize a special case of MacMahon's boxed plane partition formula.
The enumeration of lozenge tilings of hexagons with holes has received much attention during the last three decades. One notable feature is that a lot of the recent development involved Kuo's graphical condensation. Motivated by Ciucu, Lai and Rohatgi's work on tilings of hexagons with a removed triad of bowties, in this paper, we show that the ratio of numbers of lozenge tilings of two more general regions is expressed as a simple product formula. Our proof does not involve the graphical condensation method. The proof is short and direct. We also provide a corresponding formula for cyclically…
Consider the probability that an arbitrary chosen lozenge tiling of the hexagon with side lengths a, b, c, a, b, c contains the horizontal lozenge with lowest vertex (x,y) as if it described the distribution of mass in the plane. We compute the horizontal and the vertical moments of inertia with respect to this distribution. This solves a problem by Propp [1, Problem 7].
In a recent preprint, Lai showed that the quotient of generating functions of weighted lozenge tilings of two "half hexagons with lateral dents", which differ only in width, factors nicely, and the same is true for the quotient of generating functions of weighted lozenge tilings of two "quarter hexagons with lateral dents". Lai achieved this by using "graphical condensation" (i.e., application of a certain Pfaffian identity to the weighted enumeration of matchings). The purpose of this note is to exhibit how this can be done by the Lindström--Gessel--Viennot method for nonintersecting lattice …
Proctor's work on staircase plane partitions yields an enumeration of lozenge tilings of a halved hexagon on the triangular lattice. Rohatgi later extended this tiling enumeration to a halved hexagon with a triangle cut off from the boundary. In the previous paper, the author proved a common generalization of Proctor's and Rohatgi's results by enumerating lozenge tilings of a halved hexagon in the case an array of an arbitrary number of triangles has been removed from a non-staircase side. In this paper, we consider the other case when the array of triangles has been removed from the staircase…
In a recent preprint, Lai and Rohatgi compute the generating functions of lozenge tilings of "quartered hexagons with dents" by applying the method of "graphical condensation". The purpose of this note is to exhibit how (a generalization of) Theorems 2.1 and 2.2 in Lai and Rohatgi's preprint can be achieved by the Lindström--Gessel--Viennot method of non--intersecting lattice paths and a certain determinant evaluation.
In their 2002 paper, Ciucu and Krattenthaler proved several product formulas for the number of lozenge tilings of various regions obtained from a centrally symmetric hexagon on the triangular lattice by removing maximal staircase regions from two non-adjacent corners. For the case when the staircases are removed from adjacent corners of the hexagon, they presented two conjectural formulas, whose proofs, as they remarked, seemed at the time "a formidable task". In this paper we prove those two conjectures. Our proofs proceed by first generalizing the conjectures, and then proving them by induct…
In their paper about a dual of MacMahon's classical theorem on plane partitions, Ciucu and Krattenthaler proved a closed form product formula for the tiling number of a hexagon with a "shamrock", a union of four adjacent triangles, removed in the center (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2013). Lai later presented a $q$-enumeration for lozenge tilings of a hexagon with a shamrock removed from the boundary (European J. Combin. 2017). It appears that the above are the only two positions of the shamrock hole that yield nice tiling enumerations. In this paper, we show that in the case of symmetric hexago…
Motivated by the enumeration of a class of plane partitions studied by Proctor and by considerations about symmetry classes of plane partitions, we consider the problem of enumerating lozenge tilings of a hexagon with ``maximal staircases'' removed from some of its vertices. The case of one vertex corresponds to Proctor's problem. For two vertices there are several cases to consider, and most of them lead to nice enumeration formulas. For three or more vertices there do not seem to exist nice product formulas in general, but in one special situation a lot of factorization occurs, and we pose t…
Ciucu showed that the number of lozenge tilings of a hexagon in which a chain of equilateral triangles of alternating orientations, called a `\emph{fern}', has been removed in the center is given by a simple product formula (Adv. Math. 2017). In this paper, we present a multi-parameter generalization of this work by giving an explicit tiling enumeration for a hexagon with three ferns removed, besides the middle fern located in the center as in Ciucu's region, we remove two additional ferns from two sides of the hexagon. Our result also implies a counterpart of MacMahon's classical formula of b…
Motivated in part by Propp's intruded Aztec diamond regions, we consider hexagonal regions out of which two horizontal chains of triangular holes (called ferns) are removed, so that the chains are at the same height, and are attached to the boundary. By contrast with the intruded Aztec diamonds (whose number of domino tilings contain some large prime factors in their factorization), the number of lozenge tilings of our doubly-intruded hexagons turns out to be given by simple product formulas in which all factors are linear in the parameters. We present in fact $q$-versions of these formulas, w…
MacMahon's theorem on plane partitions yields a simple product formula for tiling number of a hexagon, and Cohn, Larsen and Propp's theorem provides an explicit enumeration for tilings of a dented semihexagon via semi-strict Gelfand--Tsetlin patterns. In this paper, we prove a natural hybrid of the two theorems for hexagons with an arbitrary set of unit triangles removed along a horizontal axis. In particular, we show that the `shuffling' of removed unit triangles only changes the tiling number of the region by a simple multiplicative factor. Our main result generalizes a number of known enume…
We deal with unweighted and weighted enumerations of lozenge tilings of a hexagon with side lengths $a,b+m,c,a+m,b,c+m$, where an equilateral triangle of side length $m$ has been removed from the center. We give closed formulas for the plain enumeration and for a certain $(-1)$-enumeration of these lozenge tilings. In the case that $a=b=c$, we also provide closed formulas for certain weighted enumerations of those lozenge tilings that are cyclically symmetric. For $m=0$, the latter formulas specialize to statements about weighted enumerations of cyclically symmetric plane partitions. One such …
In this paper we present a combinatorial generalization of the fact that the number of plane partitions that fit in a $2a\times b\times b$ box is equal to the number of such plane partitions that are symmetric, times the number of such plane partitions for which the transpose is the same as the complement. We use the equivalent phrasing of this identity in terms of symmetry classes of lozenge tilings of a hexagon on the triangular lattice. Our generalization consists of allowing the hexagon have certain symmetrically placed holes along its horizontal symmetry axis. The special case when there …
It is well-known that plane partitions, lozenge tilings of a hexagon, perfect matchings on a honeycomb graph, and families of non-intersecting lattice paths in a hexagon are all in bijection. In this work we consider regions that are more general than hexagons. They are obtained by further removing upward-pointing triangles. We call the resulting shapes triangular regions. We establish signed versions of the latter three bijections for triangular regions. We first investigate the tileability of triangular regions by lozenges. Then we use perfect matchings and families of non-intersecting latti…
We consider regions obtained from 120 degree rotationally invariant hexagons by removing a core and three equal satellites (all equilateral triangles) so that the resulting region is both vertically symmetric and 120 degree rotationally invariant, and give simple product formulas for the number of their lozenge tilings. We describe a new method of approach for proving these formulas, and give the full details for an illustrative special case. As a byproduct, we are also able to generalize this special case in a different direction, by finding a natural counterpart of a twenty year old formula …
We first show that the tilings of a general domain form a lattice which we then undertake to decompose and generate without any redundance. To this end, we study extensively the relatively simple case of hexagons and their deformations. We show that general domains can be broken up into hexagon-like parts. Finally we give an algorithm to generate exactly once every element in the lattice of the tilings of a general domain.
We use the subgraph replacement method to prove a simple product formula for the tilings of an 8-vertex counterpart of Propp's quasi-hexagons (Problem 16 in New Perspectives in Geometric Combinatorics, Cambridge University Press, 1999), called quasi-octagon.
We study lozenge tilings of a domain with partially free boundary. In particular, we consider a trapezoidal domain (half hexagon), s.t. the horizontal lozenges on the long side can intersect it anywhere to protrude halfway across. We show that the positions of the horizontal lozenges near the opposite flat vertical boundary have the same joint distribution as the eigenvalues from a Gaussian Unitary Ensemble (the GUE-corners/minors process). We also prove the existence of a limit shape of the height function, which is also a vertically symmetric plane partition. Both behaviors are shown to coin…
In a recent paper, Byun presented nice formulas for the enumeration of lozenge tilings of certain hexagonal regions with intrusions. This paper attempts to generalise some of Byun's investigations.
We present a detailed study of a four parameter family of elliptic weights on tilings of a hexagon introduced by Borodin, Gorin and Rains, generalizing some of their results. In the process, we connect the combinatorics of the model with the theory of elliptic special functions. Using canonical coordinates for the hexagon we show how the $n$-point distribution function and transitional probabilities connect to the theory of $BC_n$-symmetric multivariate elliptic special functions and of elliptic difference operators introduced by Rains. In particular, the difference operators intrinsically cap…
We solve and generalize an open problem posted by James Propp (Problem 16 in New Perspectives in Geometric Combinatorics, Cambridge University Press, 1999) on the number of tilings of quasi-hexagonal regions on the square lattice with every third diagonal drawn in. We also obtain a generalization of Douglas' Theorem on the number of tilings of a family of regions of the square lattice with every second diagonal drawn in.
We generalize a theorem of W. Jockusch and J. Propp on quartered Aztec diamonds by enumerating the tilings of quartered Aztec rectangles. We use subgraph replacement method to transform the dual graph of a quartered Aztec rectangle to the dual graph of a quartered lozenge hexagon, and then use Lindström-Gessel-Viennot methodology to find the number of tilings of a quartered lozenge hexagon.
In a recent preprint, Lai worked out the quotient of generating functions of weighted lozenge tilings of two "half hexagons with lateral dents" which differ only in width. Lai achieved this by using "graphical condensation" (i.e., application of a certain Pfaffian identity to the weighted enumeration of matchings). The purpose of this note is to exhibit how this can be done by the Lindström--Gessel--Viennot method for nonintersecting lattice paths in a quite simple way. Basically the same observation, but restricted to mere enumeration (i.e., all weights of lozenge tilings are equal to $1$), i…
We give a formula for the number of symmetric tilings of hexagons on the triangular lattice with unit triangles removed from arbitrary positions along two non-adjacent non-opposite sides. We show that for certain families of such regions, the ratios of their numbers of symmetric tilings are given by simple product formulas. We also prove that for certain weighted regions which arise when applying Ciucu's Factorization Theorem, the formulas for the weighted and unweighted counts of tilings have a simple explicit relationship.
Inspired by Propp's intruded Aztec diamond regions, we consider halved hexagons in which two aligned arrays of triangular holes have been removed from their boundaries. Unlike the intruded Aztec diamonds (whose numbers of domino tilings contain some large prime factors in their factorizations), the numbers of lozenge tilings of our doubly-intruded halved hexagons are given by simple product formulas in which all factors are linear in the parameters. In this paper, we present an extensive list of exact tiling enumerations of sixteen different types of doubly-intruded halved hexagons. We also pr…
We use the subgraph replacement method to investigate new properties of the tilings of regions on the square lattice with diagonals drawn in. In particular, we show that the centrally symmetric tilings of a generalization of the Aztec diamond are always enumerated by a simple product formula. This result generalizes the previous work of Ciucu (1997) and Yang (1992) about symmetric tilings of the Aztec diamond. We also use our method to prove a closed-form product formula for the number of centrally symmetric tilings of a quasi-hexagon.
The number of plane partitions contained in a given box was shown by MacMahon to be given by a simple product formula. By a simple bijection, this formula also enumerates lozenge tilings of hexagons of side-lengths $a,b,c,a,b,c$ (in cyclic order) and angles of 120 degrees. We present a generalization in the case $b=c$ by giving simple product formulas enumerating lozenge tilings of regions obtained from a hexagon of side-lengths $a,b+k,b,a+k,b,b+k$ (where $k$ is an arbitrary non-negative integer) and angles of 120 degrees by removing certain triangular regions along its symmetry axis.
Rosengren found an explicit formula for a certain weighted enumeration of lozenge tilings of a hexagon with an arbitrary triangular hole. He pointed out that a certain ratio corresponding to two such regions has a nice product formula. In this paper, we generalize this to hexagons with arbitrary collinear holes. It turns out that, by using same approach, we can also generalize Ciucu's work on the number and the number of centrally symmetric tilings of a hexagon with a fern removed from its center. This proves a recent conjecture of Ciucu.
A rhombus tiling of a hexagon is said to be centered if it contains the central lozenge. We compute the number of vertically symmetric rhombus tilings of a hexagon with side lengths $a, b, a, a, b, a$ which are centered. When $a$ is odd and $b$ is even, this shows that the probability that a random vertically symmetric rhombus tiling of a $a, b, a, a, b, a$ hexagon is centered is exactly the same as the probability that a random rhombus tiling of a $a, b, a, a, b, a$ hexagon is centered. This also leads to a factorization theorem for the number of all rhombus tilings of a hexagon which are cen…
A classical theorem of MacMahon states that the number of lozenge tilings of any centrally symmetric hexagon drawn on the triangular lattice is given by a beautifully simple product formula. In this paper we present a counterpart of this formula, corresponding to the {\it exterior} of a concave hexagon obtained by turning 120 degrees after drawing each side (MacMahon's hexagon is obtained by turning 60 degrees after each step).
In this paper we enumerate the centrally symmetric lozenge tilings of a hexagon with a fern removed from its center. The proof is based on a variant of Kuo's graphical condensation method. An unexpected connection with the total number of tilings is established~---~when suitably normalized, the number of centrally symmetric tilings is equal to the square root of the total number of tilings. The results we present can be regarded as a new extension of the enumeration of self-complementary plane partitions that fit in a box.
We evaluate the determinant $\det_{1\leq i,j\leq n}(\binom{x+y+j}{x-i+2j}-\binom{x+y+j}{x+i+2j})$, which gives the number of lozenge tilings of a hexagon with cut off corners. A particularly interesting feature of this evaluation is that it requires the proof of a certain hypergeometric identity which we accomplish by using Gosper's algorithm in a non-automatic fashion.
MacMahon enumerated the plane partitions in an $a \times b \times c$ box. These are in bijection to lozenge tilings of a hexagon, to certain perfect matchings, and to families of non-intersecting lattice paths. In this work we consider more general regions, called triangular regions, and establish signed versions of the latter three bijections. Indeed, we use perfect matchings and families of non-intersecting lattice paths to define two signs of a lozenge tiling. A combinatorial argument involving a new method, called resolution of a puncture, then shows that the signs are in fact equivalent. …
A Gelfand-Tsetlin scheme of depth N is a triangular array with m integers at level m, m=1,...,N, subject to certain interlacing constraints. We study the ensemble of uniformly random Gelfand-Tsetlin schemes with arbitrary fixed N-th row. We obtain an explicit double contour integral expression for the determinantal correlation kernel of this ensemble (and also of its q-deformation). This provides new tools for asymptotic analysis of uniformly random lozenge tilings of polygons on the triangular lattice; or, equivalently, of random stepped surfaces. We work with a class of polygons which allows…
In this paper we consider arbitrary hexagons on the triangular lattice with three arbitrary bowtie-shaped holes, whose centers form an equilateral triangle. The number of lozenge tilings of such general regions is not expected --- and indeed is not --- given by a simple product formula. However, when considering a certain natural normalized counterpart of any such region, we prove that the ratio between the number of tilings of the original and the number of tilings of the normalized region is given by a simple, conceptual product formula. Several seemingly unrelated previous results from the …
Recently, Lai and Rohatgi discovered a shuffling theorem for lozenge tilings of doubly-dented hexagons, which generalized the earlier work of Ciucu. Later, Lai proved an analogous theorem for centrally symmetric tilings, which generalized some other previous work of Ciucu. In this paper, we give a unified proof of these two shuffling theorems, which also covers the weighted case. Unlike the original proofs, our arguments do not use the graphical condensation method but instead rely on a well-known tiling enumeration formula due to Cohn, Larsen, and Propp. Fulmek independently found a similar p…
Rohatgi and the author recently proved a shuffling theorem for lozenge tilings of `doubly-dented hexagons' (arXiv:1905.08311). The theorem can be considered as a hybrid between two classical theorems in the enumeration of tilings: MacMahon's theorem about centrally symmetric hexagons and Cohn-Larsen-Prop's theorem about semihexagons with dents. In this paper, we consider a similar shuffling theorem for the centrally symmetric tilings of the doubly-dented hexagons. Our theorem also implies a conjecture posed by the author in arXiv:1803.02792 about the enumeration of centrally symmetric tilings …
In this paper we enumerate the centrally symmetric lozenge tilings of a hexagon with a shamrock removed from its center. Our proof is based on a variant of Kuo's graphical condensation method in which only three of the four involved vertices are on the same face. As a special case, we obtain a new proof of the enumeration of the self-complementary plane partitions.
Consider a semi-regular hexagon on the triangular lattice (that is, the lattice consisting of unit equilateral triangles, drawn so that one family of lines is vertical). Rhombus (or lozenge) tilings of this region may be represented in at least two very different ways: as families of non-intersecting lattice paths; or alternatively as perfect matchings of a certain sub-graph of the hexagonal lattice. In this article we show how the lattice path representation of tilings may be utilised in order to calculate the entries of the inverse Kasteleyn matrix that arises from interpreting tilings as pe…
We study random lozenge tilings of a certain shape in the plane called the Novak half-hexagon, and compute the correlation functions for this process. This model was introduced by Nordenstam and Young (2011) and has many intriguing similarities with a more well-studied model, domino tilings of the Aztec diamond. The most difficult step in the present paper is to compute the inverse of the matrix whose (i,j) entry is the binomial coefficient C(A, B_j - i) for indeterminate variables A and B_1, ..., B_n.
Using a calculus of variations approach, we determine the shape of a typical plane partition in a large box (i.e., a plane partition chosen at random according to the uniform distribution on all plane partitions whose solid Young diagrams fit inside the box). Equivalently, we describe the distribution of the three different orientations of lozenges in a random lozenge tiling of a large hexagon. We prove a generalization of the classical formula of MacMahon for the number of plane partitions in a box; for each of the possible ways in which the tilings of a region can behave when restricted to c…
