Monotone Hurwitz numbers were introduced by the authors as a combinatorially natural desymmetrization of the Hurwitz numbers studied in enumerative algebraic geometry. Over the course of several papers, we developed the structural theory of monotone Hurwitz numbers and demonstrated that it is in many ways parallel to that of their classical counterparts. In this note, we identify an important difference between the monotone and classical worlds: fixed-genus generating functions for monotone double Hurwitz numbers are absolutely summable, whereas those for classical double Hurwitz numbers are not. This property is crucial for applications of monotone Hurwitz theory in analysis. We quantify the growth rate of monotone Hurwitz numbers in fixed genus by giving universal upper and lower bounds on the radii of convergence of their generating functions.
In recent years, monotone double Hurwitz numbers were introduced as a naturally combinatorial modification of double Hurwitz numbers. Monotone double Hurwitz numbers share many structural properties with their classical counterparts, such as piecewise polynomaility, while the quantitative properties of these two numbers are quite different. We consider real analogues of monotone double Hurwitz numbers and study the asymptotics for these real analogues. The key ingredient is an interpretation of real tropical covers with arbitrary splittings as factorizations in the symmetric group which genera…
Hurwitz numbers count genus $g$, degree $d$ covers of the complex projective line with fixed branched locus and fixed ramification data. An equivalent description is given by factorisations in the symmetric group. Simple double Hurwitz numbers are a class of Hurwitz-type counts of specific interest. In recent years a related counting problem in the context of random matrix theory was introduced as so-called monotone Hurwitz numbers. These can be viewed as a desymmetrised version of the Hurwitz-problem. A combinatorial interpolation between simple and monotone double Hurwitz numbers was introdu…
In general, Hurwitz numbers count branched covers of the Riemann sphere with prescribed ramification data, or equivalently, factorisations in the symmetric group with prescribed cycle structure data. In this paper, we initiate the study of monotone orbifold Hurwitz numbers. These are simultaneously variations of the orbifold case and generalisations of the monotone case, both of which have been previously studied in the literature. We derive a cut-and-join recursion for monotone orbifold Hurwitz numbers, determine a quantum curve governing their wave function, and state an explicit conjecture …
We give a new proof of the cut-and-join equation for the monotone Hurwitz numbers, derived first by Goulden, Guay-Paquet, and Novak. Our proof in particular uses a combinatorial technique developed by Han. The main interest in this particular equation is its close relation to the quadratic loop equation in the theory of spectral curve topological recursion, and we recall this motivation giving a new proof of the topological recursion for monotone Hurwitz numbers, obtained first by Do, Dyer, and Mathews.
Classical Hurwitz numbers count branched covers of the Riemann sphere with prescribed ramification data, or equivalently, factorisations in the symmetric group with prescribed cycle structure data. Monotone Hurwitz numbers restrict the enumeration by imposing a further monotonicity condition on such factorisations. In this paper, we prove that monotone Hurwitz numbers arise from the topological recursion of Eynard and Orantin applied to a particular spectral curve. We furthermore derive a quantum curve for monotone Hurwitz numbers. These results extend the collection of enumerative problems kn…
We prove quasi-polynomiality for monotone and strictly monotone orbifold Hurwitz numbers. The second enumerative problem is also known as enumeration of a special kind of Grothendieck's dessins d'enfants or $r$-hypermaps. These statements answer positively two conjectures proposed by Do-Karev and Do-Manescu. We also apply the same method to the usual orbifold Hurwitz numbers and obtain a new proof of the quasi-polynomiality in this case. In the second part of the paper we show that the property of quasi-polynomiality is equivalent in all these three cases to the property that the $n$-point gen…
In this paper we revisit several recent results on monotone and strictly monotone Hurwitz numbers, providing new proofs. In particular, we use various versions of these numbers to discuss methods of derivation of quantum spectral curves from the point of view of KP integrability and derive new examples of quantum curves for the families of double Hurwitz numbers.
We consider a new type of Hurwitz number, the number of ordered transitive factorizations of an arbitrary permutation into d-cycles. In this paper, we focus on the special case d = 3. The minimal number of transitive factorizations of any permutation into 3-cycles has been worked out by David, Goulden and Jackson. Also, such factorizations for transpositions, the case d = 2, have been considered by Crescimanno and Taylor. Goulden and Jackson have proved the differential equation for the generating series of simple Hurwitz numbers. Based on their results, we use W-operator to prove a differenti…
W-operators are differential operators on the polynomial ring. Mironov, Morosov and Natanzon construct the generalized Hurwitz numbers. They use the W-operator to prove a formula for the generating function of the generalized Hurwitz numbers. A special example of the W-operator is the cut-and-join operator. Goulden and Jackson use the cut-and-join operator to calculate the simple Hurwitz number. In this paper, we study the relation between W-operator W([d]) and the central elements in Sn. Based on the relation we find, we give another proof about a differential equation of the generating funct…
We give formulae for the cumulants of complex Wishart (LUE) and inverse Wishart matrices (inverse LUE). Their large-$N$ expansions are generating functions of double (strictly and weakly) monotone Hurwitz numbers which count constrained factorisations in the symmetric group. The two expansions can be compared and combined with a duality relation proved in [F. D. Cunden, F. Mezzadri, N. O'Connell and N. J. Simm, arXiv:1805.08760] to obtain: i) a combinatorial proof of the reflection formula between moments of LUE and inverse LUE at genus zero and, ii) a new functional relation between the gener…
This article introduces mixed double Hurwitz numbers, which interpolate combinatorially between the classical double Hurwitz numbers studied by Okounkov and the monotone double Hurwitz numbers introduced recently by Goulden, Guay-Paquet and Novak. Generalizing a result of Okounkov, we prove that a certain generating series for the mixed double Hurwitz numbers solves the 2-Toda hierarchy of partial differential equations. We also prove that the mixed double Hurwitz numbers are piecewise polynomial, thereby generalizing a result of Goulden, Jackson and Vakil.
Multicurrent correlators associated to KP $τ$-functions of hypergeometric type are used as generating functions for weighted Hurwitz numbers. These are expressed as formal Taylor series and used to compute generic, simple, rational and quantum weighted single Hurwitz numbers.
We define a generalized class of modified zeta series transformations generating the partial sums of the Hurwitz zeta function and series expansions of the Lerch transcendent function. The new transformation coefficients we define within the article satisfy expansions by generalized harmonic number sequences, or the partial sums of the Hurwitz zeta function, which are analogous to known properties for the Stirling numbers of the first kind and for the known transformation coefficients employed to enumerate variants of the polylogarithm function series. Applications of the new results we prove …
We express the topological expansion of the Jacobi Unitary Ensemble in terms of triple monotone Hurwitz numbers. This completes the combinatorial interpretation of the topological expansion of the classical unitary invariant matrix ensembles. We also provide effective formulae for generating functions of multipoint correlators of the Jacobi Unitary Ensemble in terms of Wilson polynomials, generalizing the known relations between one point correlators and Wilson polynomials.
The classical Hurwitz numbers count the fixed-length transitive transposition factorizations of a permutation, with a remarkable product formula for the case of minimum length (genus $0$). We study the analogue of these numbers for reflection groups with the following generalization of transitivity: say that a reflection factorization of an element in a reflection group $W$ is full if the factors generate the whole group $W$. We compute the generating function for full factorizations of arbitrary length for an arbitrary element in a group in the combinatorial family $G(m, p, n)$ of complex ref…
We consider the problem of defining and computing real analogs of polynomial Hurwitz numbers, in other words, the problem of counting properly normalized real polynomials with fixed ramification profiles over real branch points. We show that, provided the polynomials are counted with an appropriate sign, their number does not depend on the order of the branch points on the real line. We study generating series for the invariants thus obtained, determine necessary and sufficient conditions for the vanishing and nonvanishing of these generating series, and obtain a logarithmic asymptotic for the…
Double Hurwitz numbers enumerating weighted $n$-sheeted branched coverings of the Riemann sphere or, equivalently, weighted paths in the Cayley graph of $S_n$ generated by transpositions are determined by an associated weight generating function. A uniquely determined $1$-parameter family of 2D Toda $τ$-functions of hypergeometric type is shown to consist of generating functions for such weighted Hurwitz numbers. Four classical cases are detailed, in which the weighting is uniform: Okounkov's double Hurwitz numbers, for which the ramification is simple at all but two specified branch points; t…
This work concerns the semiclassical asymptotics of quantum weighted double Hurwitz numbers. We compute the leading term of the partition function for three versions of the quantum weighted Hurwitz numbers, as well as lower order semiclassical corrections. The classical limit $\hbar \to 0$ is shown to reproduce the simple Hurwitz numbers studied by Pandharipande and Okounkov. The KP-Toda $τ$-function serving as generating function for the quantum Hurwitz numbers is shown to converge in the classical limit to the generating function of Pandharipande and Okounkov and, with suitable scaling, so d…
We consider $d$-fold branched coverings of the projective plane $\mathbb{RP}^2$ and show that the hypergeometric tau function of the BKP hierarchy of Kac and van de Leur is the generating function for weighted sums of the related Hurwitz numbers. In particular we get the $\mathbb{RP}^2$ analogues of the $\mathbb{CP}^1$ generating functions proposed by Okounkov and by Goulden and Jackson. Other examples are Hurwitz numbers weighted by the Hall-Littlewood and by the Macdonald polynomials. We also consider integrals of tau functions which generate projective Hurwitz numbers and Hurwitz numbers re…
We obtain simple quadratic recurrence formulas counting bipartite maps on surfaces with prescribed degrees (in particular, $2k$-angulations), and constellations. These formulas are the fastest known way of computing these numbers. Our work is a natural extension of previous works on integrable hierarchies (2-Toda and KP), namely the Pandharipande recursion for Hurwitz numbers (proven by Okounkov and simplified by Dubrovin-Yang-Zagier), as well as formulas for several models of maps (Goulden-Jackson, Carrell-Chapuy, Kazarian-Zograf). As for those formulas, a bijective interpretation is still to…
The construction of hypergeometric $2D$ Toda $τ$-functions as generating functions for weighted Hurwitz numbers is extended to multispecies families. Both the enumerative geometrical significance of multispecies weighted Hurwitz numbers, as weighted enumerations of branched coverings of the Riemann sphere, and their combinatorial significance in terms of weighted paths in the Cayley graph of $S_n$ are derived. The particular case of multispecies quantum weighted Hurwitz numbers is studied in detail.
The basis elements spanning the Sato Grassmannian element corresponding to the KP $τ$-function that serves as generating function for rationally weighted Hurwitz numbers are shown to be Meijer $G$-functions. Using their Mellin-Barnes integral representation the $τ$-function, evaluated at the trace invariants of an externally coupled matrix, is expressed as a matrix integral. Using the Mellin-Barnes integral transform of an infinite product of $Γ$ functions, a similar matrix integral representation is given for the KP $τ$-function that serves as generating function for quantum weighted Hurwitz …
We are building a theory of simple Hurwitz numbers for the reflection groups B and D parallel to the classical theory for the symmetric group. We also study analogs of the cut-and-join operators. An algebraic description of Hurwitz numbers and an explicit formula for them in terms of Schur polynomials are provided. We also relate Hurwitz numbers for B and D to ribbon decomposition of surfaces with boundary -- a similar result for the symmetric group was proved earlier by Yu.Burman and the author. Finally, the generating function of B-Hurwitz numbers is shown to give rise to two independent tau…
This is an overview of recent results on the use of 2D Toda $τ$-functions as generating functions for multiparametric families of weighted Hurwitz numbers. The Bose-Fermi equivalence composed with the characteristic map provides an isomorphism between the zero charge sector of the Fermionic Fock space and the direct sum of the centers of the group algebra of the symmetric groups $S_n$. Specializing the fermionic formula to the case of diagonal group elements gives $τ$-functions of hypergeometric type, for which the expansion over products of Schur functions is diagonal, with coefficients of {\…
The construction of hypergeometric 2D Toda $τ$-functions as generating functions for quantum Hurwitz numbers is extended here to multispecies families. Both the enumerative geometrical significance of these multispecies quantum Hurwitz numbers as weighted enumerations of branched coverings of the Riemann sphere and their combinatorial significance in terms of weighted paths in the Cayley graph of $S_n$ are derived.
The KP and 2D Toda tau-functions of hypergeometric type that serve as generating functions for weighted single and double Hurwitz numbers are related to the topological recursion programme. A graphical representation of such weighted Hurwitz numbers is given in terms of weighted constellations. The associated classical and quantum spectral spectral curves are derived, and these are interpreted combinatorially in terms of the graphical model. The pair correlators are given a finite Christoffel-Darboux representation and determinantal expressions are obtained for the multipair correlators. The g…
This manuscript recounts some of the author's contributions to algebraic and enumerative combinatorics. We have focused on two types of generalizations of bipartite maps, which are bipartite graphs embedded on surfaces. Maps are known to appear in many areas of theoretical physics and discrete mathematics, but one key interest for fundamental computer science is how multi-facetted they are in the sense that multiple encodings exist which are not interchangeable, like Tutte's/loop equations, the topological recursion, the KP hierarchy and numerous bijections which made the field so rich. One ge…
This work concerns both the semiclassical and zero temperature asymptotics of quantum weighted double Hurwitz numbers. The partition function for quantum weighted double Hurwitz numbers can be interpreted in terms of the energy distri- bution of a quantum Bose gas with vanishing fugacity. We compute the leading semi- classical term of the partition function for three versions of the quantum weighted Hurwitz numbers, as well as lower order semiclassical corrections. The classical limit $\hbar \ra 0$ is shown to reproduce the simple single and double Hurwitz numbers studied by Pandharipande and …
Weighted constellations give graphical representations of weighted branched coverings of the Riemann sphere. They were introduced to provide a combinatorial interpretation of the $2$D Toda $τ$-functions of hypergeometric type serving as generating functions for weighted Hurwitz numbers in the case of polynomial weight generating functions. The product over all vertex and edge weights of a given weighted constellation, summed over all configurations, reproduces the $τ$-function. In the present work, this is generalized to constellations in which the weighting parameters are determined by a rati…
