The generating function for the number of purely crossing partitions of {1,...,n} is found in terms of the generating function for Bell numbers. Further results about generating functions for asymptotic moments of certain random Vandermonde matrices are derived.
We introduce and study the model of simply generated non-crossing partitions, which are, roughly speaking, chosen at random according to a sequence of weights. This framework encompasses the particular case of uniform non-crossing partitions with constraints on their block sizes. Our main tool is a bijection between non-crossing partitions and plane trees, which maps such simply generated non-crossing partitions into simply generated trees so that blocks of size $k$ are in correspondence with vertices of outdegree $k$. This allows us to obtain limit theorems concerning the block structure of s…
We study the distribution of several statistics of large non-crossing partitions. First, we prove the Gaussian limit theorem for the number of blocks of a given fixed size. In contrast to the properties of usual set partitions, we show that the number of blocks of different sizes are negatively correlated, even for large partitions. In addition, we show that the sizes of blocks in a given large non-crossing partition are distributed according to a geometric distribution and not Poisson, as in the case of usual set partitions. Next, we show that the size of the largest block concentrates at $\l…
Recently, Chen et al. derived the generating function for partitions avoiding right nestings and posed the problem of finding the generating function for partitions avoiding right crossings. In this paper, we derive the generating function for partitions avoiding right crossings via an intermediate structure of partial matchings avoiding 2-right crossings and right nestings. We show that there is a bijection between partial matchings avoiding 2-right crossing and right nestings and partitions avoiding right crossings.
Non-crossing partitions have been a staple in combinatorics for quite some time. More recently, they have surfaced (sometimes unexpectedly) in various other contexts from free probability to classifying spaces of braid groups. Also, analogues of the non-crossing partition lattice have been introduced. Here, the classical non-crossing partitions are associated to Coxeter and Artin groups of type $\mathsf{A}_n$, which explains the tight connection to the symmetric groups and braid groups. We shall outline those developments.
We give an elementary algebraic proof of Paradan's wall crossing formulae for partition functions. We also express such jumps in volume and partition functions by one dimensional residue formulae. Subsequently we reprove the relation between them as given by the application of a generalized Khovanskii-Pukhlikov differential operator.
We derive a formula for the expected number of blocks of a given size from a non-crossing partition chosen uniformly at random. Moreover, we refine this result subject to the restriction of having a number of blocks given. Furthermore, we generalize to k-divisible partitions. In particular, we find that, asymptotically, the expected number of blocks of size t of a k-divisible non-crossing partition of nk elements chosen uniformly at random is (kn+1)/(k+1)^(t+1). Similar results are obtained for type B and type D k-divisible non-crossing partitions of Armstrong.
We construct an involution on set partitions which keeps track of the numbers of crossings, nestings and alignments of two edges. We derive then the symmetric distribution of the numbers of crossings and nestings in partitions, which generalizes Klazar's recent result in perfect matchings. By factorizing our involution through bijections between set partitions and some path diagrams we obtain the continued fraction expansions of the corresponding ordinary generating functions.
Chen, Deng, Du, Stanley, and Yan introduced the notion of $k$-crossings and $k$-nestings for set partitions, and proved that the sizes of the largest $k$-crossings and $k$-nestings in the partitions of an $n$-set possess a symmetric joint distribution. This work considers a generalization of these results to set partitions whose arcs are labeled by an $r$-element set (which we call \emph{$r$-colored set partitions}). In this context, a $k$-crossing or $k$-nesting is a sequence of arcs, all with the same color, which form a $k$-crossing or $k$-nesting in the usual sense. After showing that the …
We define and consider k-distant crossings and nestings for matchings and set partitions, which are a variation of crossings and nestings in which the distance between vertices is important. By modifying an involution of Kasraoui and Zeng (Electronic J. Combinatorics 2006, research paper 33), we show that the joint distribution of k-distant crossings and nestings is symmetric. We also study the numbers of k-distant noncrossing matchings and partitions for small k, which are counted by well-known sequences, as well as the orthogonal polynomials related to k-distant noncrossing matchings and par…
We investigate the role that non-crossing partitions play in the study of positroids, a class of matroids introduced by Postnikov. We prove that every positroid can be constructed uniquely by choosing a non-crossing partition on the ground set, and then freely placing the structure of a connected positroid on each of the blocks of the partition. This structural result yields several combinatorial facts about positroids. We show that the face poset of a positroid polytope embeds in a poset of weighted non-crossing partitions. We enumerate connected positroids, and show how they arise naturally …
A partition on $[n]$ has a crossing if there exists $i\_1<i\_2<j\_1<j\_2$ such that $i\_1$ and $j\_1$ are in the same block, $i\_2$ and $j\_2$ are in the same block, but $i\_1$ and $i\_2$ are not in the same block. Recently, Chen et al. refined this classical notion by introducing $k$-crossings, for any integer $k$. In this new terminology, a classical crossing is a 2-crossing. The number of partitions of $[n]$ avoiding 2-crossings is well-known to be the $n$th Catalan number $C\_n={{2n}\choose n}/(n+1)$. This raises the question of counting $k$-noncrossing partitions for $k\ge 3$. We prove th…
We consider $m$-divisible non-crossing partitions of $\{1,2,\ldots,mn\}$ with the property that for some $t\leq n$ no block contains more than one of the first $t$ integers. We give a closed formula for the number of multi-chains of such non-crossing partitions with prescribed number of blocks. Building on this result, we compute Chapoton's $M$-triangle in this setting and conjecture a combinatorial interpretation for the $H$-triangle. This conjecture is proved for $m=1$.
We present a bijection between non-crossing partitions of the set $[2n+1]$ into $n+1$ blocks such that no block contains two consecutive integers, and the set of sequences $\{s_{i}\}_{1}^{n}$ such that $1 \leq s_{i} \leq i$, and if $s_{i}=j$, then $s_{i-r} \leq j-r$ for $1 \leq r \leq j-1$.
The material gives a new combinatorial proof of the multiplicative property of the S-transform. In particular, several properties of the coefficients of its inverse are connected to non-crossing linked partitions and planar trees.
The present thesis studies structural properties of non-crossing partitions associated to finite Coxeter groups from both algebraic and geometric perspectives. On the one hand, non-crossing partitions are lattices, and on the other hand, we can view them as simplicial complexes by considering their order complexes. We make use of these different interpretations and their interactions in various ways. The order complexes of non-crossing partitions have a rich geometric structure, which we investigate in this thesis. In particular, we interpret them as subcomplexes of spherical buildings. From a…
We present results on the enumeration of crossings and nestings for matchings and set partitions. Using a bijection between partitions and vacillating tableaux, we show that if we fix the sets of minimal block elements and maximal block elements, the crossing number and the nesting number of partitions have a symmetric joint distribution. It follows that the crossing numbers and the nesting numbers are distributed symmetrically over all partitions of $[n]$, as well as over all matchings on $[2n]$. As a corollary, the number of $k$-noncrossing partitions is equal to the number of $k$-nonnesting…
In this article, we investigate bijections on various classes of set partitions of classical types that preserve openers and closers. On the one hand we present bijections that interchange crossings and nestings. For types B and C, they generalize a construction by Kasraoui and Zeng for type A, whereas for type D, we were only able to construct a bijection between non-crossing and non-nesting set partitions. On the other hand we generalize a bijection to type B and C that interchanges the cardinality of the maximal crossing with the cardinality of the maximal nesting, as given by Chen, Deng, D…
We define and study noncommutative crossing partitions which are a generalization of non-crossing partitions. By introducing a new cover relation on binary trees, we show that the partially ordered set of noncommutative crossing partitions is a graded lattice. This new lattice contains the Kreweras lattice, the lattice of non-crossing partitions, as a sublattice. We calculate the Möbius function, the number of maximal chains and the number of $k$-chains in this new lattice by constructing an explicit $EL$-labeling on the lattice. By use of the $EL$-labeling, we recover the classical results on…
Let $π$ and $λ$ be two set partitions with the same number of blocks. Assume $π$ is a partition of $[n]$. For any integer $l, m \geq 0$, let $\mathcal{T}(π, l)$ be the set of partitions of $[n+l]$ whose restrictions to the last $n$ elements are isomorphic to $π$, and $\mathcal{T}(π, l, m)$ the subset of $\mathcal{T}(π,l)$ consisting of those partitions with exactly $m$ blocks. Similarly define $\mathcal{T}(λ, l)$ and $\mathcal{T}(λ, l,m)$. We prove that if the statistic $cr$ ($ne$), the number of crossings (nestings) of two edges, coincides on the sets $\mathcal{T}(π, l)$ and $\mathcal{T}(λ, l…
We present a categorification of the non-crossing partitions given by crystallographic Coxeter groups. This involves a category of certain bilinear lattices, which are essentially determined by a symmetrisable generalised Cartan matrix together with a particular choice of a Coxeter element. Examples arise from Grothendieck groups of hereditary artin algebras.
We prove that the generalised non-crossing partitions associated to well-generated complex reflection groups of exceptional type obey two different cyclic sieving phenomena, as conjectured by Armstrong, respectively by Bessis and Reiner. This manuscript accompanies the paper "Cyclic sieving for generalised non-crossing partitions associated to complex reflection groups of exceptional type" [arXiv:1001.0028], for which it provides the computational details.
In this paper, we define the combinatorial wall-crossing transformation and the generalized column regularization on partitions and prove that a certain composition of these two transformations has the same effect on the one-row partition $(n)$. As corollaries we explicitly describe the quotients of the partitions which arise in this process. We also prove that the one-row partition is the unique partition that stays regular at any step of the wall-crossing transformation.
For any finite, real reflection group $W$, we construct a geometric basis for the homology of the corresponding non-crossing partition lattice. We relate this to the basis for the homology of the corresponding intersection lattice introduced by Björner and Wachs in \cite{BW} using a general construction of a generic affine hyperplane for the central hyperplane arrangement defined by $W$.
A weak order on the set of maximal chains of the non-crossing partition lattice is introduced and studied. A $0$-Hecke algebra action is used to compute the radius of the graph on these chains in which two chains are adjacent if they differ in exactly one element.
The cluster of a crossing in a graph drawing in the plane is the set of the four end-vertices of its two crossed edges. Two crossings are independent if their clusters do not intersect. In this paper, we prove that every plane graph with independent crossings has an equitable partition into $m$ induced forests for any $m\geq 8$. Moreover, we decrease this lower bound 8 for $m$ to 6, 5, 4 and 3 if we additionally assume that the girth of the considering graph is at least 4, 5, 6 and 26, respectively.
This paper studies topological properties of the lattices of non-crossing partitions of types A and B and of the poset of injective words. Specifically, it is shown that after the removal of the bottom and top elements (if existent) these posets are doubly Cohen-Macaulay. This strengthens the well-known facts that these posets are Cohen-Macaulay. Our results rely on a new poset fiber theorem which turns out to be a useful tool to prove double (homotopy) Cohen-Macaulayness of a poset. Applications to complexes of injective words are also included.
A positroid is a special case of a realizable matroid, that arose from the study of totally nonnegative part of the Grassmannian by Postnikov. Postnikov demonstrated that positroids are in bijection with certain interesting classes of combinatorial objects, such as Grassmann necklaces and decorated permutations. The bases of a positroid can be described directly in terms of the Grassmann necklace and decorated permutation. In this paper, we show that the rank of an arbitrary set in a positroid can be computed directly from the associated decorated permutation using non-crossing partitions.
We present the proof of the cyclic sieving conjectures for generalised non-crossing partitions associated to well-generated complex reflection groups due to Armstrong, respectively to Bessis and Reiner, for the 26 exceptional well-generated complex reflection groups. The computational details are provided in the manuscript "Cyclic sieving for generalised non-crossing partitions associated to complex reflection groups of exceptional type - the details" [arXiv:1001.0030].
We generalize the notion of non-crossing partition on a disk to general surfaces with boundary. For this, we consider a surface $Σ$ and introduce the number $C_Σ(n)$ of non-crossing partitions of a set of $n$ points laying on the boundary of $Σ$. Our proofs use bijective techniques arising from map enumeration, joint with the symbolic method and singularity analysis on generating functions. An outcome of our results is that the exponential growth of $C_Σ(n)$ is the same as the one of the $n$-th Catalan number, i.e., does not change when we move from the case where $Σ$ is a disk to general surf…
We study the asymptotic distribution of the two following combinatorial parameters: the number of arc crossings in the linear representation, ${\mathrm cr^{(\ell)}$, and the number of chord crossings in the circular representation, ${\mathrm cr^{(c)}$, of a random set partition. We prove that, for $k\leq n/(2\,\log n)$ (resp., ${k=o(\sqrt{n})}$), the distribution of the parameter ${\mathrm cr^{(\ell)}$ (resp., ${\mathrm cr^{(c)}$) taken over partitions of $[n]:=\{1,2,...,n\}$ into $k$ blocks is, after standardization, asymptotically Gaussian as $n$ tends to infinity. We give exact and asymptot…
A case-free proof is given that the entries of the $h$-vector of the cluster complex $Δ(Φ)$, associated by S. Fomin and A. Zelevinsky to a finite root system $Φ$, count elements of the lattice $\nc$ of noncrossing partitions of corresponding type by rank. Similar interpretations for the $h$-vector of the positive part of $Δ(Φ)$ are provided. The proof utilizes the appearance of the complex $Δ(Φ)$ in the context of the lattice $\nc$, in recent work of two of the authors, as well as an explicit shelling of $Δ(Φ)$.
For any finite Coxeter group $W$ of rank $n$ we show that the order complex of the lattice of non-crossing partitions $\mathrm{NC}(W)$ embeds as a connected chamber subcomplex into a spherical building of type $A_{n-1}$. We use this to give a new proof of the fact that the non-crossing partition lattice in type $A_n$ is supersolvable for all $n$ and show that in case $B_n$, this is only the case if $n<4$. We also obtain a lower bound on the radius of the Hurwitz graph $H(W)$ in all types and re-prove that in type $A_n$ the radius is ${n \choose 2}$.
An avoidance pattern where the letters within an occurrence of which are required to be adjacent is referred to as a subword. In this paper, we enumerate members of the set NC_n of non-crossing partitions of length n according to the number of occurrences of several infinite families of subword patterns each containing repeated letters. As a consequence of our results, we obtain explicit generating function formulas counting the members of NC_n for n >= 0 according to all subword patterns of length three containing a repeated letter. Further, simple expressions are deduced for the total number…
The paper establishes a connection between two recent combinatorial developments in free probability: the non-crossing linked partitions introduced by Dykema in 2007 to study the S-transform, and the partial order << on NC(n) introduced by Belinschi and Nica in 2008 in order to study relations between free and Boolean probability. More precisely, one has a canonical bijection between NCL(n) (the set of all non-crossing linked partitions of {1, ..., n}) and the set {(p,q) | p,q in NC(n), p<<q}. As a consequence of this bijection, one gets an alternative description of Dykema's formula expressin…
We study the set $\sncb (p,q)$ of annular non-crossing permutations of type B, and we introduce a corresponding set $\ncb (p,q)$ of annular non-crossing partitions of type B, where $p$ and $q$ are two positive integers. We prove that the natural bijection between $\sncb (p,q)$ and $\ncb (p,q)$ is a poset isomorphism, where the partial order on $\sncb (p,q)$ is induced from the hyperoctahedral group $B_{p+q}$, while $\ncb (p,q)$ is partially ordered by reverse refinement. In the case when $q=1$, we prove that $\ncb (p,1)$ is a lattice with respect to reverse refinement order. We point out that …
The equidistribution of many crossing and nesting statistics exists in several combinatorial objects like matchings, set partitions, permutations, and embedded labelled graphs. The involutions switching nesting and crossing numbers for set partitions given by Krattenthaler, also by Chen, Deng, Du, Stanley, and Yan, and for permutations given by Burrill, Mishna, and Post involved passing through tableau-like objects. Recently, Chen and Guo for matchings, and Marberg for set partitions extended the result to coloured arc annotated diagrams. We prove that symmetric joint distribution continues to…
We prove the conjectured limiting normality for the number of crossings of a uniformly chosen set partition of [n] = {1,2,...,n}. The arguments use a novel stochastic representation and are also used to prove central limit theorems for the dimension index and the number of levels.
In this paper, we use an M-theory model to conjecture the refined reminiscence of the OSV formula connecting the refined topological string partition function with the refined BPS states partition function for the toric Calabi-Yau threefolds without any compact four cycles. Further, we show how to use the vertex operators in 2d free fermions to reproduce the refined BPS states partition function for the $\mathbb{C}^3$ case and the wall-crossing formulas of the refined BPS states partition function for the resolved conifold and $\mathcal{O}(-2)\oplus\mathcal{O}\rightarrow \mathbb{P}^1$ cases.
For a finite set $X$, we say that a set $H\subseteq X$ crosses a partition ${\cal P}=(X_1,\dots,X_k)$ of $X$ if $H$ intersects $\min (|H|,k)$ partition classes. If $|H|\geq k$, this means that $H$ meets all classes $X_i$, whilst for $|H|\leq k$ the elements of the crossing set $H$ belong to mutually distinct classes. A set system ${\cal H}$ crosses ${\cal P}$, if so does some $H\in {\cal H}$. The minimum number of $r$-element subsets, such that every $k$-partition of an $n$-element set $X$ is crossed by at least one of them, is denoted by $f(n,k,r)$. The problem of determining these minimum va…
Let $Θ_n = (θ_1, \dots, θ_n)$ and $Ξ_n = (ξ_1, \dots, ξ_n)$ be two lists of $n$ variables and consider the diagonal action of $\mathfrak{S}_n$ on the exterior algebra $\wedge \{ Θ_n, Ξ_n \}$ generated by these variables. Jongwon Kim and the second author defined and studied the fermionic diagonal coinvariant ring $FDR_n$ obtained from $\wedge \{ Θ_n, Ξ_n \}$ by modding out by the $\mathfrak{S}_n$-invariants with vanishing constant term. On the other hand, the second author described an action of $\mathfrak{S}_n$ on the vector space with basis given by noncrossing set partitions of $\{1,\dots,n…
Given a finite irreducible Coxeter group $W$, a positive integer $d$, and types $T_1,T_2,...,T_d$ (in the sense of the classification of finite Coxeter groups), we compute the number of decompositions $c=\si_1\si_2 cdots\si_d$ of a Coxeter element $c$ of $W$, such that $\si_i$ is a Coxeter element in a subgroup of type $T_i$ in $W$, $i=1,2,...,d$, and such that the factorisation is "minimal" in the sense that the sum of the ranks of the $T_i$'s, $i=1,2,...,d$, equals the rank of $W$. For the exceptional types, these decomposition numbers have been computed by the first author. The type $A_n$ d…
For a subclass of matchings, set partitions, and permutations, we describe a direct bijection involving only arc annotated diagrams that not only interchanges maximum nesting and crossing numbers, but also all refinements of crossing and nesting numbers. Furthermore, we show that the bijection cannot be applied to a similar class of coloured arc annotated diagrams.
The total number of noncrossing partitions of type $Ψ$ is the $n$th Catalan number $\frac{1}{n+1}\binom{2n}{n}$ when $Ψ=A_{n-1}$, and the binomial $\binom{2n}{n}$ when $Ψ=B_n$, and these numbers coincide with the correspondent number of nonnesting partitions. For type A, there are several bijective proofs of this equality, being the intuitive map that locally converts each crossing to a nesting one of them. In this paper we present a bijection between nonnesting and noncrossing partitions of types A and B that generalizes the type A bijection that locally converts each crossing to a nesting.
The $M$-triangle of a ranked locally finite poset $P$ is the generating function $\sum_{u,w\in P} ^{}μ(u,w) x^{\rk u}y^{\rk w}$, where $μ(.,.)$ is the Möbius function of $P$. We compute the $M$-triangle of Armstrong's poset of $m$-divisible non-crossing partitions for the root systems of type $E_7$ and $E_8$. For the other types except $D_n$ this had been accomplished in the earlier paper "The $F$-triangle of the generalised cluster complex." Altogether, this almost settles Armstrong's $F=M$ Conjecture predicting a surprising relation between the $M$-triangle of the $m$-divisible partitions po…
We describe wall-crossing for local, toric Calabi-Yau manifolds without compact four-cycles, in terms of free fermions, vertex operators, and crystal melting. Firstly, to each such manifold we associate two states in the free fermion Hilbert space. The overlap of these states reproduces the BPS partition function corresponding to the non-commutative Donaldson-Thomas invariants, given by the modulus square of the topological string partition function. Secondly, we introduce the wall-crossing operators which represent crossing the walls of marginal stability associated to changes of the B-field …
For any integer $k\geq2$, we prove combinatorially the following Euler (binomial) transformation identity $$ \NC_{n+1}^{(k)}(t)=t\sum_{i=0}^n{n\choose i}\NW_{i}^{(k)}(t), $$ where $\NC_{m}^{(k)}(t)$ (resp.~$\NW_{m}^{(k)}(t)$) is the sum of weights, $t^\text{number of blocks}$, of partitions of $\{1,\ldots,m\}$ without $k$-crossings (resp.~enhanced $k$-crossings). The special $k=2$ and $t=1$ case, asserting the Euler transformation of Motzkin numbers are Catalan numbers, was discovered by Donaghey 1977. The result for $k=3$ and $t=1$, arising naturally in a recent study of pattern avoidance in …
We determine the rank generating function, the zeta polynomial and the Moebius function for the poset NC^B(p,q) of annular non-crossing partitions of type B, where p and q are two positive integers. We give an alternative treatment of some of these results in the case q=1, for which this poset is a lattice. We also consider the general case of multiannular non-crossing partitions of type B, and prove that this reduces to the cases of non-crossing partitions of type B in the annulus and in the disc.
Tverberg's theorem asserts that every (k-1)(d+1)+1 points in R^d can be partitioned into k parts, so that the convex hulls of the parts have a common intersection. Calder and Eckhoff asked whether there is a purely combinatorial deduction of Tverberg's theorem from the special case k=2. We dash the hopes of a purely combinatorial deduction, but show that the case k=2 does imply that every set of O(k^2 log^2 k) points admits a Tverberg partition into k parts.
We find exact and asymptotic formulas for the average values of several statistics on set partitions: of Carlitz's $q$-Stirling distributions, of the numbers of crossings in linear and circular representations of set partitions, of the numbers of overlappings and embracings, and of the numbers of occurrences of a 2-pattern.
We establish connections between the lattices of non-crossing partitions of type B introduced by V. Reiner, and the framework of the free probability theory of D. Voiculescu. Lattices of non-crossing partitions (of type A, up to now) have played an important role in the combinatorics of free probability, primarily via the non-crossing cumulants of R. Speicher. Here we introduce the concept of {\em non-crossing cumulant of type B;} the inspiration for its definition is found by looking at an operation of ``restricted convolution of multiplicative functions'', studied in parallel for functions o…
We introduce a statistic $\pmaj$ on partitions of $[n]=\{1,2,..., n\}$, and show that it is equidistributed with the number of 2-crossings over partitions of $[n]$ with given sets of minimal block elements and maximal block elements. This generalizes the classical result of equidistribution for the permutation statistics inversion number and major index.
The determinantal form of the partition function of the 6-vertex model with domain wall boundary conditions was given by Izergin. It is known that for a special value of the crossing parameter the partition function reduces to a Schur polynomial. Caradoc, Foda and Kitanine computed the partition function of the higher spin generalization of the 6-vertex model. In the present work it is shown that for a special value of the crossing parameter, referred to as the combinatorial point, the partition function reduces to a Macdonald polynomial.