We show that in the complex reflection group $G_6$, reflection factorizations of a Coxeter element that have the same length and multiset of conjugacy classes are in the same Hurwitz orbit. This confirms one case of a conjecture of Lewis and Reiner.
We prove that the Hurwitz action on reflection factorizations of Coxeter elements is transitive up to certain natural constraints in the complex reflection groups G4 and G5. This affirms a more general conjecture by Lewis and Reiner in these specific cases. The proof uses induction on length of the factorization using the fact that the square of a reflection is also a reflection.
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…
We prove that two reflection factorizations of a given element in an exceptional rank-2 complex reflection group of tetrahedral type are Hurwitz-equivalent if and only if they generate the same subgroup and have the same multiset of conjugacy classes.
We show that the Hurwitz action is "as transitive as possible" on reflection factorizations of Coxeter elements in the well-generated complex reflection groups $G(d, 1, n)$ (the group of $d$-colored permutations) and $G(d, d, n)$.
We provide a variety of cases in which two factorizations have Hurwitz orbits of the same size. We begin with prototypical results about factorizations of length two, and show that cycling elements or flipping and inverting elements in any factorization preserves Hurwitz orbit size. We prove that "double reverse" factorizations in groups with special presentations have Hurwitz orbits of equal size, and end with applications to complex reflection groups.
We enumerate Hurwitz orbits of shortest reflection factorizations of an arbitrary element in the infinite family $G(m, p, n)$ of complex reflection groups. As a consequence, we characterize the elements for which the action is transitive and give a simple criterion to tell when two shortest reflection factorizations belong to the same Hurwitz orbit. We also characterize the quasi-Coxeter elements (those with a shortest reflection factorization that generates the whole group) in $G(m, p, n)$.
We show that for a parabolic quasi-Coxeter element in an affine Coxeter group the Hurwitz action on its set of reduced factorizations into a product of reflections is transitive. We call an element of the Coxeter group parabolic quasi-Coxeter element if it has a reduced factorization into a product of reflections that generate a parabolic subgroup.
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…
In which it is proven that, for each parabolic quasi-Coxeter element in a finite real reflection group, the orbits of the Hurwitz action on its reflection factorizations are distinguished by the two obvious invariants
We investigate the so-called dual Matsumoto property or Hurwitz action in finite, affine and arbitrary Coxeter groups. In particular, we want to investigate how to reduce reflection factorizations and how two reflection factorizations of the same element are related to each other. We are motivated by the dual approach to Coxeter groups proposed by Bessis and the question whether there is an anlogue of the well known Matsumoto property for reflection factorizations. Our aim is a substantial understanding of the Hurwitz action. We therefore reprove uniformly results of Lewis and Reiner as well a…
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…
In this paper, we study factorizations of cycles. The main result is that under certain condition, the number of ways to factor a $d$-cycle into a product of cycles of prescribed lengths is $d^{r-2}.$ To prove our result, we first define a new class of combinatorial objects, multi-noded rooted trees, which generalize rooted trees. We find the cardinality of this new class which with proper parameters is exactly $d^{r-2}.$ The main part of this paper is the proof that there is a bijection from factorizations of a $d$-cycle to multi-noded rooted trees via factorization graphs. This implies the d…
We provide a necessary and sufficient condition on an element of a finite Coxeter group to ensure the transitivity of the Hurwitz action on its set of reduced decompositions into products of reflections. We show that this action is transitive if and only if the element is a parabolic quasi-Coxeter element, that is, if and only if it has a reduced decomposition into a product of reflections that generate a parabolic subgroup.
We study the Hurwitz action of the classical braid group on factorisations of a Coxeter element c in a well-generated complex reflection group W. It is well-known that the Hurwitz action is transitive on the set of reduced decompositions of c in reflections. Our main result is a similar property for the primitive factorisations of c, i.e. factorisations with only one factor which is not a reflection. The motivation is the search for a geometric proof of Chapoton's formula for the number of chains of given length in the non-crossing partitions lattice NCP_W. Our proof uses the properties of the…
In this note, we provide a short and self-contained proof that the braid group on n strands acts transitively on the set of reduced factorizations of a Coxeter element in a Coxeter group of finite rank n into products of reflections. We moreover use the same argument to also show that all factorizations of an element in a parabolic subgroup of W lie as well in this parabolic subgroup.
In a finite real reflection group, two factorizations of a Coxeter element into an arbitrary number of reflections are shown to lie in the same orbit under the Hurwitz action if and only if they use the same multiset of conjugacy classes. The proof makes use of a surprising lemma, derived from a classification of the minimal linear dependences (matroid circuits) in finite root systems: any set of roots forming a minimal linear dependence with positive coefficients has a disconnected graph of pairwise acuteness.
We extend a result of Lewis and Reiner from finite Coxeter groups to all Coxeter groups by showing that two reflection factorizations of a Coxeter element lie in the same Hurwitz orbit if and only if they share the same multiset of conjugacy classes.
We describe an approach, via Malle's permutation $Ψ$ on the set of irreducible characters $\text{Irr}(W)$, that gives a uniform derivation of the Chapuy-Stump formula for the enumeration of reflection factorizations of the Coxeter element. It also recovers its weighted generalization by delMas, Reiner, and Hameister, and further produces structural results for factorization formulas of arbitrary regular elements.
The number of shortest factorizations into reflections for a Singer cycle in GL_n(F_q) is shown to be (q^n-1)^(n - 1). Formulas counting factorizations of any length, and counting those with reflections of fixed conjugacy classes are also given. The method is a standard character-theory technique, requiring the compilation of irreducible character values for Singer cycles, semisimple reflections, and transvections. The results suggest several open problems and questions, which are discussed at the end.
In this paper, we count factorizations of Coxeter elements in well-generated complex reflection groups into products of reflections. We obtain a simple product formula for the exponential generating function of such factorizations, which is expressed uniformly in terms of natural parameters of the group. In the case of factorizations of minimal length, we recover a formula due to P. Deligne, J. Tits and D. Zagier in the real case and to D. Bessis in the complex case. For the symmetric group, our formula specializes to a formula of D. M. Jackson.
We study the number of ways of factoring elements in the complex reflection groups G(r,s,n) as products of reflections. We prove a result that compares factorization numbers in G(r,s,n) to those in the symmetric group on n letters, and we use this comparison, along with the ELSV formula, to deduce a polynomial structure for factorizations in G(r,s,n).
We consider three notions of connectivity and their interactions in partially ordered sets coming from reduced factorizations of an element in a generated group. While one form of connectivity essentially reflects the connectivity of the poset diagram, the other two are a bit more involved: Hurwitz-connectivity has its origins in algebraic geometry, and shellability in topology. We propose a framework to study these connectivity properties in a uniform way. Our main tool is a certain linear order of the generators that is compatible with the chosen element.
Hurwitz numbers, which count certain covers of the projective line (or, equivalently, factorizations of permuations into transpositions), have been extensively studied for over a century. The Gromov-Witten potential F of a point, the generating series for Hodge integrals on the moduli space of curves, has been a central object of study in Gromov-Witten theory. We define a slightly enriched Gromov-Witten potential G (including integrals involving one "lambda-class"), and show that after a non-trivial change of variables, G=H in positive genus, where H is a generating series for Hurwitz numbers.…
For well-generated complex reflection groups, Chapuy and Stump gave a simple product for a generating function counting reflection factorizations of a Coxeter element by their length. This is refined here to record the number of reflections used from each orbit of hyperplanes. The proof is case-by-case via the classification of well-generated groups. It implies a new expression for the Coxeter number, expressed via data coming from a hyperplane orbit; a case-free proof of this due to J. Michel is included.
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…
We extend Carter's notion of admissible diagrams and attach a "Dynkin-like" diagram to each reduced reflection factorization of an element in a finite Weyl group. We give a complete classification for the diagrams attached to reduced reflection factorizations. Remarkably, such a diagram turns out to be cyclically orientable if and only if it is isomorphic to the underlying graph of a quiver which is mutation-equivalent to a Dynkin quiver. Furthermore we show that each diagram encodes a natural presentation of the Weyl group as reflection group. The latter one extends work of Cameron, Seidel an…
For the elements of a Coxeter group, we present a statistic called depth, defined in terms of factorizations of the elements into products of reflections. Depth is bounded above by length and below by the average of length and reflection length. In this article, we focus on the case of the symmetric group, where we show that depth is equal to sum_i max{w(i)-i, 0}. We characterize those permutations for which depth equals length: these are the 321-avoiding permutations (and hence are enumerated by the Catalan numbers). We also characterize those permutations for which depth equals reflection le…
Although powers of the Young-Jucys-Murphya elements X_i = (1 i) + ... +(i-1 i), i = 1, ..., n, in the symmetric group S_n acting on {1, ...,n} do not lie in the centre of the group algebra of S_n, we show that transitive powers, namely the sum of the contributions from elements that act transitively on {1, >...,n}, are central. We determine the coefficients, which we call star factorization numbers, that occur in the resolution of transitive powers with respect to the class basis of the centre of S_n, and show that they have a polynomiality property. These centrality and polynomiality properti…
The depth statistic was defined by Petersen and Tenner for an element of an arbitrary Coxeter group in terms of factorizations of the element into a product of reflections. It can also be defined as the minimal cost, given certain prescribed edge weights, for a path in the Bruhat graph from the identity to an element. We present algorithms for calculating the depth of an element of a classical Coxeter group that yield simple formulas for this statistic. We use our algorithms to characterize elements having depth equal to length. These are the short-braid-avoiding elements. We also give a chara…
Reflection groups, geometry of the discriminant and noncrossing partitions. When W is a well-generated complex reflection group, the noncrossing partition lattice NCP_W of type W is a very rich combinatorial object, extending the notion of noncrossing partitions of an n-gon. This structure appears in several algebraic setups (dual braid monoid, cluster algebras...). Many combinatorial properties of NCP_W are proved case-by-case, using the classification of reflection groups. It is the case for Chapoton's formula, expressing the number of multichains of a given length in the lattice NCP_W, in t…
This paper studies a partial order on the general linear group GL(V) called the absolute order, derived from viewing GL(V) as a group generated by reflections, that is, elements whose fixed space has codimension one. The absolute order on GL(V) is shown to have two equivalent descriptions, one via additivity of length for factorizations into reflections, the other via additivity of fixed space codimensions. Other general properties of the order are derived, including self-duality of its intervals. Working over a finite field F_q, it is shown via a complex character computation that the poset i…
We prove that the restriction of Bruhat order to noncrossing partitions in type $A_n$ for the Coxeter element $c=s_1s_2 ...s_n$ forms a distributive lattice isomorphic to the order ideals of the root poset ordered by inclusion. Motivated by the change-of-basis from the graphical basis of the Temperley-Lieb algebra to the image of the simple elements of the dual braid monoid, we extend this bijection to other Coxeter elements using certain canonical factorizations. In particular, we give new bijections---fixing the set of reflections---between noncrossing partitions associated to distinct Coxet…
(Abridged abstract) For a finite real reflection group W and a W-orbit O of flats in its reflection arrangement---or equivalently a conjugacy class of its parabolic subgroups---we introduce a statistic on elements of W. We then study the operator of right-multiplication within the group algebra of W by the element whose coefficients are given by this statistic. We reinterpret the operators geometrically in terms of the arrangement of reflecting hyperplanes for W. We show that they are self-adjoint and positive semidefinite. via two explicit factorizations into a symmetrized form A^t A. In one …