We show that every flag variety contains a naturally defined homogeneous cominuscule subvariety. From the Dynkin diagram of the flag variety, we compute the Dynkin diagram of that subvariety.
Let X=G/P be cominuscule rational homogeneous variety. (Equivalently, X admits the structure of a compact Hermitian symmetric space.) We say a Schubert class [S] is Schur rigid if the only irreducible subvarieties Y of X with homology class [Y] = r [S], for an integer r, are Schubert varieties. Robles and The identified a sufficient condition for a Schubert class to be Schur rigid. In this paper we show that the condition is also necessary.
The necessary and sufficient Horn inequalities which determine the non-vanishing Littlewood-Richardson coefficients in the cohomology of a Grassmannian are recursive in that they are naturally indexed by non-vanishing Littlewood-Richardson coefficients on smaller Grassmannians. We show how non-vanishing in the Schubert calculus for cominuscule flag varieties is similarly recursive. For these varieties, the non-vanishing of products of Schubert classes is controlled by the non-vanishing products on smaller cominuscule flag varieties. In particular, we show that the lists of Schubert classes who…
We introduce the notion of a cominuscule point in a Schubert variety in a generalized flag variety for a semisimple group. We derive formulas expressing the Hilbert series and multiplicity of a Schubert variety at a cominuscule point in terms of the restrictions of classes in torus-equivariant K-theory and cohomology to that point, generalizing previously known formulas for flag varieties of cominuscule type. Thus, we can calculate Hilbert series and multiplicities in cases where these were previously unknown. The formulas for Schubert varieties are special cases of more general formulas valid…
A theorem of the first author states that the cotangent bundle of the type $A$ Grassmannian variety can be embedded as an open subset of a smooth Schubert variety in a two-step affine partial flag variety. We extend this result to cotangent bundles of cominuscule generalized Grassmannians of arbitrary Lie type.
We prove a type-uniform Chevalley formula for multiplication with divisor classes in the equivariant quantum $K$-theory ring of any cominuscule flag variety $G/P$. We also prove that multiplication with divisor classes determines the equivariant quantum $K$-theory of arbitrary flag varieties. These results prove a conjecture of Gorbounov and Korff concerning the equivariant quantum $K$-theory of Grassmannians of Lie type A.
We show that in a cominuscule partial flag variety G/P, the multiplicity of an arbitrary point on a Richardson variety X_w^v = X_w \cap X^v is the product of its multiplicities on the Schubert varieties X_w and X^v.
We show that the smooth horizontal Schubert subvarieties of a rational homogeneous variety $G/P$ are homogeneously embedded cominuscule $G'/P'$, and are classified by subdiagrams of a Dynkin diagram. This generalizes the classification of smooth Schubert varieties in cominuscule $G/P$.
We prove an identity relating the product of two opposite Schubert varieties in the (equivariant) quantum K-theory ring of a cominuscule flag variety to the minimal degree of a rational curve connecting the Schubert varieties. We deduce that the sum of the structure constants associated to any product of Schubert classes is equal to one. Equivalently, the sheaf Euler characteristic map extends to a ring homomorphism defined on the quantum K-theory ring.
Consider a flag variety $Fl$ over an algebraically closed field, and a subvariety $V$ whose cycle class is a multiplicity-free sum of Schubert cycles. We show that $V$ is arithmetically normal and Cohen-Macaulay, in the projective embedding given by any ample invertible sheaf on $Fl$.
Let $G/P$ be a complex cominuscule flag manifold. We prove a type independent formula for the torus equivariant Mather class of a Schubert variety in $G/P$, and for a Schubert variety pulled back via the natural projection $G/Q \to G/P$. We apply this to find formulae for the local Euler obstructions of Schubert varieties, and for the torus equivariant localizations of the conormal spaces of these Schubert varieties. We conjecture positivity properties for the local Euler obstructions and for the Schubert expansion of Mather classes. We check the conjectures in many cases, by utilizing results…
A subvariety of a complex projective space has a well-known dual variety, which is the set of its tangent hyperplanes. The purpose of this paper is to generalise this notion for a subvariety of a quite general partial flag variety. A similar biduality theorem is proved, and the dual varieties of Schubert varieties are described.
We compute the Newton--Okounkov bodies of line bundles on the complete flag variety of GL_n for a geometric valuation coming from a flag of translated Schubert subvarieties. The Schubert subvarieties correspond to the terminal subwords in the decomposition (s_1)(s_2s_1)(s_3s_2s_1)(...)(s_{n-1}...s_1) of the longest element in the Weyl group. The resulting Newton--Okounkov bodies coincide with the Feigin--Fourier--Littelmann--Vinberg polytopes in type A.
We define a variety of doubly indexed flags, this is a smooth, projective variety, and we describe it as an iterated over Grassmannian varieties. On the other hand, we consider the variety of partial flags which are stabilized by a given nilpotent endomorphism. We partition this variety into locally closed subvarieties which are vector bundles over varieties of the aforedmentioned type.
We systematically study the splitting of vector bundles on a smooth, projective variety, whose restriction to the zero locus of a regular section of an ample vector bundle splits. First, we find ampleness and genericity conditions which ensure that the splitting of the vector bundle along the subvariety implies its global splitting. Second, we obtain a simple splitting criterion for vector bundles on the Grassmannian and on partial flag varieties.
We study subvarieties of the flag variety called Hessenberg varieties, defined by certain linear conditions. These subvarieties arise naturally in applications including geometric representation theory, number theory, and numerical analysis. We describe completely the homology of Hessenberg varieties over GL_n(C) and show that they have no odd-dimensional homology. We provide an explicit geometric construction which partitions each Hessenberg variety into pieces homeomorphic to affine space. We characterize these affine pieces by fillings of Young tableaux and show that the dimension of the af…
We compute the Newton--Okounkov bodies of line bundles on a Bott--Samelson resolution of the complete flag variety of $GL_n$ for a geometric valuation coming from a flag of translated Schubert subvarieties. The Bott--Samelson resolution corresponds to the decomposition $(s_1)(s_2s_1)(s_3s_2s_1)(\ldots)(s_{n-1}\ldots s_1)$ of the longest element in the Weyl group, and the Schubert subvarieties correspond to the terminal subwords in this decomposition. We prove that the resulting Newton--Okounkov polytopes for semiample line bundles satisfy the additivity property with respect to the Minkowski s…
The characters of Kazhdan--Lusztig elements of the Hecke algebra over $S_n$ (and in particular, the chromatic symmetric function of indifference graphs) are completely encoded in the (intersection) cohomology of certain subvarieties of the flag variety. Considering the forgetful map to some partial flag variety, the decomposition theorem tells us that this cohomology splits as a sum of intersection cohomology groups with coefficients in some local systems of subvarieties of the partial flag variety. We prove that these local systems correspond to representations of subgroups of $S_n$. An expli…
Regular nilpotent Hessenberg varieties form an important family of subvarieties of the flag variety, which are often singular and sometimes not normal varieties. Like Schubert varieties, they contain distinguished points called permutation flags. In this paper, we give a combinatorial characterization for a permutation flag of a regular nilpotent Hessenberg variety to be a singular point. We also apply this result to characterize regular nilpotent Hessenberg varieties which are normal algebraic varieties.
Let $\mathscr{L} \rightarrow X$ be an ample line bundle over a complex normal projective variety $X$. We construct a flag $X_0 \subseteq X_1 \subseteq \cdots \subseteq X_n=X$ of subvarieties for which the associated Okounkov body for $\mathscr{L}$ is a rational polytope. In the case when $X$ is a homogeneous surface, and the pseudoeffective cone of $X$ is rational polyhedral, we also show that the global Okounkov body is a rational polyhedral cone if the flag of subvarieties is suitably chosen. Finally, we provide an application to the asymptotic study of group representations.
We suggest a possible programme to associate geometric "flag-like" data to an arbitrary simple quantum group, in the spirit of the noncommutative algebraic geometry developed by Artin, Tate, and Van den Bergh. We then carry out this programme for the standard quantum SL(n) of Drinfel'd and Jimbo, where the varieties involved are certain T-stable subvarieties of the (ordinary) flag variety.
In this paper we consider certain closed subvarieties of the flag variety, known as Hessenberg varieties. We give a connectedness criterion for semisimple Hessenberg varieties generalizing a criterion given by Anderson and Tymoczko. We show that nilpotent Hessenberg varieties are rationally connected.
We describe a stratification on the double flag variety $G/B^+\times G/B^-$ of a complex semisimple algebraic group $G$ analogous to the Deodhar stratification on the flag variety $G/B^+$, which is a refinement of the stratification into orbits both for $B^+\times B^-$ and for the diagonal action of $G$, just as Deodhar's stratification refines the orbits of $B^+$ and $B^-$. We give a coordinate system on each stratum, and show that all strata are coisotropic subvarieties. Also, we discuss possible connections to the positive and cluster geometry of $G/B^+\times G/B^-$, which would generalize …
We study the $\bG_a^M$ degenerations $\Fl^a_\la$ of the type $A$ flag varieties $\Fl_\la$. We describe these degenerations explicitly as subvarieties in the products of Grassmanians. We construct cell decompositions of $\Fl^a_\la$ and show that for complete flags the number of cells is equal to the normalized median Genocchi numbers $h_n$. This leads to a new combinatorial definition of the numbers $h_n$. We also compute the Poincar\' e polynomials of the complete degenerate flag varieties via a natural statistics on the set of Dellac's configurations, similar to the length statistics on the s…
We consider tangent cones to Schubert subvarieties of the flag variety $G/B$, where $B$ is a Borel subgroup of a reductive complex algebraic group $G$ of type $E_6$, $E_7$ or $E_8$. We prove that if $w_1$ and $w_2$ form a good pair of involutions in the Weyl group $W$ of $G$ then the tangent cones $C_{w_1}$ and $C_{w_2}$ to the corresponding Schubert subvarieties of $G/B$ do not coincide as subschemes of the tangent space to $G/B$ at the neutral point.
Regular semisimple Hessenberg varieties are smooth subvarieties of the flag variety, and their examples contain the flag variety itself and the permutohedral variety which is a toric variety. We give a complete classification of Fano and weak Fano regular semisimple Hessenberg varieties in type A in terms of combinatorics of Hessenberg functions. In particular, we show that if the anti-canonical bundle of a regular semisimple Hessenberg variety is nef, then it is in fact nef and big.
This paper aims to focus on Richardson varieties on symplectic groups, especially their combinatorial characterization and defining equations. Schubert varieties and opposite Schubert varieties have profound significance in the study of generalized flag varieties which are not only research objects in algebraic geometry but also ones in representation theory. A more general research object is Richardson variety, which is obtained by the intersection of a Schubert variety and an opposite Schubert variety. The structure of Richardson variety on Grassmannian and its combinatorial characterization…
We use the theory of Mori dream spaces to prove that the global Okounkov body of a Bott-Samelson variety with respect to a natural flag of subvarieties is rational polyhedral. In fact, we prove more generally that this holds for any Mori dream space which admits a flag of Mori dream spaces satisfying a certain regularity condition. As a corollary, Okounkov bodies of effective line bundles over Schubert varieties are shown to be rational polyhedral. In particular, it follows that the global Okounkov body of a flag variety $G/B$ is rational polyhedral. As an application we show that the asymptot…
Restriction varieties in the orthogonal Grassmannian are subvarieties of $OG(k, n)$ defined by rank conditions given by a flag that is not necessarily isotropic with respect to the relevant symmetric bilinear form. In particular, Schubert varieties of Type B and D are examples of restriction varieties. In this paper, we introduce a resolution of singularities for restriction varieties in $OG(k, n)$, and give a description of their singular locus by studying components of the exceptional locus of the resolution.
Levi subgroup actions on Schubert varieties are studied. In the case of partial flag varieties, the horospherical actions are determined. This leads to a characterization of the toroidal and horospherical partial flag varieties with Picard number 1. In the more general case, we provide a set of necessary conditions for the action of a Levi subgroup on a Schubert variety to be toroidal. The singular locus of a (co)minuscule Schubert variety is shown to contain all the $L_{max}$-stable Schubert subvarieties, where $L_{max}$ is the standard Levi subgroup of the maximal parabolic which acts on the…
Hessenberg varieties $\mathcal{H}(X,H)$ form a class of subvarieties of the flag variety $G/B$, parameterized by an operator $X$ and certain subspaces $H$ of the Lie algebra of $G$. We identify several families of Hessenberg varieties in type $A_{n-1}$ that are $T$-stable subvarieties of $G/B$, as well as families that are invariant under a subtorus $K$ of $T$. In particular, these varieties are candidates for the use of equivariant methods to study their geometry. Indeed, we are able to show that some of these varieties are unions of Schubert varieties, while others cannot be such unions. Amo…
In this paper we construct free resolutions of certain class of closed subvarieties of affine spaces (the so-called "opposite big cells" of Grassmannians). Our class covers the determinantal varieties, whose resolutions were first constructed by A. Lascoux (Adv. Math., 1978). Our approach uses the geometry of Schubert varieties. An interesting aspect of our work is its connection to the computation of the cohomology of homogeneous bundles (that are not necessarily completely reducible) on partial flag varieties.
Hessenberg varieties are a family of subvarieties of the flag variety, including the Springer fibers, the Peterson variety, and the entire flag variety itself. The seminal example arises from a problem in numerical analysis and consists for a fixed linear operator M of the full flags V_1 \subsetneq V_2 >... \subsetneq V_n in GL_n with M V_i contained in V_{i+1} for all i. In this paper I show that all Hessenberg varieties in type A_n and semisimple and regular nilpotent Hessenberg varieties in types B_n,C_n, and D_n can be paved by affine spaces. Moreover, this paving is the intersection of a …
Regular semisimple Hessenberg varieties are a family of subvarieties of the flag variety that arise in number theory, numerical analysis, representation theory, algebraic geometry, and combinatorics. We give a "Giambelli formula" expressing the classes of regular semisimple Hessenberg varieties in terms of Chern classes. In fact, we show that the cohomology class of each regular semisimple Hessenberg variety is the specialization of a certain double Schubert polynomial, giving a natural geometric interpretation to such specializations. We also decompose such classes in terms of the Schubert ba…
In this paper we consider certain closed subvarieties of the flag variety, known as Hessenberg varieties. We prove that Hessenberg varieties corresponding to nilpotent elements which are regular in a Levi factor are paved by affines. We provide a partial reduction from paving Hessenberg varieties for arbitrary elements to paving those corresponding to nilpotent elements. As a consequence, we generalize results of Tymoczko asserting that Hessenberg varieties for regular nilpotent and arbitrary elements of \mathfrak{gl}_n(\C) are paved by affines. For example, our results prove that any Hessenbe…
Regular nilpotent Hessenberg varieties form a family of subvarieties of the flag variety arising in the study of quantum cohomology, geometric representation theory, and numerical analysis. In this paper we construct a paving by affines of regular nilpotent Hessenberg varieties for all classical types, generalizing results of de Concini-Lusztig-Procesi and Kostant. This paving is in fact the intersection of a particular Bruhat decomposition with the Hessenberg variety. The nonempty cells of the paving and their dimensions are identified by combinatorial conditions on roots. We use the paving t…
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 combinatorial 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 o…
We study a family of subvarieties of the flag variety defined by certain linear conditions, called Hessenberg varieties. We compare them to Schubert varieties. We prove that some Schubert varieties can be realized as Hessenberg varieties and vice versa. Our proof explicitly identifies these Schubert varieties by their permutation and computes their dimension. We use this to answer an open question by proving that Hessenberg varieties are not always pure dimensional. We give examples that neither semisimple nor nilpotent Hessenberg varieties need be pure; the latter are connected, non-pure-dime…
In this expository paper we describe a powerful combinatorial formula and its implications in geometry, topology, and algebra. This formula first appeared in the appendix of a book by Andersen, Jantzen, and Soergel. Sara Billey discovered it independently five years later, and it played a prominent role in her work to evaluate certain polynomials closely related to Schubert polynomials. Billey's formula relates many pieces of Schubert calculus: the geometry of Schubert varieties, the action of the torus on the flag variety, combinatorial data about permutations, the cohomology of the flag vari…