Goulden, Jackson and Vakil observed a polynomial structure underlying one-part double Hurwitz numbers, which enumerate branched covers of $\mathbb{CP}^1$ with prescribed ramification profile over $\infty$, a unique preimage over 0, and simple branching elsewhere. This led them to conjecture the existence of moduli spaces and tautological classes whose intersection theory produces an analogue of the celebrated ELSV formula for single Hurwitz numbers.
In this paper, we present three formulas that express one-part double Hurwitz numbers as intersection numbers on certain moduli spaces. The first involves Hodge classes on moduli spaces of stable maps to classifying spaces; the second involves Chiodo classes on moduli spaces of spin curves; and the third involves tautological classes on moduli spaces of stable curves. We proceed to discuss the merits of these formulas against a list of desired properties enunciated by Goulden, Jackson and Vakil. Our formulas lead to non-trivial relations between tautological intersection numbers on moduli spaces of stable curves and hints at further structure underlying Chiodo classes. The paper concludes with generalisations of our results to the context of spin Hurwitz numbers.
We study the structure of the Goulden-Jackson-Vakil formula that relates Hurwitz numbers to some conjectural "intersection numbers" on a conjectural family of varieties $X_{g,n}$ of dimension $4g-3+n$. We give explicit formulas for the properly arranged generating function for these "intersection numbers", and prove that it satisfies Hirota equations. This generalizes and substantially simplifies our earlier results with Zvonkine in arXiv:math/0602457.
We derive an algorithm to produce explicit formulas for certain generating functions of double Hurwitz numbers. These formulas generalize a formula of Goulden, Jackson and Vakil for one part double Hurwitz numbers. Immediate consequences include a new proof that double Hurwitz numbers are piecewise polynomial, an understanding of the chamber structure and wall crossing for these polynomials, and a proof of the Goulden, Jackson and Vakil's Strong Piecewise Polynomiality conjecture. The method is a straightforward application of Okounkov's expression for double Hurwitz numbers in terms of operat…
Single Hurwitz numbers enumerate branched covers of the Riemann sphere with specified genus, prescribed ramification over infinity, and simple branching elsewhere. They exhibit a remarkably rich structure. In particular, they arise as intersection numbers on moduli spaces of curves and are governed by the topological recursion of Chekhov, Eynard and Orantin. Double Hurwitz numbers are defined analogously, but with prescribed ramification over both zero and infinity. Goulden, Jackson and Vakil have conjectured that double Hurwitz numbers also arise as intersection numbers on moduli spaces. In t…
We study the quantum Witten-Kontsevich series introduced by Buryak, Dubrovin, Guéré and Rossi in \cite{buryak2016integrable} as the logarithm of a quantum tau function for the quantum KdV hierarchy. This series depends on a genus parameter $ε$ and a quantum parameter $\hbar$. When $\hbar=0$, this series restricts to the Witten-Kontsevich generating series for intersection numbers of psi classes on moduli spaces of stable curves. We establish a link between the $ε=0$ part of the quantum Witten-Kontsevich series and one-part double Hurwitz numbers. These numbers count the number non-equivalent h…
We calculate the Laplace transform of the cut-and-join equation of Goulden, Jackson and Vakil. The result is a polynomial equation that has the topological structure identical to the Mirzakhani recursion formula for the Weil-Petersson volume of the moduli space of bordered hyperbolic surfaces. We find that the direct image of this Laplace transformed equation via the inverse of the Lambert W-function is the topological recursion formula for Hurwitz numbers conjectured by Bouchard and Marino using topological string theory.
We derive explicit formulae for the generating series of mixed Grothendieck dessins d'enfant/monotone/simple Hurwitz numbers, via the semi-infinite wedge formalism. This reveals the strong piecewise polynomiality in the sense of Goulden-Jackson-Vakil, generalising a result of Johnson, and provides a new explicit proof of the piecewise polynomiality of the mixed case. Moreover, we derive wall-crossing formulae for the mixed case. These statements specialise to any of the three types of Hurwitz numbers, and to the mixed case of any pair.
An explicit expression is obtained for the generating series for the number of ramified coverings of the sphere by the torus, with elementary branch points and prescribed ramification type over infinity. This proves a conjecture of Goulden, Jackson and Vainshtein for the explicit number of such coverings.
In [5] I.P. Goulden, D.M. Jackson, and R. Vakil formulated a conjecture relating certain Hurwitz numbers (enumerating ramified coverings of the sphere) to the intersection theory on a conjectural Picard variety. We are going to use their formula to study the intersection theory on this variety (if it is ever to be constructed) by methods close to those of M. Kazarian and S. Lando in [7]. In particular, we prove a Witten-Kontsevich-type theorem relating the intersection theory and integrable hierarchies. We also extend the results of [7] to include the Hodge integrals over the moduli spaces, in…
In this paper, we collect a number of facts about double Hurwitz numbers, where the simple branch points are replaced by their more general analogues --- completed (r+1)-cycles. In particular, we give a geometric interpretation of these generalised Hurwitz numbers and derive a cut-and-join operator for completed (r+1)-cycles. We also prove a strong piecewise polynomiality property in the sense of Goulden-Jackson-Vakil. In addition, we propose a conjectural ELSV/GJV-type formula, that is, an expression in terms of some intrinsic combinatorial constants that might be related to the intersection …
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 study double Hurwitz numbers in genus zero counting the number of covers $\CP^1\to\CP^1$ with two branching points with a given branching behavior. By the recent result due to Goulden, Jackson and Vakil, these numbers are piecewise polynomials in the multiplicities of the preimages of the branching points. We describe the partition of the parameter space into polynomiality domains, called chambers, and provide an expression for the difference of two such polynomials for two neighboring chambers. Besides, we provide an explicit formula for the polynomial in a certain chamber called totally n…
The goal of this article is to motivate and describe how Gromov-Witten theory can and has provided tools to understand the moduli space of curves. For example, ideas and methods from Gromov-Witten theory have led to both conjectures and theorems showing that the tautological part of the cohomology ring has a remarkable and profound structure. As an illustration, we describe a new approach to Faber's intersection number conjecture via branched covers of the projective line (work with I.P. Goulden and D.M. Jackson, based on work with T. Graber). En route we review the work of a large number of m…
We derive a closed-form expression for all genus 1 Hurwitz numbers, and give a simple new graph-theoretic interpretation of Hurwitz numbers in genus 0 and 1. (Hurwitz numbers essentially count irreducible genus g covers of the sphere, with arbitrary specified branching over one point, simple branching over other specified points, and no other branching. The problem is equivalent to counting transitive factorisations of permutations into transpositions.) These results prove a conjecture of Goulden and Jackson, and extend results of Hurwitz and many others.
Double Hurwitz numbers count covers of the projective line by genus g curves with assigned ramification profiles over 0 and infinity, and simple ramification over a fixed branch divisor. Goulden, Jackson and Vakil have shown double Hurwitz numbers are piecewise polynomial in the orders of ramification, and Shadrin, Shapiro and Vainshtein have determined the chamber structure and wall crossing formulas for g=0. This paper gives a unified approach to these results and strengthens them in several ways --- the most important being the extension of the results of Shapiro, Shadrin and Vainshtein to …
We introduce a one-parameter deformation of the 2-Toda tau-function of (weighted) Hurwitz numbers, obtained by deforming Schur functions into Jack symmetric functions. We show that its coefficients are polynomials in the deformation parameter $b$ with nonnegative integer coefficients. These coefficients count generalized branched coverings of the sphere by an arbitrary surface, orientable or not, with an appropriate $b$-weighting that "measures" in some sense their non-orientability. Notable special cases include non-orientable dessins d'enfants for which we prove the most general result so fa…
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.…
Double Hurwitz numbers count branched covers of the projective line with fixed branch points, with simple branching required over all but two points 0 and infinity, and the branching over 0 and infinity specified by partitions of the degree (with m and n parts respectively). Single Hurwitz numbers have a rich structure, explored by authors in many fields. The ELSV formula relates single Hurwitz numbers to intersection theory on the moduli space of curves, and has led to many consequences. We determine the structure of double Hurwitz numbers using geometry, algebra, and representation theory. O…
