We study toric degenerations of opposite Schubert and Richardson varieties inside degenerations of Grassmannians and flag varieties. These degenerations are parametrized by matching fields in the sense of Sturmfels and Zelevinsky. We construct so-called restricted matching field ideals whose generating sets are understood combinatorially through tableaux. We determine when these ideals are toric and coincide with Gröbner degenerations of Richardson varieties using the well established standard monomial theory for Grassmannians and flag varieties.
We study standard monomial bases for Richardson varieties inside the flag variety. In general, writing down a standard monomial basis for a Richardson variety can be challenging, as it involves computing so-called defining chains or key tableaux. However, for a certain family of Richardson varieties, indexed by compatible permutations, we provide a very direct and straightforward combinatorial rule for writing down a standard monomial basis. We apply this result to the study of toric degenerations of Richardson varieties. In particular, we provide a new family of toric degenerations of Richard…
We give elementary and short proofs of the Littlewood-Richardson rules for type A Grassmannians and maximal isotropic Grassmannians, based on the corresponding Pieri rules.
We give an explicit Grobner basis for the ideal of the tangent cone at any T-fixed point of a Richardson variety in the Grassmannian, thus generalizing a result of Kodiyalam-Raghavan and Kreiman-Lakshmibai. Our proof is based on a generalization of the Robinson-Schensted-Knuth (RSK) correspondence, which we call the bounded RSK (BRSK). We use the Grobner basis result to deduce a formula which computes the multiplicity of the Richardson variety at any T-fixed point by counting families of nonintersecting lattice paths, thus generalizing a result first proved by Krattehthaler.
We consider Buch's rule for K-theory of the Grassmannian, in the Schur multiplicity-free cases classified by Stembridge. Using a result of Knutson, one sees that Buch's coefficients are related to Moebius inversion. We give a direct combinatorial proof of this by considering the product expansion for Grassmannian Grothendieck polynomials. We end with an extension to the multiplicity-free cases of Thomas and Yong.
We study the algebraic combinatorics of monomial degenerations of Plücker forms which is governed by matching fields in the sense of Sturmfels and Zelevinsky. We provide a necessary condition for a matching field to yield a Khovanskii basis of the Plücker algebra for $3$-planes in $n$-space. When the ideal associated to the matching field is quadratically generated this condition is both necessary and sufficient. Finally, we describe a family of matching fields, called $2$-block diagonal, whose ideals are quadratically generated. These matching fields produce a new family of toric degeneration…
A Richardson variety $X_\ga^\gc$ in the Orthogonal Grassmannian is defined to be the intersection of a Schubert variety $X^\gc$ in the Orthogonal Grassmannian and a opposite Schubert variety $X_\ga$ therein. We give an explicit description of the initial ideal (with respect to certain conveniently chosen term order) for the ideal of the tangent cone at any $T$-fixed point of $X_\ga^\gc$, thus generalizing a result of Raghavan-Upadhyay \cite{Ra-Up2}. Our proof is based on a generalization of the Robinson-Schensted-Knuth (RSK) correspondence, which we call the Orthogonal bounded RSK (OBRSK). The…
Let $k$ and $n$ be positive coprime integers with $k<n$. Let $T$ denote the subgroup of diagonal matrices in $SL(n,\mathbb{C})$. We study the GIT quotient of Richardson varieties $X^v_w$ in the Grassmannian $\mathrm{Gr}_{k,n}$ by $T$ with respect to a $T$-linearised line bundle $\cal{L}$ corresponding to the Plücker embedding. We give necessary and sufficient combinatorial conditions for the quotient variety $T \backslash\mkern-6mu\backslash (X_w^v)^{ss}_T({\cal L})$ to be smooth.
We present a review on the recently discovered link between the Lie theory,the theory of quiver Grassmannians, and various degenerations of flag varieties. Our starting point is the induced Poincaré--Birkhoff--Witt filtration on the highest weight representations and the corresponding PBW degenerate flag varieties.
We prove that the divisor class group of any open Richardson variety in the Grassmannian is trivial. Our proof uses Nagata's criterion, localizing the coordinate ring at a suitable set of Plücker coordinates. We prove that these Plücker coordinates are prime elements by showing that the subscheme they define is an open subscheme of a positroid variety. Our results hold over any field and over the integers.
We study toric degenerations of semi-infinite Grassmannians (a.k.a. quantum Grassmannians). While the toric degenerations of the classical Grassmannians are well studied, the only known example in the semi-infinite case is due to Sottile-Sturmfels. We start by providing a new interpretation of the Sottile-Sturmfels construction by finding a poset such that their degeneration is the toric variety of the order polytope of the poset. We then use our poset to construct and study a new toric degeneration in the semi-infinite case. Our construction is based on the notion of poset polytopes introduce…
We prove an explicit combinatorial formula for the structure constants of the Grothendieck ring of a Grassmann variety with respect to its basis of Schubert structure sheaves. We furthermore relate K-theory of Grassmannians to a bialgebra of stable Grothendieck polynomials, which is a K-theory parallel of the ring of symmetric functions.
For any simple, simply connected algebraic group $G$ of type $B,C$ and $D$ and for any maximal parabolic subgroup $P$ of $G$, we provide a criterion for a Richardson variety in $G/P$ to admit semistable points for the action of a maximal torus $T$ with respect to an ample line bundle on $G/P$.
In the sl\_n case, A. Berenstein and A. Zelevinsky studied the Schützenberger involution in terms of Lusztig's canonical basis, [3]. We generalize their construction and formulas for any semisimple Lie algebra. We use for this the geometric lifting of the canonical basis, on which an analogue of the Schützenberger involution can be given. As an application, we construct semitoric degenerations of Richardson varieties, following a method of P. Caldero, [6]
We describe an algorithm for computing certain characteristic numbers of surface scrolls using degenerations. As a corollary we obtain a method for computing the corresponding Gromov-Witten invariants of Grassmannians.
We study the algebraic geometry and combinatorics of the central degeneration (the degeneration that shows up in local models of Shimura varieties and Gaitsgory's central sheaves) in type A. More specifically, we elucidate the central degeneration of semi-infinite orbits and explain its relations with Levi restriction. Also, we discuss the central degeneration of Mirkovi$\acute{\text{c}}$-Vilonen cycles in the affine Grassmannian, and the corresponding transformations of Mirkovi$\acute{\text{c}}$-Vilonen polytopes. In addition, we shed some light on the geometry of Iwahori MV cycles in the aff…
We study degenerations of Grassmannians constructed using convex lattice configurations in Bruhat-Tits buildings. Using techniques from quiver representations, we analyze their special fibers, which are explicitly described as quiver Grassmannians. For a class of lattice configurations, called the locally linearly independent configurations, we show that our construction coincide with Mustafin degenerations, thus generalizing a result of Faltings. In such cases, our analysis of special fibers also generalizes results of Cartwright et al. As an application, we prove a smoothing criterion for li…
The minimal degeneration singularities in the affine Grassmannians of simple simply-laced algebraic groups are determined to be either Kleinian singularities of type A, or closures of minimal orbits in nilpotent cones. The singularities for non-simply-laced types are studied by intersection cohomology and equivariant Chow group methods.
Let $G$ be a complex quasi-simple algebraic group and $G/P$ be a partial flag variety. The projections of Richardson varieties from the full flag variety form a stratification of $G/P$. We show that the closure partial order of projected Richardson varieties agrees with that of a subset of Schubert varieties in the affine flag variety of $G$. Furthermore, we compare the torus-equivariant cohomology and $K$-theory classes of these two stratifications by pushing or pulling these classes to the affine Grassmannian. Our work generalizes results of Knutson, Lam, and Speyer for the Grassmannian of t…
We study the GIT quotient of the minimal Schubert variety in the Grassmannian admitting semistable points for the action of maximal torus $T$, with respect to the $T$-linearized line bundle ${\cal L}(n ω_r)$ and show that this is smooth when $gcd(r,n)=1$. When $n=7$ and $r=3$ we study the GIT quotients of all Richardson varieties in the minimal Schubert variety. This builds on previous work by Kumar \cite{kumar2008descent}, Kannan and Sardar \cite{kannan2009torusA}, Kannan and Pattanayak \cite{kannan2009torusB}, and recent work of Kannan et al \cite{kannan2018torus}. It is known that the GIT q…
Using the method of degenerating a Grassmannian into a toric variety, we calculate recursive formulas for the dimensions of the eigenspaces of the action of an n-dimensional torus on a Grassmannian of planes in an n-dimensional space. In order to verify our result we compare it with the polynomial describing the Euler characteristic of invertible sheaves on a projective space with four blown-up points.
The most fundamental example of mirror symmetry compares the Fermat hypersurfaces in P^n and P^n/G, where G is a finite group that acts on P^n and preserves the Fermat hypersurface. We generalise this to hypersurfaces in Grassmannians, where the picture is richer and more complex. There is a finite group G that acts on the Grassmannian Gr(n,r) and preserves an appropriate Calabi-Yau hypersurface. We establish how mirror symmetry, toric degenerations, blow-ups and variation of GIT relate the Calabi-Yau hypersurfaces inside Gr(n,r) and Gr(n,r)/G. This allows us to describe a compactification of …
We establish an explicit bijection between the toric degenerations of the Grassmannian $\textrm{Gr}(2,n)$ arising from maximal cones in tropical Grassmannians and the ones coming from plabic graphs corresponding to $\textrm{Gr}(2,n)$. We show that a similar statement does not hold for $\textrm{Gr}(3,6)$.
The Richardson variety $X_w^v$ is defined to be the intersection of the Schubert variety $X_w$ and the opposite Schubert variety $X^v$. For $X_w^v$ in the Grassmannian, we obtain a standard monomial basis for the homogeneous coordinate ring of $X_w^v$. We use this basis first to prove the vanishing of $H^i(X_w^v,L^m)$, $i > 0 $, $m \geq 0$, where $L$ is the restriction to $X_w^v$ of the ample generator of the Picard group of the Grassmannian; then to determine a basis for the tangent space and a criterion for smoothness for $X_w^v$ at any $T$-fixed point $e_\t$; and finally to derive a recursi…
We study the Littlewood-Richardson coefficients of double Grothendieck polynomials indexed by Grassmannian permutations. Geometrically, these are the structure constants of the equivariant $K$-theory ring of Grassmannians. Representing the double Grothendieck polynomials as partition functions of an integrable vertex model, we use its Yang-Baxter equation to derive a series of product rules for the former polynomials and their duals. The Littlewood-Richardson coefficients that arise can all be expressed in terms of puzzles without gashes, which generalize previous puzzles obtained by Knutson-T…
We prove that the open subvariety $\operatorname{Gr}_0(3,8)$ of the Grassmannian $\operatorname{Gr}(3,8)$ determined by the nonvanishing of all Plücker coordinates is schön, i.e., all of its initial degenerations are smooth. Furthermore, we find an initial degeneration that has two connected components, and show that the remaining initial degenerations, up to symmetry, are irreducible. As an application, we prove that the Chow quotient of $\operatorname{Gr}(3,8)$ by the diagonal torus of $\operatorname{PGL}(8)$ is the log canonical compactification of the moduli space of $8$ lines in $\mathbb{…
We construct closed immersions from initial degenerations of $\operatorname*{Gr}_{0}(d,n)$---the open cell in the Grassmannian $\operatorname*{Gr}(d,n)$ given by the nonvanishing of all Plücker coordinates---to limits of thin Schubert cells associated to diagrams induced by the face poset of the corresponding tropical linear space. These are isomorphisms when $(d,n)$ equals $(2,n)$, $(3,6)$ and $(3,7)$. As an application we prove $\operatorname*{Gr}_0(3,7)$ is schön, and the Chow quotient of $\operatorname*{Gr}(3,7)$ by the maximal torus in $ \operatorname*{PGL}(7)$ is the log canonical compac…
We introduce a completely integrable system on the Grassmannian of 2-planes in an n-space associated with any triangulation of a polygon with n sides, and compute the potential function for its Lagrangian torus fiber. The moment polytopes of this system for different triangulations are related by an integral piecewise-linear transformation, and the corresponding potential functions are related by its geometric lift in the sense of Berenstein and Zelevinsky.
Let $V$ be the weighted projective variety defined by a weighted homogeneous ideal $J$ and $C$ a maximal cone in the Gröbner fan of $J$ with $m$ rays. We construct a flat family over $\mathbb A^m$ that assembles the Gröbner degenerations of $V$ associated with all faces of $C$. This is a multi-parameter generalization of the classical one-parameter Gröbner degeneration associated to a weight. We explain how our family can be constructed from Kaveh-Manon's recent work on the classification of toric flat families over toric varieties: it is the pull-back of a toric family defined by a Rees algeb…
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 prove that structure constants related to Hecke algebras at roots of unity are special cases of k-Littlewood-Richardson coefficients associated to a product of k-Schur functions. As a consequence, both the 3-point Gromov-Witten invariants appearing in the quantum cohomology of the Grassmannian, and the fusion coefficients for the WZW conformal field theories associated to \hat{su}(\ell) are shown to be k-Littlewood Richardson coefficients. From this, Mark Shimozono conjectured that the k-Schur functions form the Schubert basis for the homology of the loop Grassmannian, whereas k-Schur copro…
We study the T-equivariant quantum cohomology of the Grassmannian. We prove the vanishing of a certain class of equivariant quantum Littlewood-Richardson coefficients, which implies an equivariant quantum Pieri rule. As in the equivariant case, this implies an algorithm to compute the equivariant quantum Littlewood-Richardson coefficients.
Linear degenerate flag varieties are degenerations of flag varieties as quiver Grassmannians. For type A flag varieties, we obtain characterizations of flatness, irreducibility and normality of these degenerations via rank tuples. Some of them are shown to be isomorphic to Schubert varieties and can be realized as highest weight orbits of partially degenerate Lie algebras, generalizing the corresponding results on degenerate flag varieties. To study normality, cell decompositions of quiver Grassmannians are constructed in a wider context of equioriented quivers of type A.
We compute toric degenerations arising from the tropicalization of the full flag varieties $\mathcal{F}\ell_4$ and $\mathcal{F}\ell_5$ embedded in a product of Grassmannians. For $\mathcal{F}\ell_4$ and $\mathcal{F}\ell_5$ we compare toric degenerations arising from string polytopes and the FFLV polytope with those obtained from the tropicalization of the flag varieties. We also present a general procedure to find toric degenerations in the cases where the initial ideal arising from a cone of the tropicalization of a variety is not prime.
Let $G=SL(n, \mathbb{C}),$ and $T$ be a maximal torus of $G,$ where $n$ is a positive even integer. In this article, we study the GIT quotients of the Schubert varieties in the Grassmannian $G_{2,n}.$ We prove that the GIT quotients of the Richardson varieties in the minimal dimensional Schubert variety admitting stable points in $G_{2,n}$ are projective spaces. Further, we prove that the GIT quotients of certain Richardson varieties in $G_{2,n}$ are projective toric varieties. Also, we prove that the GIT quotients of the Schubert varieties in $G_{2,n}$ have at most finite set of singular poin…
We introduce iterated sequences for Grassmannians, a new class of Fang-Fourier-Littelmanns' birational sequences and explain how they give rise to points in $\text{trop}(\text{Gr}(k,\mathbb C^n))$, Speyer-Sturmfels' tropical Grassmannian. For $\text{Gr}(2,\mathbb C^n)$ we show that the associated valuations induce toric degenerations. We describe recursively the vertices of the corresponding Newton--Okounkov polytopes, which are particular vertices of a hypercube and hence integral. We show further that every toric degeneration of $\text{Gr}(2,\mathbb C^{n})$ constructed using the tropical Gra…
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…
The degeneration of the hyperelliptic sigma function is studied. We use the Sato Grassmannian for this purpose. A simple decomposition of a rational function gives a decomposition of Plücker coordinates of a frame of the Sato Grassmannian. It then gives a decomposition of the tau function corresponding to the degeneration of a hyperelliptic curve of genus $g$ in terms of the tau functions corresponding to a hyperelliptic curve of genus $g-1$. Since the tau functions are described by sigma functions, we get the corresponding formula for the degenerate hyperelliptic sigma function.
We provide several ingredients towards a generalization of the Littlewood-Richardson rule from Chow groups to algebraic cobordism. In particular, we prove a simple product-formula for multiplying classes of smooth Schubert varieties with any Bott-Samelson class in algebraic cobordism of the grassmannian. We also establish some results for generalized Schubert polynomials for hyperbolic formal group laws.
We study Hilbert-Samuel multiplicity for points of Schubert varieties in the complete flag variety, by Groebner degenerations of the Kazhdan-Lusztig ideal. In the covexillary case, we give a positive combinatorial rule for multiplicity by establishing (with a Groebner basis) a reduced and equidimensional limit whose Stanley-Reisner simplicial complex is homeomorphic to a shellable ball or sphere. We show that multiplicity counts the number of facets of this complex. We also obtain a formula for the Hilbert series of the local ring. In particular, our work gives a multiplicity rule for Grassman…
We describe the effect of Feigin's flat degeneration of the type $\textrm{A}$ flag variety on its Schubert varieties. In particular, we study when they stay irreducible and in several cases we are able to encode reducibility of the degenerations in terms of symmetric group combinatorics. As a side result, we obtain an identification of some Schubert varieties with Richardson varieties in higher rank partial flag varieties.
We prove that any three-point genus zero Gromov-Witten invariant on a type A Grassmannian is equal to a classical intersection number on a two-step flag variety. We also give symplectic and orthogonal analogues of this result; in these cases the two-step flag variety is replaced by a sub-maximal isotropic Grassmannian. Our theorems are applied, in type A, to formulate a conjectural quantum Littlewood-Richardson rule, and in the other classical Lie types, to obtain new proofs of the main structure theorems for the quantum cohomology of Lagrangian and orthogonal Grassmannians.
We construct a family of flat semitoric degenerations for the Hibi variety of every finite distributive lattice. The irreducible components of each degeneration are the toric varieties associated with polytopes forming a regular subdivision of the order polytope of the underlying poset. These components are themselves Hibi varieties. For each degeneration in our family we also define the corresponding weight polytope and embed the degeneration into the associated toric variety as the union of orbit closures given by a set of faces. Every such weight polytope projects onto the order polytope wi…
