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 reflection groups in terms of the generating functions of the symmetric group $\mathfrak{S}_n$ and the cyclic group of order $m/p$. As a corollary, we obtain leading-term formulas which count minimum-length full reflection factorizations of an arbitrary element in $G(m,p,n)$ in terms of the Hurwitz numbers of genus $0$ and $1$ and number-theoretic functions. We also study the structural properties of such generating functions for any complex reflection group; in particular, we show via representation-theoretic methods that they can by expressed as finite sums of exponentials of the variable.
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 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 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 $G(m, p, n)$.
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 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 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…
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 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 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 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 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…
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.
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.
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…
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…
