We prove two lemmata about Schubert calculus on generalized flag manifolds G/B, and in the case of the ordinary flag manifold GL_n/B we interpret them combinatorially in terms of descents, and geometrically in terms of missing subspaces. One of them gives a symmetry of Schubert calculus that we christen_descent-cycling_. Computer experiment shows that these lemmata suffice to determine all of GL_n Schubert calculus through n=5, and 99.97%+ at n=6. We use them to give a quick proof of Monk's rule. The lemmata also hold in equivariant (``double'') Schubert calculus for Kac-Moody groups G.
We prove Newton's binomial formulas for Schubert Calculus to determine numbers of base point free linear series on the projective line with prescribed ramification divisor supported at given distinct points.
We investigate double transitivity of Galois groups in the classical Schubert calculus on Grassmannians. We show that all Schubert problems on Grassmannians of 2- and 3-planes have doubly transitive Galois groups, as do all Schubert problems involving only special Schubert conditions. We use these results to give a new proof that Schubert problems on Grassmannians of 2-planes have Galois groups that contain the alternating group. We also investigate the Galois group of every Schubert problem on Gr(4,8), finding that each Galois group either contains the alternating group or is an imprimitive p…
We give a nonrecursive, combinatorial characterization of multiplicity-free products of Grassmannian Schubert classes. This answers a question of W. Fulton and extends results of J. Stembridge.
The cohomology of the affine flag variety of a complex reductive group is a comodule over the cohomology of the affine Grassmannian. We give positive formulae for the coproduct of an affine Schubert class in terms of affine Stanley classes and finite Schubert classes, in (torus-equivariant) cohomology and K-theory. As an application, we deduce monomial positivity for the affine Schubert polynomials of the second author.
The Murnaghan-Nakayama rule expresses the product of a Schur function with a Newton power sum in the basis of Schur functions. We establish a version of the Murnaghan-Nakayama rule for Schubert polynomials and a version for the quantum cohomology ring of the Grassmannian. These rules compute all intersections of Schubert cycles with tautological classes coming from the Chern character.
This book is an exposition of the current state of research of affine Schubert calculus and $k$-Schur functions. This text is based on a series of lectures given at a workshop titled "Affine Schubert Calculus" that took place in July 2010 at the Fields Institute in Toronto, Ontario. The story of this research is told in three parts: 1. Primer on $k$-Schur Functions 2. Stanley symmetric functions and Peterson algebras 3. Affine Schubert calculus
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.
We continue the study of root-theoretic Young diagrams (RYDs) from [Searles-Yong '13]. We provide an RYD formula for the $GL_n$ Belkale-Kumar product, after [Knutson-Purbhoo '11], and we give a translation of the indexing set of [Buch-Kresch-Tamvakis '09] for Schubert varieties of non-maximal isotropic Grassmannians into RYDs. We then use this translation to prove that the RYD formulas of [Searles-Yong '13] for Schubert calculus of the classical (co)adjoint varieties agree with the Pieri rules of [Buch-Kresch-Tamvakis '09], which were needed in the proofs of the (co)adjoint formulas.
We describe the torus-equivariant cohomology ring of isotropic Grassmannians by using a localization map to the torus fixed points. We present two types of formulas for equivariant Schubert classes of these homogeneous spaces. The first formula involves combinatorial objects which we call ``excited Young diagrams'' and the second one is written in terms of factorial Schur $Q$- or $P$-functions. As an application, we give a Giambelli-type formula for the equivariant Schubert classes. We also give combinatorial and Pfaffian formulas for the multiplicity of a singular point in a Schubert variety.
Fulton and Woodward have recently identified the smallest degree of $q$ that appears in the expansion of the product of two Schubert classes in the (small) quantum cohomology ring of a Grassmannian. We present a combinatorial proof of this result, and provide an alternative characterization of this smallest degree in terms of the rim hook formula for the quantum product.
We describe recent work on positive descriptions of the structure constants of the cohomology of homogeneous spaces such as the Grassmannian, by degenerations and related methods. We give various extensions of these rules, some new and conjectural, to K-theory, equivariant cohomology, equivariant K-theory, and quantum cohomology.
We definitively establish that the theory of symmetric Macdonald polynomials aligns with quantum and affine Schubert calculus using a discovery that distinguished weak chains can be identified by chains in the strong (Bruhat) order poset on the type-$A$ affine Weyl group. We construct two one-parameter families of functions that respectively transition positively with Hall-Littlewood and Macdonald's $P$-functions, and specialize to the representatives for Schubert classes of homology and cohomology of the affine Grassmannian. Our approach leads us to conjecture that all elements in a defining …
We collect Atiyah-Bott Combinatorial Dreams (A.B.C.Ds) in Schubert calculus. One result relates equivariant structure coefficients for two isotropic flag manifolds, with consequences to the thesis of C. Monical. We contextualize using work of N. Bergeron-F. Sottile, S. Billey-M. Haiman, P. Pragacz, and T. Ikeda-L. Mihalcea-I. Naruse. The relation complements a theorem of A. Kresch-H. Tamvakis in quantum cohomology. Results of A. Buch-V. Ravikumar rule out a similar correspondence in K-theory.
In this tutorial, we provide an overview of many of the established combinatorial and algebraic tools of Schubert calculus, the modern area of enumerative geometry that encapsulates a wide variety of topics involving intersections of linear spaces. It is intended as a guide for readers with a combinatorial bent to understand and appreciate the geometric and topological aspects of Schubert calculus, and conversely for geometric-minded readers to gain familiarity with the relevant combinatorial tools in this area. We lead the reader through a tour of three variations on a theme: Grassmannians, f…
We study the back stable Schubert calculus of the infinite flag variety. Our main results are: 1) a formula for back stable (double) Schubert classes expressing them in terms of a symmetric function part and a finite part; 2) a novel definition of double and triple Stanley symmetric functions; 3) a proof of the positivity of double Edelman-Greene coefficients generalizing the results of Edelman-Greene and Lascoux-Schutzenberger; 4) the definition of a new class of bumpless pipedreams, giving new formulae for double Schubert polynomials, back stable double Schubert polynomials, and a new form o…
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…
Define a ``truncation'' $r_{t}(p)$ of a polynomial $p$ in $\{x_1,x_2,x_3,...\}$ as the polynomial with all but the first $t$ variables set to zero. In certain good cases, the truncation of a Schubert or Grothendieck polynomial may again be a Schubert or Grothendieck polynomial. We use this phenomenon to give subtraction-free formulae for certain Schubert structure constants in $K(Flags({\mathbb C}^n))$, in particular generalizing those from [Kogan '00] in which only cohomology was treated, and from [Buch `02] on the Grassmannian case. The terms of the answer are computed using ``marching'' ope…
We describe a relationship between work of Laksov, Gatto, and their collaborators on realizations of (generalized) Schubert calculus of Grassmannians, and the geometric Satake correspondence of Lusztig, Ginzburg, and Mirković and Vilonen. Along the way we obtain new proofs of equivariant Giambelli formulas for the ordinary and orthogonal Grassmannians, as well as a simple derivation of the "rim-hook" rule for computing in the equivariant quantum cohomology of the Grassmannian.
This chapter concerns edge labeled Young tableaux, introduced by H. Thomas and the third author. It is used to model equivariant Schubert calculus of Grassmannians. We survey results, problems, conjectures, together with their influences from combinatorics, algebraic and symplectic geometry, linear algebra, and computational complexity. We report on a new shifted analogue of edge labeled tableaux. Conjecturally, this gives a Littlewood-Richardson rule for the structure constants of the D. Anderson-W. Fulton ring, which is related to the equivariant cohomology of isotropic Grassmannians.
One approach to Schubert calculus is to realize Schubert classes as concrete combinatorial objects such as Schubert polynomials. Through an identification of the cohomology ring of the type A full flag variety with the polytope ring of the Gelfand-Tsetlin polytopes, Kiritchenko-Smirnov-Timorin realized each Schubert class as a sum of reduced (dual) Kogan faces. In this paper, we explicitly describe string parametrizations of opposite Demazure crystals, which give a natural generalization of reduced dual Kogan faces. We also relate reduced Kogan faces with Demazure crystals using the theory of …
We introduce a theory of jeu de taquin for increasing tableaux, extending fundamental work of [Schützenberger '77] for standard Young tableaux. We apply this to give a new combinatorial rule for the K-theory Schubert calculus of Grassmannians via K-theoretic jeu de taquin, providing an alternative to the rules of [Buch '02] and others. This rule naturally generalizes to give a conjectural root-system uniform rule for any minuscule flag variety G/P, extending [Thomas-Yong '06]. We also present analogues of results of Fomin, Haiman, Schensted and Schützenberger.
We connect generalized permutahedra with Schubert calculus. Thereby, we give sufficient vanishing criteria for Schubert intersection numbers of the flag variety. Our argument utilizes recent developments in the study of Schubitopes, which are Newton polytopes of Schubert polynomials. The resulting tableau test executes in polynomial time.
In this paper we classify the multiplicity-free skew characters of the symmetric group. Furthermore we show that the Schubert calculus is equivalent to that of skew characters in the following sense: If we decompose the product of two Schubert classes we get the same as if we decompose a skew character and replace the irreducible characters by Schubert classes of the `inverse' partitions (Theorem 4.2).
We show a Z^2-filtered algebraic structure and a "quantum to classical" principle on the torus-equivariant quantum cohomology of a complete flag variety of general Lie type, generalizing earlier works of Leung and the second author. We also provide various applications on equivariant quantum Schubert calculus, including an equivariant quantum Pieri rule for any partial flag variety of Lie type A.
Let $Φ$ be a root system. Postnikov introduced and studied the mixed $Φ$-Eulerian numbers. These numbers indicate the mixed volumes of $Φ$-hypersimplices. As specializations of these numbers, one can obtain the usual Eulerian numbers, the Catalan numbers, and the binomial coefficients. Recent work of Berget-Spink-Tseng gave a simple computation for the mixed $Φ$-Eulerian numbers when $Φ$ is of type $A$. In this paper we connect a relation between mixed $Φ$-Eulerian numbers and Peterson Schubert calculus. By using the connection, we provide a combinatorial model for the computation of Berget-Sp…
We construct the Schubert basis of the torus-equivariant K-homology of the affine Grassmannian of a simple algebraic group G, using the K-theoretic NilHecke ring of Kostant and Kumar. This is the K-theoretic analogue of a construction of Peterson in equivariant homology. For the case G = SL_n, the K-homology of the affine Grassmannian is identified with a sub-Hopf algebra of the ring of symmetric functions. The Schubert basis is represented by inhomogeneous symmetric functions, called K-k-Schur functions, whose highest degree term is a k-Schur function. The dual basis in K-cohomology is given …
For any complex reductive connected Lie group G, many of the structure constants of the ordinary cohomology ring H^*(G/B; Z) vanish in the Schubert basis, and the rest are strictly positive. We present a combinatorial game, the ``root game'', which provides some criteria for determining which of the Schubert intersection numbers vanish. The definition of the root game is manifestly invariant under automorphisms of G, and under permutations of the classes intersected. Although these criteria are not proven to cover all cases, in practice they work very well, giving a complete answer to the ques…
Peterson varieties are special nilpotent Hessenberg varieties that have appeared in the study of quantum cohomology, representation theory, and combinatorics. In type $A$, the Peterson variety $Y$ is a subvariety of the complete flag variety $Fl(n; \mathbb C)$, and is invariant under the action of a subgroup $S\cong \mathbb C^*$ of $T$, where $T$ is the standard (noncompact) torus acting on $Fl(n; \mathbb C)$. Using the Peterson Schubert basis introduced by Harada and Tymoczko obtained by restricting a specific set of Schubert classes from $H_T^*(Fl(n; \mathbb C))$ to $H_S^*(Y)$, we describe t…
We present a proof of a Littlewood-Richardson rule for the K-theory of odd orthogonal Grassmannians OG(n,2n+1), as conjectured in [Thomas-Yong '09]. Specifically, we prove that rectification using the jeu de taquin for increasing shifted tableaux introduced there, is well-defined and gives rise to an associative product. Recently, [Buch-Ravikumar '09] proved a Pieri rule for OG(n,2n+1) that [Feigenbaum-Sergel '09] showed confirms a special case of the conjecture. Together, these results imply the aforementioned conjecture.
In 1990, Lakshmibai and Sandhya published a characterization of singular Schubert varieties in flag manifolds using the notion of pattern avoidance. This was the first time pattern avoidance was used to characterize geometrical properties of Schubert varieties. Their results are very closely related to work of Haiman, Ryan and Wolper, but Lakshmibai-Sandhya were the first to use that language exactly. Pattern avoidance in permutations was used historically by Knuth, Pratt, Tarjan, and others in the 1960's and 1970's to characterize sorting algorithms in computer science. Lascoux and Sch$\text{…
We prove a root system uniform, concise combinatorial rule for Schubert calculus of_minuscule_ and_cominuscule_ flag manifolds G/P (the latter are also known as "compact Hermitian symmetric spaces"). We connect this geometry to the poset combinatorics of [Proctor '04], thereby giving a generalization of the [Schützenberger `77]_jeu de taquin_ formulation of the Littlewood-Richardson rule that computes the intersection numbers of Grassmannian Schubert varieties. Our proof introduces_cominuscule recursions_, a general technique to relate the numbers for different Lie types. A discussion about co…
We apply crystal theory to affine Schubert calculus, Gromov-Witten invariants for the complete flag manifold, and the positroid stratification of the positive Grassmannian. We introduce operators on decompositions of elements in the type-$A$ affine Weyl group and produce a crystal reflecting the internal structure of the generalized Young modules whose Frobenius image is represented by stable Schubert polynomials. We apply the crystal framework to products of a Schur function with a $k$-Schur function, consequently proving that a subclass of 3-point Gromov-Witten invariants of complete flag va…
We study the back stable $K$-theory Schubert calculus of the infinite flag variety. We define back stable (double) Grothendieck polynomials and double $K$-Stanley functions and establish coproduct expansion formulae. Applying work of Weigandt, we extend our previous results on bumpless pipedreams from cohomology to $K$-theory. We study finiteness and positivity properties of the ring of back stable Grothendieck polynomials, and divided difference operators in $K$-homology.
This article presents a formula for products of Schubert classes in the quantum cohomology ring of the Grassmannian. We introduce a generalization of Schur symmetric polynomials for shapes that are naturally embedded in a torus. Then we show that the coefficients in the expansion of these toric Schur polynomials, in terms of the regular Schur polynomials, are exactly the 3-point Gromov-Witten invariants; which are the structure constants of the quantum cohomology ring. This construction implies that the Gromov-Witten invariants of the Grassmannian are invariant with respect to the action of a …
In this paper, as in our previous "Descent-cycling in Schubert calculus" math.CO/0009112, we study the structure constants in equivariant cohomology of flag manifolds G/B. In this one we give a recurrence (which is frequently, but alas not always, positive) to compute these one by one, using the non-complex action of the Weyl group on G/B. Probably the most noteworthy feature of this recurrence is that to compute a particular structure constant c_{lambda,mu}^nu, one does not have to compute the whole product S_lambda * S_mu.
Using a combinatorial approach which avoids geometry, this paper studies the ring structure of K_T(G/B), the T-equivariant K-theory of the (generalized) flag variety G/B. Here the data is a complex reductive algebraic group (or symmetrizable Kac-Moody group) G, a Borel subgroup B, and a maximal torus T, and K_T(G/B) is the Grothendieck group of T-equivariant coherent sheaves on G/B. We prove "Pieri-Chevalley" formulas for the products of a Schubert class by a homogeneous line bundle (dominant or anti-dominant) and for products of a Schubert class by a codimension 1 Schubert class. All of these…
We give lower bounds for the numbers of real solutions in problems appearing in Schubert calculus in the Grassmannian Gr(n,d) related to osculating flags. It is known that such solutions are related to Bethe vectors in the Gaudin model associated to gl(n). The Gaudin Hamiltonians are selfadjoint with respect to a nondegenerate indefinite Hermitian form. Our bound comes from the computation of the signature of that form.
We observe that the expansion in the basis of Schubert cycles for $H^*(G/B)$ of the class of a Richardson variety stable under a spherical Levi subgroup is described by a theorem of Brion. Using this observation, along with a combinatorial model of the poset of certain symmetric subgroup orbit closures, we give positive combinatorial descriptions of certain Schubert structure constants on the full flag variety in type $A$. Namely, we describe $c_{u,v}^w$ when $u$ and $v$ are inverse to Grassmannian permutations with unique descents at $p$ and $q$, respectively. We offer some conjectures for si…
We propose a theory of combinatorially explicit Schubert polynomials which represent the Schubert classes in the Borel presentation of the cohomology ring of orthogonal flag varieties. We use these polynomials to describe the arithmetic Schubert calculus on these spaces. We also give a method to compute the natural arithmetic intersection numbers which arise, and prove that they are all rational numbers.
This mostly expository article explores recent developments in the relations between the three objects in the title from an algebro-combinatorial perspective. We prove a formula for Whittaker functions of a real semisimple group as an integral over a geometric crystal in the sense of Berenstein-Kazhdan. We explain the connections of this formula to the program of mirror symmetry of flag varieties developed by Givental and Rietsch; in particular, the integral formula proves the equivariant version of Rietsch's mirror symmetry conjecture. We also explain the idea that Whittaker functions should …
We introduce edge labeled Young tableaux. Our main results provide a corresponding analogue of [Schützenberger '77]'s theory of jeu de taquin. These are applied to the equivariant Schubert calculus of Grassmannians. Reinterpreting, we present new (semi)standard tableaux to study factorial Schur polynomials, after [Biedenharn-Louck '89], [Macdonald '92] and [Goulden-Greene '94] and others. Consequently, we obtain new combinatorial rules for the Schubert structure coefficients, complementing work of [Molev-Sagan '99], [Knutson-Tao '03], [Molev '08] and [Kreiman '09]. We also describe a conjectur…
We establish connections between: the maximum likelihood degree (ML-degree) for linear concentration models, the algebraic degree of semidefinite programming (SDP), and Schubert calculus for complete quadrics. We prove a conjecture by Sturmfels and Uhler on the polynomiality of the ML-degree. We also prove a conjecture by Nie, Ranestad and Sturmfels providing an explicit formula for the degree of SDP. The interactions between the three fields shed new light on the asymptotic behaviour of enumerative invariants for the variety of complete quadrics. We also extend these results to spaces of gene…
We establish an equivariant quantum Giambelli formula for partial flag varieties. The answer is given in terms of a specialization of universal double Schubert polynomials. Along the way, we give new proofs of the presentation of the equivariant quantum cohomology ring, as well as Graham-positivity of the structure constants in equivariant quantum Schubert calculus.
Let X be the flag variety of the symplectic group. We propose a theory of combinatorially explicit Schubert polynomials which represent the Schubert classes in the Borel presentation of the cohomology ring of X. We use these polynomials to describe the arithmetic Schubert calculus on X. Moreover, we give a method to compute the natural arithmetic Chern numbers on X, and show that they are all rational numbers.
We study root-theoretic Young diagrams to investigate the existence of a Lie-type uniform and nonnegative combinatorial rule for Schubert calculus. We provide formulas for (co)adjoint varieties of classical Lie type. This is a simplest case after the (co)minuscule family (where a rule has been proved by H.Thomas and the second author using work of R.Proctor). Our results build on earlier Pieri-type rules of P.Pragacz-J.Ratajski and of A.Buch-A.Kresch-H.Tamvakis. Specifically, our formula for OG(2,2n) is the first complete rule for a case where diagrams are non-planar. Yet the formulas possess …
An important combinatorial result in equivariant cohomology and $K$-theory Schubert calculus is represented by the formulas of Billey and Graham-Willems for the localization of Schubert classes at torus fixed points. These formulas work uniformly in all Lie types, and are based on the concept of a root polynomial. In this paper we define formal root polynomials associated with an arbitrary formal group law (and thus a generalized cohomology theory). We focus on the case of the hyperbolic formal group law (corresponding to elliptic cohomology). We study some of the properties of formal root pol…
In this paper we study the T-equivariant generalized cohomology of flag varieties using two models, the Borel model and the moment graph model. We study the differences between the Schubert classes and the Bott-Samelson classes. After setup of the general framework we compute, for classes of Schubert varieties of complex dimension <4 in rank 2 (including A_2, B_2, G_2 and A_1^{(1)}), moment graph representatives, Pieri-Chevalley formulas and products of Schubert classes. These computations generalize the computations in equivariant K-theory for rank 2 cases which are given in Griffeth-Ram arXi…
We recall the root game, introduced in an earlier paper, which gives a fairly powerful sufficient condition for non-vanishing of Schubert calculus on a generalised flag manifold G/B. We show that it gives a necessary and sufficient rule for non-vanishing of Schubert calculus on Grassmannians. In particular, a Littlewood-Richardson number is non-zero if and only if it is possible to win the corresponding root game. More generally, the rule can be used to determine whether or not a product of several Schubert classes on Gr_l(n) is non-zero in a manifestly symmetric way. Finally, we give a geomet…
We study the Schubert calculus of the affine Grassmannian Gr of the symplectic group. The integral homology and cohomology rings of Gr are identified with dual Hopf algebras of symmetric functions, defined in terms of Schur's P and Q-functions. An explicit combinatorial description is obtained for the Schubert basis of the cohomology of Gr, and this is extended to a definition of the affine type C Stanley symmetric functions. A homology Pieri rule is also given for the product of a special Schubert class with an arbitrary one.
