Schubert polynomials were introduced in the context of the geometry of flag varieties. This paper investigates some of the connections not yet understood between several combinatorial structures for the construction of Schubert polynomials; we also present simplifications in some of the existing approaches to this area. We designate certain line diagrams known as rc-graphs as the main structure. The other structures in the literature we study include: semistandard Young tableaux, Kohnert diagrams, and balanced labelings of the diagram of a permutation. The main tools in our investigation are certain operations on rc-graphs, which correspond to the coplactic operations on tableaux, and thus define a crystal graph structure on rc-graphs; a new definition of these operations is presented. One application of these operations is a straightforward, purely combinatorial proof of a recent formula (due to Buch, Kresch, Tamvakis, and Yong), which expresses Schubert polynomials in terms of products of Schur polynomials. In spite of the fact that it refers to many objects and results related to them, the paper is mostly self-contained.
We prove, combinatorially, that the product of a Schubert polynomial by a Stanley symmetric polynomial is a truncated Schubert polynomial. Using Monk's rule, we derive a nonnegative combinatorial formula for the Schubert polynomial expansion of a truncated Schubert polynomial. Combining these results, we give a nonnegative combinatorial rule for the product of a Schubert and a Schur polynomial in the Schubert basis.
We suggest the point of view that the Schubert classes of the affine Grassmannian of a simple algebraic group should be considered as Schur-positive symmetric functions. In particular, we give a geometric explanation of the Schur positivity of k-Schur functions (at t = 1). We also put this in the context of the theory of combinatorial Hopf algebras.
Schubert polynomials are a basis for the polynomial ring that represent Schubert classes for the flag manifold. In this paper, we introduce and develop several new combinatorial models for Schubert polynomials that relate them to other known bases including key polynomials and fundamental slide polynomials. We unify these and existing models by giving simple bijections between the combinatorial objects indexing each. In particular, we give a simple bijective proof that the balanced tableaux of Edelman and Greene enumerate reduced expressions and a direct combinatorial proof of Kohnert's algori…
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.
We study combinatorial aspects of the Schubert calculus of the affine Grassmannian Gr associated with SL(n,C). Our main results are: 1) Pieri rules for the Schubert bases of H^*(Gr) and H_*(Gr), which expresses the product of a special Schubert class and an arbitrary Schubert class in terms of Schubert classes. 2) A new combinatorial definition for k-Schur functions, which represent the Schubert basis of H_*(Gr). 3) A combinatorial interpretation of the pairing between homology and cohomology of the affine Grassmannian. These results are obtained by interpreting the Schubert bases of Gr combin…
We give a combinatorial proof that the product of a Schubert polynomial by a Schur polynomial is a nonnegative sum of Schubert polynomials. Our proof uses Assaf's theory of dual equivalence to show that a quasisymmetric function of Bergeron and Sottile is Schur-positive. By a geometric comparison theorem of Buch and Mihalcea, this implies the nonnegativity of Gromov-Witten invariants of the Grassmannian.
Combinatorial $B_n$-analogues of Schubert polynomials and corresponding symmetric functions are constructed from an exponential solution of the $B_n$-Yang-Baxter equation that involves the nilCoxeter algebra of the hyperoctahedral group.
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…
Ikeda-Mihalcea-Naruse's double Schubert polynomials represent the equivariant cohomology classes of Schubert varieties in the type C flag varieties. The goal of this paper is to obtain a new tableau formula of these polynomials associated to vexillary signed permutations introduced by Anderson-Fulton. To achieve that goal, we introduce flagged factorial (Schur) $Q$-functions, combinatorially defined in terms of (flagged) marked shifted tableaux for flagged strict partitions, and prove their Schur-Pfaffian formula. As an application, we also obtain a new combinatorial formula of factorial $Q$-f…
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 obtain two combinatorial results: an equality of Weyl groups and an inequality of roots, in the setting of generalised Bott-Samelson resolutions of minuscule Schubert varieties. These results are used in the companion paper [BK19] to describe minimal rational curves on these resolutions, and their relation to lines on the Schubert varieties.
We introduce two new bases for polynomials that lift monomial and fundamental quasisymmetric functions to the full polynomial ring. By defining a new condition on pipe dreams, called quasi-Yamanouchi, we give a positive combinatorial rule for expanding Schubert polynomials into these new bases that parallels the expansion of Schur functions into fundamental quasisymmetric functions. As a result, we obtain a refinement of the stable limits of Schubert polynomials to Stanley symmetric functions. We also give combinatorial rules for the positive structure constants of these bases that generalize …
Flag domains are open orbits of real semisimple Lie groups in flag manifolds of their complexifications. Certain group theoretically defined compact complex submanifolds, which are regarded as cycles, are of basic importance for their complex geometric and representation theoretic properties. It is known that there are optimal Schubert varieties which intersect the cycles transversally in finitely many points and in particular determine them in homology. Here we give a precise description of these Schubert varieties in terms of certain subsets of the Weyl group and compute their total number f…
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.
A theorem of Ryan and Wolper states that a type A Schubert variety is smooth if and only if it is an iterated fibre bundle of Grassmannians. We extend this theorem to arbitrary finite type, showing that a Schubert variety in a generalized flag variety is rationally smooth if and only if it is an iterated fibre bundle of rationally smooth Grassmannian Schubert varieties. The proof depends on deep combinatorial results of Billey-Postnikov on Weyl groups. We determine all smooth and rationally smooth Grassmannian Schubert varieties, and give a new proof of Peterson's theorem that all simply-laced…
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.
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 multiplication of any Schubert polynomial $\mathfrak{S}_w$ by a Schur polynomial $s_λ$ (the Schubert polynomial of a Grassmannian permutation) and the expansion of this product in the ring of Schubert polynomials. We derive explicit nonnegative combinatorial expressions for the expansion coefficients for certain special partitions $λ$, including hooks and the 2x2 box. We also prove combinatorially the existence of such nonnegative expansion when the Young diagram of $λ$ is a hook plus a box at the (2,2) corner. We achieve this by evaluating Schubert polynomials at the Dunkl elements o…
We establish a combinatorial connection between the real geometry and the $K$-theory of complex Schubert curves $S(λ_\bullet)$, which are one-dimensional Schubert problems defined with respect to flags osculating the rational normal curve. In a previous paper, the second author showed that the real geometry of these curves is described by the orbits of a map $ω$ on skew tableaux, defined as the commutator of jeu de taquin rectification and promotion. In particular, the real locus of the Schubert curve is naturally a covering space of $\mathbb{RP}^1$, with $ω$ as the monodromy operator. We prov…
Postnikov gave a combinatorial description of the cells in a totally-nonnegative Grassmannian. These cells correspond to a special class of matroids called positroid. We prove his conjecture that a positroid is exactly an intersection of permuted Schubert matroids. This leads to a nice combinatorial description of positroids that is easily computable.
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 define skew Schubert polynomials to be normal form (polynomial) representatives of certain classes in the cohomology of a flag manifold. We show that this definition extends a recent construction of Schubert polynomials due to Bergeron and Sottile in terms of certain increasing labeled chains in Bruhat order of the symmetric group. These skew Schubert polynomials expand in the basis of Schubert polynomials with nonnegative integer coefficients that are precisely the structure constants of the cohomology of the complex flag variety with respect to its basis of Schubert classes. We rederive t…
Schubert polynomials for the classical groups were defined by S.Billey and M.Haiman in 1995; they are polynomial representatives of Schubert classes in a full flag variety of a classical group. We provide a combinatorial description for these polynomials, as well as their double versions, by introducing analogues of pipe dreams, or RC-graphs, for the Weyl groups of the classical types.
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.
We prove that twisted versions of Schubert polynomials defined by $\widetilde{\mathfrak S}_{w_0} = x_1^{n-1}x_2^{n-2} \cdots x_{n-1}$ and $\widetilde{\mathfrak S}_{ws_i} = (s_i+\partial_i)\widetilde{\mathfrak S}_w$ are monomial positive and give a combinatorial formula for their coefficients. In doing so, we reprove and extend a previous result about positivity of skew divided difference operators and show how it implies the Pieri rule for Schubert polynomials. We also give positive formulas for double versions of the $\widetilde{\mathfrak S}_w$ as well as their localizations.
We give an explicit combinatorial description of the irreducible components of the singular locus of the Schubert variety X_w for any element w in S_n. Our description of the irreducible components is computationally more efficient (O(n^6)) than the previously best known algorithms. This result proves a conjecture of Lakshmibai and Sandhya regarding this singular locus. Furthermore, we give simple formulas for calculating the Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials at the maximum singular points.
We give an explicit natural identification between the quiver coefficients of Buch and Fulton, decomposition coefficients for Schubert polynomials, and the Schubert structure constants for flag manifolds. This is also achieved in K-theory where we give a direct argument that the decomposition coefficients have alternating signs, based on a theorem of Brion, which then implies that the quiver coefficients have alternating signs. Our identification shows that known combinatorial formulas for the latter two numbers give formulas for the quiver coefficients.
We construct the affine version of the Fomin-Kirillov algebra, called the affine FK algebra, to investigate the combinatorics of affine Schubert calculus for type $A$. We introduce Murnaghan-Nakayama elements and Dunkl elements in the affine FK algebra. We show that they are commutative as Bruhat operators, and the commutative algebra generated by these operators is isomorphic to the cohomology of the affine flag variety. We show that the cohomology of the affine flag variety is product of the cohomology of an affine Grassmannian and a flag variety, which are generated by MN elements and Dunkl…
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.
The work of Buch and Fulton established a formula for a general kind of degeneracy locus associated to an oriented quiver of type $A$. The main ingredients in this formula are Schur determinants and certain integers, the quiver coefficients, which generalize the classical Littlewood-Richardson coefficients. Our aim in this paper is to prove a positive combinatorial formula for the quiver coefficients when the rank conditions defining the degeneracy locus are given by a permutation. In particular, this gives new expansions for Fulton's universal Schubert polynomials and the Schubert polynomials…
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 enumerate smooth and rationally smooth Schubert varieties in the classical finite types A, B, C, and D, extending Haiman's enumeration for type A. To do this enumeration, we introduce a notion of staircase diagrams on a graph. These combinatorial structures are collections of steps of irregular size, forming interconnected staircases over the given graph. Over a Dynkin-Coxeter graph, the set of "nearly-maximally labelled" staircase diagrams is in bijection with the set of Schubert varieties with a complete Billey-Postnikov (BP) decomposition. We can then use an earlier result of the authors…
We develop Pieri type as well as Murnaghan--Nakayama type formulas for equivariant Chern--Schwartz--MacPherson classes of Schubert cells in the classical flag variety. These formulas include as special cases many previously known multiplication formulas for Chern--Schwartz--MacPherson classes or Schubert classes. We apply the equivariant Murnaghan--Nakayama formula to the enumeration of rim hook tableaux.
We establish a combinatorial connection between the real geometry and the $K$-theory of complex Schubert curves $S(λ_\bullet)$, which are one-dimensional Schubert problems defined with respect to flags osculating the rational normal curve. In a previous paper, the second author showed that the real geometry of these curves is described by the orbits of a map $ω$ on skew tableaux, defined as the commutator of jeu de taquin rectification and promotion. In particular, the real locus of the Schubert curve is naturally a covering space of $\mathbb{RP}^1$, with $ω$ as the monodromy operator. We prov…
The purpose of this note is to give a refinement of the product formula proved in [1] for the Poincare polynomial of a smooth Schubert variety in the flag variety of an algebraic group G over C. This yields a factorization of the number of elements in a Bruhat interval [e,w] in the Weyl group W of G provided the Schubert variety associated to w is smooth. This gives an elementary necessary condition for a Schubert variety in the flag variety to be smooth.
We give a new proof that three families of polynomials coincide: the double Schubert polynomials of Lascoux and Schützenberger defined by divided difference operators, the pipe dream polynomials of Bergeron and Billey, and the equivariant cohomology classes of matrix Schubert varieties. All three families are shown to satisfy a "co-transition formula" which we explain to be some extent projectively dual to Lascoux' transition formula. We comment on the K-theoretic extensions.
The quantum Bruhat graph, which is an extension of the graph formed by covering relations in the Bruhat order, is naturally related to the quantum cohomology ring of G/B. We enhance a result of Fulton and Woodward by showing that the minimal monomial in the quantum parameters that occurs in the quantum product of two Schubert classes has a simple interpretation in terms of directed paths in this graph. We define path Schubert polynomials, which are quantum cohomology analogues of skew Schubert polynomials recently introduced by Lenart and Sottile. They are given by sums over paths in the quant…
In our previous work arXiv:1305.3543, we employed the approach to Schubert polynomials by Fomin, Stanley, and Kirillov to obtain simple, uniform proofs that the double Schubert polynomials of Lascoux and Schutzenberger and Ikeda, Mihalcea, and Naruse represent degeneracy loci for the classical groups in the sense of Fulton. Using this as our starting point, and purely combinatorial methods, we obtain a new proof of the general formulas of arXiv:0908.3628, which represent the degeneracy loci coming from any isotropic partial flag variety. Along the way, we also find several new formulas and elu…
We prove a conjecture by Kreiman and Lakshmibai on a combinatorial description of multiplicities of points on Schubert varieties in Graszmannians in terms of certain sets of reflections in the corresponding Weyl group. The proof is accomplished by setting up a bijection between these sets of reflections and the author's previous combinatorial interpretation of these multiplicities in terms of nonintersecting lattice paths (Séminaire Lotharingien Combin. 45 (2001), Article B45c; see http://www.mat.univie.ac.at/~slc/wpapers/s45kratt.html or http://www.arxiv.org/abs/math.AG/0011129).
We introduce common generalization of (double) Schubert, Grothendieck, Demazure, dual and stable Grothendieck polynomials, and Di Francesco-Zinn-Justin polynomials. Our approach is based on the study of algebraic and combinatorial properties of the reduced rectangular plactic algebra and associated Cauchy kernels.
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 give combinatorial descriptions of the restrictions to T-fixed points of the classes of structure sheaves of Schubert varieties in the T-equivariant K-theory of Grassmannians and of maximal isotropic Grassmannians of orthogonal and symplectic types. We also give formulas, based on these descriptions, for the Hilbert series and Hilbert polynomials at T-fixed points of the corresponding Schubert varieties. These descriptions and formulas are given in terms of two equivalent combinatorial models: excited Young diagrams and set-valued tableaux. The restriction fomulas are positive, in that for …
In a classical-type flag variety, we consider a Schubert variety associated to a vexillary (signed) permutation, and establish a combinatorial formula for the Hilbert-Samuel multiplicity of a point on such a Schubert variety. The formula is expressed in terms of excited Young diagrams, and extends results for Grassmannians due to Krattenthaler, Lakshmibai-Raghavan-Sankaran, and for the maximal isotropic (symplectic and orthogonal) Grassmannians to Ghorpade-Raghavan, Raghavan-Upadhyay, Kreiman, and Ikeda-Naruse. We also provide a new proof of a theorem of Li-Yong in the type A vexillary case. T…
Enriched versions of type A Schubert polynomials are constructed with coefficients in a polynomial ring in variables $c_1, c_2, \ldots$. Specializing these variables to $0$ recovers the double Schubert polynomials of Lascoux and Schützenberger; specializing them to certain power series recovers the back-stable double Schubert polynomials of Lam, Lee, and Shimozono; specializing them to Schur Q-polynomials relates them to the type C double Schubert polynomials of Ikeda, Mihalcea, and Naruse. Many formulas for classical Schubert polynomials generalize to this setting. They give, and are characte…
A formula for the structure constants of the multiplication of Schubert classes is obtained in arXiv:1909.05283. In this note, we prove analogous formulae for the Chern--Schwartz--MacPherson (CSM) classes and Segre--Schwartz--MacPherson (SSM) classes of Schubert cells in the flag variety. By the equivalence between the CSM classes and the stable basis elements for the cotangent bundle of the flag variety, a formula for the structure constants for the latter is also deduced.
We give positive formulas for the restriction of a Schubert Class to a T-fixed point in the equivariant K-theory and equivariant cohomology of the Lagrangian Grassmannian. Our formulas rely on a result of Ghorpade-Raghavan, which gives an equivariant Grobner degeneration of a Schubert variety in the neighborhood of a T-fixed point of the Lagrangian Grassmannian.
Kohnert proposed the first monomial positive formula for Schubert polynomials as the generating polynomial for certain unit cell diagrams obtained from the Rothe diagram of a permutation. Billey, Jockusch and Stanley gave the first proven formula for Schubert polynomials as the generating polynomial for compatible sequences of reduced words of a permutation. In this paper, we give an explicit bijection between these two models, thereby definitively proving Kohnert's rule for Schubert polynomials.
A previous result of the authors with Chaput and Perrin states that the union of all rational curves of fixed degree passing through a Schubert variety in a homogeneous space G/P is again a Schubert variety. In this paper we identify this Schubert variety explicitly in terms of the Hecke product of Weyl group elements. We apply our result to give an explicit formula for any two-point Gromov-Witten invariant as well as a new proof of the quantum Chevalley formula and its equivariant generalization. We also recover a formula for the minimal degree of a rational curve between two given points in …
We introduce analogs of left and right RSK insertion for Schubert calculus of complete flag varieties. The objects being inserted are certain biwords, the insertion objects are bumpless pipe dreams, and the recording objects are decorated chains in Bruhat order. As an application, we adopt Lenart's growth diagrams of permutations to give a combinatorial rule for Schubert structure constants in the separated descent case.
