Open orbits D of noncompact real forms G_0 acting on flag manifolds of their semisimple complexifications G are considered. The unique orbit C of a maximal compact subgroup K_0 of G_0 in D can be regarded as a point in the (full) cycle space of D. The group theoretical cycle space is defined to be the connected component containing C of the intersection of the G-orbit of C with the full cycle space of D. The main result of the present article is that the group theoretical cycle space is closed in the full cycle space. In particular, if they have the same dimension, then they are equal. This follows from an analysis of the closure of the Akhiezer-Gindikin domain in any G-equivariant compactification of the affine symmetric space G/K, where K is the complexification of K_0 in G.
We characterize the Sp_{2n} orbits in the flag variety for SL_{2n} with rationally smooth closure via a pattern avoidance criterion, also showing that the singular and rationally singular loci of such orbit closures coincide.
In this article the generic torus orbit closure in a flag Bott manifold is shown to be a non-singular toric variety, and its fan structure is explicitly calculated.
We examine the orbits of the (complex) symplectic group, $Sp_n$, on the flag manifold, $\mathscr{F}\ell(\mathbb{C}^{2n})$, in a very concrete way. We use two approaches: we Gröbner degenerate the orbits to unions of Schubert varieties (for a equations of a particular union of Schubert varieties see \cite{NWunions}) and we find a subset $\mathcal{A}$ of the orbit closures containing the basic elements of the poset of orbit closures under containment, which represent the geometric and combinatorial building blocks for the orbit closures.
We give positive combinatorial descriptions of Schubert structure constants $c_{u,v}^w$ for the full flag variety in type $A_{n-1}$ when $u$ and $v$ form what we refer to as a "$(p,q)$-pair" ($p+q=n$). The key observation is that a certain subset of the $GL(p,\mathbb{C}) \times GL(q,\mathbb{C})$-orbit closures on the flag variety (those satisfying an easily stated pattern avoidance condition) are Richardson varieties. The result on structure constants follows when one combines this observation with a theorem of Brion concerning intersection numbers of spherical subgroup orbit closures and Schu…
The subgroup K=GL_p x GL_q of GL_{p+q} acts on the (complex) flag variety GL_{p+q}/B with finitely many orbits. We introduce a family of polynomials that specializes to representatives for cohomology classes of the orbit closures in the Borel model. We define and study K-orbit determinantal ideals to support the geometric naturality of these representatives. Using a modification of these ideals, we describe an analogy between two local singularity measures: the H-polynomials and the Kazhdan-Lusztig-Vogan polynomials.
We use equivariant localization and divided difference operators to determine formulas for the torus-equivariant fundamental cohomology classes of $K$-orbit closures on the flag variety $G/B$, where $G = GL(n,\C)$, and where $K$ is one of the symmetric subgroups $O(n,\C)$ or $Sp(n,\C)$. We realize these orbit closures as universal degeneracy loci for a vector bundle over a variety equipped with a single flag of subbundles and a nondegenerate symmetric or skew-symmetric bilinear form taking values in the trivial bundle. We describe how our equivariant formulas can be interpreted as giving formu…
In [Wyser-Yong '13] we introduced polynomial representatives of cohomology classes of orbit closures in the flag variety, for the symmetric pair $(GL_{p+q}, GL_p \times GL_q)$. We present analogous results for the remaining symmetric pairs of the form $(GL_n,K)$, i.e., $(GL_n,O_n)$ and $(GL_{2n},Sp_{2n})$. We establish the well-definedness of certain representatives from [Wyser '13]. It is also shown that the representatives have the combinatorial properties of nonnegativity and stability. Moreover, we give some extensions to equivariant $K$-theory.
We give explicit formulas for torus-equivariant fundamental classes of closed $K$-orbits on the flag variety $G/B$ when $G$ is one of the classical groups $SL(n,\C)$, $SO(n,\C)$, or $Sp(2n,\C)$, and $K$ is a symmetric subgroup of $G$. We describe parametrizations of each orbit set and the combinatorics of its weak order, allowing us to compute formulas for the equivariant classes of all remaining orbit closures using divided difference operators. In each of the cases in type A, we realize the $K$-orbit closures as universal degeneracy loci of a certain type, involving a vector bundle $V$ over …
For a reductive group G, the products of projective rational varieties homogeneous under G that are spherical for G have been classified by Stembridge. We consider the B-orbit closures in these spherical varieties and prove that under some mild restrictions they are normal, Cohen-Macaulay and have a rational resolution.
We develop interval pattern avoidance and Mars-Springer ideals to study singularities of symmetric orbit closures in a flag variety. This paper focuses on the case of the Levi subgroup GL_p x GL_q acting on the classical flag variety. We prove that all reasonable singularity properties can be classified in terms of interval patterns of clans.
We use equivariant localization and divided difference operators to determine formulas for the torus-equivariant fundamental cohomology classes of $K$-orbit closures on the flag variety $G/B$ for various symmetric pairs $(G,K)$. In type $A$, we realize the closures of $K=GL(p,\C) \times GL(q,\C)$-orbits on $GL(p+q,\C)/B$ as universal degeneracy loci for a vector bundle over a variety which is equipped with a single flag of subbundles and which splits as a direct sum of subbundles of ranks $p$ and $q$. The precise description of such a degeneracy locus relies upon knowing a set-theoretic descri…
Using Ram's theory of alcove walks, we give a proof of the Bernstein presentation of the affine Hecke algebra. The method works also in the case of unequal parameters. We also discuss how these results help in studying sheaves of nearby cycles on affine flag manifolds.
This paper is concerned with the study of spaces of naturally defined cycles associated to SL(n,R)-flag domains. These are compact complex submanifolds in open orbits of real semisimple Lie groups in flag domains of their complexification. 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. Furthermore, we give an explicit description of the po…
We prove that a non-classical flag domain is pseudoconcave if it satisfies a certain condition on the root system. Moreover, we prove that every point in a one-codimensional real boundary orbit of a non-classical period domains is a pseudoconcave boundary point if it satisfies a certain Hodge-theoretical condition.
This is a survey of history, methods and developments in the theory of cycle spaces of flag domains, and new results on double fibration transforms and their applications.
We study certain nearby cycles sheaves on an affine flag manifold which arise naturally in the Beilinson-Gaitsgory deformation of the affine flag manifold to the affine Grassmannian. We study the multiplicity functions we introduced in an earlier paper, which encode the data of the Jordan-Hoelder series. We prove the multiplicity functions are polynomials in q, and we give a sharp bound for their degrees. Our results apply as well to the nearby cycles in the p-adic deformation of Laumon-Haines-Ngo, and also to Wakimoto sheaves.
Flag domains are open orbits of real semisimple Lie groups in flag manifolds of their complexification. A special class of flag domains constitute the classifying spaces for variations of Hodge structure, namely period domains or more generally Mumford-Tate domains. In this paper we classify all proper, equivariant embeddings of a flag domain of Hodge type, required to satisfy a certain transversality condition, in a period domain and show that any such flag domain must be a Hermitian symmetric space of non-compact type of classical type. In particular, the classification describes also the pr…
A finite Coxeter group $W$ has a natural metric $d$ and if $\mathcal{M}$ is a subset of $W$, then for each $u\in W$, there is $q\in \mathcal{M}$ such that $d(u,q)=d(u,\mathcal{M})$. Such $q$ is not unique in general but if $\mathcal{M}$ is a Coxeter matroid, then it is unique, and we define a retraction $\mathcal{R}^m_{\mathcal{M}}\colon W\to \mathcal{M}\subset W$ so that $\mathcal{R}^m_{\mathcal{M}}(u)=q$. The $T$-fixed point set $Y^T$ of a $T$-orbit closure $Y$ in a flag variety $G/B$ is a Coxeter matroid, where $G$ is a semisimple algebraic group, $B$ is a Borel subgroup, and $T$ is a maxim…
We study the Jordan-Hoelder series for nearby cycles on certain Shimura varieties and Rapoport-Zink local models, and on finite-dimensional pieces of Beilinson's deformation of the affine Grassmannian to the affine flag variety (and their p-adic analogues). We give a formula for the multiplicities of irreducible constituents in terms of certain cohomology groups, and we also provide an algorithm to compute multiplicities, in terms of the affine Hecke algebra.
The classical Ehresmann-Bruhat order describes the possible degenerations of a pair of flags in a finite-dimensional vector space V; or, equivalently, the closure of an orbit of the group GL(V) acting on the direct product of two full flag varieties. We obtain a similar result for triples consisting of two subspaces and a partial flag in V; this is equivalent to describing the closure of a GL(V)-orbit in the product of two Grassmannians and one flag variety. We give a rank criterion to check whether such a triple can be degenerated to another one, and we classify the minimal degenerations. Our…
A real semisimple Lie group G_0 embedded in its complexification G has only finitely many orbits in any G-fag manifold Z = G/Q. The complex geometry of its open orbits D (flag domains) is studied from the point of view of compact complex submanifolds C (cycles) which arise as orbits of certain distinguished subgroups. Normal bundles E of the cycles are analyzed in some detail. It is shown that E is trivial if and only if D is holomorphically convex, in fact a product of C and a Hermitian symmetric space, and otherwise D is pseudoconcave.
I construct a correspondence between the Schubert cycles on the variety of complete flags in C^n and some faces of the Gelfand-Zetlin polytope associated with the irreducible representation of SL_n(C) with a strictly dominant highest weight. The construction is based on a geometric presentation of Schubert cells by Bernstein-Gelfand-Gelfand using Demazure modules. The correspondence between the Schubert cycles and faces is then used to interpret the classical Chevalley formula in Schubert calculus in terms of the Gelfand-Zetlin polytopes. The whole picture resembles the picture for toric varie…
Consider a flag variety $Fl$ over an algebraically closed field, and a subvariety $V$ whose cycle class is a multiplicity-free sum of Schubert cycles. We show that $V$ is arithmetically normal and Cohen-Macaulay, in the projective embedding given by any ample invertible sheaf on $Fl$.
The classical Ehresmann-Bruhat order describes the possible degenerations of a pair of flags in a linear space V under linear transformations of V; or equivalently, it describes the closure of an orbit of GL(V) acting diagonally on the product of two flag varieties. We consider the degenerations of a triple consisting of two flags and a line, or equivalently the closure of an orbit of GL(V) acting diagonally on the product of two flag varieties and a projective space. We give a simple rank criterion to decide whether one triple can degenerate to another. We also classify the minimal degenerati…
We give an algorithm to compute the integer cohomology groups of any real partial flag manifold, by computing the incidence coefficients of the Schubert cells. For even flag manifolds we determine the integer cohomology groups, by proving that any torsion class has order 2 (generalizing a result of Ehresmann). We conjecture this to hold for any real flag manifold. We obtain results concerning which Schubert varieties represent integer cohomology classes, their structure constants and how to express them in terms of characteristic classes. For even flag manifolds and Grassmannians we also descr…
If G_0 is a real form of a complex semisimple Lie group G and Z is compact G-homogeneous projective algebraic manifold, then G_0 has only finitely many orbits on Z. Complex analytic properties of open G_0-orbits D (flag domains) are studied. Schubert incidence-geometry is used to prove the Kobayashi hyperbolicity of certain cycle space components C_q(D). Using the hyperbolicity of C_q(D) and analyzing the action of Aut(D) on it, an exact description of Aut(D) is given. It is shown that, except in the easily understood case where D is holomorphically convex with a nontrivial Remmert reduction, …
We review the various pattern avoidance criteria that have been developed for smoothness and rational smoothness of symmetric subvarieties of flag varieties in the classical cases, including some proofs and giving references for other results.
It is known that the closure of an arbitrary K_c-orbit on a flag manifold is expressed as a product of a closed K_c-orbit and a Schubert cell ([M2], [Sp]). We already applied this fact to the duality of orbits on flag manifolds ([GM]). We refine here this result and and give its new applications to the study of domains arising from the duality.
Using Grothendieck's "functor of points" approach to algebraic geometry, we define a new infinite-dimensional algebro-geometric flag space as a $k$-functor (for $k$ a ring) which maps a $k$-algebra $R$ to the set of certain well-ordered chains of submodules of an infinite rank free $R$-module. This generalizes the well known construction of a $k$-functor that is represented by the classical (i.e. finite-dimensional) full flag scheme. We prove that as in the finite-dimensional case, there is an action of a general linear group on our flag space, that the stabilizer of the standard flag is the s…
Let G be a split semi-simple p-adic group and let H be its Iwahori-Hecke algebra with coefficients in the algebraic closure k of the finite field with p elements. Let F be the affine flag variety over k associated with G. We show, in the simply connected simple case, that a torus-equivariant K'-theory of F (with coefficients in k) admits an H-action by Demazure operators and that this provides a model for the regular representation of H.
We introduce a stratification on the space of symplectic flags on the de Rham bundle of the universal principally polarized abelian variety in positive characteristic and study its geometric properties like irreducibility of the strata and we calculate the cycle classes. When the characteristic $p$ is treated as a formal variable these classes can be seen as a deformation of the classes of the Schubert varieties for the corresponding classical flag variety (the classical case is recovered by putting $p$ equal to 0). We relate our stratification with the E-O stratification on the moduli space o…
We prove that the group of normalized cohomological invariants of degree 3 modulo the subgroup of semidecomposable invariants of a semisimple split linear algebraic group G is isomorphic to the torsion part of the Chow group of codimension 2 cycles of the respective versal G-flag. In particular, if G is simple, we show that this factor group is isomorphic to the group of indecomposable invariants of G. As an application, we construct nontrivial cohomological classes for indecomposable central simple algebras.
Let X be a smooth quasi-projective variety over the algebraic closure of the rational number field. We show that the cycle map of the higher Chow group to Deligne cohomology is injective and the higher Hodge cycles are generated by the image of the cycle map as conjectured by Beilinson and Jannsen, if the cycle map to Deligne cohomology is injective and the Hodge conjecture is true for certain smooth projective varieties over the algebraic closure of the rational number field. We also verify the conjecture on the surjectivity in the case of the complement of a union of general hypersurfaces in…
The degenerate Lie group is a semidirect product of the Borel subgroup with the normal abelian unipotent subgroup. We introduce a class of the highest weight representations of the degenerate group of type A, generalizing the PBW-graded representations of the classical group. Following the classical construction of the flag varieties, we consider the closures of the orbits of the abelian unipotent subgroup in the projectivizations of the representations. We show that the degenerate flag varieties $\Fl^a_n$ and their desingularizations $R_n$ can be obtained via this construction. We prove that …
We give an explicit description of the closure containment order (or "Bruhat order") on the set of orbits of GL_p \times GL_q on the flag variety GL_{p+q}/B, relative to the parametrization of the orbits by combinatorial objects called "clans". This leads to a corresponding description of the closures of such orbits as sets of flags satisfying certain incidence conditions encoded by the parametrizing clans.
The closure of a generic torus orbit in the flag variety $G/B$ of type $A$ is known to be a permutohedral variety and its Poincare polynomial agrees with the Eulerian polynomial. In this paper, we study the Poincare polynomial of a generic torus orbit closure in a Schubert variety in $G/B$. When the generic torus orbit closure in a Schubert variety is smooth, its Poincare polynomial is known to agree with a certain generalization of the Eulerian polynomial. We extend this result to an arbitrary generic torus orbit closure which is not necessarily smooth.
We describe noncommutative desingularizations of determinantal varieties, determinantal varieties defined by minors of generic symmetric matrices, and pfaffian varieties defined by pfaffians of generic anti-symmetric matrices. For maximal minors of square matrices and symmetric matrices, this gives a non-commutative crepant resolution. Along the way, we describe a method to calculate the quiver with relations for any non-commutative desingularizations coming from exceptional collections over partial flag varieties.
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 continue our study of the inclusion posets of diagonal $SL(n)$-orbit closures in a product of two partial flag varieties. We prove that, if the diagonal action is of complexity one, then the poset is isomorphic to one of the 28 posets that we determine explicitly. Furthermore, our computations show that the number of diagonal $SL(n)$-orbits in any of these posets is at most 10 for any positive integer $n$. This is in contrast with the complexity 0 case, where, in some cases, the resulting posets attain arbitrary heights.
In a seminal 1994 paper, Lusztig extended the theory of total positivity by introducing the totally non-negative part (G/P)_{\geq 0} of an arbitrary (generalized, partial) flag variety G/P. He referred to this space as a "remarkable polyhedral subspace", and conjectured a decomposition into cells, which was subsequently proven by the first author. Subsequently the second author made the concrete conjecture that this cell decomposed space is the next best thing to a polyhedron, by conjecturing it to be a regular CW complex that is homeomorphic to a closed ball. In this article we use discrete M…
We give positive descriptions for certain Schubert structure constants $c_{u,v}^w$ for the full flag variety in Lie types $C$ and $D$. This is accomplished by first observing that a number of the $K=GL(n,\C)$-orbit closures on these flag varieties coincide with Richardson varieties, and then applying a theorem of M. Brion on the decomposition of such an orbit closure in the Schubert basis in terms of paths in the weak order graph.
Let $G$ be a reductive group, let $Gr=G((t))/G[[t]]$ be the corresponding affine Grassmannian and let $Fl=G((t))/I$ be the affine flag variety. We construct, following an idea of Belinson, a 1-parametric deformation of the product $Gr\times G/B$ to $Fl$. We use this construction to produce perverse sheaves on $Fl$ which are central with respect to the convolution product from spherical perverse sheaves on $Gr$.
We apply a theorem of Gel'fand, Goresky, MacPherson, and Serganova about matroid polytopes to study semistability of partial flags relative to a T-linearized ample line bundle of a flag space F = SL(n)/P where T is a maximal torus in SL(n) and P is a parabolic subgroup containing T. We find that the semistable points are all detected by invariant sections of degree one regardless of the line bundle or linearization thereof, provided there exists at least one nonzero invariant section of degree one. In this case the degree one sections are sufficient to give a well defined map from the G.I.T. q…
This paper provides explicit closed formulas in terms of tautological classes for the cycle classes of the height and Artin invariant strata in families of K3 surfaces. The proof is uniform for all strata and uses a flag space as the computations in [arXiv:math/0412272] for the Ekedahl-Oort strata for families of abelian varieties, but employs a Pieri formula formula to determine the push down to the base space.
Let $M$ denote the space of complete conics. We compute the cone of effective and numerically effective $k$-cycles of $M$, $\mathrm{Eff}_k(M)$ and $\mathrm{Nef}_k(M)$, respectively. In addition, we compute the Białynicki-Birula cell-decomposition of $M$ with respect to a $\mathbb{C}^*$-action and compare the cone generated by the closure of these cells to the cones $\mathrm{Eff}_k(M)$ and $\mathrm{Nef}_k(M)$.
In this paper we shall study symplectic resolutions of a nilpotent orbit closure of a complex simple Lie algebra \g. We shall introduce an equivalence relation in the set of parabolic subgroups of $G$ in terms of marked Dynkin diagrams. We start with a nilpotent orbit closure which admits a Springer resolution with a parabolic subgroup $P_0$ of $G$. Then we prove that all symplectic resolution of the nilpotent closure are Springer resolutions with $P$ which are equivalent to $P_0$. Here all symplectic resolutions are connected by Mukai flops. We need three types of Mukai flops (types A, D and …
In this survey, we gather together various results on the action of a real form of a complex semisimple Lie group on its flag manifolds. We start with the finiteness theorem of J.Wolf implying that at least one of the orbits is open. We give a new proof of the converse statement for real forms of inner type, essentially due to F.M.Malyshev. Namely, if a real semisimple Lie group of inner type has an open orbit on an algebraic homogeneous space of the complexified group then the homogeneous space is a flag manifold. To prove this, we recall, partly with proofs, some results of A.L.Onishchik on …
We give bounds on the order of torsion in the Chow group of zero dimensional cycles for isotropic Grassmannians and Brauer-Severi flag varieties. To do this, we introduce tools to understand the behavior of torsion in Chow groups with coefficients under morphisms of proper varieties
