Skew Schubert polynomials

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 the construction of Bergeron and Sottile in a purely combinatorial way, relating it to the construction of Schubert polynomials in terms of rc-graphs.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

James reduced product schemes and double quasisymmetric functions

Symmetric function theory is a key ingredient in the Schubert calculus of Grassmannians. Quasisymmetric functions are analogues that are similarly central to algebraic combinatorics, but for which the associated geometry is poorly developed. Baker and Richter (2008) showed that $\textrm{QSym}$ manifests topologically as the cohomology ring of the loop suspension of infinite projective space or equivalently of its combinatorial homotopy model, the James reduced product $J\mathbb{C}\mathbb{P}^\infty$. In recent work, we used this viewpoint to develop topologically-motivated bases of $\textrm{QSym}$ and initiate a Schubert calculus for $J\mathbb{C}\mathbb{P}^\infty$ in both cohomology and $K$-theory. Here, we study the torus-equivariant cohomology of $J\mathbb{C}\mathbb{P}^\infty$. We identify a cellular basis and introduce double monomial quasisymmetric functions as combinatorial representatives, analogous to the factorial Schur functions and double Schubert polynomials of classical Schubert calculus. We also provide a combinatorial Littlewood--Richardson rule for the structure coefficients of this basis. Furthermore, we introduce an algebro-geometric analogue of the James reduced product construction. In particular, we prove that the James reduced product of a complex projective variety also carries the structure of a projective variety

Mitosis recursion for coefficients of Schubert polynomials

Mitosis is a rule introduced by [Knutson-Miller, 2002] for manipulating subsets of the n by n grid. It provides an algorithm that lists the reduced pipe dreams (also known as rc-graphs) [Fomin-Kirillov, Bergeron-Billey] for a permutation w in S_n by downward induction on weak Bruhat order, thereby generating the coefficients of Schubert polynomials [Lascoux-Schutzenberger] inductively. This note provides a short and purely combinatorial proof of these properties of mitosis.Comment: 9 pages, to appear in JCT

Asymmetric function theory

The classical theory of symmetric functions has a central position in algebraic combinatorics, bridging aspects of representation theory, combinatorics, and enumerative geometry. More recently, this theory has been fruitfully extended to the larger ring of quasisymmetric functions, with corresponding applications. Here, we survey recent work extending this theory further to general asymmetric polynomials.Comment: 36 pages, 8 figures, 1 table. Written for the proceedings of the Schubert calculus conference in Guangzhou, Nov. 201

Skew Schubert functions and the Pieri formula for flag manifolds

We show the equivalence of the Pieri formula for flag manifolds and certain identities among the structure constants, giving new proofs of both the Pieri formula and of these identities. A key step is the association of a symmetric function to a finite poset with labeled Hasse diagram satisfying a symmetry condition. This gives a unified definition of skew Schur functions, Stanley symmetric function, and skew Schubert functions (defined here). We also use algebraic geometry to show the coefficient of a monomial in a Schubert polynomial counts certain chains in the Bruhat order, obtaining a new combinatorial construction of Schubert polynomials.Comment: 24 pages, LaTeX 2e, with epsf.st

Billey's formula in combinatorics, geometry, and topology

In this expository paper we describe a powerful combinatorial formula and its implications in geometry, topology, and algebra. This formula first appeared in the appendix of a book by Andersen, Jantzen, and Soergel. Sara Billey discovered it independently five years later, and it played a prominent role in her work to evaluate certain polynomials closely related to Schubert polynomials. Billey's formula relates many pieces of Schubert calculus: the geometry of Schubert varieties, the action of the torus on the flag variety, combinatorial data about permutations, the cohomology of the flag variety and of the Schubert varieties, and the combinatorics of root systems (generalizing inversions of a permutation). Combinatorially, Billey's formula describes an invariant of pairs of elements of a Weyl group. On its face, this formula is a combination of roots built from subwords of a fixed word. As we will see, it has deeper geometric and topological meaning as well: (1) It tells us about the tangent spaces at each permutation flag in each Schubert variety. (2) It tells us about singular points in Schubert varieties. (3) It tells us about the values of Kostant polynomials. Billey's formula also reflects an aspect of GKM theory, which is a way of describing the torus-equivariant cohomology of a variety just from information about the torus-fixed points in the variety. This paper will also describe some applications of Billey's formula, including concrete combinatorial descriptions of Billey's formula in special cases, and ways to bootstrap Billey's formula to describe the equivariant cohomology of subvarieties of the flag variety to which GKM theory does not apply.Comment: 14 pages, presented at the International Summer School and Workshop on Schubert Calculus in Osaka, Japan, 201