A doubly-refined enumeration of alternating sign matrices and descending plane partitions

It was shown recently by the authors that, for any n, there is equality between the distributions of certain triplets of statistics on nxn alternating sign matrices (ASMs) and descending plane partitions (DPPs) with each part at most n. The statistics for an ASM A are the number of generalized inversions in A, the number of -1's in A and the number of 0's to the left of the 1 in the first row of A, and the respective statistics for a DPP D are the number of nonspecial parts in D, the number of special parts in D and the number of n's in D. Here, the result is generalized to include a fourth statistic for each type of object, where this is the number of 0's to the right of the 1 in the last row of an ASM, and the number of (n-1)'s plus the number of rows of length n-1 in a DPP. This generalization is proved using the known equality of the three-statistic generating functions, together with relations which express each four-statistic generating function in terms of its three-statistic counterpart. These relations are obtained by applying the Desnanot-Jacobi identity to determinantal expressions for the generating functions, where the determinants arise from standard methods involving the six-vertex model with domain-wall boundary conditions for ASMs, and nonintersecting lattice paths for DPPs.Comment: 28 pages; v2: published versio

New enumeration formulas for alternating sign matrices and square ice partition functions

The refined enumeration of alternating sign matrices (ASMs) of given order having prescribed behavior near one or more of their boundary edges has been the subject of extensive study, starting with the Refined Alternating Sign Matrix Conjecture of Mills-Robbins-Rumsey, its proof by Zeilberger, and more recent work on doubly-refined and triply-refined enumeration by several authors. In this paper we extend the previously known results on this problem by deriving explicit enumeration formulas for the "top-left-bottom" (triply-refined) and "top-left-bottom-right" (quadruply-refined) enumerations. The latter case solves the problem of computing the full boundary correlation function for ASMs. The enumeration formulas are proved by deriving new representations, which are of independent interest, for the partition function of the square ice model with domain wall boundary conditions at the "combinatorial point" 2{\pi}/3.Comment: 35 page

Vertically symmetric alternating sign matrices and a multivariate Laurent polynomial identity

In 2007, the first author gave an alternative proof of the refined alternating sign matrix theorem by introducing a linear equation system that determines the refined ASM numbers uniquely. Computer experiments suggest that the numbers appearing in a conjecture concerning the number of vertically symmetric alternating sign matrices with respect to the position of the first 1 in the second row of the matrix establish the solution of a linear equation system similar to the one for the ordinary refined ASM numbers. In this paper we show how our attempt to prove this fact naturally leads to a more general conjectural multivariate Laurent polynomial identity. Remarkably, in contrast to the ordinary refined ASM numbers, we need to extend the combinatorial interpretation of the numbers to parameters which are not contained in the combinatorial admissible domain. Some partial results towards proving the conjectured multivariate Laurent polynomial identity and additional motivation why to study it are presented as well

Multiply-refined enumeration of alternating sign matrices

Four natural boundary statistics and two natural bulk statistics are considered for alternating sign matrices (ASMs). Specifically, these statistics are the positions of the 1's in the first and last rows and columns of an ASM, and the numbers of generalized inversions and -1's in an ASM. Previously-known and related results for the exact enumeration of ASMs with prescribed values of some of these statistics are discussed in detail. A quadratic relation which recursively determines the generating function associated with all six statistics is then obtained. This relation also leads to various new identities satisfied by generating functions associated with fewer than six of the statistics. The derivation of the relation involves combining the Desnanot-Jacobi determinant identity with the Izergin-Korepin formula for the partition function of the six-vertex model with domain-wall boundary conditions.Comment: 62 pages; v3 slightly updated relative to published versio

Extreme diagonally and antidiagonally symmetric alternating sign matrices of odd order

For each $\alpha \in \{0,1,-1 \}$, we count diagonally and antidiagonally symmetric alternating sign matrices (DASASMs) of fixed odd order with a maximal number of $\alpha$'s along the diagonal and the antidiagonal, as well as DASASMs of fixed odd order with a minimal number of $0$'s along the diagonal and the antidiagonal. In these enumerations, we encounter product formulas that have previously appeared in plane partition or alternating sign matrix counting, namely for the number of all alternating sign matrices, the number of cyclically symmetric plane partitions in a given box, and the number of vertically and horizontally symmetric ASMs. We also prove several refinements. For instance, in the case of DASASMs with a maximal number of $-1$'s along the diagonal and the antidiagonal, these considerations lead naturally to the definition of alternating sign triangles. These are new objects that are equinumerous with ASMs, and we are able to prove a two parameter refinement of this fact, involving the number of $-1$'s and the inversion number on the ASM side. To prove our results, we extend techniques to deal with triangular six-vertex configurations that have recently successfully been applied to settle Robbins' conjecture on the number of all DASASMs of odd order. Importantly, we use a general solution of the reflection equation to prove the symmetry of the partition function in the spectral parameters. In all of our cases, we derive determinant or Pfaffian formulas for the partition functions, which we then specialize in order to obtain the product formulas for the various classes of extreme odd DASASMs under consideration.Comment: 41 pages, several minor improvements in response to referee's comments. Final version. Matches published version except for very minor change