On Flow Polytopes, nu-Associahedra, and the Subdivision Algebra

This dissertation studies the geometry and combinatorics related to a flow polytope Fcar(ν) constructed from a lattice path ν, whose volume is given by the ν-Catalan numbers. It begins with a study of the ν-associahedron introduced by Ceballos, Padrol, and Sarmiento in 2019, but from the perspective of Schröder combinatorics. Some classical results for Schröder paths are extended to the ν-setting, and insights into the geometry of the ν-associahedron are obtained by describing its face poset with two ν-Schröder objects. The ν-associahedron is then shown to be dual to a framed triangulation of Fcar(ν), which is a geometric realization of the ν-Tamari complex. The dual graph of this triangulation is the Hasse diagram of the ν-Tamari lattice due to Préville-Ratelle and Viennot. The dual graph of a second framed triangulation of Fcar(ν) is shown to be the Hasse diagram of a principal order ideal of Young’s lattice generated by ν, and is used to show that the h∗-vector of Fcar(ν) is given by ν-Narayana numbers. This perspective serves to unify these two important lattices associated with ν-Dyck paths through framed triangulations of a flow polytope. Via an integral equivalence between Fcar(ν) and a subpolytope UI,J of a product of two simplices subdivisions of UI,J are shown to be obtainable with Mészáros’ subdivision algebra, which answers a question of Ceballos, Padrol, and Sarmiento. Building on this result, the subdivision algebra is extended to encode subdivisions of a product of two simplices, giving a new tool for their future study

LIPIcs, Volume 261, ICALP 2023, Complete Volume

LIPIcs, Volume 261, ICALP 2023, Complete Volum