Distributive Lattices Defined for Representations of Rank Two Semisimple Lie Algebras

For a rank two root system and a pair of nonnegative integers, using only elementary combinatorics we construct two posets. The constructions are uniform across the root systems A1+A1, A2, C2, and G2. Examples appear in Figures 3.2 and 3.3. We then form the distributive lattices of order ideals of these posets. Corollary 5.4 gives elegant quotient-of-products expressions for the rank generating functions of these lattices (thereby providing answers to a 1979 question of Stanley). Also, Theorem 5.3 describes how these lattices provide a new combinatorial setting for the Weyl characters of representations of rank two semisimple Lie algebras. Most of these lattices are new; the rest of them (or related structures) have arisen in work of Stanley, Kashiwara, Nakashima, Littelmann, and Molev. In a future paper, one author shows that the posets constructed here form a Dynkin diagram-indexed answer to a combinatorially posed classification question. In a companion paper, some of these lattices are used to explicitly construct some representations of rank two semisimple Lie algebras. This implies that these lattices are strongly Sperner

Move-minimizing puzzles, diamond-colored modular and distributive lattices, and poset models for Weyl group symmetric functions

The move-minimizing puzzles presented here are certain types of one-player combinatorial games that are shown to have explicit solutions whenever they can be encoded in a certain way as diamond-colored modular and distributive lattices. Such lattices can also arise naturally as models for certain algebraic objects, namely Weyl group symmetric functions and their companion semisimple Lie algebra representations. The motivation for this paper is therefore both diversional and algebraic: To show how some recreational move-minimizing puzzles can be solved explicitly within an order-theoretic context and also to realize some such puzzles as combinatorial models for symmetric functions associated with certain fundamental representations of the symplectic and odd orthogonal Lie algebras

Analogs of Schur functions for rank two Weyl groups obtained from grid-like posets

In prior work, the authors, along with M. McClard, R. A. Proctor, and N. J. Wildberger, studied certain distributive lattice models for the "Weyl bialternants" (aka "Weyl characters") associated with the rank two root systems/Weyl groups. These distributive lattices were uniformly described as lattices of order ideals taken from certain grid-like posets, although the arguments connecting the lattices to Weyl bialternants were case-by-case depending on the type of the rank two root system. Using this connection with Weyl bialternants, these lattices were shown to be rank symmetric and rank unimodal, and their rank generating functions were shown to have beautiful quotient-of-products expressions. Here, these results are re-derived from scratch using completely uniform and elementary combinatorial reasoning in conjunction with some new combinatorial methodology developed elsewhere by the second listed author.Comment: 15 page

Some Generalizations of Classical Integer Sequences Arising in Combinatorial Representation Theory

There exists a natural correspondence between the bases for a given finite-dimensional representation of a complex semisimple Lie algebra and a certain collection of finite edge-colored ranked posets, laid out by Donnelly, et al. in, for instance, [Don03]. In this correspondence, the Serre relations on the Chevalley generators of the given Lie algebra are realized as conditions on coefficients assigned to poset edges. These conditions are the so-called diamond, crossing, and structure relations (hereinafter DCS relations.) New representation constructions of Lie algebras may thus be obtained by utilizing edge-colored ranked posets. Of particular combinatorial interest are those representations whose corresponding posets are distributive lattices. We study two families of such lattices, which we dub the generalized Fibonaccian lattices LFⁱᵇpn`1, kq and generalized Catalanian lattices LCᵃᵗpn, kq. These respectively generalize known families of lattices which are DCS-correspondent to some special families of representations of the classical Lie algebras An`₁ and Cn. We state and prove explicit formulae for the vertex cardinalities of these lattices; show existence and uniqueness of DCS-satisfactory edge coefficients for certain values of n and k; and report on the efficacy of various computational and algorithmic approaches to this problem. A Python library for computationally modeling and “solving” these lattices appears as an appendix

Eriksson's numbers game and finite Coxeter groups

The numbers game is a one-player game played on a finite simple graph with certain ``amplitudes'' assigned to its edges and with an initial assignment of real numbers to its nodes. The moves of the game successively transform the numbers at the nodes using the amplitudes in a certain way. This game and its interactions with Coxeter/Weyl group theory and Lie theory have been studied by many authors. In particular, Eriksson connects certain geometric representations of Coxeter groups with games on graphs with certain real number amplitudes. Games played on such graphs are ``E-games.'' Here we investigate various finiteness aspects of E-game play: We extend Eriksson's work relating moves of the game to reduced decompositions of elements of a Coxeter group naturally associated to the game graph. We use Stembridge's theory of fully commutative Coxeter group elements to classify what we call here the ``adjacency-free'' initial positions for finite E-games. We characterize when the positive roots for certain geometric representations of finite Coxeter groups can be obtained from E-game play. Finally, we provide a new Dynkin diagram classification result of E-game graphs meeting a certain finiteness requirement.Comment: 18 page