Partition and composition matrices

This paper introduces two matrix analogues for set partitions. A composition matrix on a finite set X is an upper triangular matrix whose entries partition X, and for which there are no rows or columns containing only empty sets. A partition matrix is a composition matrix in which an order is placed on where entries may appear relative to one-another. We show that partition matrices are in one-to-one correspondence with inversion tables. Non-decreasing inversion tables are shown to correspond to partition matrices with a row ordering relation. Partition matrices which are s-diagonal are classified in terms of inversion tables. Bidiagonal partition matrices are enumerated using the transfer-matrix method and are equinumerous with permutations which are sortable by two pop-stacks in parallel. We show that composition matrices on X are in one-to-one correspondence with (2+2)-free posets on X. Also, composition matrices whose rows satisfy a column-ordering relation are shown to be in one-to-one correspondence with parking functions. Finally, we show that pairs of ascent sequences and permutations are in one-to-one correspondence with (2+2)-free posets whose elements are the cycles of a permutation, and use this relation to give an expression for the number of (2+2)-free posets on {1,...,n}.Comment: 14 page

Schur Polynomials and the Yang-Baxter equation

We show that within the six-vertex model there is a parametrized Yang-Baxter equation with nonabelian parameter group GL(2)xGL(1) at the center of the disordered regime. As an application we rederive deformations of the Weyl character formule of Tokuyama and of Hamel and King.Comment: Revised introduction; slightly changed reference

Restricted rr-Stirling Numbers and their Combinatorial Applications

We study set partitions with $r$ distinguished elements and block sizes found in an arbitrary index set $S$. The enumeration of these $(S,r)$-partitions leads to the introduction of $(S,r)$-Stirling numbers, an extremely wide-ranging generalization of the classical Stirling numbers and the $r$-Stirling numbers. We also introduce the associated $(S,r)$-Bell and $(S,r)$-factorial numbers. We study fundamental aspects of these numbers, including recurrence relations and determinantal expressions. For $S$ with some extra structure, we show that the inverse of the $(S,r)$-Stirling matrix encodes the M\"obius functions of two families of posets. Through several examples, we demonstrate that for some $S$ the matrices and their inverses involve the enumeration sequences of several combinatorial objects. Further, we highlight how the $(S,r)$-Stirling numbers naturally arise in the enumeration of cliques and acyclic orientations of special graphs, underlining their ubiquity and importance. Finally, we introduce related $(S,r)$ generalizations of the poly-Bernoulli and poly-Cauchy numbers, uniting many past works on generalized combinatorial sequences

Evaluating Matrix Functions by Resummations on Graphs: the Method of Path-Sums

We introduce the method of path-sums which is a tool for exactly evaluating a function of a discrete matrix with possibly non-commuting entries, based on the closed-form resummation of infinite families of terms in the corresponding Taylor series. If the matrix is finite, our approach yields the exact result in a finite number of steps. We achieve this by combining a mapping between matrix powers and walks on a weighted directed graph with a universal graph-theoretic result on the structure of such walks. We present path-sum expressions for a matrix raised to a complex power, the matrix exponential, matrix inverse, and matrix logarithm. We show that the quasideterminants of a matrix can be naturally formulated in terms of a path-sum, and present examples of the application of the path-sum method. We show that obtaining the inversion height of a matrix inverse and of quasideterminants is an NP-complete problem.Comment: 23 pages, light version submitted to SIAM Journal on Matrix Analysis and Applications (SIMAX). A separate paper with the graph theoretic results is available at: arXiv:1202.5523v1. Results for matrices over division rings will be published separately as wel