Coxeter factorizations with generalized Jucys-Murphy weights and Matrix Tree theorems for reflection groups

We prove universal (case-free) formulas for the weighted enumeration of factorizations of Coxeter elements into products of reflections valid in any well-generated reflection group $W$, in terms of the spectrum of an associated operator, the $W$-Laplacian. This covers in particular all finite Coxeter groups. The results of this paper include generalizations of the Matrix Tree and Matrix Forest theorems to reflection groups, and cover reduced (shortest length) as well as arbitrary length factorizations. Our formulas are relative to a choice of weighting system that consists of $n$ free scalar parameters and is defined in terms of a tower of parabolic subgroups. To study such systems we introduce (a class of) variants of the Jucys-Murphy elements for every group, from which we define a new notion of `tower equivalence' of virtual characters. A main technical point is to prove the tower equivalence between virtual characters naturally appearing in the problem, and exterior products of the reflection representation of $W$. Finally we study how this $W$-Laplacian matrix we introduce can be used in other problems in Coxeter combinatorics. We explain how it defines analogues of trees for $W$ and how it relates them to Coxeter factorizations, we give new numerological identities between the Coxeter number of $W$ and those of its parabolic subgroups, and finally, when $W$ is a Weyl group, we produce a new, explicit formula for the volume of the corresponding root zonotope.Comment: 57 pages, comments are very much welcom

In which it is proven that, for each parabolic quasi-Coxeter element in a finite real reflection group, the orbits of the Hurwitz action on its reflection factorizations are distinguished by the two obvious invariants

We prove that two reflection factorizations of a parabolic quasi-Coxeter element in a finite Coxeter group belong to the same Hurwitz orbit if and only if they generate the same subgroup and have the same multiset of conjugacy classes. As a lemma, we classify the finite Coxeter groups for which every reflection generating set that is minimal under inclusion is also of minimum size.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, comments very much welcome

The Generalized Cluster Complex: Refined Enumeration of Faces and Related Parking Spaces

The generalized cluster complex was introduced by Fomin and Reading, as a natural extension of the Fomin-Zelevinsky cluster complex coming from finite type cluster algebras. In this work, to each face of this complex we associate a parabolic conjugacy class of the underlying finite Coxeter group. We show that the refined enumeration of faces (respectively, positive faces) according to this data gives an explicit formula in terms of the corresponding characteristic polynomial (equivalently, in terms of Orlik-Solomon exponents). This characteristic polynomial originally comes from the theory of hyperplane arrangements, but it is conveniently defined via the parabolic Burnside ring. This makes a connection with the theory of parking spaces: our results eventually rely on some enumeration of chains of noncrossing partitions that were obtained in this context. The precise relations between the formulas counting faces and the one counting chains of noncrossing partitions are combinatorial reciprocities, generalizing the one between Narayana and Kirkman numbers

Hurwitz numbers for reflection groups II: Parabolic quasi-Coxeter elements

We define parabolic quasi-Coxeter elements in well generated complex reflection groups. We characterize them in multiple natural ways, and we study two combinatorial objects associated with them: the collections $\operatorname{Red}_W(g)$ of reduced reflection factorizations of $g$ and $\operatorname{RGS}(W,g)$ of the relative generating sets of $g$. We compute the cardinalities of these sets for large families of parabolic quasi-Coxeter elements and, in particular, we relate the size $\#\operatorname{Red}_W(g)$ with geometric invariants of Frobenius manifolds. This paper is second in a series of three; we will rely on many of its results in part III to prove uniform formulas that enumerate full reflection factorizations of parabolic quasi-Coxeter elements, generalizing the genus-$0$ Hurwitz numbers.Comment: v2: 50 pages, minor edits, comments very much welcome