Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials

Arun Ram
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
University of Melbourne
Parkville, VIC 3010 Australia
aram@unimelb.edu.au

Last update: 6 November 2012

Bar invariant bases

Let (W,≤) be a poset such that for u,v∈W the interval [u,v] is finite. Let M be the free ℤ[q,q-1] modules with basis {Tw∣w∈W},

M=ℤ[qq-1] -span {Tw∣w∈W} ,

and let ‾:M→M be a ℤ-linear involution such that

q‾=q-1 and Tw‾=Tw+ ∑v<wawv Tv,

where avw∈ℤ[qq-1]. Then

  1. There is a unique basis {Cw-∣w∈W} such that Cw‾=Cw andCw-= Tw+∑v<w Pvw-Tv withPvw- ∈q-1ℤ[q-1] .
  2. There is a unique basis {Cw-∣w∈W} such that Cw‾=Cw andCw+= Tw+∑v<w Pvw+Tv withPvw- ∈qℤ[q] .

Proof.

(a) The pvw- are determined by induction:

Pww-=1and Puw-= ∑k∈ℤ<0 fkqk

where

f=∑k∈ℤfk qk=∑u<z≤w auz Pzw-‾ ( =Puw-- Puw-‾ ) .

(b) The Pvw+ are determined by induction:

Pww+=1and Puw+= ∑k∈ℤ>0 fkqk

where

f=∑k∈ℤfkqk =∑u<z≤w auzPzw+‾ ( =Puw+- Puw+‾ ) .

□

The dual module

M*=Homℤ[q,q-1] ( M,ℤ [q,q-1] )

is given a bar involution

‾:M*→ M*defined by ⟨φ‾,m⟩= ⟨φ,m‾⟩‾

If {Tw∣w∈W} is the dual basis to {Tw∣w∈W} then

Tw‾=∑v bvwTvwhere bvw= ⟨ Tw‾, Tv ⟩ = ⟨ Tw, Tv‾ ⟩ ‾ = ⟨ Tw,∑z≤v azvTz ⟩ ‾

so that B=At‾. If {Cw∣w∈W} is the dual basis to {Cw∣w∈W} then

Cw‾=Cwsince ⟨ Cw‾,Cv ⟩ = ⟨ Cw, Cv‾ ⟩ ‾ = ⟨ Cw, Cv ⟩ ‾ =δvw,

and

Cw=∑PvwTv whereδvw ⟨Cw,Cv⟩= ⟨ ∑uPuwTu, ∑zPzvTz ⟩ =∑uPuwPuv

so that

(Puw)= ((Puv)-1) t =(Pt)-1.

The affine Hecke algebra

The affine Hecke algebra H∼ has ℤ[q,q-1] basis {Tw∣w∈W∼},

H∼=ℤ [q,q-1]-span {Tw∣w∈W∼}

with relations

Tw1Tw2= Tw1w2, ifℓ(w1w2) =ℓ(w1)+ℓ (w2), TsiTw= (q-q-1)Tw+ Tsiw, ifℓ(siw)< ℓ(w) (0≤i≤n).

The algebra H∼ also has bases

{ XλTw∣ w∈W,λ∈P } and { TvXμ∣ v∈W,μ∈P } ,

where

Xλ=Ttλ, ifλ∈P+, andXλ=Xμ (Xν)-1,

if λ=μ-ν with μ,ν∈P+.

The bar involution on H∼ is the ℤ-linear map ‾:H∼→H∼ given by

q‾=q-1and Tw‾= Tw-1-1 forw∈W∼.

Define elements 10,ε0∈H by

102=10, and Tsi10=q 10,for 1≤i≤n, ε02=ε0, and Tsiε0= q-1ε0, for1≤i≤n,

and let

Aμ=ε0Xμ 10,forμ∈ P.

  1. Xλ‾= Tw0Xw0λ Tw0-1, for λ∈P,
  2. 10‾=10 and ε0‾=ε0.
  3. If z∈ℤ[P]W then z‾=z.
  4. q-ℓ(w0) Aλ+ρ ‾ =q-ℓ(w0) Aλ+ρ.

The τ-operators are given by

τi=Ti- q-q-1 1-X-αi .

Then

  1. Xλτi=τi Xsiλ,
  2. τi2= (q-q-1Xαi) (q-q-1X-αi) (1-Xαi) (1-X-αi)
  3. τiτjτi… ⏟mijfactors = τjτiτj… ⏟mijfactors

The shift operator is

Δ=∏α∈R+ ( qXα/2-q-1 X-α/2 ) .

Then

(Ti+q)Δ= (siΔ) (Ti-q)and Δℂ [P]W= { h∈H∼∣ (ti+q-1h =0for1≤i ≤n } ε0Eλ=Δ 10Eλ-ρ and ⟨ Δf, Δg ⟩ k =qNk ⟨f,g⟩ k+1 .

The ??-trace on H∼ is the linear map τ:H∼→ℂ given by

tr(h)=h∣1, or, more precisely,tr(Tw)= δw1.

Define an inner product H∼ by

⟨h1,h2⟩= tr(h1h2),

so that

⟨Tu,Tv⟩ = [Tu-1Tv] 1 and ⟨Tu,Tv⟩ =qℓ(u)?? δuv-1.

The generic degrees are dλ(q) given by

tr∑λ∈H^ dλ(q)χHλ.

The Kazhdan-Lusztig basis is defined by

{ h∈H∣ ⟨h,h#⟩ ∈1+q-1ℤ [q-1],h= h‾ }

or by the usual bar invariance and triangularity conditions.

Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials

The Iwahori-Hecke algebra is the algebra over ℤ[q] given by generators Tw, w∈W and relations

TsiTw = { Tsiw, ifsiw>w, qTsiw +(q-1)Tw, ifsiw<w.

The bar involution on H is the ℤ-algebra involution given by

q‾=q-1and Tw‾= Tw-1-1,

for w∈W. The Kazhdan-Lusztig basis of H is the basis {Cw∣w∈W} given by

  1. Cw‾=Cw, and
  2. Cw=Tw+ ∑v≤wpvw (q)Tv,where pvw(q)∈ qℤ[q].

Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials

  1. Pww(q)=1,
  2. Pxw(q)=0, if x≮w,
  3. deg(Pxw(q)) ≤12 (ℓ(w)-ℓ(x)-1) , if x≠w.

Define

μ(x,w)= coefficient of the highest degree term in Pxw(q),

which is the term of degree 12 ( ℓ(w)-ℓ (x)-1 ) . Then, if sw<w

Pxw(q) = { Psx,w(q), ifsx>x, Psx,sw(q) +qPx,sw- ∑sz<z q 12 (ℓ(w)-ℓ(z)) μ(z,sw) Px,z, ifsx<x.

The W-graph has

  1. Vertices: W
  2. Edges: x↔y if μ[x,y]= { μ(x,y), ifx<y, μ(y,x), ify<x,

Then

KL(s)xx = { -1, ifsx<x, 1, ifsx>x, KL(s)xy = { μ[x,y], ifsx<x, sy>yandx ↔y, 0, otherwise,

Define a relation ≤L by taking the closure of the relation

x≤Lyif Dℓ(x)⊈ Dℓ(y)and x↔yis an edge.

and define

x=Lyif x≤Lyand y≤Lx.

The case of dihedral groups

In type A1,

H=span{1,T1} withT12= (q-1)T1+q.

So

T1‾=T1-1= (q-1-1)+ q-1T1,and C1=q-12 (1+T1),

since

q-12 (1+T1) ‾ =q12 (1+T1-1)= q12 ( 1+q-1T1+ (q-1-1) ) =q12q-1 (1+T1)= q-12 (1+T1).

In type A2, H=span { 1,T1,T2, T1T2, T2T1, T1T2T2 } and

C1 = q-12 (1+T1), C2 = q-12 (1+T2), C1C2 = q-1 ( 1+T1+T2+ T1T2=C12, ) C2C1 = q-1 ( 1+T1+T2+ T2T1=C21, ) C1C21 = q-32 ( T1T2T1+ T1T2+ (q-1)T1+q +T1+ T2T1+T1 +T2+1 ) , = q-32 ( T1T2T1+ T1T2+ T2T1+T1 +T2+1 ) +C1 ,

so that

C121=C1 C12-C1= q-32 ( T1T2T1+T1 T2+T2T1+T1 +T2+1 ) .

Note that C12= (q12+q-12) C1. Then, using that Ti=q12Ci-1, to produce the matrices for the regular representation in the KL-basis,

ρ(T1)= ( -1 0 0 0 0 0 q12 q q12 0 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 q12 q 0 0 0 q12 0 0 q ) andρ(T2)= ( -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 q12 q 0 0 0 q12 0 0 q q12 0 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 q12 q )

with rows and columns indexed by 1,C1,C21, C2,C12, C121.

In type B2, H=span { 1,T1,T2,T1 T2,T2T1,T1 T2T1,T2T1 T2,T1T2T1 T2 } , and

C1C2=C12, C2C1=C21, C1C21=C121 +C1,C2C12 =C212+C2, C2C121= C2121+C21.

where

C1 = q-12 (1+T1), C2 = q-12 (1+T2), C12 = q-1 ( 1+T1+T2+ T1T2, ) C21 = q-1 ( 1+T1+T2+ T2T1, ) C121 = q-32 ( 1+T1+T2+ T1T2+ T2T1+ T1T2T1 ) , C212 = q-32 ( 1+T1+T2+ T1T2+ T2T1+ T2T1T2 ) , C1212 = q-32 ( 1+T1+T2+ T1T2+ T2T1+ T1T2T1+ T2T1T2+ T2T1T2T1 ) .

and the matrices of the regular representation in the KL-basis are

ρ(T1) = ( -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 q12 q q12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 q12 q 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 q12 q q12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 q12 q ) ρ(T2) = ( -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 q12 q q12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 q12 0 0 0 q q12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 q 0 q12 q 0 0 0 0 q12 0 0 0 q )

with rows and columns indexed by 1,C1,C21, C121,C2, C12,C212 ,C1212.

Let W be the dihedral group of order 2m. Then

Cw=q-12ℓ(w) (∑v≤wTv), so thatpvw (q)=1,for all v≤w.

Proof.

Let Cw be defined by the formula in the statement of the Theorem. If s1w>w so that w=s2s1s2s1… then

Cs1Cw = q-ℓ(w)/2 q-12 ( ∑v≤wTv+ ∑ v≤s1w s1v<v Tv+(q-1) ∑ v<w s1v<v Tv+q ∑ v<w s2v<v Tv ) = q-ℓ(w)/2 q-12 ( ∑ v≤s1w s2v<v Tv+ ∑ v<w s1v<v Tv+ ∑ v≤s1w s1v<v Tv- ∑ v<w s1v<v Tv+q ∑v≤s2w Tv ) = Cs1v+ q-ℓ(w)/2 q1/2 ( ∑v≤s2w Tv ) = Cs1w+ Cs2w,

and, if s1w<w so that w=s1s2s1s2… then let w′=s1w and w′′=s2s1w so that

Cs1Cw = Cs1Cs1w′ =Cs1 ( Cs1Cw′ -Cs2w′ ) = Cs1 ( Cs1 Cw′- Cw′′ ) = ( q1/2+ q-1/2 ) Cs1Cw′ -Cs1 Cw′′ = ( q1/2+ q-1/2 ) Cs1 Cw′- ( q1/2+ q-1/2 ) Cw′′, by induction, = ( q1/2+ q-1/2 ) ( Cs1 Cw′- Cw′′ ) = ( q1/2+ q-1/2 ) Cw.

So,

Cs1Cw= { Cs1w+ Cs2w, ifs1w<w, i.e.w= s2s1s2 s1…, ( q12+ q-12 ) Cw, ifs1w<w, i.e.w=s1 s2s1s2…. (3.1)

In the first case, ℓ(s2w)<ℓ(w) and so, by induction, Cs1w= Cs1Cw- Cs2w is bar invariant.

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From equation (???)

T1Cw= { qCw, ifs1w<w, i.e.w=s1s2 s1s2…, q12Cs1w -Cw+q12 Cs2w, ifs1w>w, i.e.w=s2s1 s2s1….

For example, in the case I2(5),

C2C1=C21, C1C21= C121+C1, C2C121= C2121+C21, C1C2121= C12121+ C121, C1C2=C12, C2C12= C212+C2, C1C212= C1212+ C12, C2C1212= C21212+ C212,

and the matrices of the regular representation in the KL-basis are

ρ(T1) = ( -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 q12 q q12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 q12 q q12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 q12 q q12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 q12 q 0 0 0 0 0 q12 0 0 0 0 q ) ρ(T2) = ( -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 q12 q q12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 q12 q 0 0 0 0 0 q12 0 0 0 0 q q12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 q12 q q12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 q12 q )

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