From Triangulated Categories to Cluster Algebras
FROM TRIANGULATED CATEGORIES TO CLUSTER ALGEBRAS PHILIPPE CALDERO AND BERNHARD KELLER Abstract. The cluster category is a triangulated category introduced for its combinato- rial similarities with cluster algebras. We prove that a cluster algebra A of finite type can be realized as a Hall algebra, called exceptional Hall algebra, of the cluster category. This realization provides a natural basis for A. We prove new results and formulate conjectures on ‘good basis’ properties, positivity, denominator theorems and toric degenerations. 1. Introduction Cluster algebras were introduced by S. Fomin and A. Zelevinsky [12]. They are subrings of the field Q(u1, . , um) of rational functions in m indeterminates, and defined via a set of generators constructed inductively. These generators are called cluster variables and are grouped into subsets of fixed finite cardinality called clusters. The induction process begins with a pair (x,B), called a seed, where x is an initial cluster and B is a rectangular matrix with integer coefficients. The first aim of the theory was to provide an algebraic framework for the study of total positivity and of Lusztig/Kashiwara’s canonical bases of quantum groups. The first result is the Laurent phenomenon which asserts that the cluster variables, and thus the cluster ±1 ±1 algebra they generate, are contained in the Laurent polynomial ring Z[u1 , . , um ]. Since its foundation, the theory of cluster algebras has witnessed intense activity, both in its own foundations and in its connections with other research areas. One important aim has been to prove, as in [1], [31], that many algebras encountered in the theory of reductive Lie groups have (at least conjecturally) a structure of cluster algebra with an explicit seed.
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