The Slice Group in Rubik's Cube

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The Slice Group in Rubik's Cube The Slice Group in Rubik's Cube DAVID HECKER RANAN BANERJI SainitJoseph 's Universitv Philaidelphia,PA 19131 The differentmaneuvers on Rubik'scube can be thoughtof as a setof transformationsforming a subgroupof thegroup of all permutationsof thecube's 54 facelets.In thispaper, we shalldo a completestudy of thesmall subgroup of thisgroup generated by turningonly the center layers of thecube. This is knownas theslice group. Our purpose in thisstudy is to use thecube to illustrate severalfundamental group theoretic techniques. Beforean accuratestatement of theproblem can be made,we mustintroduce some notation, mostof whichis standardin thecube literature [4]. We shalldescribe all maneuversas ifthey were carriedout withrespect to the cube held in a fixedposition, referring to the six facesby the "colors" F, B, R, L, U, and D forfront, back, right,left, up, and down. The cube will be assumedto startwith all six faceshaving solid colors,known as theclean stateof thecube (see FIGURE 1). A clockwise900 turnof any of thesesix faces(clockwise looking at theface "from outside")will be denotedby TF,TB, etc.(see FIGupE 2). We shallalso talkabout a 90? clockwise turnof theentire cube looking at thecorresponding face from outside and denotethese by CF,BC,, etc. Everypossible maneuver M can be writtenas a finitesequence of thesefundamental moves, hence thesemoves generate the group of all possibletransformations of the cube. The inverseof any move M, denotedby M1, is themaneuver required to undo theeffect of themove M. Note thatthe actual twistsof the cube neededto accomplishthis will not be unique.To avoid this problem,when speakingof a move or maneuveron the cube, we referonly to its effective permutationof the cube's 54 facelets,and not to the actual twistsrequired. Two different sequencesof twistshaving the same effectare consideredto be thesame move.Repeating any movea numberof timeswill be expressedwith the usual exponential notation. In additionto referringto thecube's facelets, we shallalso referto the27 subcubesof thecube, IB I B- I ? BB B BB IU uU U U /UU U U /U R LllI u u I L F F F ~~~R/R /U R 1R IRI RR / F F F R LF F F R R R L R F F F RR F FEF F F F DDD (a) (b) FiGuKEL 1. (a) Rubik'scube in the clean state.(b) Rubik'scube in the clean statewith hidden sides displayed. VOL. 58, NO. 4, SEPTEMBER 1985 211 This content downloaded from 65.206.22.38 on Mon, 19 May 2014 12:55:43 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions U F U U F F R FIGuRE 2. The moveTR. oftencalled cubiesin theliterature [4]. One of thesecubies lies in theinterior of thecube and cannot be seen. Eight othersappear on the cornersof the cube; theseeach have 3 facelets showing.Twelve are edgecubies with 2 faceletsshowing, and theremaining six lie at thecenter of each face and have onlyone faceletvisible. The cubiesare importantsince the facelets on each cubie stay on that cubie so thata large numberof the 54! permutationsin the groupof all permutationsof the 54 faceletsare prohibited.Also, everymove takescorner cubies to corner positions,edge cubies to edgepositions, and centercubies to centerpositions, thus further limiting thepossible permutations. The positionof anyfacelet or cubiewhen the cube is in theclean state is called thehome position of thatfacelet or cubie.The clean stateis completelycharacterized by all faceletsbeing in theirhome position. We thinkof thisposition as representingthe identity permutationon thecube. The slice group The slice groupis thegroup of transformationsof the cube generatedby thefollowing three movesequences: TBTF CB , TLTR1CL1, TUT-1C-1 (1) These are illustratedin FIGURE 3. One can thinkof themin twoways. First, consider them as turningtwo opposite faces "parallelly," one clockwiseand one counterclockwise,then turning the wholecube to returnthose two faces to theiroriginal positions. Alternately, one can considerthe overalleffect, which is to turnthe center slice of thecube clockwise 900 whenlooking at theF, R, and D facesrespectively. Our discussionwill be fromthis latter point of view. We shalldenote the three sequences in (1) by thesingle letter F, R, and D, whichwill stand for turns of thecorresponding center slice. We IB B IB| B B B L I R > - U /UF /F U U U u D uu u U F U R u F L R F FE F F U F U RI u U uL L D RR R RR F D F F F F DD F:TBTF 1C1 R:TLT,lC7-1 D:TuTi1Ci FIGURE3. The threemoves which generate the slice group. 212 MATHEMATICS MAGAZINE This content downloaded from 65.206.22.38 on Mon, 19 May 2014 12:55:43 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions have thusgiven these letters two meanings, as we have also used themto representcolors of the faces.The meaningin a giveninstance should be clearfrom the context. To discoverthe structure of theslice group G of permutationsgenerated by themoves F, R, and D, we analyze the actionsof slice moves on differentsets of cubies,thus constructing homomorphismsfrom G to knowngroups. Recall thatif H is anygroup of permutationson a set X, and if Y is a subsetof X suchthat forevery h E H and y E Y, we have h(y) E Y, thenY is said to be closedunder the action of H. When we have such a closed subset,a homomorphismis inducedfrom H into the groupof permutationsof Y: simplymap h in H to thepermutation it induceson theset Y. In our case, G is a groupof permutationson theset of cubies and facelets.We willfind subsets of cubiesthat are closedunder G, thusinducing homomorphisms of thetype just described. Returningto thecube, first notice that every corner cubie is leftfixed, or unmoved,by each slice move,thus the slice group induces the identity permutation on theset of cornercubies and theirfacelets. This is convenient,since the colors on thesecorner cubies act as benchmarksin case we forgetwhich face is front,back, etc. Next,slice movesalways move center cubies to centerpositions, hence the set of six center cubiesis closed underthe action of G. We denoteby T thehomomorphism this induces from G intoS6, thegroup of permutations on six objects(in thiscase, thecenter cubies). The imageT(G) in S6 ignoresthe actionof G on all cubiesexcept the centers. By examiningthe cube, one notes thateach slice movehas thesame effecton thecenters as some rigidmotion of theentire cube. For example,the move F takescenters to thesame positions that CF does. Therefore,T maps G into T, the groupof rigidmotions (rotations) of the cube (a subgroupof S6). The map T is actuallyonto T since T is generatedby CF, CR, and CD, and -(F)= CF, i-(R)= CR, and Ti(D) = CD. It is well knownthat T is isomorphicto S4, and thus has 24 elements.(The isomorphismwith S4 is unimportantin whatfollows. The interestedreader can constructthe isomorphismby thinkingof T as actingon theset of 4 diagonalline segmentslinking opposing cornersof a rigidcube.) The twelveedge cubiescan be partitionedinto threesubsets of foureach, EF, ER, and ED, whereeach set containsthe edge cubieson the centerslice parallelto the F, R, and D faces, respectively.By manipulatingthe cube, one noticesthat the generators F, R, and D (and hence everyslice move in G) takeedge cubiesin thesesets to edge cubiesin the same set. Hence, as above,we gethomomorphisms OF' 9kR, and OD, each mappingG intothe group of permutations of EF, ER, and ED, respectively.Again, by examiningthe cube,one noticesthat F inducesa 4-cycleon theelements of EF, whileR and D each inducethe identity permutation on EF. Hence OF (F) is a 4-cycle,OF (R) = OF (D) = id, and we see thatOF(G) is generatedby OF (F) and is isomorphicto Z4. For anyelement g of G, OF (g) is thenumber of timesmod 4 thatF appearsin any sequenceof movesgenerating g, withF-1 countedas -1 (or 3 since F-1 = F3). A similar analysiscan be made of thehomomorphisms OR and OD. We thushave fourhomomorphisms of G: one onto T and threeonto Z4. By combiningthe fourhomomorphisms, one obtainsa homomorphismfrom G into T x Z4 x Z4 x Z4 givenby g --*( T( 9),9OD ( 9),9OR ( 9),9OF ( 9)) - (2) The kernelof thishomomorphism is clearly the intersection of thekernels of thefour homomor- phismsdefining it, which is theset of elementsin G leavingall centercubies and all elementsof ED, ER, and EF fixed.Such a permutationmust leave thecube in its clean state,and is thusthe identity.Therefore, the homomorphism is injective and G is isomorphicto its image,a subgroup of TX Z4 X Z4X Z4. Next,we noticethat each generatorof theslice group acts as theidentity on twosets of edge cubies,as a 4-cycleon one set of edgecubies, and as a 4-cycleinside T, thegroup of motionsof the centers.Therefore, overall, each generatoracts as a productof twodisjoint 4-cycles, yielding an evenpermutation. It followsthat G is isomorphicto a subgroupof the even permutationsin T X Z4 X Z4 X Z4. We willshow that the image of G containsall sucheven permutations. (Note VOL. 58, NO. 4, SEPTEMBER 1985 213 This content downloaded from 65.206.22.38 on Mon, 19 May 2014 12:55:43 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions thatparity in T x Z4 X Z4 X Z4 is inheritedfrom S18, the groupof all permutationsof the 18 centerand edge cubies, of which T x Z4 X Z4 X Z4 is a subgroup.) Using(2), G can be identifiedas a subgroupof T x Z4 X Z4 X Z4, and T is theprojection onto thefirst coordinate of theproduct. Hence, ker T can onlycontain elements of theform (id, a, b, c) in T x Z4 X Z4 X Z4, witha + b + c evenfor the reasons discussed above. The followingmoves generatethe indicated elements: (i) RF-1DF (id,1, 1,0) (ii) RDFD-1 (id, 0, 1, 1) (iii) FDR-lD-lFD-lRD (id, 0, 0, 2). Rememberthat the last threecomponents of theseelements refer to thecyclic permutation of the edge cubiesin the D, R, and F planes,respectively.
Recommended publications
  • GROUP ACTIONS 1. Introduction the Groups Sn, An, and (For N ≥ 3)
    GROUP ACTIONS KEITH CONRAD 1. Introduction The groups Sn, An, and (for n ≥ 3) Dn behave, by their definitions, as permutations on certain sets. The groups Sn and An both permute the set f1; 2; : : : ; ng and Dn can be considered as a group of permutations of a regular n-gon, or even just of its n vertices, since rigid motions of the vertices determine where the rest of the n-gon goes. If we label the vertices of the n-gon in a definite manner by the numbers from 1 to n then we can view Dn as a subgroup of Sn. For instance, the labeling of the square below lets us regard the 90 degree counterclockwise rotation r in D4 as (1234) and the reflection s across the horizontal line bisecting the square as (24). The rest of the elements of D4, as permutations of the vertices, are in the table below the square. 2 3 1 4 1 r r2 r3 s rs r2s r3s (1) (1234) (13)(24) (1432) (24) (12)(34) (13) (14)(23) If we label the vertices in a different way (e.g., swap the labels 1 and 2), we turn the elements of D4 into a different subgroup of S4. More abstractly, if we are given a set X (not necessarily the set of vertices of a square), then the set Sym(X) of all permutations of X is a group under composition, and the subgroup Alt(X) of even permutations of X is a group under composition. If we list the elements of X in a definite order, say as X = fx1; : : : ; xng, then we can think about Sym(X) as Sn and Alt(X) as An, but a listing in a different order leads to different identifications 1 of Sym(X) with Sn and Alt(X) with An.
    [Show full text]
  • Mathematics of the Rubik's Cube
    Mathematics of the Rubik's cube Associate Professor W. D. Joyner Spring Semester, 1996{7 2 \By and large it is uniformly true that in mathematics that there is a time lapse between a mathematical discovery and the moment it becomes useful; and that this lapse can be anything from 30 to 100 years, in some cases even more; and that the whole system seems to function without any direction, without any reference to usefulness, and without any desire to do things which are useful." John von Neumann COLLECTED WORKS, VI, p. 489 For more mathematical quotes, see the first page of each chapter below, [M], [S] or the www page at http://math.furman.edu/~mwoodard/mquot. html 3 \There are some things which cannot be learned quickly, and time, which is all we have, must be paid heavily for their acquiring. They are the very simplest things, and because it takes a man's life to know them the little new that each man gets from life is very costly and the only heritage he has to leave." Ernest Hemingway (From A. E. Hotchner, PAPA HEMMINGWAY, Random House, NY, 1966) 4 Contents 0 Introduction 13 1 Logic and sets 15 1.1 Logic................................ 15 1.1.1 Expressing an everyday sentence symbolically..... 18 1.2 Sets................................ 19 2 Functions, matrices, relations and counting 23 2.1 Functions............................. 23 2.2 Functions on vectors....................... 28 2.2.1 History........................... 28 2.2.2 3 × 3 matrices....................... 29 2.2.3 Matrix multiplication, inverses.............. 30 2.2.4 Muliplication and inverses...............
    [Show full text]
  • An Algebraic Approach to the Weyl Groupoid
    An Algebraic Approach to the Weyl Groupoid Tristan Bice✩ Institute of Mathematics Czech Academy of Sciences Zitn´a25,ˇ 115 67 Prague, Czech Republic Abstract We unify the Kumjian-Renault Weyl groupoid construction with the Lawson- Lenz version of Exel’s tight groupoid construction. We do this by utilising only a weak algebraic fragment of the C*-algebra structure, namely its *-semigroup reduct. Fundamental properties like local compactness are also shown to remain valid in general classes of *-rings. Keywords: Weyl groupoid, tight groupoid, C*-algebra, inverse semigroup, *-semigroup, *-ring 2010 MSC: 06F05, 20M25, 20M30, 22A22, 46L05, 46L85, 47D03 1. Introduction 1.1. Background Renault’s groundbreaking thesis [Ren80] revealed the striking interplay be- tween ´etale groupoids and the C*-algebras they give rise to. Roughly speaking, the ´etale groupoid provides a more topological picture of the corresponding C*-algebra, with various key properties of the algebra, like nuclearity and sim- plicity (see [ADR00] and [CEP+19]), being determined in a straightforward way from the underlying ´etale groupoid. Naturally, this has led to the quest to find appropriate ´etale groupoid models for various C*-algebras. Two general methods have emerged for finding such models, namely arXiv:1911.08812v3 [math.OA] 20 Sep 2020 1. Exel’s tight groupoid construction from an inverse semigroup, and 2. Kumjian-Renault’s Weyl groupoid construction from a Cartan C*-subalgebra (see [Exe08], [Kum86] and [Ren08]). However, both of these have their limi- tations. For example, tight groupoids are always ample, which means the cor- responding C*-algebras always have lots of projections. On the other hand, the Weyl groupoid is always effective, which discounts many naturally arising groupoids.
    [Show full text]
  • A Class of Totally Geodesic Foliations of Lie Groups
    Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. (Math. Sci.), Vol. 100, No. 1, April 1990, pp. 57-64. ~2 Printed in India. A class of totally geodesic foliations of Lie groups G SANTHANAM School of Mathematics. Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Road, Bombay 400005, India MS received 4 October 1988; revised 25 May 1989 A~traet. This paper is devoted to classifying the foliations of G with leaves of the form .qKh - t where G is a compact, connected and simply connected L,c group and K is a connected closed subgroup of G such that G/K is a rank-I Riemannian symmetric space. In the case when G/K =S", the homotopy type of space of such foliations is also given. Keywords. Foliations; rank-I Riemannian symmetric space; cutlocus. I. Introduction The study of fibrations of spheres by great spheres is a very interesting problem in geometry and it is very important in the theory of Blaschke manifolds. In [l], Gluck and Warner have studied the great circle fibrations of the three spheres. In that paper they have proved very interesting results. When we look at the problem group theoretically, we see that all the results of [1] go through, for foliations of G with leaves of the form gKh- 1 where G is a compact, connected and simply connected Lie group and K is a connected closed subgroup of G such that G/K is a rank- l Riemannian symmetric space (see [-2]), except perhaps the theorem 3 for the pair (G, K) such that G/K=CP n, HP ~ etc.
    [Show full text]
  • Distortion of Dimension by Metric Space-Valued Sobolev Mappings Lecture II
    Distortion of dimension by metric space-valued Sobolev mappings Lecture II Jeremy Tyson University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Metric Spaces: Analysis, Embeddings into Banach Spaces, Applications Texas A&M University College Station, TX 8 July 2016 Outline Lecture I. Sobolev and quasiconformal mappings in Euclidean space Lecture II. Sobolev mappings between metric spaces Lecture III. Dimension distortion theorems for Sobolev and quasiconformal mappings defined from the sub-Riemannian Heisenberg group f homeo in Rn, n ≥ 2 Gehring metric QC ) analytic QC ) geometric QC modulus) estimates (local) QS f : X ! Y homeo between proper Q-regular mms satisfying Q-PI, Q > 1 0 metric QC HK=)98 QS f : X ! Y homeo between proper Q-regular mms 0 . geometric QC T(98 QS Motivation: quasiconformal mappings in metric spaces The theory of analysis in metric measure spaces originates in two papers of Juha Heinonen and Pekka Koskela: ‘Definitions of quasiconformality', Invent. Math., 1995 `QC maps in metric spaces of controlled geometry', Acta Math., 1998 The latter paper introduced the concept of p-Poincar´einequality on a metric measure space, which has become the standard axiom for first-order analysis. f : X ! Y homeo between proper Q-regular mms satisfying Q-PI, Q > 1 0 metric QC HK=)98 QS f : X ! Y homeo between proper Q-regular mms 0 . geometric QC T(98 QS Motivation: quasiconformal mappings in metric spaces The theory of analysis in metric measure spaces originates in two papers of Juha Heinonen and Pekka Koskela: ‘Definitions of quasiconformality', Invent. Math., 1995 `QC maps in metric spaces of controlled geometry', Acta Math., 1998 The latter paper introduced the concept of p-Poincar´einequality on a metric measure space, which has become the standard axiom for first-order analysis.
    [Show full text]
  • Graphs of Groups: Word Computations and Free Crossed Resolutions
    Graphs of Groups: Word Computations and Free Crossed Resolutions Emma Jane Moore November 2000 Summary i Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisors, Prof. Ronnie Brown and Dr. Chris Wensley, for their support and guidance over the past three years. I am also grateful to Prof. Tim Porter for helpful discussions on category theory. Many thanks to my family and friends for their support and encouragement and to all the staff and students at the School of Mathematics with whom I had the pleasure of working. Finally thanks to EPSRC who paid my fees and supported me financially. ii Contents Introduction 1 1 Groupoids 4 1.1 Graphs, Categories, and Groupoids .................... 4 1.1.1 Graphs ................................ 5 1.1.2 Categories and Groupoids ..................... 6 1.2 Groups to Groupoids ............................ 12 1.2.1 Examples and Properties of Groupoids .............. 12 1.2.2 Free Groupoid and Words ..................... 15 1.2.3 Normal Subgroupoids and Quotient Groupoids .......... 17 1.2.4 Groupoid Cosets and Transversals ................. 18 1.2.5 Universal Groupoids ........................ 20 1.2.6 Groupoid Pushouts and Presentations .............. 24 2 Graphs of Groups and Normal Forms 29 2.1 Fundamental Groupoid of a Graph of Groups .............. 29 2.1.1 Graph of Groups .......................... 30 2.1.2 Fundamental Groupoid ....................... 31 2.1.3 Fundamental Group ........................ 34 2.1.4 Normal Form ............................ 35 2.1.5 Examples .............................. 41 2.1.6 Graph of Groupoids ........................ 47 2.2 Implementation ............................... 49 2.2.1 Normal Form and Knuth Bendix Methods ............ 50 iii 2.2.2 Implementation and GAP4 Output ................ 54 3 Total Groupoids and Total Spaces 61 3.1 Cylinders .................................
    [Show full text]
  • Regular Representations and Coset Representations Combined with a Mirror-Permutation
    MATCH MATCH Commun. Math. Comput. Chem. 83 (2020) 65-84 Communications in Mathematical and in Computer Chemistry ISSN 0340 - 6253 Regular Representations and Coset Representations Combined with a Mirror-Permutation. Concordant Construction of the Mark Table and the USCI-CF Table of the Point Group Td Shinsaku Fujita Shonan Institute of Chemoinformatics and Mathematical Chemistry, Kaneko 479-7 Ooimachi, Ashigara-Kami-Gun, Kanagawa-Ken, 258-0019 Japan [email protected] (Received November 21, 2018) Abstract A combined-permutation representation (CPR) of degree 26 (= 24 + 2) for a regular representation (RR) of degree 24 is derived algebraically from a multiplica- tion table of the point group Td, where reflections are explicitly considered in the form of a mirror-permutation of degree 2. Thereby, the standard mark table and the standard USCI-CF table (unit-subduced-cycle-index-with-chirality-fittingness table) are concordantly generated by using the GAP functions MarkTableforUSCI and constructUSCITable, which have been developed by Fujita for the purpose of systematizing the concordant construction. A CPR for each coset representation (CR) (Gin)Td is obtained algebraically by means of the GAP function CosetRepCF developed by Fujita (Appendix A). On the other hand, CPRs for CRs are obtained geometrically as permutation groups by considering appropriate skeletons, where the point group Td acts on an orbit of jTdj=jGij positions to be equivalent in a given skeleton so as to generate the CPR of degree jTdj=jGij. An RR as a CPR is obtained by considering a regular body (RB), the jTdj positions of which are considered to be governed by RR (C1n)Td.
    [Show full text]
  • Affine Permutations and Rational Slope Parking Functions
    AFFINE PERMUTATIONS AND RATIONAL SLOPE PARKING FUNCTIONS EUGENE GORSKY, MIKHAIL MAZIN, AND MONICA VAZIRANI ABSTRACT. We introduce a new approach to the enumeration of rational slope parking functions with respect to the area and a generalized dinv statistics, and relate the combinatorics of parking functions to that of affine permutations. We relate our construction to two previously known combinatorial constructions: Haglund’s bijection ζ exchanging the pairs of statistics (area, dinv) and (bounce, area) on Dyck paths, and the Pak-Stanley labeling of the regions of k-Shi hyperplane arrangements by k-parking functions. Essentially, our approach can be viewed as a generalization and a unification of these two constructions. We also relate our combinatorial constructions to representation theory. We derive new formulas for the Poincar´epolynomials of certain affine Springer fibers and describe a connection to the theory of finite dimensional representations of DAHA and nonsymmetric Macdonald polynomials. 1. INTRODUCTION Parking functions are ubiquitous in the modern combinatorics. There is a natural action of the symmetric group on parking functions, and the orbits are labeled by the non-decreasing parking functions which correspond natu- rally to the Dyck paths. This provides a link between parking functions and various combinatorial objects counted by Catalan numbers. In a series of papers Garsia, Haglund, Haiman, et al. [18, 19], related the combinatorics of Catalan numbers and parking functions to the space of diagonal harmonics. There are also deep connections to the geometry of the Hilbert scheme. Since the works of Pak and Stanley [29], Athanasiadis and Linusson [5] , it became clear that parking functions are tightly related to the combinatorics of the affine symmetric group.
    [Show full text]
  • Affine Symmetric Group Joel Brewster Lewis¹*
    WikiJournal of Science, 2021, 4(1):3 doi: 10.15347/wjs/2021.003 Encyclopedic Review Article Affine symmetric group Joel Brewster Lewis¹* Abstract The affine symmetric group is a mathematical structure that describes the symmetries of the number line and the regular triangular tesselation of the plane, as well as related higher dimensional objects. It is an infinite extension of the symmetric group, which consists of all permutations (rearrangements) of a finite set. In addition to its geo- metric description, the affine symmetric group may be defined as the collection of permutations of the integers (..., −2, −1, 0, 1, 2, ...) that are periodic in a certain sense, or in purely algebraic terms as a group with certain gen- erators and relations. These different definitions allow for the extension of many important properties of the finite symmetric group to the infinite setting, and are studied as part of the fields of combinatorics and representation theory. Definitions Non-technical summary The affine symmetric group, 푆̃푛, may be equivalently Flat, straight-edged shapes (like triangles) or 3D ones defined as an abstract group by generators and rela- (like pyramids) have only a finite number of symme- tions, or in terms of concrete geometric and combina- tries. In contrast, the affine symmetric group is a way to torial models. mathematically describe all the symmetries possible when an infinitely large flat surface is covered by trian- gular tiles. As with many subjects in mathematics, it can Algebraic definition also be thought of in a number of ways: for example, it In terms of generators and relations, 푆̃푛 is generated also describes the symmetries of the infinitely long by a set number line, or the possible arrangements of all inte- gers (..., −2, −1, 0, 1, 2, ...) with certain repetitive pat- 푠 , 푠 , … , 푠 0 1 푛−1 terns.
    [Show full text]
  • The Enumeration of Fully Commutative Affine Permutations
    The enumeration of fully commutative affine permutations Christopher R. H. Hanusa, Brant C. Jones To cite this version: Christopher R. H. Hanusa, Brant C. Jones. The enumeration of fully commutative affine permutations. 23rd International Conference on Formal Power Series and Algebraic Combinatorics (FPSAC 2011), 2011, Reykjavik, Iceland. pp.457-468. hal-01215077 HAL Id: hal-01215077 https://hal.inria.fr/hal-01215077 Submitted on 13 Oct 2015 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. FPSAC 2011, Reykjav´ık, Iceland DMTCS proc. AO, 2011, 457–468 The enumeration of fully commutative affine permutations Christopher R. H. Hanusa1yand Brant C. Jones2z 1Department of Mathematics, Queens College (CUNY), NY, USA 2Department of Mathematics and Statistics, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, USA Abstract. We give a generating function for the fully commutative affine permutations enumerated by rank and Coxeter length, extending formulas due to Stembridge and Barcucci–Del Lungo–Pergola–Pinzani. For fixed rank, the length generating functions have coefficients that are periodic with period dividing the rank. In the course of proving these formulas, we obtain results that elucidate the structure of the fully commutative affine permutations.
    [Show full text]
  • 19. Automorphism Group of S Definition-Lemma 19.1. Let G Be A
    19. Automorphism group of Sn Definition-Lemma 19.1. Let G be a group. The automorphism group of G, denoted Aut(G), is the subgroup of A(Sn) of all automorphisms of G. Proof. We check that Aut(G) is closed under products and inverses. Suppose that φ and 2 Aut(G). Let ξ = φ ◦ . If g and h 2 G then ξ(gh) = (φ ◦ )(gh) = φ( (gh)) = φ( (g) (h)) = φ( (g))φ( (h)) = (φ ◦ )(g)(φ ◦ )(h) = ξ(g)ξ(h): Thus ξ = φ◦ is a group homomorphism. Thus Aut(G) is closed under products. Now let ξ = φ−1. If g and h 2 G then we can find g0 and h0 such that g = φ(g0) and h = φ(h0). It follows that ξ(gh) = ξ(φ(g0)φ(h0)) = ξ(φ(g0h0)) = g0h0 = ξ(g)ξ(h): Thus ξ = φ−1 is a group homomorphism. Thus Aut(G) is closed under inverses. Lemma 19.2. Let G be a group and let a 2 G. φa is the automorphism of G given by conjugation by a, φ(g) = aga−1. If a and b 2 G then φab = φaφb: Proof. Both sides are functions from G to G. We just need to check that they have the same effect on any element g of G: (φa ◦ φb)(g) = φa(φb(g)) −1 = φa(bgb ) = a(bgb−1)a−1 = (ab)g(ab)−1 = φab(g): 1 Definition-Lemma 19.3. We say that an automorphism φ of G is inner if φ = φa for some a.
    [Show full text]
  • The Affine Group I. Bruhat Decomposition*
    CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Elsevier - Publisher Connector JOURNAL OF ALGEBRA 20, 512-539 (1972) The Affine Group I. Bruhat Decomposition* LOUIS SOLOMON Department of Mathematics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 Received March 22,1971 TO PROFESSOR RICHARD BRAUER, TO COMMEMORATE HIS SEVENTIETH BIRTHDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1971 1. INTRODUCTION Let G be a finite group with (B, N) pair. Iwahori [6, 7] has shown that the double coset algebra defined by the subgroup B of G has a set Sl , ... , Sn of distinguished generators and an irreducible character sgn of degree one such that sgn(Si) = -1 for i = 1, ... , n. The double centralizer theory sets up a one to one correspondence between irreducible characters of the double coset algebra and irreducible characters of G which appear in the permutation character afforded by G/B. In particular, sgn corresponds to the Steinberg character of G. It seems [11, Theorem 1] that the existence of the sgn character is a general fact of combinatorics. One can associate with a finite incidence structure E an associative algebra C [11] which has a set Y1 , ... , Yn of distinguished generators. Under mild hypotheses, C has a character of degree one, called sgn, such that sgn(Yi) = -1 for i = 1, ... , n. In case E is the Tits geometry [13] or building defined by a finite group G with (B, N) pair, Iwahori's work shows that C is isomorphic to the double coset algebra [4, 12] defined by the subgroup B of G. Under this isomorphism Yi corresponds to Si' In this paper we study the same circle of ideas in case E is affine geometry of dimension n over a finite field K = Fq • We shall see that C is isomorphic to the double coset algebra defined by a certain subgroup B of the affine group G.
    [Show full text]