Hexagon

Submitted works

math.CO — Combinatorics

Collapsibility of Alexander duals for shade maps

Contributed by Darij Grinberg

Let $E$ be a nonempty finite set. A shade map on $E$ is a map $T:\mathcal{P}(E)\rightarrow\mathcal{P}(E)$ such that toggling an element $u\notin T(F)$ in the input $F$ does not change $T(F)$ . We prove that, if $T$ is an inclusion-reversing shade map and $G\subseteq E$ , then the simplicial complex \[ \{F\subseteq E\mid G\subseteq T(F)\} \] is collapsible. Equivalently, if $S$ is an inclusion-preserving shade map, then the Alexander dual of \[ \{F\subseteq E\mid G\not \subseteq S(F)\} \] is collapsible. This is an Alexander-dual companion to the shade-map collapsibility theorem in \emph{The Elser nuclei sum revisited}. The proof first matches all faces on which $T(F)\neq E$ by a toggle. The remaining faces, characterized by $T(F)=E$ , form the free convex set complex of an associated antimatroidal quasi-closure operator. We give a self-contained recursive acyclic matching on this complex. For ordinary convex geometries, Korte--Lovász--Schrader prove the stronger fact that the free convex set system is non-evasive.

A mix of human-written and AI-generated textHuman understanding: all partsantimatroidsconvex geometriesdiscrete Morse theorygraphssimplicial complexes

Sep 30, 2026PDF ↗View work →

hexagon:2609.00137v1

math.CO — Combinatorics

On a non-basis of the coinvariant algebra

Contributed by Darij Grinberg

A conjecture arising from a question of Procesi proposes a basis of the coinvariant algebra of $S_n$ consisting of column-antisymmetrized monomials indexed by pairs of standard Young tableaux. We show that the proposed family need not even span an $S_n$ -subrepresentation: for $n=8$ , a generator of degree $15$ is sent outside the span by the adjacent transposition $(4,5)$ . The proof is an exact finite computation with an explicit separating functional, requiring neither a rank computation nor Gr\"obner reduction. We also retain an explicit relation for $n=7$ , where the basis assertion first fails, although the span is still invariant.

A mix of human-written and AI-generated textHuman understanding: all partsSpecht modulesYoung tableauxcoinvariant algebrahigher Specht polynomialsrepresentations of the symmetric group

Sep 29, 2026PDF ↗View work →

hexagon:2609.00133v1

math.RA — Rings and Algebras

A Universal Noncommutative Splitting Algebra for Polynomials

Contributed by Darij Grinberg

Let $R$ be a commutative ring. We show that every homogeneous polynomial $f\in R[x_{1},\ldots,x_{m}]$ of degree $n$ splits into a product of $n$ homogeneous linear forms over a suitable noncommutative ring extension $S$ of $R$ (that is, over a noncommutative $R$ -algebra $S$ whose structure morphism $R\rightarrow S$ is injective). The algebra $S$ is universal for such factorizations and is free as an $R$ -module. The proof uses Bergman's Diamond Lemma: we define $S$ by generators and relations, and the relations form a terminating reduction system that has no ambiguities and thus is confluent. An analogous result is also shown for inhomogeneous polynomials (with inhomogeneous factors). This easily follows from the homogeneous case by homogenizing and then setting the homogenizing variable equal to $1$ .

A mix of human-written and AI-generated textHuman understanding: all partsBergman's diamond lemmaGröbner basescombinatorial algebranoncommutative polynomials

Sep 29, 2026PDF ↗View work →

hexagon:2609.00135v1

math.CO — Combinatorics

A counterexample to the Burman--Kulishov conjecture on Lie elements

Contributed by Darij Grinberg

Burman and Kulishov defined Lie elements in the group algebra $\mathbf k[S_n]$ by comparing, on every exterior power of the reflection representation $V$ , the usual action of $\mathbf k[S_n]$ with the infinitesimal action induced by its action on $V$ . They conjectured that the Lie algebra $\mathcal L_n$ of all Lie elements is generated by the Kirchhoff differences $1-(ij)$ . We disprove this conjecture for $n=4$ by exhibiting an explicit counterexample arising from the $(2,2)$ -block of $\mathbf k[S_4]$ . More generally, we describe $\mathcal L_n$ in terms of the Artin--Wedderburn decomposition of $\mathbf k[S_n]$ : its hook blocks are determined by the action on $V$ , whereas its non-hook blocks are arbitrary. Consequently, the primitive central idempotents of the non-hook blocks yield linearly independent obstructions to the conjecture. We also identify the Lie algebra generated by the Kirchhoff differences in terms of the derived algebra of the Lie algebra generated by transpositions. Along the way, we give an integral, and hence characteristic-free, proof that the exterior powers of $V$ are the hook-shaped Specht modules.

A mix of human-written and AI-generated textHuman understanding: all partsLie algebrasymmetric group algebrasymmetric group representations

Sep 29, 2026PDF ↗View work →

hexagon:2609.00121v1

math.AC — Commutative Algebra

Polynomials over Symmetric Polynomials

Contributed by Darij Grinberg

Let $\mathbf{k}$ be a commutative ring, and let the symmetric group $\mathfrak{S}_{n}$ act on $P=\mathbf{k}\left[ x_{1} ,x_{2},\ldots,x_{n} \right] $ by permuting the variables. We prove four results that are known (at least in the case when $\mathbf{k}$ is a field) but not easily found in the literature. First, the coinvariant algebra (the quotient of $P$ by the ideal generated by the symmetric polynomials with constant term $0$ ) is a free $\mathbf{k}$ -module of rank $n!$ , with the residue classes of the Artin monomials as a basis. Second, $P$ is a free module of rank $n!$ over the ring $P^{\mathfrak{S}_{n}}$ of symmetric polynomials, again with the Artin monomials as a basis. Third, if $n!$ is invertible in $\mathbf{k}$ , the coinvariant algebra is the regular $\mathbf{k}\left[ \mathfrak{S}_{n} \right] $-module. Fourth, under the same hypothesis, $P$ is a free left $P^{\mathfrak{S}_{n}}\left[ \mathfrak{S}_{n} \right]$ -module of rank $1$ . The first result follows from an elementary normal-form lemma for monic polynomials with pairwise relatively prime leading monomials. The second is proved by lifting the Artin basis. For the third, we use orbit harmonics with a strongly discrete point orbit, and the fourth follows by equivariantly lifting a regular basis of the coinvariant algebra.

A mix of human-written and AI-generated textHuman understanding: all partsArtin basisGröbner basescoinvariant algebraorbit harmonicssymmetric polynomials

Sep 28, 2026PDF ↗View work →

hexagon:2609.00118v1

math.CO — Combinatorics

A counterexample to ordering-independence for chromatic operators

Contributed by Darij Grinberg

We give a $10$ -vertex counterexample to a conjecture of Pawlowski asserting that the characteristic polynomial of a chromatic operator associated with a forest is independent of the ordering of its edges. The two operators already have different traces of fifth powers.

Primarily AI-generated textHuman understanding: all partsGraph coloringSpecht modulessymmetric group algebra

Sep 28, 2026PDF ↗View work →

hexagon:2609.00117v1

math.AC — Commutative Algebra

Splitting a Polynomial into Linear Factors after an Injective Ring Extension

Contributed by Darij Grinberg

We show that each univariate polynomial $P = p_0 + p_1 X + \cdots + p_m X^m \in R[X]$ over a commutative ring $R$ can be factored into linear factors over a suitable commutative ring extension $S$ of $R$ . The proof proceeds by universal construction: $S$ is defined as the tensor product $R \otimes_{C_m} B_m$ , where $B_m$ is the polynomial ring $\ZZ[a_1, b_1, a_2, b_2, \ldots, a_m, b_m]$, and where $C_m$ is its subring generated by its ``homogenized elementary symmetric polynomials'' $E_r=\sum_{\substack{I\subseteq [m];\\ |I|=r}} \prod_{i\in I}a_i\prod_{i\notin I}b_i$ for all $0 \leq r \leq m$ . The injectivity of the structure homomorphism $R \to S$ is deduced from a combinatorial study of the diagonal subring of $B_m$ . In the process, a homogeneous variant of the Garsia--Stanton basis is constructed, and some classical properties of symmetric polynomials are recovered.

A mix of human-written and AI-generated textHuman understanding: all parts

Sep 28, 2026PDF ↗View work →

hexagon:2609.00116v1

math.CO — Combinatorics

A Counterexample to a Conjecture on Fused Specht Polynomials

Contributed by Darij Grinberg

Lafay, Peltola and Roussillon conjectured that their realization of simple modules of the fused Hecke algebra by fused Specht polynomials extends from Young diagrams with two columns to Young diagrams of arbitrary shape. We give a counterexample for \[ n=8,\qquad \lambda=(3,2,2,1),\qquad \varsigma=(2,2,2,2). \] More precisely, we exhibit an explicit linear dependence among three fused Specht polynomials indexed by row-strict Young tableaux. The same example also yields an infinite family of counterexamples.

Primarily AI-generated textHuman understanding: some partsSpecht modulesSpecht polynomialsYoung tableaux

Sep 28, 2026PDF ↗View work →