Hessenberg varieties and hyperplane arrangements

Given a semisimple complex linear algebraic group {{G}} and a lower ideal I in positive roots of G, three objects arise: the ideal arrangement {\mathcal{A}_{I}}, the regular nilpotent Hessenberg variety {\operatorname{Hess}(N,I)}, and the regular semisimple Hessenberg variety {\operatorname{Hess}(S,I)}. We show that a certain graded ring derived from the logarithmic derivation module of {\mathcal{A}_{I}} is isomorphic to {H^{*}(\operatorname{Hess}(N,I))} and {H^{*}(\operatorname{Hess}(S,I))^{W}}, the invariants in {H^{*}(\operatorname{Hess}(S,I))} under an action of the Weyl group W of G. This isomorphism is shown for general Lie type, and generalizes Borel’s celebrated theorem showing that the coinvariant algebra of W is isomorphic to the cohomology ring of the flag variety {G/B}.This surprising connection between Hessenberg varieties and hyperplane arrangements enables us to produce a number of interesting consequences. For instance, the surjectivity of the restriction map {H^{*}(G/B)\to H^{*}(\operatorname{Hess}(N,I))} announced by Dale Peterson and an affirmative answer to a conjecture of Sommers and Tymoczko are immediate consequences. We also give an explicit ring presentation of {H^{*}(\operatorname{Hess}(N,I))} in types B, C, and G. Such a presentation was already known in type A and when {\operatorname{Hess}(N,I)} is the Peterson variety. Moreover, we find the volume polynomial of {\operatorname{Hess}(N,I)} and see that the hard Lefschetz property and the Hodge–Riemann relations hold for {\operatorname{Hess}(N,I)}, despite the fact that it is a singular variety in general.

The Cohomology Rings of Regular Nilpotent Hessenberg Varieties in Lie Type A

Let $n$ be a fixed positive integer and $h: \{1,2,\ldots,n\} \rightarrow \{1,2,\ldots,n\}$ a Hessenberg function. The main results of this paper are two-fold. First, we give a systematic method, depending in a simple manner on the Hessenberg function $h$, for producing an explicit presentation by generators and relations of the cohomology ring $H^\ast({\mathrm{Hess}}(\mathsf{N},h))$ with ${\mathbb Q}$ coefficients of the corresponding regular nilpotent Hessenberg variety ${\mathrm{Hess}}(\mathsf{N},h)$. Our result generalizes known results in special cases such as the Peterson variety and also allows us to answer a question posed by Mbirika and Tymoczko. Moreover, our list of generators in fact forms a regular sequence, allowing us to use techniques from commutative algebra in our arguments. Our second main result gives an isomorphism between the cohomology ring $H^*({\mathrm{Hess}}(\mathsf{N},h))$ of the regular nilpotent Hessenberg variety and the $\mathfrak{S}_n$-invariant subring $H^*({\mathrm{Hess}}(\mathsf{S},h))^{\mathfrak{S}_n}$ of the cohomology ring of the regular semisimple Hessenberg variety (with respect to the $\mathfrak{S}_n$-action on $H^*({\mathrm{Hess}}(\mathsf{S},h))$ defined by Tymoczko). Our second main result implies that $\mathrm{dim}_{{\mathbb Q}} H^k({\mathrm{Hess}}(\mathsf{N},h)) = \mathrm{dim}_{{\mathbb Q}} H^k({\mathrm{Hess}}(\mathsf{S},h))^{\mathfrak{S}_n}$ for all $k$ and hence partially proves the Shareshian–Wachs conjecture in combinatorics, which is in turn related to the well-known Stanley–Stembridge conjecture. A proof of the full Shareshian–Wachs conjecture was recently given by Brosnan and Chow, and independently by Guay–Paquet, but in our special case, our methods yield a stronger result (i.e., an isomorphism of rings) by more elementary considerations. This article provides detailed proofs of results we recorded previously in a research announcement [2].

Poset Pinball, the Dimension Pair Algorithm, and Type A Regular Nilpotent Hessenberg Varieties

We develop the theory of poset pinball, a combinatorial game introduced by Harada-Tymoczko to study the equivariant cohomology ring of a GKM-compatible subspace X of a GKM space; Harada and Tymoczko also prove that, in certain circumstances, a successful outcome of Betti poset pinball yields a module basis for the equivariant cohomology ring of X. First we define the dimension pair algorithm, which yields a successful outcome of Betti poset pinball for any type A regular nilpotent Hessenberg and any type A nilpotent Springer variety, considered as GKM-compatible subspaces of the flag variety. The algorithm is motivated by a correspondence between Hessenberg affine cells and certain Schubert polynomials which we learned from Insko. Second, in a special case of regular nilpotent Hessenberg varieties, we prove that our pinball outcome is poset-upper-triangular, and hence the corresponding classes form a HS1*(pt)-module basis for the S1-equivariant cohomology ring of the Hessenberg variety.