English

Kostant's partition function and magic multiplex juggling sequences

Combinatorics 2022-04-18 v3

Abstract

Kostant's partition function is a vector partition function that counts the number of ways one can express a weight of a Lie algebra g\mathfrak{g} as a nonnegative integral linear combination of the positive roots of g\mathfrak{g}. Multiplex juggling sequences are generalizations of juggling sequences that specify an initial and terminal configuration of balls and allow for multiple balls at any particular discrete height. Magic multiplex juggling sequences generalize further to include magic balls, which cancel with standard balls when they meet at the same height. In this paper, we establish a combinatorial equivalence between positive roots of a Lie algebra and throws during a juggling sequence. This provides a juggling framework to calculate Kostant's partition functions, and a partition function framework to compute the number of juggling sequences. From this equivalence we provide a broad range of consequences and applications connecting this work to polytopes, posets, positroids, and weight multiplicities.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2001.03219,
  title  = {Kostant's partition function and magic multiplex juggling sequences},
  author = {Carolina Benedetti and Christopher R. H. Hanusa and Pamela E. Harris and Alejandro H. Morales and Anthony Simpson},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2001.03219},
  year   = {2022}
}

Comments

27 pages, 9 figures, 1 table, v3 minor change fixing an error in the last figure

R2 v1 2026-06-23T13:07:29.824Z