Related papers: Counting surface branched covers
In this paper we investigate the following existence problem for rational functions: for a given collection $\Pi$ of partitions of a number $n$ to define whether there exists a rational function $f$ of degree $n$ for which $\Pi$ is the…
The natural automorphism group of a translation surface is its group of translations. For finite translation surfaces of genus g > 1 the order of this group is naturally bounded in terms of g due to a Riemann-Hurwitz formula argument. In…
Edge-contraction operations form an effective tool in various graph enumeration problems, such as counting Grothendieck's dessins d'enfants and simple and double Hurwitz numbers. These counting problems can be solved by a mechanism known as…
We investigate the combinatorics of real double Hurwitz numbers with real positive branch points using the symmetric group. Our main focus is twofold. First, we prove correspondence theorems relating these numbers to counts of tropical real…
We consider special series in ratios of the Schur functions which are defined by integers $\textsc{f}\ge 0$ and $\textsc{e} \le 2$, and also by the set of $3k$ parameters $n_i,q_i,t_i,\,i=1,..., k$. These series may be presented in form of…
In this paper, we study a problem that is in a sense a reversal of the Hurwitz counting problem. The Hurwitz problem asks: for a generic target -- $\mathbb P^1$ with a list of $n$ points $q_1,\dots,q_n\in \mathbb P^1$ -- and partitions…
Hurwitz numbers count ramified covers of a Riemann surface with prescribed monodromy. As such, they are purely combinatorial objects. Tautological classes, on the other hand, are distinguished classes in the intersection ring of the moduli…
Interpreting the number of ramified covering of a Riemann surface by Riemann surfaces as the relative Gromov-Witten invariants and applying a gluing formula, we derive a recursive formula for the number of ramified covering of a Riemann…
A well-known and difficult problem in computational number theory and algebraic geometry is to write down equations for branched covers of algebraic curves with specified monodromy type. In this article, we present a technique for computing…
Choose a polynomial in three variables with not more than three or four monomials of moderate degree. Take simple coefficients as 1 and -1. Then draw a picture of the solution variety in real three space using a ray-tracing program like…
Double Hurwitz numbers enumerate branched covers of $\mathbb{CP}^1$ with prescribed ramification over two points and simple ramification elsewhere. In contrast to the single case, their underlying geometry is not well understood. In…
Hurwitz theory provides a large variety of enumerative problems related to algebraic geometry, mathematical physics, and combinatorics. We give a general framework to approach the large genus asymptotics of Hurwitz theory using only…
We define a new Hurwitz problem which is essentially a small core of the simple Hurwitz problem. The corresponding Hurwitz numbers have simpler formulae, satisfy effective recursion relations and determine the simple Hurwitz numbers. We…
We construct branched double coverings by certain direct products of manifolds for connected sums of copies of sphere bundles over the 2-sphere. As an application we answer a question of Kotschick and Loeh up to dimension five. More…
Double Hurwitz numbers enumerating weighted $n$-sheeted branched coverings of the Riemann sphere or, equivalently, weighted paths in the Cayley graph of $S_n$ generated by transpositions are determined by an associated weight generating…
In this paper we consider an elementary, and largely unexplored, combinatorial problem in low-dimensional topology. Consider a real 2-dimensional compact surface $S$, and fix a number of points $F$ on its boundary. We ask: how many…
We present a complex matrix gauge model defined on an arbitrary two-dimensional orientable lattice. We rewrite the model's partition function in terms of a sum over representations of the group U(N). The model solves the general…
We derive a closed-form expression for all genus 1 Hurwitz numbers, and give a simple new graph-theoretic interpretation of Hurwitz numbers in genus 0 and 1. (Hurwitz numbers essentially count irreducible genus g covers of the sphere, with…
We define the double Gromov-Witten invariants of Hirzebruch surfaces in analogy with double Hurwitz numbers, and we prove that they satisfy a piecewise polynomiality property analogous to their 1-dimensional counterpart. Furthermore we show…
We solve the Hurwitz monodromy problem for degree-4 covers. That is, the Hurwitz space H_{4,g} of all simply branched covers of P^1 of degree 4 and genus g is an unramified cover of the space P_{2g+6} of (2g+6)-tuples of distinct points in…