Dimers on surface graphs and spin structures. I (Q2384774)

Let \(\Gamma\) be a finite connected graph. A perfect matching on \(\Gamma\) is a choice of edges of \(\Gamma\) such that each vertex of \(\Gamma\) is adjacent to exactly one of these edges. The edges of the perfect matching are called dimers. Partition functions for dimers on closed oriented surfaces are known to be alternating sums of Pfaffians of Kasteleyn matrices. In this paper the formula for the coefficients in terms of discrete spin structures is obtained.