Cartan determinants for gentle algebras. (Q2572940)

For any field one defines special biserial algebras as a quiver algebra modulo relations, subject to some very easily stated and quite natural conditions on the quiver and on the relations. Gentle algebras were defined by Assem and Skowroński as special biserial algebras with respect to some minimality conditions on the relations. They proved to be a rich family having quite striking properties. In particular stable endomorphism rings of modules without self-extension over a special biserial algebra are gentle as was shown by Schröer and the reviewer. Bobiński, Geiß and Skowroński classified recently the one-cycle gentle algebras up to derived equivalence. These are precisely those with discrete derived category, as was shown by Vossieck. In the paper under review the author gives an explicit completely combinatorial formula for the determinant of the Cartan matrix of a gentle algebra. The method of proof is a very detailed and careful analysis of the behaviour of the Cartan determinant in case one removes an arrow from a cycle in the quiver. The Cartan determinant is an invariant of the derived category.