Perforated tableaux: a combinatorial model for crystal graphs in type \(A_{n - 1}\) (Q6090809)

Crystal graphs are combinatorial objects that can be seen as the analogues of representations of Lie algebras; they were introduced in the early 1990s by Lusztig and Kashiwara. Many important algorithms in the combinatorics of, say, tableaux, can be understood in terms of crystals. Additionally, many aspects in the representation theory of Lie algebras, including their computational ones, can be better studied using the combinatorics of crystals. Perforated tableaux are introduced to study type \(A_{n-1}\) crystals: they are defined as rectangular arrays containing concatenated horizontal strips of positive integers and blank boxes, called perforations, such that the content in non-blank entries weakly increases from left to right and strictly increases from top to bottom; entire rows of blanks are allowed but entire columns of blanks are not. A first hint of the usefulness of this class of tableaux is that they unify several previously studied combinatorial models. A combinatorial model for a crystal graph is a set of objects used as vertices of the graph so that one can define crystal operators \(e_i\) and \(f_j\) on such objects in terms of combinatorial rules. Often, one can compute multiplicities by enumerating some set of combinatorial objects. The overall goal of such models is to gain some insight into the operations involved, and potentially to simplify computations. For example, it is shown how to obtain easily-defined bijections between perforated tableau and other well-studied combinatorial models, and to explain why the ptableau model may have many advantages over the others. In the case under consideration, i.e. type \(A_{n-1}\), the vertices of the crystal graph are identified with length \(k\) words in \([n]=\{1,\ldots,n\}\) as belonging to the \(k\)-fold tensor product of the standard crystal. In this case, further, the crystal operators \(e_i\) and \(f_j\) are more simply defined and one can identify the highest weights visually, without any complicated computation. Crystal graphs enjoy several symmetries. One that has been extensively studied is the Lusztig Involution. The authors relate ``evacuation'', i.e. Lusztig involution, to products of ptableaux crystal operators, and then find a combinatorial algorithm to compute commutators of highest weight ptableaux. To compute Littlewood-Richardson coefficients \(c_{\mu\nu}^\lambda\) combinatorially, one must employ a different combinatorial model. Classically, this is achieved by enumerating Littlewood-Richardson fillings of skew shape \(\lambda/\mu\) with content \(\nu\). Hence, in the setting of \([n]^{\otimes k}\), it is used one class of objects, the semistandard Young tableaux, to build representative models of crystals, but to analyze tensor products, one needs to build a different model (fillings of skew shapes). The authors show that by using ptableaux, one can accomplish both tasks simultaneously. A series of combinatorial algorithms for computing with the highest weight elements in ptableaux crystals are presented in detail. These results show how to connect crystal operators on perforated tableaux to well-known algorithms, including the Schützenberger evacuation and the tableau switching of [\textit{G. Benkart} et al. [J. Comb. Theory, Ser. A 76, No. 1, 11--43 (1996; Zbl 0858.05099)]. The basis for these connections relies on that the Schützenberger evacuation map can be factored as a product of ptableaux crystal operators. See also [\textit{S. Narisawa} and \textit{K. Shirayanagi} [Commun. Algebra 52, No. 1, 16--47 (2024; Zbl 1530.05192); \textit{H. Watanabe}, J. Algebr. Comb. 58, No. 1, 183--230 (2023; Zbl 1518.05205); \textit{J. S. Kim} et al., Weight multiplicities and Young tableaux through affine crystals. Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society (AMS) (2023; Zbl 1520.17001); \textit{G. D. Appleby} and \textit{T. Whitehead}, ``Perforated tableaux in type \(A_{n-1}\) crystal graphs and the RSK correspondence'', Preprint, \url{arXiv:2209.13633}; \textit{C. Lenart} and \textit{A. Schultze}, Sémin. Lothar. Comb. 85B, Article 20, 13 p. (2021; Zbl 1505.05158); \textit{G. Frieden}, Adv. Math. 392, Article ID 108000, 71 p. (2021; Zbl 1489.17009); \textit{C. Briggs} et al., ``On combinatorial models for affine crystals'', Preprint, \url{arXiv:2109.12199}; \textit{V. Genz} et al., Sel. Math., New Ser. 27, No. 4, Paper No. 67, 45 p. (2021; Zbl 1508.17012); \textit{I. Rodrigues}, Sémin. Lothar. Comb. 84B, Article 51, 12 p. (2020; Zbl 1447.05232); \textit{S.-I. Choi} et al., J. Korean Math. Soc. 56, No. 4, 947--984 (2019; Zbl 1423.05193)].