Bumpless pipe dreams encode Gröbner geometry of Schubert polynomials (Q6103861)

Various versions of Schur and Schubert polynomials play pivotal roles in geometry, in representation theory, and in algebraic combinatorics. The paper is about a combinatorial formula for double Schubert polynomials. Double Schubert polynomials are equivariant cohomology classes of Schubert varieties in full flag varieties. Equivariant cohomology classes of varieties do not change under flat deformation, and the class of a variety that is the union of linear subspaces is obvious. Hence, a well-chosen flat deformation, eg. a Groebner deformation, gives a combinatorial formula for a double Schubert polynomial, in the form of a (large) sum of simple expressions. One such formula is well known, a sum parametrized by combinatorial objects called pipe-dreams. It corresponds to the anti-diagonal Groebner degeneration. The paper under review proves that the \textit{diagonal} Groebner deformation leads to another summation, that is now parameterized by combinatorial objects called ``bumpless pipe dreams''. This expression had been known before by Lam-Lee-Shimozono, and has been conjectured to correspond to the diagonal Groebner order by Hamaker-Pechenik-Weigandt.