Chamber behavior of double Hurwitz numbers in genus 0

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Publication:2461783



Abstract: We study double Hurwitz numbers in genus zero counting the number of covers CP1oCP1 with two branching points with a given branching behavior. By the recent result due to Goulden, Jackson and Vakil, these numbers are piecewise polynomials in the multiplicities of the preimages of the branching points. We describe the partition of the parameter space into polynomiality domains, called chambers, and provide an expression for the difference of two such polynomials for two neighboring chambers. Besides, we provide an explicit formula for the polynomial in a certain chamber called totally negative, which enables us to calculate double Hurwitz numbers in any given chamber as the polynomial for the totally negative chamber plus the sum of the differences between the neighboring polynomials along a path connecting the totally negative chamber with the given one.


The topic of the paper under review is the study of genus \(0\) double Hurwitz numbers. For two partitions \(\lambda,\mu\) of the same integer \(d\), the double Hurwitz number \(h_{0;\lambda,\mu}\) is the number of non-isomorphic degree \(d\) coverings of the sphere by a sphere, with branching corresponding to \(\lambda\) (resp., \(\mu\)) over \(0\) (resp., \(\infty)\) and an appropriate number of fixed simple branch points. Double Hurwitz numbers for every genus \(g\) were studied by \textit{I.~P.~Goulden, D.~M.~Jackson} and \textit{R.~Vakil} [Adv. Math. 198, No. 1, 43--92 (2005; Zbl 1086.14022)]. There it was proved that if the length \(m\) of \(\lambda\) and \(n\) of \(\mu\) is fixed, double Hurwitz numbers are piecewise polynomials in the variables \(\lambda_1,\dots,\lambda_m,\mu_1,\dots,\mu_n\). Moreover, for genus \(0\) this piecewise polynomial is homogeneous of degree \(m+n-3\). In the article under review, it is explained how these polynomials can be computed for fixed \(m,n\). The authors consider the parameter space for \(h_{0;m,n}\), i.e. the subset of \(\mathbb R^{m+n}\) on which \(h_{0;m,n}\) is defined, and divide it into the polynomiality domains, called chambers. An explicit description of the hyperplanes separating the chambers is given, as well as a formula describing how \(h_{0;m,n}\) varies between neighbouring chambers. Together with an expression for a special chamber called totally negative, these formulas enable to compute all Hurwitz numbers \(h_{0;m,n}\) by recurrence.




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