Basis shape loci and the positive Grassmannian

arXiv1904.13361MaRDI QIDQ6318014FDOQ6318014

Authors: Cameron Marcott 

Publication date: 30 April 2019

Abstract: A basis shape locus takes as input data a zero/nonzero pattern in an $nimesk$ matrix, which is equivalent to a presentation of a transversal matroid. The locus is defined as the set of points in the Grassmannian of $k$ planes in $mathbb{R}^n$ which are the row space of a matrix with the prescribed zero/nonzero pattern. We show that this locus depends only on the transversal matroid, not on the specific presentation. When a transversal matroid is a positroid, the closure of its basis shape locus is the associated positroid variety. We give a sufficient, and conjecturally necessary, condition for when a transversal matroid is a positroid. Finally, we discus applications to two programs for computing scattering amplitudes in $mathcalN=4$ SYM theory: one trying to prove that projections of certain positroid cells triangulate the amplituhedron, and another using Wilson loop diagrams.

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Grassmannians, Schubert varieties, flag manifolds (14M15) Combinatorial aspects of matroids and geometric lattices (05B35) Algebraic combinatorics (05E99)

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