Clifford Algebra Unveils a Surprising Geometric Significance of Quaternionic Root Systems of Coxeter Groups

Quaternionic representations of Coxeter (reflection) groups of ranks 3 and 4, as well as those of E ₈, have been used extensively in the literature. The present paper analyses such Coxeter groups in the Clifford Geometric Algebra framework, which affords a simple way of performing reflections and rotations whilst exposing more clearly the underlying geometry. The Clifford approach shows that the quaternionic representations in fact have very simple geometric interpretations. The representations of the groups A ₁ × A ₁ × A ₁, A ₃, B ₃ and H ₃ of rank 3 in terms of pure quaternions are shown to be simply the Hodge dualised root vectors, which determine the reflection planes of the Coxeter groups. Two successive reflections result in a rotation, described by the geometric product of the two reflection vectors, giving a Clifford spinor. The spinors for the rank-3 groups A ₁ × A ₁ × A ₁, A ₃, B ₃ and H ₃ yield a new simple construction of binary polyhedral groups. These in turn generate the groups A ₁ × A ₁ × A ₁ × A ₁, D ₄, F ₄ and H ₄ of rank 4 and their widely used quaternionic representations are shown to be spinors in disguise. Therefore, the Clifford geometric product in fact induces the rank-4 groups from the rank-3 groups. In particular, the groups D ₄, F ₄ and H ₄ are exceptional structures, which our study sheds new light on. IPPP/12/26, DCPT/12/52     

A subalgebra of 0-Hecke algebra

Let (W,I) be a finite Coxeter group. In the case where W is a Weyl group, Berenstein and Kazhdan in [A. Berenstein, D. Kazhdan, Geometric and unipotent crystals. II. From unipotent bicrystals to crystal bases, in: Quantum Groups, in: Contemp. Math., vol. 433, Amer. Math. Soc., Providence, RI, 2007, pp. 13–88] constructed a monoid structure on the set of all subsets of I using unipotent χ-linear bicrystals. In this paper, we will generalize this result to all types of finite Coxeter groups (including non-crystallographic types). Our approach is more elementary, based on some combinatorics of Coxeter groups. Moreover, we will calculate this monoid structure explicitly for each type.     

Super-Clifford Gravity,Higher Spins,Generalized Supergeometry and Much More

An extended Orthogonal-Symplectic Clifford Algebraic formalism is developed which allows the novel construction of a graded Clifford gauge field theory of gravity. It has a direct relationship to higher spin gauge fields, bimetric gravity, antisymmetric metrics and biconnections. In one particular case it allows a plausible mechanism to cancel the cosmological constant contribution to the action. The possibility of embedding these Orthogonal-Symplectic Clifford algebras into an infinite dimensional algebra, coined Super-Clifford Algebra is described. Finally, some physical applications of the geometry of Super-Clifford spaces to Generalized Supergeometries, Double Field Theories, U-duality, 11D supergravity, M-theory, and E ₇, E ₈, E ₁₁ algebras are outlined.     

Maximal subgroups of the Coxeter group W(H4) and quaternions

The largest finite subgroup of O(4) is the non-crystallographic Coxeter group W(H₄) of order 14,400. Its derived subgroup is the largest finite subgroup W(H₄)/Z₂ of SO(4) of order 7200. Moreover, up to conjugacy, it has five non-normal maximal subgroups of orders 144, two 240, 400 and 576. Two groups [W(H₂) × W(H₂)] ⋊ Z₄ and W(H₃) × Z₂ possess non-crystallographic structures with orders 400 and 240 respectively. The groups of orders 144, 240 and 576 are the extensions of the Weyl groups of the root systems of SU(3) × SU(3), SU(5) and SO(8) respectively. We represent the maximal subgroups of W(H₄) with sets of quaternion pairs acting on the quaternionic root systems.     

Strong Lefschetz Elements of the Coinvariant Rings of Finite Coxeter Groups

For the coinvariant rings of finite Coxeter groups of types other than H₄, we show that a homogeneous element of degree one is a strong Lefschetz element if and only if it is not fixed by any reflections. We also give the necessary and sufficient condition for strong Lefschetz elements in the invariant subrings of the coinvariant rings of Weyl groups.     

Subword complexes and edge subdivisions

For a finite Coxeter group, a subword complex is a simplicial complex associated with a pair (Q, π), where Q is a word in the alphabet of simple reflections and π is a group element. We discuss the transformations of such a complex that are induced by braid moves of the word Q. We show that under certain conditions, such a transformation is a composition of edge subdivisions and inverse edge subdivisions. In this case, we describe how the H- and γ-polynomials change under the transformation. This case includes all braid moves for groups with simply laced Coxeter diagrams.     

Coxeter cochain complexes

We define the Coxeter cochain complex of a Coxeter group (G, S) with coefficients in a ?[G]-module A. This is closely related to the complex of simplicial cochains on the abstract simplicial complex I(S) of the commuting subsets of S. We give some representative computations of Coxeter cohomology and explain the connection between the Coxeter cohomology for groups of type A, the (singular) homology of certain configuration spaces, and the (Tor) homology of certain local Artin rings.     

Minimal length elements in some double cosets of Coxeter groups

We study the minimal length elements in some double cosets of Coxeter groups and use them to study Lusztig's G-stable pieces and the generalization of G-stable pieces introduced by Lu and Yakimov. We also use them to study the minimal length elements in a conjugacy class of a finite Coxeter group and prove a conjecture in [M. Geck, S. Kim, G. Pfeiffer, Minimal length elements in twisted conjugacy classes of finite Coxeter groups, J. Algebra 229 (2) (2000) 570-600].     

The dual braid monoid

We study a new monoid structure for Artin groups associated with finite Coxeter systems. Like the classical positive braid monoid, the new monoid is a Garside monoid. We give several equivalent constructions: algebraically, the new monoid arises when studying Coxeter systems in a “dual” way, replacing the pair (W,S) by (W,T), with T the set of all reflections; geometrically, it arises when looking at the reflection arrangement from a certain basepoint. In the type A case, we recover the monoid constructed by Birman, Ko and Lee.     

A Clifford Algebraic Approach to Line Geometry

In this paper we combine methods from projective geometry, Klein’s model, and Clifford algebra. We develop a Clifford algebra whose Pin group is a double cover of the group of regular projective transformations. The Clifford algebra we use is constructed as homogeneous model for the five-dimensional real projective space \({\mathbb {P}^5 (\mathbb{R})}\) where Klein’s quadric \({M^4_2}\) defines the quadratic form. We discuss all entities that can be represented naturally in this homogeneous Clifford algebra model. Projective automorphisms of Klein’s quadric induce projective transformations of \({\mathbb {P}^3 (\mathbb{R})}\) and vice versa. Cayley-Klein geometries can be represented by Clifford algebras, where the group of Cayley-Klein isometries is given by the Pin group of the corresponding Clifford algebra. Therefore, we examine the versor group and study the correspondence between versors and regular projective transformations represented as 4 × 4 matrices. Furthermore, we give methods to compute a versor corresponding to a given projective transformation.     

Bounding reflection length in an affine Coxeter group

In any Coxeter group, the conjugates of elements in the standard minimal generating set are called reflections, and the minimal number of reflections needed to factor a particular element is called its reflection length. In this article we prove that the reflection length function on an affine Coxeter group has a uniform upper bound. More precisely, we prove that the reflection length function on an affine Coxeter group that naturally acts faithfully and cocompactly on ℝ ⁿ is bounded above by 2n, and we also show that this bound is optimal. Conjecturally, spherical and affine Coxeter groups are the only Coxeter groups with a uniform bound on reflection length.     

A note on Weyl groups and root lattices

We follow the dual approach to Coxeter systems and show for Weyl groups that a set of reflections generates the group if and only if the related sets of roots and coroots generate the root and the coroot lattices, respectively. Previously, we have proven if (W, S) is a Coxeter system of finite rank n with set of reflections T and if \(t_1, \ldots t_n \in T\) are reflections in W that generate W, then \(P:= \langle t_1, \ldots t_{n-1}\rangle \) is a parabolic subgroup of (W, S) of rank \(n-1\) (Baumeister et al. in J Group Theory 20:103–131, 2017, Theorem 1.5). Here we show if (W, S) is crystallographic as well, then all the reflections \(t \in T\) such that \(\langle P, t\rangle = W\) form a single orbit under conjugation by P.     

Kazhdan–Lusztig polynomials of boolean elements

We give closed combinatorial product formulas for Kazhdan–Lusztig polynomials and their parabolic analogue of type q in the case of boolean elements, introduced in (Marietti in J. Algebra 295:1–26, 2006), in Coxeter groups whose Coxeter graph is a tree. Such formulas involve Catalan numbers and use a combinatorial interpretation of the Coxeter graph of the group. In the case of classical Weyl groups, this combinatorial interpretation can be restated in terms of statistics of (signed) permutations. As an application of the formulas, we compute the intersection homology Poincaré polynomials of the Schubert varieties of boolean elements.     

3D Oriented Projective Geometry Through Versors of $${\mathbb{R}^{3,3}}$$

It is possible to set up a correspondence between 3D space and \({\mathbb{R}^{3,3}}\), interpretable as the space of oriented lines (and screws), such that special projective collineations of the 3D space become represented as rotors in the geometric algebra of \({\mathbb{R}^{3,3}}\). We show explicitly how various primitive projective transformations (translations, rotations, scalings, perspectivities, Lorentz transformations) are represented, in geometrically meaningful parameterizations of the rotors by their bivectors. Odd versors of this representation represent projective correlations, so (oriented) reflections can only be represented in a non-versor manner. Specifically, we show how a new and useful ‘oriented reflection’ can be defined directly on lines. We compare the resulting framework to the unoriented \({\mathbb{R}^{3,3}}\) approach of Klawitter (Adv Appl Clifford Algebra, 24:713–736, 2014), and the \({\mathbb{R}^{4,4}}\) rotor-based approach by Goldman et al. (Adv Appl Clifford Algebra, 25(1):113–149, 2015) in terms of expressiveness and efficiency.     

On the periodicity of Coxeter transformations and the non-negativity of their Euler forms

We show that for piecewise hereditary algebras, the periodicity of the Coxeter transformation implies the non-negativity of the Euler form. Contrary to previous assumptions, the condition of piecewise heredity cannot be omitted, even for triangular algebras, as demonstrated by incidence algebras of posets.We also give a simple, direct proof, that certain products of reflections, defined for any square matrix A with 2 on its main diagonal, and in particular the Coxeter transformation corresponding to a generalized Cartan matrix, can be expressed as , where A₊, A_- are closely associated with the upper and lower triangular parts of A.     

Regular symmetric groups of boolean functions

We show that with the exception of four known cases: C₃, C₄, C₅, and , all regular permutation groups can be represented as symmetric groups of boolean functions. This solves the problem posed by A. Kisielewicz in the paper [A. Kisielewicz, Symmetry groups of boolean functions and constructions of permutation groups, J. Algebra 199 (1998) 379-403]. A slight extension of our proof yields the same result for semiregular groups.     

Coxeter polytopes with a unique pair of non-intersecting facets

We consider compact hyperbolic Coxeter polytopes whose Coxeter diagram contains a unique dotted edge. We prove that such a polytope in d-dimensional hyperbolic space has at most d+3 facets. In view of results by Kaplinskaja [I.M. Kaplinskaya, Discrete groups generated by reflections in the faces of simplicial prisms in Lobachevskian spaces, Math. Notes 15 (1974) 88-91] and the second author [P. Tumarkin, Compact hyperbolic Coxeter n-polytopes with n+3 facets, Electron. J. Combin. 14 (2007), R69, 36 pp.], this implies that compact hyperbolic Coxeter polytopes with a unique pair of non-intersecting facets are completely classified. They do exist only up to dimension 6 and in dimension 8.     

A Characterization of the Simply-Laced FC-Finite Coxeter Groups

We call an element of a Coxeter group fully covering (or a fully covering element) if its length is equal to the number of the elements it covers in the Bruhat ordering. It is easy to see that the notion of fully covering is a generalization of the notion of a 321-avoiding permutation and that a fully covering element is a fully commutative element. Also, we call a Coxeter group bi-full if its fully commutative elements coincide with its fully covering elements. We show that the bi-full Coxeter groups are the ones of type A_n, D_n, E_n with no restriction on n. In other words, Coxeter groups of type E₉, E₁₀,.... are also bi-full. According to a result of Fan, a Coxeter group is a simply-laced FC-finite Coxeter group if and only if it is a bi-full Coxeter group.AMS Subject Classification: 06A07, 20F55.     

The Idempotent Manifold in a Clifford Algebra

The idempotent sets in sufficiently sophisticated algebras form manifolds and Hausdorff spaces. In this paper it is shown how the idempotents in a real Clifford algebra Cl_p,q can be calculated by nilpotents and reflections. Minimal sets of nilpotents are given and generating relations are defined. It is shown that the manifold thus constructed is complete. Every idempotent in the manifold can be calculated in the way proposed here, namely by a nilpotent multinomial form.     

Generating Fractals Using Geometric Algebra

In this paper we investigate how, using the language of Geometric Algebra [7, 4], the common escape-time Julia and Mandelbrot set fractals can be extended to arbitrary dimension and, uniquely, non-Eulidean geometries. We develop a geometric analog of complex numbers and show how existing ray-tracing techniques [2] can be extended. In addition, via the use of the Conformal Model for Geometric Algebra, we develop an analog of complex arithmetic for the Poincaré disc and show that, in non-Euclidean geometries, there are two related but distinct variants of the Julia and Mandelbrot sets.