Categorical braid group actions and cactus groups

TL;DR

This paper explores the action of braid and cactus groups on categorical representations of quantum groups, establishing t-exactness and perverse equivalences, and connecting these actions to crystal bases and symmetric group representations.

Contribution

It proves t-exactness of Rickard complexes for isotypic representations, constructs cactus group actions on crystals, and links categorical actions to classical symmetric group actions on Kazhdan-Lusztig bases.

Findings

Proves t-exactness of braid group actions for isotypic cases.

Constructs cactus group actions on crystal bases.

Provides new proofs of symmetric group actions on Kazhdan-Lusztig bases.

Abstract

Let $\mathfrak{g}$ be a semisimple simply-laced Lie algebra of finite type. Let $\mathcal{C}$ be an abelian categorical representation of the quantum group $U_q(\mathfrak{g})$ categorifying an integrable representation $V$. The Artin braid group $B$ of $\mathfrak{g}$ acts on $D^b(\mathcal{C})$ by Rickard complexes, providing a triangulated equivalence $\Theta_{w_0}:D^b(\mathcal{C}_\mu) \to D^b(\mathcal{C}_{w_0(\mu)})$, where $\mu$ is a weight of $V$ and $\Theta_{w_0}$ is a positive lift of the longest element of the Weyl group. We prove that this equivalence is t-exact up to shift when $V$ is isotypic, generalising a fundamental result of Chuang and Rouquier in the case $\mathfrak{g}=\mathfrak{sl}_2$. For general $V$, we prove that $\Theta_{w_0}$ is a perverse equivalence with respect to a Jordan-H\"older filtration of $\mathcal{C}$. Using these results we construct, from the action of $B$ on $V$, an action of the cactus group on the crystal of $V$. This recovers the cactus group action on $V$ defined via generalised Sch\"utzenberger involutions, and provides a new connection between categorical representation theory and crystal bases. We also use these results to give new proofs of theorems of Berenstein-Zelevinsky, Rhoades, and Stembridge regarding the action of symmetric group on the Kazhdan-Lusztig basis of its Specht modules.