The first-n-coefficients conjecture for rational smoothness in simply laced root systems

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Let Φ\Phi be a simply laced root system of rank nn, with positive roots Φ+\Phi_+. For an element ww of its Weyl group, let Pw(t)P_w(t) denote the corresponding Poincaré polynomial, and let Pid,w(q)P_{\mathrm{id},w}(q) be the Kazhdan–Lusztig polynomial. The pair (Φ+,w)(\Phi_+,w) is called not rationally smooth when the relevant rational smoothness criterion fails.

First-nn-coefficients conjecture. If (Φ+,w)(\Phi_+,w) is not a rationally smooth pair, then comparing the first nn coefficients and the last nn coefficients of Pw(t)P_w(t) suffices to find an asymmetry. Equivalently, Pid,w(q)P_{\mathrm{id},w}(q) has a nonzero coefficient among

q1,q2,…,qn.q^1,q^2,\dots,q^n.

This gives a finite low-degree test for detecting rational singularity of Schubert varieties in simply laced types. The supplied text does not indicate whether the conjecture has been resolved.

References

Primary source

Sara Billey and Alexander Postnikov, “Smoothness of Schubert varieties via patterns in root systems”, arXiv:math/0205179 (2004).

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