Combinatorics of symplectic invariant tensors

Abstract

An important problem from invariant theory is to describe the subspace of a tensor power of a representation invariant under the action of the group. According to Weyl's classic, the first main (later: 'fundamental') theorem of invariant theory states that all invariants are expressible in terms of a finite number among them, whereas a second main theorem determines the relations between those basic invariants.Here we present a transparent, combinatorial proof of a second fundamental theorem for the defining representation of the symplectic group $Sp(2n)$. Our formulation is completely explicit and provides a very precise link to $(n+1)$-noncrossing perfect matchings, going beyond a dimension count. As a corollary, we obtain an instance of the cyclic sieving phenomenon.

Keywords

• invariant tensors
• cyclic sieving phenomenon
• matchings
• classical groups
• [info.info-dm] computer science [cs]/discrete mathematics [cs.dm]