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The A2 Davis complex is a hexagon whose boundary is the Coxeter complex circle

Statement

Let S={s,t} with m(s,t)=3, and let W be the Coxeter group of type A2, so W≅S3 and ∣W∣=6 (Support, intrinsic parabolic presentations, minimal coset representatives and length additivity, with the type-A identification (4)). Let S, WS, and Σ=∣WS∣ be as in Spherical subsets, the nerve, the poset of spherical cosets, and the Davis realization, and let CT be the Coxeter cells of Finite Coxeter orbit polytopes, face isometries and their cocycle.

(i) The spherical subsets are S={∅,{s},{t},S}. The spherical-coset cellulation has six 0-cells, three edges of type {s}, three edges of type {t}, and one 2-cell, hence 13 cells.

(ii) If ds=dt, then CS=conv⁡(WxS) is a regular hexagon. The order-complex realization Σ is homeomorphic to the barycentric subdivision of CS, so the Davis complex is a closed disk. Its coarse Coxeter-cell structure has Euler characteristic 6−6+1=1.

(iii) The proper spherical-coset cells form the boundary cycle: six vertices and six edges. This circle is the Coxeter complex of type A2, namely the Coxeter complex of the proper parabolic subgroups, as in The finite chamber tiling, the face-stabiliser identification, and the spherical Coxeter complex as a triangulation of the sphere (4).

(iv) The chamber K=∣S∣ consists of the two triangles ∅<{s}<S and ∅<{t}<S glued along their common edge ∅<S, so it is a square with a diagonal. The quotient W\Σ is homeomorphic to K and is compact (The cellulation of the Davis complex: incidence, stabilizers and the model U(W,K) (4)). The link of each vertex in the hexagonal cell structure is a closed interval, the nerve L consisting of the single 1-simplex with vertices s,t.

(v) Thus the finite Coxeter complex is the boundary circle ∂Σ≅S1, while the Davis complex itself is the disk CS and is contractible. These are different spaces.

Facts & Assumptions

Given: The Coxeter matrix on S={s,t} with m(s,t)=3, its group W, the spherical subsets S, the spherical-coset poset WS, and Σ=∣WS∣.

[F1]

The spherical subsets are those T for which WT is finite; the nerve L has vertex set S and its nonempty simplices are the nonempty spherical subsets; Σ=∣WS∣ and K=∣S∣ (Spherical subsets, the nerve, the poset of spherical cosets, and the Davis realization (1),(3)).

[F2]

Typed spherical cosets are equal exactly when their types agree and their representatives differ by an element of the corresponding parabolic; their nonempty intersections and quotient-poset structure are given by the coset criteria (Equality, inclusion and intersection of spherical cosets, and the quotient poset (1),(3),(4)).

[F3]

For spherical T, xT=∑u∈Tduvu(T) satisfies B(xT,eu)=du, and CT=conv⁡(WTxT) is a compact convex polyhedral cell of dimension ∣T∣ with 0 in its interior; its nonempty faces are exactly the faces indexed by spherical cosets inside WT (Finite Coxeter orbit polytopes, face isometries and their cocycle (1)).

[F4]

The canonical map from ∣WS∣ to the cell gluing is a homeomorphism and carries the subposet below each spherical coset onto the barycentric subdivision of its Coxeter cell (The cellulation of the Davis complex: incidence, stabilizers and the model U(W,K) (1)).

[F5]

Under the cellulation, a coset wWT indexes a cell of dimension ∣T∣, and the cells are exactly the images of the corresponding Coxeter cells (The cellulation of the Davis complex: incidence, stabilizers and the model U(W,K) (2)).

[F6]

The quotient W\Σ is homeomorphic to the chamber K and is compact (The cellulation of the Davis complex: incidence, stabilizers and the model U(W,K) (4)).

[F7]

On the rank-two plane, B(es,es)=B(et,et)=1 and B(es,et)=−cos⁡(π/m); the simple reflections preserve B, and rsrt has determinant 1 and trace 2cos⁡(2π/m) when m<∞ (Reflections: involutivity, form invariance, fixed hyperplane, and exact rank-two order (2),(3)).

[F8]

The canonical reflection representation satisfies ρ(s)=rs and ρ(t)=rt (The canonical reflection homomorphism, roots, reflections, and the positive cone (1)).

[F9]

The Coxeter presentation has relators s2 for each generator and (st)m(s,t) for each distinct pair with finite m(s,t) (Coxeter matrices, the presented Coxeter group, reduced words, length, and standard parabolic subgroups).

[F10]

In type A2, the assignment of the two generators to adjacent transpositions extends to an isomorphism W≅S3 (Support, intrinsic parabolic presentations, minimal coset representatives and length additivity, with the type-A identification (4)).

[F11]

For a finite Coxeter system of rank at least one, the cosets of proper parabolics give the spherical Coxeter complex, a triangulation of the unit sphere, with face poset the coset face poset (The finite chamber tiling, the face-stabiliser identification, and the spherical Coxeter complex as a triangulation of the sphere (4)).

[F12]

A finite dihedral orbit polytope of order 2m is a 2m-gon and is regular when its generating point is equidistant from the two rays bounding the fundamental sector (Davis, The Geometry and Topology of Coxeter Groups, Example 7.3.2(ii), p. 129).

[F13]

In type I2(3), the coarser cell structure has six 0-cells, six 1-cells, and one 2-cell (Boyd, Homology of Coxeter and Artin groups, Example 1.3.11, pp. 23-24).

Proof

technique · direct
1.1F1F2F3F5F9F10F13algebra

By [F9], the relations are s2=t2=1 and (st)3=1. Put r=st; then srs=r−1, so every word reduces to rk or srk with 0≤k<3. The map s↦(12), t↦(23) is onto S3, so the six normal forms are distinct and ∣W∣=6, in agreement with [F10]. Thus W{s}={1,s} and W{t}={1,t} each have index 3, while WS=W. The cosets are W{s}, tW{s}, stW{s};W{t}, sW{t}, tsW{t};W, and the six singleton cosets wW∅. The equality criterion [F2] shows that these are distinct within each type, and different types give different cells. Since every subset of S is spherical, these are all cells; their dimensions are 0,1,2 by [F3],[F5]. This gives 6+3+3+1=13 cells, agreeing with the coarser counts of [F13].

1.2F3F7F8F12algebra

In the rank-two reflection plane, the reflecting lines bound a sector of angle π/3: by [F7] their unit normals have inner product −cos⁡(π/3)=−1/2, so the normals meet at angle 2π/3 and their perpendicular lines meet at angle π/3. By [F8], the action defining CS sends s,t to these two reflections. The distances of xS from the two walls are B(xS,es)=ds and B(xS,et)=dt by [F3]. If ds=dt, then xS lies on the sector's internal angle bisector. Choose angular coordinates with the walls at 0 and π/3; then xS has angle θ=π/6. The reflections preserve B, and their product has determinant 1 and trace 2cos⁡(2π/3)=−1 by [F7], so in this Euclidean plane it is a rotation by 2π/3 or −2π/3. The orbit angles are therefore θ+2kπ/3 and −θ+2kπ/3 for k=0,1,2. These are the six equally spaced angles θ+jπ/3, 0≤j<6. Their convex hull is a regular hexagon, as also recorded in [F12].

2.1step 1.1F1F3F5F11algebra

The proper nonempty faces of CS are its six vertices and six edge cosets by [F3] and the lists in step 1.1. The boundary walk alternates the two labels and has vertices 1,s,st,sts,ts,t,1: they are distinct up to the repeated endpoint by the six normal forms in step 1.1. Hence the proper cells form a 6-cycle, which is the rank-two Coxeter complex described by [F11]. Since S itself is spherical, [F1] makes L the single 1-simplex on s,t. At each hexagon vertex there are exactly two incident edges, one of each label, and the unique 2-cell joins their directions; its local link is therefore one closed interval, the same 1-simplex L.

3.1step 1.1F1F3F4F6F13algebra∎

The order complex of the four-element poset S has the two triangles ∅<{s}<S and ∅<{t}<S, glued along ∅<S, so its realization is the stated square chamber K. By [F4], the subposet below the maximal coset W (which is all of WS) realizes the barycentric subdivision of CS; consequently Σ is homeomorphic to the closed disk CS. Its coarse cellulation has the six vertices, six edges, and one face from step 1.1, giving Euler characteristic 1, in agreement with [F13]. Since CS is convex and contains 0 by [F3], the homotopy H(u,z)=(1−u)z contracts it to 0. The quotient statement follows from [F6]. All group and coset lists are finite and explicit, so no Choice is used.

Remarks

The presentation and type-A suppliers are used in step 1.1; the rank-two reflection formula and canonical action in step 1.2; the finite chamber theorem in step 2.1; and the cellulation and chamber-quotient theorem in step 3.1. Source comparisons [F12] and [F13] corroborate the local computations; they do not replace those arguments.

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