Cluster automorphism groups of cluster algebras of finite type

Abstract

We study the cluster automorphism group $Aut(\mathcal{A})$ of a coefficient free cluster algebra $\mathcal{A}$ of finite type. A cluster automorphism of $\mathcal{A}$ is a permutation of the cluster variable set $\mathscr{X}$ that is compatible with cluster mutations. We show that, on the one hand, by the well-known correspondence between $\mathscr{X}$ and the almost positive root system $Φ_{\geq -1}$ of the corresponding Dynkin type, the piecewise-linear transformations $τ_+$ and $τ_-$ on $Φ_{\geq -1}$ induce cluster automorphisms $f_+$ and $f_-$ of $\mathcal{A}$ respectively; on the other hand, excepting type $D_{2n},(n\geqslant 2)$, all the cluster automorphisms of $\mathcal{A}$ are compositions of $f_+$ and $f_-$. For a cluster algebra of type $D_{2n},(n\geqslant 2)$, there exists exceptional cluster automorphism induced by a permutation of negative simple roots in $Φ_{\geq -1}$, which is not a composition of $τ_+$ and $τ_-$. By using these results and folding a simply laced cluster algebra, we compute the cluster automorphism group for a non-simply laced finite type cluster algebra. As an application, we show that $Aut(\mathcal{A})$ is isomorphic to the cluster automorphism group of the $FZ$-universal cluster algebra of $\mathcal{A}$.