Search arXiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 2508.06451

Round Aztec windows, a dual of the Aztec diamond theorem and a curious symmetry of the correlation of diagonal slits

Mihai Ciucu
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Fairly shortly after the publication of the Aztec diamond theorem of Elkies, Kuperberg, Larsen and Propp in 1992, interest arose in finding the number of domino tilings of an Aztec diamond with an ``Aztec window,'' i.e.\ a hole in the shape of a smaller Aztec diamond at its center. Several intriguing patterns were discovered for the number of tilings of such regions, but the numbers themselves were not ``round'' -- they didn't seem to be given by a simple product formula. In this paper we consider a very closely related shape of holes (namely, odd Aztec rectangles), and prove that a large variety of regions obtained from Aztec rectangles by making such holes in them possess the sought-after property that the number of their domino tilings is given by a simple product formula. We find the same to be true for certain symmetric cruciform regions. We also consider graphs obtained from a toroidal Aztec diamond by making such holes in them, and prove a simple formula that governs the way the number of their perfect matchings changes under a natural evolution of the holes. This yields in particular a natural dual of the Aztec diamond theorem. Some implications for the correlation of such holes are also presented, including an unexpected symmetry for the correlation of diagonal slits on the square grid.

Explore related subjects

math.COcond-mat.stat-mechmath-phmath.MP

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Mihai Ciucu. 2025-08-08. Round Aztec windows, a dual of the Aztec diamond theorem and a curious symmetry of the correlation of diagonal slits. https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.06451

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

Matching Complexes of Outerplanar Graphs

An outerplanar graph is a planar graph that has a planar drawing with all vertices on the unbounded face. The matching complex of a graph is the simplicial complex whose faces are subsets of disjoint edges of the graph. In this paper we prove that the matching complexes of outerplanar graphs are contractible or homotopy equivalent to a wedge of spheres. This extends known results about trees and polygonal line tilings.

math.CO↗
arXiv2026

Awesome graph parameters

For a graph $G$, we denote by $α(G)$ the size of a maximum independent set and by $ω(G)$ the size of a maximum clique in $G$. Our paper lies on the edge of two lines of research, related to $α$ and $ω$, respectively. One of them studies $α$-variants of graph parameters, such as $α$-treewidth or $α$-degeneracy. The second line deals with graph classes where some parameters are bounded by a function of $ω(G)$. A famous example of this type is the family of $χ$-bounded classes, where the chromatic number $χ(G)$ is bounded by a function of $ω(G)$. A Ramsey-type argument implies that if the $α$-variant of a graph parameter $ρ$ is bounded by a constant in a hereditary class $\mathcal{G}$, then $ρ$ is bounded by a function of $ω$ in $\mathcal{G}$. If the reverse implication also holds, we say that $ρ$ is awesome. Otherwise, we say that $ρ$ is awful. In the present paper, we identify a number of awesome and awful graph parameters, derive some algorithmic applications of awesomeness, and propose a number of open problems related to these notions.

math.CO↗
arXiv2026

Perfect matchings and $A_α$-spectral radius in 1-binding graphs

Let $G$ be a graph with vertex set $V(G)$ and edge set $E(G)$. For $α\in[0,1)$, we use $A_α(G)$ and $ρ_α(G)$ to denote the $A_α$-matrix and the $A_α$-spectral radius of $G$, respectively. The binding number $\mbox{bind}(G)$ of $G$ is defined by $\mbox{bind}(G)=\min\left\{\frac{|N_G(X)|}{|X|}:\emptyset\neq X\subseteq V(G),N_G(X)\neq V(G)\right\}$. If $\mbox{bind}(G)\geq1$, then $G$ is called 1-binding. A perfect matching in $G$ is a set of nonadjacent edges covering every vertex of $G$. Tutte proved that a graph $G$ of even order has a perfect matching if and only if $o(G-S)\leq|S|$ holds for every $S\subseteq V(G)$ [W. Tutte, The factorization of linear graphs, J. Lond. Math. Soc. 22 (1947) 107--111]. In this paper, we use Tutte's result to prove that a connected 1-binding graph $G$ of even order $n$ with $n\geq n(α)$ has a perfect matching unless $G=K_1\vee(K_{n-5}\cup K_3\cup K_1)$ if $ρ_α(G)\geqρ_α(K_1\vee(K_{n-5}\cup K_3\cup K_1))$, where $n(α)$ is defined as follows: $n(α)=\max\{18,\frac{2+8α}{1-2α}\}$ if $α\in[0,\frac{1}{2})$, and $n(α)=18$ if $α=\frac{1}{2}$.

math.CO↗