Formalizing $A_1^{(1)}$ Curve Neighborhoods in Lean 4
Yihe Huang, Sizhe Cui, Jiaqi Wang, Jujian Zhang
math.CO
Apr 25, 2026 · v1
TL;DR
Axiom-free Lean 4 formalization of type-A_1^(1) combinatorial curve neighborhoods.
Abstract
Combinatorial curve neighborhoods are somewhat foundational when setting up the quantum Schubert calculus for affine flag manifolds. In the specific case of type $A_1^{(1)}$, you can encode these neighborhoods entirely within the moment graph of the infinite dihedral group $D_\infty$. Building on the framework developed by Mihalcea and Norton, this paper presents a complete, axiom-free formalization of these combinatorial curve neighborhoods in Lean 4. Rather than just wrapping mathematical statements, we formalized $D_\infty$ directly as a Coxeter system to explicitly compute length functions and degree maps. Reachable sets are defined through edge chains bounded by specific degrees, and we ultimately characterize the curve neighborhood by the maximal vertices inside these sets. The core effort here lies in formally verifying the explicit combinatorial formulas for curve neighborhoods of arbitrary elements. Interestingly, by restricting our search space to finite sets, we also managed to extract a fully computable version of these neighborhoods.
Problem
Combinatorial curve neighborhoods are foundational for quantum Schubert calculus on affine flag manifolds, but no formal verification of their explicit formulas existed for type A_1^(1).
Approach
The authors formalize the infinite dihedral group D_infinity directly as a Coxeter system in Lean 4, explicitly computing length functions and degree maps. Reachable sets are defined through edge chains bounded by specific degrees, and curve neighborhoods are characterized by maximal vertices in these sets. The formalization is axiom-free and produces a fully computable version by restricting to finite sets.
Results
The paper delivers a complete axiom-free Lean 4 formalization of combinatorial curve neighborhoods for arbitrary elements in type A_1^(1), verifying the explicit combinatorial formulas of Mihalcea and Norton. A computable extraction of neighborhoods is also achieved by restricting the search space to finite sets.