Identities between dimer partition functions on different surfaces

Abstract

Given a weighted graph $G$ embedded in a non-orientable surface $\Sigma$, one can consider the corresponding weighted graph $\widetilde{G}$ embedded in the so-called orientation cover $\widetilde\Sigma$ of $\Sigma$. We prove identities relating twisted partition functions of the dimer model on these two graphs. When $\Sigma$ is the M\"obius strip or the Klein bottle, then $\widetilde\Sigma$ is the cylinder or the torus, respectively, and under some natural assumptions, these identities imply relations between the genuine dimer partition functions $Z(G)$ and $Z(\widetilde{G})$. For example, we show that if $G$ is a locally but not globally bipartite graph embedded in the M\"obius strip, then $Z(\widetilde{G})$ is equal to the square of $Z(G)$. This extends results for the square lattice previously obtained by various authors.