A survey of the Shi arrangement

Abstract

In 1983, Lusztig defined a map $\sigma$ from affine permutations of $n$ to partitions of $n$. He conjectured that for any partition $\lambda$ of $n$, $\sigma^{-1}(\lambda)$ is a two-sided cell. Shi, in 1986, proved part of this conjecture. As a byproduct, he introduced the Shi arrangement of hyperplanes and found a few of its remarkable properties. The Shi arrangement has since become a central object in algebraic combinatorics. This article is intended to be a fairly gentle introduction to the Shi arrangement, intended for readers with a modest background in combinatorics, algebra, and Euclidean geometry.