Cluster algebras of finite type and positive symmetrizable matrices

Abstract

The paper is motivated by an analogy between cluster algebras and Kac-Moody algebras: both theories share the same classification of finite type objects by familiar Cartan-Killing types. However the underlying combinatorics beyond the two classifications is different: roughly speaking, Kac-Moody algebras are associated with (symmetrizable) Cartan matrices, while cluster algebras correspond to skew-symmetrizable matrices. We study an interplay between the two classes of matrices, in particular, establishing a new criterion for deciding whether a given skew-symmetrizable matrix gives rise to a cluster algebra of finite type.