Equivariant Schubert Calculus

Abstract

Let $T$ be a torus acting on $\CC^n$ in such a way that, for all $1\le k\le n$, the induced action on the grassmannian $G(k,n)$ has only isolated fixed points. This paper proposes a natural, elementary, explicit description of the corresponding $T$-equivariant Schubert calculus. In a suitable natural basis of the $T$-equivariant cohomology, seen as a module over the $T$-equivariant cohomology of a point, it is formally the same as the ordinary cohomology of a grassmann bundle. The main result, useful for computational purposes, is that the $T$-equivariant cohomology of $G(k,n)$ can be realized as the quotient of a ring generated by derivations on the exterior algebra of a free module of rank $n$ over the $T$-equivariant cohomology of a point.

15 pages, no figures, part of the doctoral thesis of the second author