A reciprocity theorem for domino tilings

Let $\mathcal{T}_n$ be the set of ribbon $L$-shaped $n$-ominoes for some $n\ge 4$ even, and let $\mathcal{T}_n^+$ be $\mathcal{T}_n$ with an extra $2\times 2$ square. We investigate signed tilings of rectangles by $\mathcal{T}_n$ and $\mathcal{T}_n^+$. We show that a rectangle has a signed tiling by $\mathcal{T}_n$ if and only if both sides of the rectangle are even and one of them is divisible by $n$, or if one of the sides is odd and the other side is divisible by $n\left (...

In a region $R$ consisting of unit squares, a (domino) tiling is a collection of dominoes (the union of two adjacent squares) which pave fully the region. The flip graph of $R$ is defined on the set of all tilings of $R$ where two tilings are adjacent if we change one from the other by a flip (a $90^{\circ}$ rotation of a pair of side-by-side dominoes). Let $n\geq 1$ and $m\geq 2$ be integers. In a recent paper it was proved that the flip graph of $(2n+1)\times 2m$ quadricula...

Let n integer greater or equal to 4 and even and let T_n be the set of ribbon L-shaped n-ominoes. We study tiling problems for regions in a square lattice by T_n. Our main result shows a remarkable rigidity property: a tiling of the first quadrant by T_n is possible if and only if it reduces to a tiling by 2 x n and n x 2 rectangles. An application is the classification of all rectangles that can be tiled by T_n: a rectangle can be tiled by T_n if and only if both of its side...

This note relies heavily on arXiv:1404.6509 and arXiv:1410.7693. Both articles discuss domino tilings of three-dimensional regions, and both are concerned with flips, the local move performed by removing two parallel dominoes and placing them back in the only other possible position. In the second article, an integer $\operatorname{Tw}(t)$ is defined for any tiling $t$ of a large class of regions $\mathcal{R}$: it turns out that $\operatorname{Tw}(t)$ is invariant by flips. I...

In this paper we consider domino tilings of bounded regions in dimension $n \geq 4$. We define the twist of such a tiling, an elements of ${\mathbb{Z}}/(2)$, and prove it is invariant under flips, a simple local move in the space of tilings. We investigate which regions $D$ are regular, i.e. whenever two tilings $t_0$ and $t_1$ of $D \times [0,N]$ have the same twist then $t_0$ and $t_1$ can be joined by a sequence of flips provided some extra vertical space is allowed. We ...

We prove that the number of monomer-dimer tilings of an $n\times n$ square grid, with $m<n$ monomers in which no four tiles meet at any point is $m2^m+(m+1)2^{m+1}$, when $m$ and $n$ have the same parity. In addition, we present a new proof of the result that there are $n2^{n-1}$ such tilings with $n$ monomers, which divides the tilings into $n$ classes of size $2^{n-1}$. The sum of these tilings over all monomer counts has the closed form $2^{n-1}(3n-4)+2$ and, curiously, th...

The formula for the number of domino tilings due to Kasteleyn and Temperley-Fisher is strikingly similar to Eisenstein's formula for the Legendre symbol. We study the connection between these two concepts and prove a formula which expresses the Jacobi symbol in terms of domino tilings.

We study the enumeration of off-diagonally symmetric domino tilings of odd-order Aztec diamonds in two directions: (1) with one boundary defect, and (2) with maximally-many zeroes on the diagonal. In the first direction, we prove a symmetry property which states that the numbers of off-diagonally symmetric domino tilings of the Aztec diamond of order $2n-1$ are equal when the boundary defect is at the $k$th position and the $(2n-k)$th position on the boundary, respectively. T...

In this paper we settle a weak version of a conjecture (i.e. Conjecture 6) by Mills, Robbins and Rumsey in the paper "Self-complementary totally symmetric plane partitions" (J. Combin. Theory Ser. A 42, 277-292). In other words we show that the number of shifted plane partitions invariant under an involution is equal to the number of alternating sign matrices invariant under the vertical flip. We also give a determinantal formula for the general conjecture (Conjecture 6), but...

We enumerate a certain class of monomino-domino coverings of square grids, which conform to the \emph{tatami} restriction; no four tiles meet. Let $\mathbf T_{n}$ be the set of monomino-domino tatami coverings of the $n\times n$ grid with the maximum number, $n$, of monominoes, oriented so that they have a monomino in each of the top left and top right corners. We give an algorithm for exhaustively generating the coverings in $\mathbf T_{n}$ with exactly $v$ vertical dominoes...