A finiteness theorem for W-graphs

A W-graph for a Coxeter group W is a combinatorial structure that encodes a module for the group algebra of W, or more generally, a module for the associated Iwahori–Hecke algebra. Of special interest are the W-graphs that encode the action of the Hecke algebra on its Kazhdan–Lusztig basis, as well as the action on individual cells. In previous work, we isolated a few basic features common to the W-graphs in Kazhdan–Lusztig theory and used these to define the class of “admissible” W-graphs. The main result of this paper resolves one of the basic question about admissible W-graphs: there are only finitely many admissible W-cells (i.e., strongly connected admissible W-graphs) for each finite Coxeter group W. Ultimately, the finiteness depends only on the fact that admissible W-graphs have nonnegative integer edge weights. Indeed, we formulate a much more general finiteness theorem for “cells” in finite-dimensional algebras which in turn is fundamentally a finiteness theorem for nonnegative integer matrices satisfying a polynomial identity.