Frozen pipes: lattice models for Grothendieck polynomials

We introduce families of two-parameter multivariate polynomials indexed by pairs of partitions v, w – biaxial double (β, q)-Grothendieck polynomials – which specialize at q = 0 and v = 1 to double β-Grothendieck polynomials from torus-equivariant connective K-theory. Initially defined recursively via divided difference operators, our main result is that these new polynomials arise as partition functions of solvable lattice models. Moreover, the associated quantum group of the solvable model for polynomials in n pairs of variables is a Drinfeld twist of the Uq(sl bn+1) R-matrix. By leveraging the resulting Yang-Baxter equations of the lattice model, we show that these polynomials simultaneously generalize double β-Grothendieck polynomials and dual double β-Grothendieck polynomials for arbitrary permutations. We then use properties of the model and Yang-Baxter equations to reprove Fomin–Kirillov’s Cauchy identity for β-Grothendieck polynomials, generalize it to a new Cauchy identity for biaxial double β-Grothendieck polynomials, and prove a new branching rule for double β-Grothendieck polynomials.