MUTATION CLASSES OF SKEW-SYMMETRIZABLE 3 x 3 MATRICES

Mutation of skew-symmetrizable matrices is a fundamental operation that first arose in Fomin-Zelevinsky's theory of cluster algebras; it also appears naturally in many different areas of mathematics. In this paper, we study mutation classes of skew-symmetrizable 3 x 3 matrices and associated graphs. We determine representatives for these classes using a natural minimality condition, generalizing and strengthening results of Beineke-BrustleHille and Felikson-Shapiro-Tumarkin. Furthermore, we obtain a new numerical invariant for the mutation operation on skew-symmetrizable matrices of arbitrary size.