Domino tilings of the Aztec diamond with doubly periodic weightings

Abstract

In this paper we consider domino tilings of the Aztec diamond with doubly periodic weightings. In particular, a family of models which, for any $\mathit{k}\in \mathbb{N}$, includes models with k smooth regions is analyzed as the size of the Aztec diamond tends to infinity. We use a nonintersecting paths formulation and give a double integral formula for the correlation kernel of the Aztec diamond of finite size. By a classical steepest descent analysis of the correlation kernel, we obtain the local behavior in the smooth and rough regions, as the size of the Aztec diamond tends to infinity. From the mentioned limit the macroscopic picture, such as the arctic curves and, in particular, the number of smooth regions, is deduced. Moreover, we compute the limit of the height function, and, as a consequence, we confirm in the setting of this paper that the limit in the rough region fulfills the complex Burgers’ equation, as stated by Kenyon and Okounkov.