An automaton-theoretic approach to the representation theory of quantum algebras

We develop a new approach to the representation theory of quantum algebras supporting a torus action via methods from the theory of finite-state automata and algebraic combinatorics. We show that for a fixed number $m$, the torus-invariant primitive ideals in $m\times n$ quantum matrices can be seen as a regular language in a natural way. Using this description and a semigroup approach to the set of Cauchon diagrams, a combinatorial object that paramaterizes the primes that are torus-invariant, we show that for $m$ fixed, the number of torus-invariant primitive ideals in $m\times n$ quantum matrices satisfies a linear recurrence in $n$ over the rational numbers. In the $3\times n$ case we give a concrete description of the torus-invariant primitive ideals and use this description to give an explicit formula for the number P(3,n).