Twisted Hurwitz numbers: Tropical and polynomial structures

Hurwitz numbers count covers of curves satisfying fixed ramification data. Via monodromy representation, this counting problem can be transformed to a problem of counting factorizations in the symmetric group. This and other beautiful connections make Hurwitz numbers a longstanding active research topic. In recent work 4, a new enumerative invariant called b-Hurwitz number was introduced, which enumerates non-orientable branched coverings. For b=1, we obtain twisted Hurwitz numbers which were linked to surgery theory in 1 and admit a representation as factorisations in the symmetric group. In this paper, we derive a tropical interpretation of twisted Hurwitz numbers in terms of tropical covers and study their polynomial structure.