Path isomorphisms between quiver Hecke and diagrammatic Bott-Samelson endomorphism algebras

Abstract: We construct an explicit isomorphism between (truncations of) quiver Hecke algebras and Elias-Williamson's diagrammatic endomorphism algebras of Bott-Samelson bimodules. As a corollary, we deduce that the decomposition numbers of these algebras (including as examples the symmetric groups and generalised blob algebras) are tautologically equal to the associated $p$-Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials, provided that the characteristic is greater than the Coxeter number. We hence give an elementary and more explicit proof of the main theorem of Riche-Williamson's recent monograph and extend their categorical equivalence to cyclotomic Hecke algebras, thus solving Libedinsky-Plaza's categorical blob conjecture.