将数组变量传递给ajax cakephp

I am trying to implement something like this where a user can select multiple conditions to search. My approach is to populate an array with selected conditions and pass it via ajax to make a request. I have the following codes in my ajax

$( document ).ready(function() {


  <?php 
        //$array = array();
        $array["a"] = "Foo";
        $array["b"] = "Bar";
        $array["c"] = "Baz";
        $array["d"] = "Wom"; 
        $y = serialize($array);
        //$str = 'Yomi';
    ?>

  var y = '<?php echo $y ; ?>';

  $('.elementtosort').click(function(e){
    $.ajax({
          url: "http://localhost/elegante/weafe_length_prices/results/",
          data: y,
          cache: false,
          type: 'GET',
          dataType: 'Html',
          success: function (data) {
              $('#context').html(data);
          }
 });
});
});

and in my action i am trying to debug what was passed but keep getting strange results after each tweak

     public function results(){
     if ($this->request->is('ajax')) {
          debug($_REQUEST);
          $this->render('filtered','ajax');
     }


}

I'll appreciate any help!

Please change from

$y = serialize($array);

to

$y = json_encode($array);

Please change

$y = serialize($array);

to

$y = json_encode($array);

AND remove single quotes

var y = <?php echo $y ; ?>;