Schur functions,Good's identity,and hypergeometric series well poised in SU(n)

A simple direct proof is given of a fundamental identity involving Schur functions which contains as special cases the identity responsible for Good's proof of the Dyson conjecture and the summation theorem of Biedenharn and Louck that appears frequently in dealing with the explicit matrix elements which arise in the unitary groups. By using the Weyl character formula, a general identity is obtained which implies our result involving Schur functions when a root system of type A_{n ? 1} is considered. As a further application of our general identity, explicit analogs of Good's identity are given, corresponding to the root systems of types B_n, C_n, and D_n. In addition, methods to obtain q-analogs of all of these results are briefly described.     

Spin invariant theory for the symmetric group

We formulate a theory of invariants for the spin symmetric group in some suitable modules which involve the polynomial and exterior algebras. We solve the corresponding graded multiplicity problem in terms of specializations of the Schur Q-functions and a shifted q-hook formula. In addition, we provide a bijective proof for a formula of the principal specialization of the Schur Q-functions.     

Minor summation formula and a proof of Stanley’s open problem

In the open problem session of the FPSAC’03, R.P. Stanley gave an open problem about a certain sum of the Schur functions. The purpose of this paper is to give a proof of this open problem. The proof consists of three steps. At the first step we express the sum by a Pfaffian as an application of our minor summation formula (Ishikawa and Wakayama in Linear Multilinear Algebra 39:285–305, 1995). In the second step we prove a Pfaffian analogue of a Cauchy type identity which generalizes Sundquist’s Pfaffian identities (J. Algebr. Comb. 5:135–148, 1996). Then we give a proof of Stanley’s open problem in Sect. 4. At the end of this paper we present certain corollaries obtained from this identity involving the Big Schur functions and some polynomials arising from the Macdonald polynomials, which generalize Stanley’s open problem.      

A q-summation formula,the continuous q-Hahn polynomials and the big q-Jacobi polynomials

Using a general q-summation formula, we derive a generating function for the q-Hahn polynomials, which is used to give a complete proof of the orthogonality relation for the continuous q-Hahn polynomials. A new proof of the orthogonality relation for the big q-Jacobi polynomials is also given. A simple evaluation of the Nassrallah–Rahman integral is derived by using this summation formula. A new q-beta integral formula is established, which includes the Nassrallah–Rahman integral as a special case. The q-summation formula also allows us to recover several strange q-series identities.     

Combinatorial aspects of the Lascoux-Schützenberger tree

In 1982, Richard Stanley introduced the formal series F_σ(X) in order to enumerate reduced decompositions of a given permutation σ. Stanley (European J. Combin. 5(4) (1984) 359) not only showed F_σ(X) to be symmetric, but in certain cases, F_σ(X) was a Schur function. Stanley conjectured that for arbitrary was always Schur positive. Edelman and Greene subsequently proved this fact (Combinatories and Algebra (Boulder, CO, 1983), Amer. Math. Soc., Providence RI, 1984, pp. 155-162; Adv. in Math. 63(1) (1987) 42). Using the techniques of Lascoux and Schützenberger (Lett. Math. Phys. 10(2-3) (1985) 111) for computing Littlewood-Richardson coefficients, we will exhibit a new bijective proof of the Schur positivity of F_σ(X).     

Disturbing the Dyson conjecture, in a generally GOOD way

Dyson's celebrated constant term conjecture [F.J. Dyson, Statistical theory of the energy levels of complex systems I, J. Math. Phys. 3 (1962) 140-156] states that the constant term in the expansion of _∏1≦i≠j≦naj(1−xi/xj) is the multinomial coefficient (a₁+a₂+?+an)!/(a₁!a₂!?an!). The definitive proof was given by I.J. Good [I.J. Good, Short proof of a conjecture of Dyson, J. Math. Phys. 11 (1970) 1884]. Later, Andrews extended Dyson's conjecture to a q-analog [G.E. Andrews, Problems and prospects for basic hypergeometric functions, in: R. Askey (Ed.), The Theory and Application of Special Functions, Academic Press, New York, 1975, pp. 191-224]. In this paper, closed form expressions are given for the coefficients of several other terms in the Dyson product, and are proved using an extension of Good's idea. Also, conjectures for the corresponding q-analogs are supplied. Finally, perturbed versions of the q-Dixon summation formula are presented.     

Operator identities involving the bivariate Rogers-Szegö polynomials and their applications to the multiple q-series identities

In this paper, we first give several operator identities involving the bivariate Rogers-Szegö polynomials. By applying the technique of parameter augmentation to the multiple q-binomial theorems given by Milne [S.C. Milne, Balanced summation theorems for U(n) basic hypergeometric series, Adv. Math. 131 (1997) 93-187], we obtain several new multiple q-series identities involving the bivariate Rogers-Szegö polynomials. These include multiple extensions of Mehler's formula and Rogers's formula. Our U(n+1) generalizations are quite natural as they are also a direct and immediate consequence of their (often classical) known one-variable cases and Milne's fundamental theorem for An or U(n+1) basic hypergeometric series in Theorem 1.49 of [S.C. Milne, An elementary proof of the Macdonald identities for , Adv. Math. 57 (1985) 34-70], as rewritten in Lemma 7.3 on p. 163 of [S.C. Milne, Balanced summation theorems for U(n) basic hypergeometric series, Adv. Math. 131 (1997) 93-187] or Corollary 4.4 on pp. 768-769 of [S.C. Milne, M. Schlosser, A new An extension of Ramanujan's summation with applications to multilateral An series, Rocky Mountain J. Math. 32 (2002) 759-792].     

Cylindric skew Schur functions

Cylindric skew Schur functions, which are a generalisation of skew Schur functions, arise naturally in the study of P-partitions. Also, recent work of A. Postnikov shows they have a strong connection with a problem of considerable current interest: that of finding a combinatorial proof of the non-negativity of the 3-point Gromov-Witten invariants. After explaining these motivations, we study cylindric skew Schur functions from the point of view of Schur-positivity. Using a result of I. Gessel and C. Krattenthaler, we generalise a formula of A. Bertram, I. Ciocan-Fontanine and W. Fulton, thus giving an expansion of an arbitrary cylindric skew Schur function in terms of skew Schur functions. While we show that no non-trivial cylindric skew Schur functions are Schur-positive, we conjecture that this can be reconciled using the new concept of cylindric Schur-positivity.     

The Schur group of an abelian number field

We characterize the maximum r-local index of a Schur algebra over an abelian number field K in terms of global information determined by the field K for an arbitrary rational prime, r. This completes and unifies previous results of Janusz in [G.J. Janusz, The Schur group of an algebraic number field, Ann. of Math. (2) 103 (1976) 253-281] and Pendergrass in [J.W. Pendergrass, The 2-part of the Schur group, J. Algebra 41 (1976) 422-438].     

K. Saito's Conjecture for nonnegative eta products and analogous results for other infinite products

We prove that the Fourier coefficients of a certain general eta product considered by K. Saito are nonnegative. The proof is elementary and depends on a multidimensional theta function identity. The z=1 case is an identity for the generating function for p-cores due to Klyachko [A.A. Klyachko, Modular forms and representations of symmetric groups, J. Soviet Math. 26 (1984) 1879-1887] and Garvan, Kim and Stanton [F. Garvan, D. Kim, D. Stanton, Cranks and t-cores, Invent. Math. 101 (1990) 1-17]. A number of other infinite products are shown to have nonnegative coefficients. In the process a new generalization of the quintuple product identity is derived.     

The Saalschütz chain reactions and bilateral basic hypergeometric series

By iterating recursively the q-Saalschütz summation formula, we introduce the Saalschütz chain reactions. A general series transform, which expresses a nonterminating bilateral series in terms of a finite multiple unilateral sum, will be established. As applications we derive, by means of Bailey’s 6ψ6 -series identity, several bilateral transformations including one due to Milne [12]. These transformations further yield a number of closed formulas of very well-poised bilateral basic hypergeometric series; which are closely related to the identities obtained by Minton [13], Karlsson [11], Gasper [8], and Chu [5], [6], [7] through the partial fraction method and divided differences.     

Irregularities in the distributions of primes in function fields

We adapt the Maier matrix method to the polynomial ring Fq[t], and prove analogues of results of Maier [H. Maier, Primes in short intervals, Michigan Math. J. 32 (1985) 221-225] and Shiu [D.K.L. Shiu, Strings of congruent primes, J. London Math. Soc. 61 (2000) 359-373] concerning the distribution of primes in short intervals.     

Generating functions for real character degree sums of finite general linear and unitary groups

We compute generating functions for the sum of the real-valued character degrees of the finite general linear and unitary groups, through symmetric function computations. For the finite general linear group, we get a new combinatorial proof that every real-valued character has Frobenius–Schur indicator 1, and we obtain some q-series identities. For the finite unitary group, we expand the generating function in terms of values of Hall–Littlewood functions, and we obtain combinatorial expressions for the character degree sums of real-valued characters with Frobenius–Schur indicator 1 or ?1.     

An analogue of the Harer-Zagier formula for unicellular maps on general surfaces

A unicellular map is the embedding of a connected graph in a surface in such a way that the complement of the graph is simply connected. In a famous article, Harer and Zagier established a formula for the generating function of unicellular maps counted according to the number of vertices and edges. The keystone of their approach is a counting formula for unicellular maps on orientable surfaces with n edges, and with vertices colored using every color in [q] (adjacent vertices are authorized to have the same color). We give an analogue of this formula for general (locally orientable) surfaces.Our approach is bijective and is inspired by Lass?s proof of the Harer-Zagier formula. We first revisit Lass?s proof and twist it into a bijection between unicellular maps on orientable surfaces with vertices colored using every color in [q], and maps with vertex set [q] on orientable surfaces with a marked spanning tree. The bijection immediately implies Harer-Zagier?s formula and a formula by Jackson concerning bipartite unicellular maps. It also shed a new light on constructions by Goulden and Nica, Schaeffer and Vassilieva, and Morales and Vassilieva. We then extend the bijection to general surfaces and obtain a correspondence between unicellular maps on general surfaces with vertices colored using every color in [q], and maps on orientable surfaces with vertex set [q]with a marked planar submap. This correspondence gives an analogue of the Harer-Zagier formula for general surfaces. We also show that this formula implies a recursion formula due to Ledoux for the numbers of unicellular maps with given numbers of vertices and edges.     

Bilateral inversions and terminating basic hypergeometric series identities

The q-analogue of Legendre inversions is established and generalized to bilateral sequences. They are employed to investigate the dual relations of three basic formulae due to Jackson and Bailey, on balanced ₃?₂-series, well-poised ₈?₇-series and bilateral ₆ψ₆-series. Several terminating well-poised series identities are consequently derived, including the q-Dixon formulae on terminating ₃ψ₃-series and two terminating well-poised ₅ψ₅-series identities due to [F.H. Jackson, Certain q-identities, Quart. J. Math. (Oxford) 12 (1941) 167-172; W.N. Bailey, On the analogue of Dixon’s theorem for bilateral basic hypergeometric series, Quart. J. Math. (Oxford) 1 (1950) 318-320].     

Eulerian quasisymmetric functions for the type B Coxeter group and other wreath product groups

Eulerian quasisymmetric functions were introduced by Shareshian and Wachs in order to obtain a q-analog of Euler?s exponential generating function formula for the Eulerian numbers (Shareshian and Wachs, 2010 [17]). They are defined via the symmetric group, and applying the stable and nonstable principal specializations yields formulas for joint distributions of permutation statistics. We consider the wreath product of the cyclic group with the symmetric group, also known as the group of colored permutations. We use this group to introduce colored Eulerian quasisymmetric functions, which are a generalization of Eulerian quasisymmetric functions. We derive a formula for the generating function of these colored Eulerian quasisymmetric functions, which reduces to a formula of Shareshian and Wachs for the Eulerian quasisymmetric functions. We show that applying the stable and nonstable principal specializations yields formulas for joint distributions of colored permutation statistics, which generalize the Shareshian–Wachs q-analog of Euler?s formula, formulas of Foata and Han, and a formula of Chow and Gessel.     

Recipe theorem for the Tutte polynomial for matroids,renormalization group-like approach

Using a quantum field theory renormalization group-like differential equation, we give a new proof of the recipe theorem for the Tutte polynomial for matroids. The solution of such an equation is in fact given by some appropriate characters of the Hopf algebra of isomorphic classes of matroids, characters which are then related to the Tutte polynomial for matroids. This Hopf algebraic approach also allows to prove, in a new way, a matroid Tutte polynomial convolution formula appearing in [W. Kook, V. Reiner, D. Stanton, A convolution formula for the Tutte polynomial, J. Combin. Theory Ser. B 76 (1999) 297–300] and [G. Etienne, M. Las Vergnas, External and internal elements of a matroid basis, Discrete Math. 179 (1998) 111–119].     

A generalization of Kawanaka’s identity for Hall-Littlewood polynomials and applications

An infinite summation formula of Hall-Littlewood polynomials due to Kawanaka is generalized to a finite summation formula, which implies, in particular, twelve more multiple q-identities of Rogers-Ramanujan type than those previously found by Stembridge and the last two authors.     

A q-series expansion formula and the Askey–Wilson polynomials

Previously, we proved a q-series expansion formula which allows us to recover many important classical results for q-series. Based on this formula, we derive a new q-formula in this paper, which clearly includes infinitely many q-identities. This new formula is used to give a new proof of the orthogonality relation for the Askey–Wilson polynomials. A curious q-transformation formula is proved, and many applications of this transformation to Hecke type series are given. Some Lambert series identities are also derived.     

A polynomial expression for the Hilbert series of the quotient ring of diagonal coinvariants

A special case of Haiman?s identity [M. Haiman, Vanishing theorems and character formulas for the Hilbert scheme of points in the plane, Invent. Math. 149 (2002) 371–407] for the character of the quotient ring of diagonal coinvariants under the diagonal action of the symmetric group yields a formula for the bigraded Hilbert series as a sum of rational functions in q,t. In this paper we show how a summation identity of Garsia and Zabrocki for Macdonald polynomial Pieri coefficients can be used to transform Haiman?s formula for the Hilbert series into an explicit polynomial in q,t with integer coefficients. We also provide an equivalent formula for the Hilbert series as the constant term in a multivariate Laurent series.