Proof of Two Conjectures of Brenti and Simion on Kazhdan-Lusztig Polynomials

We find an explicit formula for the Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials P _ui,a,v _i of the symmetric group (n) where, for a, i, n such that 1 a i n, we denote by u _i,a = s _a s _a+1 ··· s _i–1 and by v _i the element of (n) obtained by inserting n in position i in any permutation of (n – 1) allowed to rise only in the first and in the last place. Our result implies, in particular, the validity of two conjectures of Brenti and Simion 4, Conjectures 4.2 and 4.3], and includes as a special case a result of Shapiro, Shapiro and Vainshtein 13, Theorem 1]. All the proofs are purely combinatorial and make no use of the geometry of the corresponding Schubert varieties.