The distribution of Coxeter descents and block number over the set of fully commutative elements in the hyperoctahedral group $B_n$, $\FC(B_n)$, is studied in this paper. We prove that the associated Chow quasi-symmetric generating function is equal to a non-negative sum of products of two Schur functions. The proof involves a decomposition of $\FC(B_n)$ into a disjoint union of two-sided Barbash-Vogan combinatorial cells, a type $B$ extension of Rubey's descent preserving involution on $321$-avoiding permutations and a detailed study of the intersection of $\FC(B_n)$ with $S_n$-cosets which yields a new decomposition of $\FC(B_n)$ into disjoint subsets called fibers. We also compare two different type $B$ Schur-positivity notions, arising from works of Chow and Poirier
We investigate the $e$-positivity and Schur positivity of the chromatic symmetric functions of some spider graphs with three legs. We obtain the positivity classification of all broom graphs and that of most double broom graphs. The methods involve extracting particular $e$-coefficients of the chromatic symmetric function of these graphs with the aid of Orellana and Scott's triple-deletion property, and using the combinatorial formula of Schur coefficients by examining certain special rim hook tabloids. We also propose some conjectures on the $e$-positivity and Schur positivity of trees.
We prove Okounkov's conjecture, a conjecture of Fomin-Fulton-Li-Poon, and a special case of Lascoux-Leclerc-Thibon's conjecture on Schur positivity and give several more general statements using a recent result of Rhoades and Skandera. An alternative proof of this result is provided. We also give an intriguing log-concavity property of Schur functions.
We give a combinatorial formula for LLT cumulants of unicellular unilevelled shapes in terms of parking functions and Cayley trees. Our formula implies previously conjectured Schur positivity.
We show that no tree on twenty vertices with maximum degree ten has Schur positive chromatic symmetric function, thereby providing a counterexample to a conjecture from the paper "Schur and e-positivity of trees and cut vertices".
This is a short note about Schur positivity. We introduce Schur polynomials and explain how they appear in the representation theory of the general linear group. We end with a new result of the author with F. Bergeron and V. Reiner that gives the probability that a homogeneous symmetric polynomial with positive coefficients is Schur positive.
Some new relations on skew Schur function differences are established both combinatorially using Schützenberger's jeu de taquin, and algebraically using Jacobi-Trudi determinants. These relations lead to the conclusion that certain differences of skew Schur functions are Schur positive. Applying these results to a basis of symmetric functions involving ribbon Schur functions confirms the validity of a Schur positivity conjecture due to McNamara. A further application reveals that certain differences of products of Schubert classes are Schubert positive.
We make a systematic study of a new combinatorial construction called a dual equivalence graph. We axiomatize these graphs and prove that their generating functions are symmetric and Schur positive. This provides a universal method for establishing the symmetry and Schur positivity of quasisymmetric functions.
LLT polynomials are $q$-analogues of product of Schur functions that are known to be Schur-positive by Grojnowski and Haiman. However, there is no known combinatorial formula for the coefficients in the Schur expansion. Finding such a formula also provides Schur positivity of Macdonald polynomials. On the other hand, Haiman and Hugland conjectured that LLT polynomials for skew partitions lying on $k$ adjacent diagonals are $k$-Schur positive, which is much stronger than Schur positivity. In this paper, we prove the conjecture for $k=2$ by analyzing unicellular LLT polynomials. We first present…
We investigate chromatic symmetric functions in the relation to the algebra $Γ$ of symmetric functions generated by Schur $Q$-functions. We construct natural bases of $Γ$ in terms of chromatic symmetric functions. We also consider the $p$-positivity of skew Schur $Q$-functions and find a class of $p$-positive ribbon Schur $Q$-functions, making a conjecture that they are \emph{all}. We include many concrete computational results that support our conjecture.
A new descent set statistic on involutions, defined geometrically via their interpretation as matchings, is introduced in this paper, and shown to be equi-distributed with the standard one. This concept is then applied to construct explicit cyclic descent extensions on involutions, standard Young tableaux and Motzkin paths. Schur-positivity of the associated quasisymmetric functions follows.
There is considerable current interest in determining when the difference of two skew Schur functions is Schur positive. We consider the posets that result from ordering skew diagrams according to Schur positivity, before focussing on the convex subposets corresponding to ribbons. While the general solution for ribbon Schur functions seems out of reach at present, we determine necessary and sufficient conditions for multiplicity-free ribbons, i.e. those whose expansion as a linear combination of Schur functions has all coefficients either zero or one. In particular, we show that the poset that…
Determining if a symmetric function is Schur-positive is a prevalent and, in general, a notoriously difficult problem. In this paper we study the Schur-positivity of a family of symmetric functions. Given a partition λ, we denote by λ^c its complement in a square partition (m^m). We conjecture a Schur-positivity criterion for symmetric functions of the form s_{μ'}s_{μ^c}-s_{λ'}s_{λ^c}, where λis a partition of weight |μ|-1 contained in μand the complement of μis taken in the same square partition as the complement of λ. We prove the conjecture in many cases.
We provide a formula for every Schur coefficient in the chromatic symmetric function of a graph in terms of special rim hook tabloids. This formula is useful in confirming the non-Schur positivity of the chromatic symmetric function of a graph, especially when Stanley's stable partition method does not work. As applications, we determine Schur positive fan graphs and Schur positive complete tripartite graphs. We show that any squid graph obtained by adding $n$ leaves to a common vertex on an $m$-vertex cycle is not Schur positive if $m\ne 2n-1$, and conjecture that neither are the squid graphs…
We study pfaffian analogues of immanants, which we call pfaffinants. Our main object is the TL-pfaffinants which are analogues of Rhoades and Skandera's TL-immanants. We show that TL-pfaffinants are positive when applied to planar networks and explain how to decompose products of complementary pfaffians in terms of TL-pfaffinants. We conjecture in addition that TL-pfaffinants have positivity properties related to Schur Q-functions.
The Schur-positivity order on skew shapes is defined by B \leq A if the difference s_A - s_B is Schur-positive. It is an open problem to determine those connected skew shapes that are maximal with respect to this ordering. A strong necessary condition for the Schur-positivity of s_A - s_B is that the support of B is contained in that of A, where the support of B is defined to be the set of partitions lambda for which s_lambda appears in the Schur expansion of s_B. We show that to determine the maximal connected skew shapes in the Schur-positivity order and this support containment order, it su…
We define dual equivalence for any collection of combinatorial objects endowed with a descent set, and we show that giving a dual equivalence establishes the symmetry and Schur positivity of the quasi-symmetric generating function. We give an explicit formula for the Schur expansion of the generating function in terms of distinguished elements of the dual equivalence classes. These concepts and proofs simplify in the ubiquitous case when the collection of objects has a sufficiently nice reading word.
Using Schur positivity and the principal specialization of Schur functions, we provide a proof of a recent conjecture of Liu and Wang on the $q$-log-convexity of the Narayana polynomials, and a proof of the second conjecture that the Narayana transformation preserves the log-convexity. Based on a formula of Bränd$\mathrm{\acute{e}}$n which expresses the $q$-Narayana numbers as the specializations of Schur functions, we derive several symmetric function identities using the Littlewood-Richardson rule for the product of Schur functions, and obtain the strong $q$-log-convexity of the Narayana pol…
In 1995 Stanley introduced the chromatic symmetric function $X_G$ of a graph $G$, whose $e$-positivity and Schur-positivity has been of large interest. In this paper we study the relative $e$-positivity and Schur-positivity between connected graphs on $n$ vertices. We define and investigate two families of posets on distinct chromatic symmetric functions. The relations depend on the $e$-positivity or Schur-positivity of a weighed subtraction between $X_G$ and $X_H$. We find a biconditional condition between $e$-positivity or Schur-positivity and the relation to the complete graph. This gives a…
In recent years, there has been considerable interest in showing that certain conditions on skew shapes A and B are sufficient for the difference s_A - s_B of their skew Schur functions to be Schur-positive. We determine necessary conditions for the difference to be Schur-positive. Our conditions are motivated by those of Reiner, Shaw and van Willigenburg that are necessary for s_A = s_B, and we deduce a strengthening of their result as a special case.
Let $\mathbb{N}$ denote the set of non-negative integers. Haglund, Wilson, and the second author have conjectured that the coefficient of any Schur function $s_λ[X]$ in $Δ_{e_k} e_n[X]$ is a polynomial in $\mathbb{N}[q,t]$. We present four proofs of a stronger statement in the case $k=2$; We show that the coefficient of any Schur function $s_λ[X]$ in $Δ_{e_2} e_n[X]$ has a positive expansion in terms of $q,t$-analogs.
Let $1\leq k \leq n$ and let $X_n = (x_1, \dots, x_n)$ be a list of $n$ variables. The {\em Boolean product polynomial} $B_{n,k}(X_n)$ is the product of the linear forms $\sum_{i \in S} x_i$ where $S$ ranges over all $k$-element subsets of $\{1, 2, \dots, n\}$. We prove that Boolean product polynomials are Schur positive. We do this via a new method of proving Schur positivity using vector bundles and a symmetric function operation we call {\em Chern plethysm}. This gives a geometric method for producing a vast array of Schur positive polynomials whose Schur positivity lacks (at present) a com…
We introduce dual Hopf algebras which simultaneously combine the concepts of the k-Schur function theory with the quasi-symmetric Schur function theory. We construct dual basis of these Hopf algebras with remarkable properties.
Over the past years, major attention has been drawn to the question of identifying Schur-positive sets, i.e. sets of permutations whose associated quasisymmetric function is symmetric and can be written as a non-negative sum of Schur symmetric functions. The set of arc permutations, i.e. the set of permutations $π$ in $S_n$ such that for any $1\leq j \leq n$, $\{π(1),π(2),\dots,π(j)\}$ is an interval in $\mathbb{Z}_n$ is one of the most noticeable examples. This paper introduces a new type B extension of Schur-positivity to signed permutations based on Chow's quasisymmetric functions and gener…
Chen proposed a conjecture on the log-concavity of the generating function for the symmetric group with respect to the length of longest increasing subsequences of permutations. Motivated by Chen's log-concavity conjecture, Bóna, Lackner and Sagan further studied similar problems by restricting the whole symmetric group to certain of its subsets. They obtained the log-concavity of the corresponding generating functions for these subsets by using the hook-length formula. In this paper, we generalize and prove their results by establishing the Schur positivity of certain symmetric functions. Thi…
In the study of Zeilberger's conjecture on an integer sequence related to the Catalan numbers, Lassalle proposed the following conjecture. Let $(t)_n$ denote the rising factorial, and let $Λ_{\mathbb{R}}$ denote the algebra of symmetric functions with real coefficients. If $φ$ is the homomorphism from $Λ_{\mathbb{R}}$ to $\mathbb{R}$ defined by $φ(h_n)={1}/{((t)_nn!)}$ for some $t>0$, then for any Schur function $s_λ$, the value $φ(s_λ)$ is positive. In this paper, we provide an affirmative answer to Lassalle's conjecture by using the Laguerre-Pólya-Schur theory of multiplier sequences.
We study a family of symmetric polynomials that we refer to as the Boolean product polynomials. The motivation for studying these polynomials stems from the computation of the characteristic polynomial of the real matroid spanned by the nonzero vectors in $\mathbb{R}^n$ all of whose coordinates are either $0$ or $1$. To this end, one approach is to compute the zeros of the Boolean product polynomials over finite fields. The zero loci of these polynomials cut out hyperplane arrangements known as resonance arrangements, which show up in the context of double Hurwitz polynomials. By relating the …
The block number of a permutation is the maximal number of components in its expression as a direct sum. We show that, for $321$-avoiding permutations, the set of left-to-right maxima has the same distribution when the block number is assumed to be $k$ as when the last descent of the inverse is assumed to be at position $n - k$. This result is analogous to the Foata-Schützenberger equi-distribution theorem, and implies that the quasi-symmetric generating function of descent set over $321$-avoiding permutations with a prescribed number of blocks is Schur-positive.
We introduce non-commutative analogues of $k$-Schur functions of Lapointe-Lascoux and Morse. We give an explicit formulas for the expansions of non-commutive functions with one and two parameters in terms of these new functions. These results are similar to the conjectures existing in the commutative case.
We suggest the point of view that the Schubert classes of the affine Grassmannian of a simple algebraic group should be considered as Schur-positive symmetric functions. In particular, we give a geometric explanation of the Schur positivity of k-Schur functions (at t = 1). We also put this in the context of the theory of combinatorial Hopf algebras.
We consider families of quasisymmetric functions with the property that if a symmetric function $f$ is a positive sum of functions in one of these families, then f is necessarily a positive sum of Schur functions. Furthermore, in each of the families studied, we give a combinatorial description of the Schur coefficients of $f$. We organize six such families into a poset, where functions in higher families in the poset are always positive integer sums of functions in each of the lower families. This poset includes the Schur functions, the quasisymmetric Schur functions, the fundamental quasisym…
We prove that graded $k$-Schur functions are $G$-equivariant Euler characteristics of vector bundles on the flag variety, settling a conjecture of Chen-Haiman. We expose a new miraculous shift invariance property of the graded $k$-Schur functions and resolve the Schur positivity and $k$-branching conjectures in the strongest possible terms by providing direct combinatorial formulas using strong marked tableaux.
By considering type B analogs of permutations and tableaux, we extend abstract dual equivalence to type B in two directions. In one direction, we define involutions on signed permutations and shifted tableaux that give a weak dual equivalence, thereby giving another proof of the Schur positivity of Schur Q- and P-functions. In another direction, we define an abstract shifted dual equivalence parallel to dual equivalence and prove that it can be used to establish Schur P-positivity of a function expressed as a sum of shifted fundamental quasisymmetric functions.
We establish a poset structure on combinatorial bases of multivariate polynomials defined by positive expansions, and study properties common to bases in this poset. Included are the well-studied bases of Schubert polynomials, Demazure characters and Demazure atoms; the quasi-key, fundamental and monomial slide bases introduced in 2017 by Assaf and the author; and a new basis we introduce completing this poset structure. We show the product of a Schur polynomial and an element of a basis in this poset expands positively in that basis; in particular, we give the first Littlewood-Richardson rule…
We make a systematic study of a new combinatorial construction called a dual equivalence graph. We axiomatize these graphs and prove that their generating functions are symmetric and Schur positive. By constructing a graph on ribbon tableaux which we transform into a dual equivalence graph, we give a combinatorial proof of the symmetry and Schur positivity of the ribbon tableaux generating functions introduced by Lascoux, Leclerc and Thibon. Using Haglund's formula for the transformed Macdonald polynomials, this also gives a combinatorial formula for the Schur expansion of Macdonald polynomial…
Cylindric skew Schur functions, a generalization of skew Schur functions, are closely related to the famous problem finding a combinatorial formula for the 3-point Gromov-Witten invariants of Grassmannian. In this paper, we prove cylindric Schur positivity of the cylindric skew Schur functions, conjectured by McNamara. We also show that all coefficients appearing in the expansion are the same as $3$-point Gromov-Witten invariants. We start discussing properties of affine Stanley symmetric functions for general affine permutations and $321$-avoiding affine permutations, and explain how these fu…
The machinery of noncommutative Schur functions provides a general tool for obtaining Schur expansions for combinatorially defined symmetric functions. We extend this approach to a wider class of symmetric functions, explore its strengths and limitations, and obtain new results on Schur positivity. We introduce combinatorial gadgets called switchboards, an adaptation of the D graphs of S. Assaf, and show how symmetric functions associated to them (which include LLT, Macdonald, Stanley, and stable Grothendieck polynomials) fit into the noncommutative Schur functions approach. This extends earli…
We give combinatorial proofs that certain families of differences of products of Schur functions are monomial-positive. We show in addition that such monomial-positivity is to be expected of a large class of generating functions with combinatorial definitions similar to Schur functions. These generating functions are defined on posets with labelled Hasse diagrams and include for example generating functions of Stanley's $(P,ω)$-partitions.
We prove that the chromatic symmetric function of any $n$-vertex tree containing a vertex of degree $d\geq \log _2n +1$ is not $e$-positive, that is, not a positive linear combination of elementary symmetric functions. Generalizing this, we also prove that the chromatic symmetric function of any $n$-vertex connected graph containing a cut vertex whose deletion disconnects the graph into $d\geq\log _2n +1$ connected components is not $e$-positive. Furthermore we prove that any $n$-vertex bipartite graph, including all trees, containing a vertex of degree greater than $\lceil \frac{n}{2}\rceil$ …
We introduce a notion of {\em cyclic Schur-positivity} for sets of permutations, which naturally extends the classical notion of Schur-positivity, and it involves the existence of a bijection from permutations to standard Young tableaux that preserves the cyclic descent set. Cyclic Schur-positive sets of permutations are always Schur-positive, but the converse does not hold, as exemplified by inverse descent classes, Knuth classes and conjugacy classes. In this paper we show that certain classes of permutations invariant under either horizontal or vertical rotation are cyclic Schur-positive. T…
The branching of (k-1)-Schur functions into k-Schur functions was given by Lapointe, Lam, Morse and Shimozono as chains in a poset on k-shapes. The k-Schur functions are the parameterless case of a more general family of symmetric functions over Q(t), conjectured to satisfy a k-branching formula given by weights on the k-shape poset. A concept of a (co)charge on a k-tableau was defined by Lapointe and Pinto. Although it is not manifestly positive, they prove it is compatible with the k-shape poset for standard k-tableau and the positivity follows. Morse introduced a manifestly positive notion …
