In the context of generating functions for $P$-partitions, we revisit three flavors of quasisymmetric functions: Gessel's quasisymmetric functions, Chow's type B quasisymmetric functions, and Poirier's signed quasisymmetric functions. In each case we use the inner coproduct to give a combinatorial description (counting pairs of permutations) to the multiplication in: Solomon's type A descent algebra, Solomon's type B descent algebra, and the Mantaci-Reutenauer algebra, respectively. The presentation is brief and elementary, our main results coming as consequences of $P$-partition theorems already in the literature.
In this note we derive skew Pieri rules in the spirit of Assaf-McNamara for skew quasisymmetric Schur functions using the Hopf algebraic techniques of Lam-Lauve-Sottile, and recover the original rules of Assaf-McNamara as a special case. We then apply these techniques a second time to obtain skew Pieri rules for skew noncommutative Schur functions.
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 discuss three distinct topics of independent interest; one in enumerative combinatorics, one in symmetric function theory, and one in algebraic geometry. The topic in enumerative combinatorics concerns a q-analog of a generalization of the Eulerian polynomials, the one in symmetric function theory deals with a refinement of the chromatic symmetric functions of Stanley, and the one in algebraic geometry deals with Tymoczko's representation of the symmetric group on the cohomology of the regular semisimple Hessenberg variety of type A. Our purpose is to explore some remarkable connections bet…
We investigate the rigidity for the Hopf algebra ${\rm QSym}$ of quasisymmetric functions with respect to the monomial, the fundamental and the quasisymmetric Schur basis, respectively. By establishing some combinatorial properties of the posets of compositions arising from the analogous Pieri rules for quasisymmetric functions, we show that ${\rm QSym}$ is rigid as an algebra with respect to the quasisymmetric Schur basis, and rigid as a coalgebra with respect to the monomial and the quasisymmetric Schur basis, respectively. The natural actions of reversal, complement and transpose of the lab…
In [5, 6] it has been proved that the ring of quasisymmetric functions over the integers is free polynomial, see also [4]. This is a matter that has been of great interest since 1972; for instance because of the role this statement plays in a classification theory for noncommutative formal groups that has been in development since then, see [2] and [9] and the references in the latter. Meanwhile quasisymmetric functions have found many more aplications, [3]. However, the proofs in [5, 6] do not give explicit polynomial generators for QSymm over the integers. In this note I give a (really quite…
Egge, Loehr and Warrington gave in \cite{ELW} a combinatorial formula that permits to convert the expansion of a symmetric function, homogeneous of degree $n$, in terms of Gessel's fundamental quasisymmetric functions into an expansion in terms of Schur functions. Surprisingly the Egge, Loehr and Warrington result may be shown to be simply equivalent to replacing the Gessel fundamental by a Schur function indexed by the same composition. In this paper we give a direct proof of the validity of this replacement. This interpretation of the result in \cite{ELW} has already been successfully applie…
We generalize Stembridge's enriched $P$-partitions and use this theory to outline the structure of peak algebras for the symmetric group and the hyperoctahedral group. Whereas Stembridge's enriched $P$-partitions are related to quasisymmetric functions (the coalgebra dual to Solomon's type A descent algebra), our generalized enriched $P$-partitions are related to type B quasisymmetric functions (the coalgebra dual to Solomon's type B descent algebra). Using these functions, we explore three different peak algebras: the "interior" and "left" peak algebras of type A, and a new type B peak algebr…
These notes -- originating from a one-semester class by their second author at the University of Minnesota -- survey some of the most important Hopf algebras appearing in combinatorics. After introducing coalgebras, bialgebras and Hopf algebras in general, we study the Hopf algebra of symmetric functions, including Zelevinsky's axiomatic characterization of it as a "positive self-adjoint Hopf algebra" and its application to the representation theory of symmetric and (briefly) finite general linear groups. The notes then continue with the quasisymmetric and the noncommutative symmetric function…
In this paper we show that at most $2 \gcd(m,n)$ points can be placed with no three in a line on an $m\times n$ discrete torus. In the situation when $\gcd(m,n)$ is a prime, we completely solve the problem.
Motivated by work of Buch on set-valued tableaux in relation to the K-theory of the Grassmannian, we study six combinatorial Hopf algebras. These Hopf algebras can be thought of as K-theoretic analogues of the by now classical ``square'' of Hopf algebras consisting of symmetric functions, quasisymmetric functions, noncommutative symmetric functions and the Malvenuto-Reutenauer Hopf algebra of permutations. In addition, we develop a theory of set-valued P-partitions and study three new families of symmetric functions which are weight generating functions of reverse plane partitions, weak set-va…
This is a note on three graph parameters motivated by the Euler-Poincare characteristic for simplicial complex. We show those three graph parameters of a given connected graph $G$ is greater than or equal to that of the complete graph with $\max(h(G),χ(G))$ vertices. This will yield three different simultaneous upperbounds of both the hadwiger number and chromatic number by means of the number of particular types of induced subgraphs. Some applications to Hadwiger's Conjecture is also discussed.
We prove in this note that, for an alphabet with three letters, the set of first return to a given word in a set satisfying the tree condition is a basis of the free group.
This is a set of working notes which give a second proof of the Shareshian--Wachs conjecture, the first (and recent) proof being by Brosnan and Chow in November 2015. The conjecture relates some symmetric functions constructed combinatorially out of unit interval graphs (their $q$-chromatic quasisymmetric functions), and some symmetric functions constructed algebro-geometrically out of Tymoczko's representation of the symmetric group on the equivariant cohomology ring of a family of subvarieties of the complex flag variety, called regular semisimple Hessenberg varieties. Brosnan and Chow's pro…
In this note we study and compare three graph invariants related to the 'compactness' of graph drawing in the plane: the dilation coefficient, defined as the smallest possible quotient between the longest and the shortest edge length; the plane-width, which is the smallest possible quotient between the largest distance between any two points and the shortest length of an edge; and the resolution coefficient, the smallest possible quotient between the longest edge length and the smallest distance between any two points. These three invariants coincide for complete graphs. We show that graphs wi…
We study repetitions in infinite words coding exchange of three intervals with permutation (3,2,1), called 3iet words. The language of such words is determined by two parameters $\varepsilon,\ell$. We show that finiteness of the index of 3iet words is equivalent to boundedness of the coefficients of the continued fraction of $\varepsilon$. In this case we also give an upper and lower estimate on the index of the corresponding 3iet word.
We give the connection between three polynomials that generate triangles in The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences (A123192, A137396 and A300453). We show that they are related with the bracket polynomial for the (2,n)-torus knot
We construct a statistical model that reproduces the BPS partition function of D4-D2-D0 bound states on a class of toric Calabi-Yau three-folds. The Calabi-Yau three-folds we consider are obtained by adding a compact two-cycle to $A_{N-1}$-ALE $\times \mathbb{C}$. We show that in the small radii limit of the Calabi-Yau the D4-D2-D0 partition function is correctly reproduced by counting the number of triangles and parallelograms.
