The colored quasisymmetric functions, like the classic quasisymmetric functions, are known to form a Hopf algebra with a natural peak subalgebra. We show how these algebras arise as the image of the algebra of colored posets. To effect this approach we introduce colored analogs of $P$-partitions and enriched $P$-partitions. We also frame our results in terms of Aguiar, Bergeron, and Sottile's theory of combinatorial Hopf algebras and its colored analog.
Recently, Hyatt introduced some colored Eulerian quasisymmetric function to study the joint distribution of excedance number and major index on colored permutation groups. We show how Hyatt's generating function formula for the fixed point colored Eulerian quasisymmetric functions can be deduced from the Decrease value theorem of Foata and Han. Using this generating function formula, we prove two symmetric function generalizations of the Chung-Graham-Knuth symmetrical Eulerian identity for some flag Eulerian quasisymmetric functions, which are specialized to the flag excedance numbers. Combina…
Via duality of Hopf algebras, there is a direct association between peak quasisymmetric functions and enumeration of chains in Eulerian posets. We study this association explicitly, showing that the notion of $\cd$-index, long studied in the context of convex polytopes and Eulerian posets, arises as the dual basis to a natural basis of peak quasisymmetric functions introduced by Stembridge. Thus Eulerian posets having a nonnegative $\cd$-index (for example, face lattices of convex polytopes) correspond to peak quasisymmetric functions having a nonnegative representation in terms of this basis.…
For integers m, n $\ge$ 1, we describe a bijection sending dissections of the (mn + 2)-regular polygon into (m + 2)-sided polygons to a new basis of the quotient of the polynomial algebra in mn variables by an ideal generated by some kind of higher quasi-symmetric functions. We show that divisibility of the basis elements corresponds to a new partial order on dissections, which is studied in some detail.
The $(P, ω)$-partition generating function of a labeled poset $(P, ω)$ is a quasisymmetric function enumerating certain order-preserving maps from $P$ to $\mathbb{Z}^+$. We study the expansion of this generating function in the recently introduced type 1 quasisymmetric power sum basis $\{ψ_α\}$. Using this expansion, we show that connected, naturally labeled posets have irreducible $P$-partition generating functions. We also show that series-parallel posets are uniquely determined by their partition generating functions. We conclude by giving a combinatorial interpretation for the coefficients…
We introduce a family of quasisymmetric functions called {\em Eulerian quasisymmetric functions}, which have the property of specializing to enumerators for the joint distribution of the permutation statistics, major index and excedance number on permutations of fixed cycle type. This family is analogous to a family of quasisymmetric functions that Gessel and Reutenauer used to study the joint distribution of major index and descent number on permutations of fixed cycle type. Our central result is a formula for the generating function for the Eulerian quasisymmetric functions, which specialize…
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…
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. 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 quasisy…
By establishing relations between operators on compositions, we show that the posets of compositions arising from the right and left Pieri rules for noncommutative Schur functions can each be endowed with both the structure of dual graded graphs and dual filtered graphs when paired with the poset of compositions arising from the Pieri rules for quasisymmetric Schur functions and its deformation.
We give an in-depth study of the Tchebyshev transforms of the first and second kind of a poset, recently discovered by Hetyei. The Tchebyshev transform (of the first kind) preserves desirable combinatorial properties, including Eulerianess (due to Hetyei) and EL-shellability. It is also a linear transformation on flag vectors. When restricted to Eulerian posets, it corresponds to the Billera, Ehrenborg and Readdy omega map of oriented matroids. One consequence is that nonnegativity of the cd-index is maintained. The Tchebyshev transform of the second kind is a Hopf algebra endomorphism on the …
The $Γ$-colored $d$-complete and $Γ$-colored minuscule posets unify and generalize multiple classes of colored posets introduced by R.A. Proctor, J.R. Stembridge, and R.M. Green. In previous work, we showed that $Γ$-colored minuscule posets are necessary and sufficient to build from colored posets certain representations of Kac--Moody algebras that generalize minuscule representations of semisimple Lie algebras. In this paper we classify $Γ$-colored minuscule posets, which also classifies the corresponding representations. We show that $Γ$-colored minuscule posets are precisely disjoint unions…
We generalize Björner and Stanley's poset of compositions to $m$-colored compositions. Their work draws many analogies between their (1-colored) composition poset and Young's lattice of partitions, including links to (quasi-)symmetric functions and representation theory. Here we show that many of these analogies hold for any number of colors. While many of the proofs for Björner and Stanley's poset were simplified by showing isomorphism with the subword order, we remark that with 2 or more colors, our posets are not isomorphic to a subword order.
We study the chromatic quasisymmetric class function of a linearized combinatorial Hopf monoid. Given a linearized combinatorial Hopf monoid $H$, and an $H$-structure $h$ on a set $N$, there are proper colorings of $h$, generalizing graph colorings and poset partitions. We show that the automorphism group of $h$ acts on the set of proper colorings. The chromatic quasisymmetric class function enumerates the fixed points of this action, weighting each coloring with a monomial. For the Hopf monoid of graphs this invariant generalizes Stanley's chromatic symmetric function and specializes to the o…
Richard P. Stanley conjectured that finite trees can be distinguished by their chromatic symmetric functions. In this paper, we prove an analogous statement for posets: Finite rooted trees can be distinguished by their order quasisymmetric functions.
We introduce a quasisymmetric class function associated with a group acting on a double poset or on a directed graph. The latter is a generalization of the chromatic quasisymmetric function of a digraph introduced by Ellzey, while the latter is a generalization of a quasisymmetric function introduced by Grinberg. We prove representation-theoretic analogues of classical and recent results, including $F$-positivity, and combinatorial reciprocity theorems. We also deduce results for orbital quasisymmetric functions. We also study a generalization of the notion of strongly flawless sequences.
In 1993, Stanley and Stembridge conjectured that a chromatic symmetric function of any $(3+1)$-free poset is $e$-positive. Guay-Paquet reduced the conjecture to $(3+1)$- and $(2+2)$-free posets which are also called natural unit interval orders. Shareshian and Wachs defined chromatic quasisymmetric functions, generalizing chromatic symmetric functions, and conjectured that a chromatic quasisymmetric function of any natural unit interval order is $e$-positive and $e$-unimodal. For a given natural interval order, there is a corresponding partition $λ$ and we denote the chromatic quasisymmetric f…
The $Γ$-colored $d$-complete posets correspond to certain Borel representations that are analogous to minuscule representations of semisimple Lie algebras. We classify $Γ$-colored $d$-complete posets which specifies the structure of the associated representations. We show that finite $Γ$-colored $d$-complete posets are precisely the dominant minuscule heaps of J.R. Stembridge. These heaps are reformulations and extensions of the colored $d$-complete posets of R.A. Proctor. We also show that connected infinite $Γ$-colored $d$-complete posets are precisely order filters of the connected full hea…
The $e$-positivity conjecture and the $e$-unimodality conjecture of chromatic quasisymmetric functions are proved for some classes of natural unit interval orders. Recently, J. Shareshian and M. Wachs introduced chromatic quasisymmetric functions as a refinement of Stanley's chromatic symmetric functions and conjectured the $e$-positivity and the $e$-unimodality of these functions. The $e$-positivity of chromatic quasisymmetric functions implies the $e$-positivity of corresponding chromatic symmetric functions, and our work resolves Stanley's conjecture on chromatic symmetric functions of $(3+…
Recently a new basis for the Hopf algebra of quasisymmetric functions $QSym$, called quasisymmetric Schur functions, has been introduced by Haglund, Luoto, Mason, van Willigenburg. In this paper we extend the definition of quasisymmetric Schur functions to introduce skew quasisymmetric Schur functions. These functions include both classical skew Schur functions and quasisymmetric Schur functions as examples, and give rise to a new poset $\mathcal{L}_C$ that is analogous to Young's lattice. We also introduce a new basis for the Hopf algebra of noncommutative symmetric functions $NSym$. This bas…
We develop the theory of weighted P-partitions, which generalises the theory of P-partitions from labelled posets to weighted labelled posets. We define the related generating functions in the natural way and compute their product, coproduct and other properties. As an application we introduce the basis of combinatorial power sums for the Hopf algebra of quasisymmetric functions and the reverse basis, both of which refine the power sum symmetric functions. These bases share many properties with the type 1 and type 2 quasisymmetric power sums introduced by Ballantine, Daugherty, Hicks, Mason an…
We introduce a quasisymmetric refinement of Stanley's chromatic symmetric function. We derive refinements of both Gasharov's Schur-basis expansion of the chromatic symmetric function and Chow's expansion in Gessel's basis of fundamental quasisymmetric functions. We present a conjectural refinement of Stanley's power sum basis expansion, which we prove in special cases. We describe connections between the chromatic quasisymmetric function and both the $q$-Eulerian polynomials introduced in our earlier work and, conjecturally, representations of symmetric groups on cohomology of regular semisimp…
Upper homogeneous finite type (upho) posets are a large class of partially ordered sets with the property that the principal order filter at every vertex is isomorphic to the whole poset. Well-known examples include k-array trees, the grid graphs, and the Stern poset. Very little is known about upho posets in general. In this paper, we construct upho posets with Schur-positive Ehrenborg quasisymmetric functions, whose rank-generating functions have rational poles and zeros. We also categorize the rank-generating functions of all planar upho posets. Finally, we prove the existence of an upho po…
R.M. Green described structural properties that ``doubly infinite'' colored posets should possess so that they can be used to construct representations of most affine Kac--Moody algebras. These representations are analogs of the minuscule representations of the semisimple Lie algebras, and his posets (``full heaps'') are analogs of the finite minuscule posets. Here only simply laced Kac--Moody algebras are considered. Working with their derived subalgebras, we provide a converse to Green's theorem. Smaller collections of colored structural properties are also shown to be necessary and sufficie…
Determining whether two graphs are isomorphic is an important and difficult problem in graph theory. One way to make progress towards this problem is by finding and studying graph invariants that distinguish large classes of graphs. Stanley conjectured that his chromatic symmetric function distinguishes all trees, which has remained unresolved. Recently, Hasebe and Tsujie introduced an analogue of Stanley's function for posets, called the strict order quasisymmetric function, and proved that it distinguishes all rooted trees. In this paper, we devise a procedure to explicitly reconstruct a roo…
The $P$-partition generating function of a (naturally labeled) poset $P$ is a quasisymmetric function enumerating order-preserving maps from $P$ to $\mathbb{Z}^+$. Using the Hopf algebra of posets, we give necessary conditions for two posets to have the same generating function. In particular, we show that they must have the same number of antichains of each size, as well as the same shape (as defined by Greene). We also discuss which shapes guarantee uniqueness of the $P$-partition generating function and give a method of constructing pairs of non-isomorphic posets with the same generating fu…
We introduce the following class of partizan games, called pomax games. Given a partially ordered set whose elements are colored black or white, the players Black and White take turns removing any maximal element of their own color. If there is no such element, the player loses. We prove that pomax games are always integer-valued and for colored tree posets and chess-colored Young diagram posets we give a simple formula for the value of the game. However, for pomax games on general posets of height 3 we show that the problem of deciding the winner is PSPACE-complete and for posets of height 2 …
Stanley's theory of $(P,ω)$-partitions is a standard tool in combinatorics. It can be extended to allow for the presence of a restriction, that is a given maximal value for partitions at each vertex of the poset, as was shown by Assaf and Bergeron. Here we present a variation on their approach, which applies more generally. The enumerative side of the theory is more naturally expressed in terms of back stable quasisymmetric functions. We study the space of such functions, following the work of Lam, Lee and Shimozono on back stable symmetric functions. As applications we describe a new basis fo…
To an extended permutohedron we associate the weighted integer points enumerator, whose principal specialization is the $f$-polynomial. In the case of poset cones it refines Gessel's $\mathsf{P}$-partitions enumerator. We show that this enumerator is a quasisymmetric function obtained by universal morphism from the Hopf algebra of posets.
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…
We introduce a family of quasisymmetric functions called {\em Eulerian quasisymmetric functions}, which specialize to enumerators for the joint distribution of the permutation statistics, major index and excedance number on permutations of fixed cycle type. This family is analogous to a family of quasisymmetric functions that Gessel and Reutenauer used to study the joint distribution of major index and descent number on permutations of fixed cycle type. Our central result is a formula for the generating function for the Eulerian quasisymmetric functions, which specializes to a new and surprisi…
Let $\CRF_S$ denote the category of $S$-colored rooted forests, and $\H_{\CRF_S}$ denote its Ringel-Hall algebra as introduced in \cite{KS}. We construct a homomorphism from a $K^+_0 (\CRF_S)$--graded version of the Hopf algebra of noncommutative symmetric functions to $\H_{\CRF_S}$. Dualizing, we obtain a homomorphism from the Connes-Kreimer Hopf algebra to a $K^+_0 (\CRF_S)$--graded version of the algebra of quasisymmetric functions. This homomorphism is a refinement of one considered by W. Zhao in \cite{Z}.
To every labeled poset (P,ω), one can associate a quasisymmetric generating function for its (P,ω)-partitions. We ask: when do two labeled posets have the same generating function? Since the special case corresponding to skew Schur function equality is still open, a complete classification of equality among (P,ω) generating functions is likely too much to expect. Instead, we determine necessary conditions and separate sufficient conditions for two labeled posets to have equal generating functions. We conclude with a classification of all equalities for labeled posets with small numbers of line…
Gessel's fundamental and Stembridge's peak functions are the generating functions for (enriched) $P$-partitions on labelled chains. They are also the bases of two significant subalgebras of formal power series, respectively the ring of quasisymmetric functions (QSym) and the algebra of peaks. Hsiao introduced the monomial peak functions, a basis of the algebra of peaks indexed by odd integer compositions whose relation to peak functions mimics the one between the monomial and fundamental bases of QSym. We show that the extension of monomial peaks to any composition is a new basis of QSym and g…
We study colored generalizations of the symmetric algebra and its Koszul dual, the exterior algebra. The symmetric group $\mathfrak{S}_n$ acts on the multilinear components of these algebras. While $\mathfrak{S}_n$ acts trivially on the multilinear components of the colored symmetric algebra, we use poset topology techniques to understand the representation on its Koszul dual. We introduce an $\mathfrak{S}_n$-poset of weighted subsets that we call the weighted boolean algebra and we prove that the multilinear components of the colored exterior algebra are $\mathfrak{S}_n$-isomorphic to the top…
The incidence category $\C_{\F}$ of a family $\F$ of colored posets closed under disjoint unions and the operation of taking convex sub-posets was introduced by the author in \cite{Sz}, where the Ringel-Hall algebra $\H_{\F}$ of $\C_{\F}$ was also defined. We show that if the Hasse diagrams underlying $\F$ are rooted trees, then the subspace $\n_{\F}$ of primitive elements of $\H_{\F}$ carries a pre-Lie structure, defined over $\mathbb{Z}$, and with positive structure constants. We give several examples of $\n_{\F}$, including the nilpotent subalgebras of $\mathfrak{sl}_n$, $L \mathfrak{gl}_n$…
We introduce the notion of a \emph{Whitney dual} of a graded poset. Two posets are Whitney duals to each other if (the absolute value of) their Whitney numbers of the first and second kind are interchanged between the two posets. We define new types of edge and chain-edge labelings which we call \emph{Whitney labelings}. We prove that every graded poset with a Whitney labeling has a Whitney dual. Moreover, we show how to explicitly construct a Whitney dual using a technique involving quotient posets. As applications of our main theorem, we show that geometric lattices, the lattice of noncrossi…
We introduce the notion of a scheduling problem which is a boolean function $S$ over atomic formulas of the form $x_i \leq x_j$. Considering the $x_i$ as jobs to be performed, an integer assignment satisfying $S$ schedules the jobs subject to the constraints of the atomic formulas. The scheduling counting function counts the number of solutions to $S$. We prove that this counting function is a polynomial in the number of time slots allowed. Scheduling polynomials include the chromatic polynomial of a graph, the zeta polynomial of a lattice, the Billera-Jia-Reiner polynomial of a matroid. To an…
Let $P$ be a poset, $inc(P)$ its incomparability graph, and $X_{inc(P)}$ the corresponding chromatic symmetric function, as defined by Stanley in {\em Adv. Math.}, {\bf 111} (1995) pp.~166--194. Certain conditions on $P$ imply that the expansions of $X_{inc(P)}$ in standard symmetric function bases yield coefficients which have simple combinatorial interpretations. By expressing these coefficients as character evaluations, we extend several of these interpretations to {\em all} posets $P$. Consequences include new combinatorial interpretations of the permanent and other immanants of totally no…
We show that certain differences of products of $P$-partition generating functions are positive in the basis of fundamental quasi-symmetric functions L_α. This result interpolates between recent Schur positivity and monomial positivity results of the same flavor. We study the case of chains in detail, introducing certain ``cell transfer'' operations on compositions and an interesting related ``L-positivity'' poset. We introduce and study quasi-symmetric functions called ``wave Schur functions'' and use them to establish, in the case of chains, that the difference of products we study is itself…
The `Weyl symmetric functions' studied here naturally generalize classical symmetric (polynomial) functions, and `Weyl bialternants,' sometimes also called Weyl characters, analogize the Schur functions. For this generalization, the underlying symmetry group is a finite Weyl group. A `splitting poset' for a Weyl bialternant is an edge-colored ranked poset possessing a certain structural property and a natural weighting of its elements so that the weighted sum of poset elements is the given Weyl bialternant. Connected such posets are of combinatorial interest in part because they are rank symme…
We present some elementary but foundational results concerning diamond-colored modular and distributive lattices and connect these structures to certain one-player combinatorial "move-minimizing games," in particular, a so-called "domino game." The objective of this game is to find, if possible, the least number of "domino moves" to get from one partition to another, where a domino move is, with one exception, the addition or removal of a domino-shaped pair of tiles. We solve this domino game by demonstrating the somewhat surprising fact that the associated "game graphs" coincide with a well-k…
We introduce an enriched analogue of Lam and Pylyavskyy's theory of set-valued $P$-partitions. An an application, we construct a $K$-theoretic version of Stembridge's Hopf algebra of peak quasisymmetric functions. We show that the symmetric part of this algebra is generated by Ikeda and Naruse's shifted stable Grothendieck polynomials. We give the first proof that the natural skew analogues of these power series are also symmetric. A central tool in our constructions is a "$K$-theoretic" Hopf algebra of labeled posets, which may be of independent interest. Our results also lead to some new exp…
