Linear relations on LLT polynomials and their k-Schur positivity for $$k=2$$

Abstract

LLT polynomials are q-analogs of products 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 Haglund 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 a linearity theorem for unicellular LLT polynomials for $$k=2$$ . By analyzing linear relations between LLT polynomials with known results on LLT polynomials for rectangles, we provide the 2-Schur positivity of the unicellular LLT polynomials as well as LLT polynomials appearing in Haiman–Haglund conjecture for $$k=2$$ .