Wonderful symmetric varieties and Schubert polynomials

Abstract

Extending results of Wyser, we determine formulas for the equivariant cohomology classes of closed orbits of certain families of spherical subgroups of the general linear group on the flag variety. Combining this with a slight extension of results of Can, Joyce and Wyser, we arrive at a family of polynomial identities which show that certain explicit sums of Schubert polynomials factor as products of linear forms.