Stanley Symmetric Functions Research Articles

Grothendieck-to-Lascoux expansions

We establish the conjecture of Reiner and Yong for an explicit combinatorial formula for the expansion of a Grothendieck polynomial into the basis of Lascoux polynomials. This expansion is a subtle refinement of its symmetric function version due to Buch, Kresch, Shimozono, Tamvakis, and Yong, which gives the expansion of stable Grothendieck polynomials indexed by permutations into Grassmannian stable Grothendieck polynomials. Our expansion is the K K -theoretic analogue of that of a Schubert polynomial into Demazure characters, whose symmetric analogue is the expansion of a Stanley symmetric function into Schur functions. Our expansions extend to flagged Grothendieck polynomials.

Maximizing the Edelman–Greene statistic

The $\textit{Edelman-Greene statistic}$ of S. Billey-B. Pawlowski measures the shortness of the Schur expansion of a Stanley symmetric function. We show that the maximum value of this statistic on permutations of Coxeter length $n$ is the number of involutions in the symmetric group $S_n$, and explicitly describe the permutations that attain this maximum. Our proof confirms a recent conjecture of C. Monical, B. Pankow, and A. Yong: we give an explicit combinatorial injection between a certain collections of Edelman-Greene tableaux and standard Young tableaux.

UNIVERSAL GRAPH SCHUBERT VARIETIES

We consider the loci of invertible linear maps f : ℂn → (ℂn)* together with pairs of flags (E•, F•) in ℂn such that the various restrictions f : Fj → \( {E}_i^{\ast } \) have specified ranks. Identifying an invertible linear map with its graph viewed as a point in a Grassmannian, we show that the closures of these loci have cohomology classes represented by the back-stable Schubert polynomials of Lam, Lee, and Shimozono. As a special case, we recover the result of Knutson, Lam, and Speyer that Stanley symmetric functions represent the classes of graph Schubert varieties.We consider similar loci where f is restricted to be symmetric or skew-symmetric. Their classes are now given by back-stable versions of the polynomials introduced by Wyser and Yong to represent classes of orbit closures for the orthogonal and symplectic groups acting on the type A flag variety. Using degeneracy locus formulas of Kazarian and of Anderson and Fulton, we obtain new Pfaffian formulas for these polynomials in the vexillary case. We also give a geometric interpretation of the involution Stanley symmetric functions of Hamaker, Marberg, and the author: they represent classes of involution graph Schubert varieties in isotropic Grassmannians.

Affine transitions for involution Stanley symmetric functions

We study a family of symmetric functions Fˆz indexed by involutions z in the affine symmetric group. These power series are analogues of Lam’s affine Stanley symmetric functions and generalizations of the involution Stanley symmetric functions introduced by Hamaker, Pawlowski, and the first author. Our main result is to prove a transition formula for Fˆz which can be used to define an affine involution analogue of the Lascoux–Schützenberger tree. Our proof of this formula relies on Lam and Shimozono’s transition formula for affine Stanley symmetric functions and some new technical properties of the strong Bruhat order on affine permutations.

Slide polynomials and subword complexes

Subword complexes were defined by Knutson and Miller in 2004 to describe Gröbner degenerations of matrix Schubert varieties. Subword complexes of a certain type are called pipe dream complexes. The facets of such a complex are indexed by pipe dreams, or, equivalently, by monomials in the corresponding Schubert polynomial. In 2017 Assaf and Searles defined a basis of slide polynomials, generalizing Stanley symmetric functions, and described a combinatorial rule for expanding Schubert polynomials in this basis. We describe a decomposition of subword complexes into strata called slide complexes. The slide complexes appearing in such a way are shown to be homeomorphic to balls or spheres. For pipe dream complexes, such strata correspond to slide polynomials. Bibliography: 14 titles.

Quasiparabolic sets and Stanley symmetric functions for affine fixed-point-free involutions

We introduce and study affine analogues of the fixed-point-free (FPF) involution Stanley symmetric functions of Hamaker, Marberg, and Pawlowski. Our methods use the theory of quasiparabolic sets introduced by Rains and Vazirani, and we prove that the subset of FPF-involutions is a quasiparabolic set for the affine symmetric group under conjugation. Using properties of quasiparabolic sets, we prove a transition formula for the affine FPF involution Stanley symmetric functions, analogous to Lascoux and Schützenberger's transition formula for Schubert polynomials. Our results suggest several conjectures and open problems.

A generalization of Edelman–Greene insertion for Schubert polynomials

Edelman and Greene generalized the Robinson--Schensted--Knuth correspondence to reduced words in order to give a bijective proof of the Schur positivity of Stanley symmetric functions. Stanley symmetric functions may be regarded as the stable limits of Schubert polynomials, and similarly Schur functions may be regarded as the stable limits of Demazure characters for the general linear group. We modify the Edelman--Greene correspondence to give an analogous, explicit formula for the Demazure character expansion of Schubert polynomials. Our techniques utilize dual equivalence and its polynomial variation, but here we demonstrate how to extract explicit formulas from that machinery which may be applied to other positivity problems as well.

Slide complexes and subword complexes

Subword complexes were defined by A.Knutson and E.Miller in 2004 for describing Gr\"obner degenerations of matrix Schubert varieties. The facets of such a complex are indexed by pipe dreams, or, equivalently, by the monomials in the corresponding Schubert polynomial. In 2017 S.Assaf and D.Searles defined a basis of slide polynomials, generalizing Stanley symmetric functions, and described a combinatorial rule for expanding Schubert polynomials in this basis. We describe a decomposition of subword complexes into strata called slide complexes, that correspond to slide polynomials. The slide complexes are shown to be homeomorphic to balls or spheres.

Crystal Structures for Double Stanley Symmetric Functions

We relate the combinatorial definitions of the type $A_n$ and type $C_n$ Stanley symmetric functions, via a combinatorially defined "double Stanley symmetric function," which gives the type $A$ case at $(\mathbf{x},\mathbf{0})$ and gives the type $C$ case at $(\mathbf{x},\mathbf{x})$. We induce a type $A$ bicrystal structure on the underlying combinatorial objects of this function which has previously been done in the type $A$ and type $C$ cases. Next we prove a few statements about the algebraic relationship of these three Stanley symmetric functions. We conclude with some conjectures about what happens when we generalize our constructions to type $C$.

Combinatorial description of the cohomology of the affine flag variety

We construct the affine version of the Fomin-Kirillov algebra, called the affine FK algebra, to investigatethe combinatorics of affine Schubert calculus for typeA. We introduce Murnaghan-Nakayama elements and Dunklelements in the affine FK algebra. We show that they are commutative as Bruhat operators, and the commutativealgebra generated by these operators is isomorphic to the cohomology of the affine flag variety. As a byproduct, weobtain Murnaghan-Nakayama rules both for the affine Schubert polynomials and affine Stanley symmetric functions. This enable us to expressk-Schur functions in terms of power sum symmetric functions. We also provide the defi-nition of the affine Schubert polynomials, polynomial representatives of the Schubert basis in the cohomology of theaffine flag variety.

Bialgebras for Stanley symmetric functions

We construct a non-commutative, non-cocommutative, graded bialgebra Π with a basis indexed by the permutations in all finite symmetric groups. Unlike the formally similar Malvenuto–Poirier–Reutenauer Hopf algebra, this bialgebra does not have finite graded dimension. After giving formulas for the product and coproduct, we show that there is a natural morphism from Π to the algebra of quasi-symmetric functions, under which the image of a permutation is its associated Stanley symmetric function. As an application, we use this morphism to derive some new enumerative identities. We also describe analogues of Π for the other classical types. In these cases, the relevant objects are module coalgebras rather than bialgebras, but there are again natural morphisms to the quasi-symmetric functions, under which the image of a signed permutation is the corresponding Stanley symmetric function of type B, C, or D.

Stanley symmetric functions for signed involutions

An involution in a Coxeter group has an associated set of involution words, a variation on reduced words. These words are saturated chains in a partial order first considered by Richardson and Springer in their study of symmetric varieties. In the symmetric group, involution words can be enumerated in terms of tableaux using appropriate analogues of the symmetric functions introduced by Stanley to accomplish the same task for reduced words. We adapt this approach to the group of signed permutations. We show that involution words for the longest element in the Coxeter group Cn are in bijection with reduced words for the longest element in An=Sn+1, which are known to be in bijection with standard tableaux of shape (n,n−1,…,2,1).

Positivity of cylindric skew Schur functions

Cylindric skew Schur functions, a generalization of skew Schur functions, are closely related to the well-known problem of finding a combinatorial formula for the 3-point Gromov-Witten invariants of Grassmannians. In this paper, we prove cylindric Schur positivity of cylindric skew Schur functions, as conjectured by McNamara. We also show that all the coefficients appearing in the expansion are the same as the 3-point Gromov-Witten invariants. We start by discussing the properties of affine Stanley symmetric functions for general affine permutations and 321-avoiding affine permutations, and we explain how these functions are related to cylindric skew Schur functions. In addition, we provide an effective algorithm to compute the expansion of cylindric skew Schur functions in terms of cylindric Schur functions, as well as the expansion of affine Stanley symmetric functions in terms of affine Schur functions.

Combinatorial description of the cohomology of the affine flag variety

We construct the affine version of the Fomin-Kirillov algebra, called the affine FK algebra, to investigatethe combinatorics of affine Schubert calculus for typeA. We introduce Murnaghan-Nakayama elements and Dunklelements in the affine FK algebra. We show that they are commutative as Bruhat operators, and the commutativealgebra generated by these operators is isomorphic to the cohomology of the affine flag variety. As a byproduct, weobtain Murnaghan-Nakayama rules both for the affine Schubert polynomials and affine Stanley symmetric functions. This enable us to expressk-Schur functions in terms of power sum symmetric functions. We also provide the defi-nition of the affine Schubert polynomials, polynomial representatives of the Schubert basis in the cohomology of theaffine flag variety.

Cohomology Classes of Interval Positroid Varieties and a Conjecture of Liu

To each finite subset of $\mathbb{Z}^2$ (a diagram), one can associate a subvariety of a complex Grassmannian (a diagram variety), and a representation of a symmetric group (a Specht module). Liu has conjectured that the cohomology class of a diagram variety is represented by the Frobenius characteristic of the corresponding Specht module. We give a counterexample to this conjecture.However, we show that for the diagram variety of a permutation diagram, Liu's conjectured cohomology class $\sigma$ is at least an upper bound on the actual class $\tau$, in the sense that $\sigma - \tau$ is a nonnegative linear combination of Schubert classes. To do this, we exhibit the appropriate diagram variety as a component in a degeneration of one of Knutson's interval positroid varieties (up to Grassmann duality). A priori, the cohomology classes of these interval positroid varieties are represented by affine Stanley symmetric functions. We give a different formula for these classes as ordinary Stanley symmetric functions, one with the advantage of being Schur-positive and compatible with inclusions between Grassmannians.

Involution words: Counting problems and connections to Schubert calculus for symmetric orbit closures

Involution words are variations of reduced words for involutions in Coxeter groups, first studied under the name of “admissible sequences” by Richardson and Springer. They are maximal chains in Richardson and Springer's weak order on involutions. This article is the first in a series of papers on involution words, and focuses on their enumerative properties. We define involution analogues of several objects associated to permutations, including Rothe diagrams, the essential set, Schubert polynomials, and Stanley symmetric functions. These definitions have geometric interpretations for certain intervals in the weak order on involutions. In particular, our definition of “involution Schubert polynomials” can be viewed as a Billey–Jockusch–Stanley type formula for cohomology class representatives of On- and Sp2n-orbit closures in the flag variety, defined inductively in recent work of Wyser and Yong. As a special case of a more general theorem, we show that the involution Stanley symmetric function for the longest element of a finite symmetric group is a product of staircase-shaped Schur functions. This implies that the number of involution words for the longest element of a finite symmetric group is equal to the dimension of a certain irreducible representation of a Weyl group of type B.

A Demazure crystal construction for Schubert polynomials

Stanley symmetric functions are the stable limits of Schubert polynomials. In this paper, we show that, conversely, Schubert polynomials are Demazure truncations of Stanley symmetric functions. This parallels the relationship between Schur functions and Demazure characters for the general linear group. We establish this connection by imposing a Demazure crystal structure on key tableaux, recently introduced by the first author in connection with Demazure characters and Schubert polynomials, and linking this to the type A crystal structure on reduced word factorizations, recently introduced by Morse and the second author in connection with Stanley symmetric functions.

Schur $P$-positivity and Involution Stanley Symmetric Functions

AbstractThe involution Stanley symmetric functions$\hat{F}_y$ are the stable limits of the analogs of Schubert polynomials for the orbits of the orthogonal group in the flag variety. These symmetric functions are also generating functions for involution words and are indexed by the involutions in the symmetric group. By construction, each $\hat{F}_y$ is a sum of Stanley symmetric functions and therefore Schur positive. We prove the stronger fact that these power series are Schur $P$-positive. We give an algorithm to efficiently compute the decomposition of $\hat{F}_y$ into Schur $P$-summands and prove that this decomposition is triangular with respect to the dominance order on partitions. As an application, we derive pattern avoidance conditions which characterize the involution Stanley symmetric functions which are equal to Schur $P$-functions. We deduce as a corollary that the involution Stanley symmetric function of the reverse permutation is a Schur $P$-function indexed by a shifted staircase shape. These results lead to alternate proofs of theorems of Ardila–Serrano and DeWitt on skew Schur functions which are Schur $P$-functions. We also prove new Pfaffian formulas for certain related involution Schubert polynomials.

Crystal Analysis of type C Stanley Symmetric Functions

Combining results of T.K. Lam and J. Stembridge, the type $C$ Stanley symmetric function $F_w^C(\mathbf{x})$, indexed by an element $w$ in the type $C$ Coxeter group, has a nonnegative integer expansion in terms of Schur functions. We provide a crystal theoretic explanation of this fact and give an explicit combinatorial description of the coefficients in the Schur expansion in terms of highest weight crystal elements.

Schubert polynomials, slide polynomials, Stanley symmetric functions and quasi-Yamanouchi pipe dreams

We introduce two new bases for polynomials that lift monomial and fundamental quasisymmetric functions to the full polynomial ring. By defining a new condition on pipe dreams, called quasi-Yamanouchi, we give a positive combinatorial rule for expanding Schubert polynomials into these new bases that parallels the expansion of Schur functions into fundamental quasisymmetric functions. As a result, we obtain a refinement of the stable limits of Schubert polynomials to Stanley symmetric functions. We also give combinatorial rules for the positive structure constants of these bases that generalize the quasi-shuffle product and shuffle product, respectively. We use this to give a Littlewood–Richardson rule for expanding a product of Schubert polynomials into fundamental slide polynomials and to give formulas for products of Stanley symmetric functions in terms of Schubert structure constants.