On the combinatorics of descents and inverse descents in the hyperoctahedral group

Abstract

The elements in the hyperoctahedral group $\mathfrak{B}_n$ can be treated as signed permutations with the natural order $\cdots<-2<-1<0<1<2<\cdots$, or as colored permutations with the $r$-order $-1<_r-2<_r\cdots<_r0<_r1<_r2<_r\cdots$. For any $\pi\in\mathfrak{B}_n$, let $\operatorname{des}^B(\pi)$ and $\operatorname{ides}^B(\pi)$ be the number of descents and inverse descents in $\pi$ under the natural order, and let $\operatorname{des}_B(\pi)$ and $\operatorname{ides}_B(\pi)$ be the number of descents and inverse descents in $\pi$ under the $r$-order. In this paper, by investigating signed permutation grids under both the natural order and the $r$-order, we give combinatorial proofs for six recurrence formulas of the joint distribution of descents and inverse descents over the hyperoctahedral group $\mathfrak{B}_n$, the set in involutions of $\mathfrak{B}_n$ denoted by $\mathcal{I}_n^B$, and the set of fixed-point free involutions in $\mathfrak{B}_n$ denoted by $\mathcal{J}_n^B$, respectively. Some of these six formulas are new, and some reveal the combinatorial essences of the results obtained by Visontai, Moustakas and Cao-Liu through algebraic approaches such as quasisymmetric functions. Furthermore, from these formulas, we conclude that $(\operatorname{des}^B,\operatorname{ides}^B)$ and $(\operatorname{des}_B,\operatorname{ides}_B)$ are equidistributed over both $\mathfrak{B}_n$ and $\mathcal{I}_n^B$, but not on $\mathcal{J}_n^B$.