arXiv subjects

Alice L. L. Gao

Publications and source records attributed to Alice L. L. Gao.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Distributions of Mesh Patterns of Short Lengths on Separable Permutations

This paper contributes to the long line of research on the distribution of mesh patterns in permutations. We extend these studies to separable permutations and carry out a comprehensive analysis of mesh patterns of length at most~2. For mesh patterns of length~1, we determine the distributions for all six equivalence classes. In addition, we obtain the joint distribution for the patterns in the class containing the well-known permutation statistic known as the strict fixed point. Furthermore, computer experiments suggest that at most 124 pairs of mesh patterns of type 12 and 21 with identical shading are equidistributed. Using symmetry operations, we partition these pairs into 38 equivalence classes with respect to distribution. By explicitly determining 24 of these distributions (in many cases, in fact, joint equidistributions of the respective pairs), we reduce the number of equivalence classes to~31, which turns out to be the true number of equivalence classes. Enumerating 14 of these classes is left as an open problem.

math.CO↗

arXiv2026

Nonnegativity of the $g$-polynomial of split matroids

We prove that the $g$-polynomial of every split matroid has nonnegative coefficients, establishing Speyer's conjecture for a class closed under taking minors and containing all paving and copaving matroids. Our proof uses a deletion--contraction identity obtained by constructing an auxiliary split matroid. We first show that every simple, cosimple, connected split matroid $M$ has an element $e$ for which both the deletion $M\setminus e$ and the contraction $M/e$ are connected. More generally, let $M$ be any connected split matroid of rank $k$ on a ground set $E$ with $|E|\ge4$. Suppose that $e\in E$ is such that both $M\setminus e$ and $M/e$ are connected. For every $v\in E\setminus\{e\}$, we construct a connected elementary split matroid $N_{e,v}$ of rank $k-1$ on $E\setminus\{e,v\}$ satisfying \[ g_M(t)=g_{M\setminus e}(t)+g_{M/e}(t)+t\,g_{N_{e,v}}(t). \] Using a fixed total order on $E$, we prescribe the proper cyclic flats of $N_{e,v}$ and their ranks. The identity follows from the covaluative formula of Ferroni and Schröter together with recurrences for its correction polynomials, derived from Ferroni's enumeration of admissible Delannoy paths for Schubert matroids. Since all three matroids on the right have fewer elements, the identity supplies the induction step in the proof of nonnegativity.

math.CO↗

arXiv2026

Lascoux series, parking functions and noncrossing partitions

In the study of the generating series of Demazure characters, Lascoux used isobaric divided differences to define a family of polynomials $\mathcal{E}_σ(t)$ indexed by permutations $σ$, and asked for a satisfactory expression of these polynomials. In this paper we obtain a combinatorial interpretation of $\mathcal{E}_σ(t)$ for the permutation $σ=[2,3,\ldots,n,1]$ or its inverse in terms of the descent statistic of parking functions of length $n-1$. Based on this progress on Lascoux's open problem, we find that the polynomial $\mathcal{E}_σ(t)$ for this special case coincides with the $h$-polynomial $h(Δ(\mathrm{NC}_W),t)$ of the order complex of the noncrossing partition lattice associated to the irreducible Coxeter group $W$ of type $A_{n-1}$. We are inspired by this coincidence to give an operator approach to $h(Δ(\mathrm{NC}_W),t)$ for any finite Coxeter group $W$. As an application, we completely solve an open problem on $h(Δ(\mathrm{NC}_W),t)$ which was proposed by Athanasiadis, Douvropoulos and Kalampogia-Evangelinou. For any $k$-divisible noncrossing partition poset $\mathrm{NC}^{(k)}_W$, we also obtain the interlacing symmetric decomposition property of the $h$-polynomial $h(Δ(\mathrm{NC}^{(k)}_W),t)$.

math.CO↗

arXiv2026

Inverse Kazhdan--Lusztig polynomials of fan matroids

The inverse Kazhdan--Lusztig polynomial of a matroid was introduced by Gao and Xie, and the inverse $Z$-polynomial of a matroid was introduced by Ferroni, Matherne, Stevens, and Vecchi. In this paper, we study these two polynomials for fan matroids, a family of graphic matroids associated with fan graphs. We first derive the generating functions for the inverse Kazhdan--Lusztig polynomials of fan matroids using their recursive definition, and then deduce the explicit formulas of these polynomials therefrom. For the inverse $Z$-polynomials of fan matroids, we obtain their generating functions using a parallel generating function approach, and further derive their explicit expansions based on these generating functions. Additionally, we provide alternative proofs for the above generating functions using the deletion formulas for inverse Kazhdan--Lusztig and inverse $Z$-polynomials. As an application of the explicit formula for inverse Kazhdan--Lusztig polynomials, we prove that the coefficients of the inverse Kazhdan--Lusztig polynomial of the fan matroid form a log-concave sequence with no internal zeros.

math.CO↗

arXiv2026

Equivariant inverse $Z$-polynomials of matroids

Motivated by the notion of the inverse $Z$-polynomial introduced by Ferroni, Matherne, Stevens, and Vecchi, we study the equivariant inverse $Z$-polynomial of a matroid equipped with a finite group. We prove that the coefficients of the equivariant inverse $Z$-polynomials are honest representations and that these polynomials are palindromic. Explicit formulas are obtained for uniform matroids equipped with the symmetric group. The corresponding formulas for $q$-niform matroids are derived using the Comparison Theorem for unipotent representations. For arbitrary equivariant paving matroids, explicit expressions are obtained by relating the polynomials of a matroid to those of its relaxation. We show that these polynomials are equivariantly unimodal and strongly inductively log-concave for both uniform and $q$-niform matroids. Motivated by the properties of equivariant $Z$-polynomials, we conjecture that the coefficients of the equivariant inverse $Z$-polynomials are equivariantly unimodal and strongly equivariantly log-concave.

math.CO↗

arXiv2025

Equivariant inverse Kazhdan--Lusztig polynomials of thagomizer matroids

In this paper, we focus on the equivariant inverse Kazhdan--Lusztig polynomials of thagomizer matroids, a natural family of graphic matroids associated with the complete tripartite graphs $K_{1,1,n}$. These polynomials were introduced by Proudfoot as an extension of the Kazhdan--Lusztig theory for matroids. We derive closed-form expressions for the $\mathfrak{S}_n$-equivariant inverse Kazhdan--Lusztig polynomials of thagomizer matroids and present them explicitly in terms of the irreducible representations of $\mathfrak{S}_n$. As an application, we also provide explicit formulas for the non-equivariant inverse Kazhdan--Lusztig polynomials, originally defined by Gao and Xie, and give an alternative proof using generating functions. Furthermore, we prove that the inverse Kazhdan--Lusztig polynomials of thagomizer matroids are log-concave.

math.CO↗

arXiv2025

Distribution of statistics on separable permutations restricted by a flat POP

Finding distributions of statistics in pattern-avoiding permutations has attracted significant attention in the literature. In particular, Chen, Kitaev, and Zhang derived functional equations for the joint distributions of any subset of classical minima and maxima statistics, as well as for the joint distributions of ascents and descents in separable permutations. Meanwhile, partially ordered patterns (POPs) have also been extensively studied. Notably, so-called flat POPs played a key role, via the notion of shape-Wilf-equivalence, in proving a conjecture on pattern-avoiding permutations. In this paper, we study flat POP-avoiding separable permutations, where the maximum element in a flat POP receives the largest label. Avoiding such a POP imposes restrictions on the position of the maximum element in a separable permutation, forcing it to be positioned to the left. We establish a system of functional equations describing the joint distribution of six classical statistics in the most general case, extending the work of Chen, Kitaev, and Zhang. As a specialization, when the POP has length 3, we recover a joint distribution result of Han and Kitaev on permutations avoiding classical patterns of length 3. As another specialization, for the flat POP of length 4, we derive an explicit rational generating function that captures the distribution of six statistics, with a numerator containing 100 monomials and a denominator containing 19 monomials.

math.CO↗

arXiv2025

The inverse $Z$-polynomial of a matroid

Motivated by the $Z$-polynomials of matroids, Ferroni, Matherne, Stevens, and Vecchi introduced the inverse $Z$-polynomial of a matroid. In this paper, we prove several fundamental properties of the inverse $Z$-polynomial, including non-negativity and multiplicativity, and show that it is a valuative invariant. We also provide explicit formulas for the inverse $Z$-polynomials of uniform matroids and a broader class of matroids, namely sparse paving matroids, which include uniform matroids as a special case. Furthermore, we establish the unimodality and log-concavity of these polynomials in the case of sparse paving matroids. Based on the properties of the $Z$-polynomial, we conjecture that the coefficients of the inverse $Z$-polynomial are unimodal and log-concave.

math.CO↗

arXiv2023

The combinatorics behind the leading Kazhdan-Lusztig coefficients of braid matroids

Ferroni and Larson gave a combinatorial interpretation of the braid Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials in terms of series-parallel matroids. As a consequence, they confirmed an explicit formula for the leading Kazhdan-Lusztig coefficients of braid matroids with odd rank, as conjectured by Elias, Proudfoot, and Wakefield. Based on Ferroni and Larson's work, we further explore the combinatorics behind the leading Kazhdan-Lusztig coefficients of braid matroids. The main results of this paper include an explicit formula for the leading Kazhdan-Lusztig coefficients of braid matroids with even rank, a simple expression for the number of simple series-parallel matroids of rank k + 1 on 2k elements, and explicit formulas for the leading coefficients of inverse Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials of braid matroids. The binomial identity for the Abel polynomials plays an important role in the proofs of these formulas.

math.CO↗

arXiv2023

Induced log-concavity of equivariant matroid invariants

Inspired by the notion of equivariant log-concavity, we introduce the concept of induced log-concavity for a sequence of representations of a finite group. For an equivariant matroid equipped with a symmetric group action or a finite general linear group action, we transform the problem of proving the induced log-concavity of matroid invariants to that of proving the Schur positivity of symmetric functions. We prove the induced log-concavity of the equivariant Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials of $q$-niform matroids equipped with the action of a finite general linear group, as well as that of the equivariant Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials of uniform matroids equipped with the action of a symmetric group. As a consequence of the former, we obtain the log-concavity of Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials of $q$-niform matroids, thus providing further positive evidence for Elias, Proudfoot and Wakefield's log-concavity conjecture on the matroid Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials. From the latter we obtain the log-concavity of Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials of uniform matroids, which was recently proved by Xie and Zhang by using a computer algebra approach. We also establish the induced log-concavity of the equivariant characteristic polynomials and the equivariant inverse Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials for $q$-niform matroids and uniform matroids.

math.CO↗

arXiv2021

The equivariant inverse Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials of uniform matroids

Motivated by the concepts of the inverse Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomial and the equivariant Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomial, Proudfoot defined the equivariant inverse Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomial for a matroid. In this paper, we show that the equivariant inverse Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomial of a matroid is very useful for determining its equivariant Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials, and we determine the equivariant inverse Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials for Boolean matroids and uniform matroids. As an application, we give a new proof of Gedeon, Proudfoot and Young's formula for the equivariant Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials of uniform matroids. Inspired by Lee, Nasr and Radcliffe's combinatorial interpretation for the ordinary Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials of uniform matroids, we further present a new formula for the corresponding equivariant Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials.

math.CO↗

arXiv2020

The inverse Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomial of a matroid

In analogy with the classical Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials for Coxeter groups, Elias, Proudfoot and Wakefield introduced the concept of Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials for matroids. It is known that both the classical Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials and the matroid Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials can be considered as special cases of the Kazhdan-Lusztig-Stanley polynomials for locally finite posets. In the framework of Kazhdan-Lusztig-Stanley polynomials, we study the inverse of Kazhdan-Lusztig-Stanley functions and define the inverse Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials for matroids. We also compute these polynomials for boolean matroids and uniform matroids. As an unexpected application of the inverse Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials, we obtain a new formula to compute the Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials for uniform matroids. Similar to the Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomial of a matroid, we conjecture that the coefficients of its inverse Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomial are nonnegative and log-concave.

math.CO↗

arXiv2019

On partially ordered patterns of length 4 and 5 in permutations

Partially ordered patterns (POPs) generalize the notion of classical patterns studied widely in the literature in the context of permutations, words, compositions and partitions. In an occurrence of a POP, the relative order of some of the elements is not important. Thus, any POP of length $k$ is defined by a partially ordered set on $k$ elements, and classical patterns correspond to $k$-element chains. The notion of a POP provides a convenient language to deal with larger sets of permutation patterns. This paper contributes to a long line of research on classical permutation patterns of length 4 and 5, and beyond, by conducting a systematic search of connections between sequences in the Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences (OEIS) and permutations avoiding POPs of length 4 and 5. As the result, we (i) obtain 13 new enumerative results for classical patterns of length 4 and 5, and a number of results for patterns of arbitrary length, (ii) collect under one roof many sporadic results in the literature related to avoidance of patterns of length 4 and 5, and (iii) conjecture 6 connections to the OEIS. Among the most intriguing bijective questions we state, 7 are related to explaining Wilf-equivalence of various sets of patterns, e.g.\ 5 or 8 patterns of length 4, and 2 or 6 patterns of length~5.

math.CO↗

arXiv2018

On a Greedy Algorithm to Construct Universal Cycles for Permutations

A universal cycle for permutations of length $n$ is a cyclic word or permutation, any factor of which is order-isomorphic to exactly one permutation of length $n$, and containing all permutations of length $n$ as factors. It is well known that universal cycles for permutations of length $n$ exist. However, all known ways to construct such cycles are rather complicated. For example, in the original paper establishing the existence of the universal cycles, constructing such a cycle involves finding an Eulerian cycle in a certain graph and then dealing with partially ordered sets. In this paper, we offer a simple way to generate a universal cycle for permutations of length $n$, which is based on applying a greedy algorithm to a permutation of length $n-1$. We prove that this approach gives a unique universal cycle $Π_n$ for permutations, and we study properties of $Π_n$.

math.CO↗

arXiv2018

The Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials of uniform matroids

The Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomial of a matroid was introduced by Elias, Proudfoot, and Wakefield [{\it Adv. Math. 2016}]. Let $U_{m,d}$ denote the uniform matroid of rank $d$ on a set of $m+d$ elements. Gedeon, Proudfoot, and Young [{\it J. Combin. Theory Ser. A, 2017}] pointed out that they can derive an explicit formula of the Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials of $U_{m,d}$ using equivariant Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials. In this paper we give two alternative explicit formulas, which allow us to prove the real-rootedness of the Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials of $U_{m,d}$ for $2\leq m\leq 15$ and all $d$'s. The case $m=1$ was previously proved by Gedeon, Proudfoot, and Young [{\it Sém. Lothar. Combin. 2017}]. We further determine the $Z$-polynomials of all $U_{m,d}$'s and prove the real-rootedness of the $Z$-polynomials of $U_{m,d}$ for $2\leq m\leq 15$ and all $d$'s. Our formula also enables us to give an alternative proof of Gedeon, Proudfoot, and Young's formula for the Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials of $U_{m,d}$'s without using the equivariant Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials.

math.CO↗

arXiv2017

Schur positivity and log-concavity related to longest increasing subsequences

Chen proposed a conjecture on the log-concavity of the generating function for the symmetric group with respect to the length of longest increasing subsequences of permutations. Motivated by Chen's log-concavity conjecture, Bóna, Lackner and Sagan further studied similar problems by restricting the whole symmetric group to certain of its subsets. They obtained the log-concavity of the corresponding generating functions for these subsets by using the hook-length formula. In this paper, we generalize and prove their results by establishing the Schur positivity of certain symmetric functions. This also enables us to propose a new approach to Chen's original conjecture.

math.CO↗

arXiv2017

The Smith normal form of a specialized Giambelli-type matrix

In the study of determinant formulas for Schur functions, Hamel and Goulden introduced a class of Giambelli-type matrices with respect to outside decompositions of partition diagrams, which unify the Jacobi-Trudi matrices, the Giambelli matrices and the Lascoux-Pragacz matrices. Stanley determined the Smith normal form of a specialized Jacobi-Trudi matrix. Motivated by Stanley's work, we obtain the Smith normal form of a specialized Giambelli matrix and a specialized Lascoux-Pragacz matrix. Furthermore, we show that, for a given partition, the Smith normal form of any specialized Giambelli-type matrix can be obtained from that of the corresponding specialization of the classical Giambelli matrix by a sequence of stabilization operations.

math.CO↗

arXiv2016

Enumeration of Corners in Tree-like Tableaux

In this paper, we confirm conjectures of Laborde-Zubieta on the enumeration of corners in tree-like tableaux and in symmetric tree-like tableaux. In the process, we also enumerate corners in (type $B$) permutation tableaux and (symmetric) alternative tableaux. The proof is based on Corteel and Nadeau's bijection between permutation tableaux and permutations. It allows us to interpret the number of corners as a statistic over permutations that is easier to count. The type $B$ case uses the bijection of Corteel and Kim between type $B$ permutation tableaux and signed permutations. Moreover, we give a bijection between corners and runs of size 1 in permutations, which gives an alternative proof of the enumeration of corners. Finally, we introduce conjectural polynomial analogues of these enumerations, and explain the implications on the PASEP.

math.CO↗