Recursive tetris-type formula for powers of the Vandermonde determinant

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Let 1≤m≤n1\leq m\leq n. Let λ⊢n(n−1)\lambda\vdash n(n-1) satisfy n−1≤ℓ(λ)≤nn-1\leq\ell(\lambda)\leq n and

λ1=λ2=⋯=λm=2n−m−2.\lambda_1=\lambda_2=\cdots=\lambda_m=2n-m-2.

Let μ⊢n(n+1)\mu\vdash n(n+1) satisfy

μ1=2n−m,μ2=⋯=μm+1=2n−m−1,\mu_1=2n-m,\qquad \mu_2=\cdots=\mu_{m+1}=2n-m-1,

and, if m<nm<n, μj=λj−1\mu_j=\lambda_{j-1} for j=m+2,…,n+1j=m+2,\ldots,n+1. Here aδna_{\delta_n} denotes the Vandermonde determinant associated with the staircase partition δn\delta_n, and sλs_\lambda denotes the Schur function indexed by λ\lambda; ⟨  ⟩\langle\,\ \rangle is the relevant Schur-function inner product. Recursive tetris-type conjecture. One has

⟨aδn+12,sμ⟩=(−1)m(m+1)⟨aδn2,sλ⟩.\left\langle a_{\delta_{n+1}}^{2},s_\mu\right\rangle=(-1)^m(m+1)\left\langle a_{\delta_n}^{2},s_\lambda\right\rangle.

This conjectural recursion describes how a specified tetris-type modification of the partition changes the Schur coefficient in the square of the Vandermonde determinant. The authors report verification for n≤6n\leq 6 using Maple; the general statement remains open.

References

Primary source

Cristina Ballantine, “Powers of the Vandermonde determinant, Schur Functions, and recursive formulas”, arXiv:1201.4572 (2012).

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