Universal character and \(q\)-difference Painlevé equations (Q842309)

The universal character is a polynomial attached to a pair of partitions and is a generalisation of the Schur polynomials. The theory of partitions is known to be related to the theory of \(q\)-special functions (\(q\)-analogues of special functions). The \(q\)-difference Painlevé equations are nonlinear discrete equations considered as \(q\)-analogues of Painlevé equations. They are the subject of a considerable amount of work by people interested in integrable systems, in special functions and much more. In the present paper, the author studies a relation between the universal character and \(q\)-Painlevé equations by introducing a new hierarchy of \(q\)-difference equations that generalizes at the same time \(q\)-KP and \(q\)-UC hierarchies. A by product is a class of algebraic solutions of \(q\)-Painlevé equations.