Combinatorics of crystal graphs and Kostka-Foulkes polynomials for the root systems \(B_{n}\), \(C_{n}\) and \(D_{n}\) (Q2368711)

The Kostka-Foulkes polynomial \(K_{\lambda,\mu}(q)\) for a simple Lie algebra \(g\) is a \(q\)-analogue of the multiplicity \(K_{\lambda,\mu}\) of the weight \(\mu\) in the irreducible finite-dimensional representation \(V(\lambda)\) of \(g\). It is known that \(K_{\lambda,\mu}(q)\) is a polynomial in \(q\) with nonnegative integer coefficients. For type \(A_{n-1}\) the positivity of the Kostka-Foulkes polynomials can be obtained by a purely combinatorial method. It involves the fact that \(K_{\lambda,\mu}\) equals the number of semistandard \(\lambda\)-tableaux of weight \(\mu\), the charge statistic on words of dominant evaluation, and the plactic monoid. The final step is based on a recurrence formula which expresses each Kostka-Foulkes polynomial for \(A_n\) in terms of those for \(A_{n-1}\). There exist analogues of semistandard tableaux also for other classical root systems, introduced via the theory of crystal bases. Recently the author of the paper under review has established a recurrence formula for the Kostka-Foulkes polynomials for the root system \(C_n\), introduced a structure of a cyclage graph on the corresponding set of tableaux, found a natural statistic on the semistandard tableaux of type \(C_n\). The present paper is an attempt to look at possible generalizations and extensions of the results in the case \(C_n\) for orthogonal root systems. The author establishes a recurrence formula for the root systems \(B_n\) and \(D_n\), in the spirit of the formula for \(C_n\), and shows that it is possible to endow the set of tableaux of types \(B_n\) and \(D_n\) with the structure of a cyclage graph. He introduces a new statistic on tableaux of types \(B_n\), \(C_n\), and \(D_n\) based on the catabolism operation. This statistic can be used to compute the Kostka-Foulkes polynomials \(K_{\lambda,\mu}(q)\) under certain conditions on \((\lambda,\mu)\). Explicit simple formulas for \(K_{\lambda,\mu}(q)\) are given when \(|\lambda|\leq 3\), or \(n=2\) and \(\mu=0\).