Spin Kostka polynomials (Q1938794)

For partitions \(\lambda\) and \(\mu\), the Kostka polynomial \(K_{\lambda \mu}(t)\) is defined by \[ s_{\lambda}(x)= \sum_{\mu} K_{\lambda \mu}(t) P_{\mu}(x;t), \] where \(s_{\lambda}(x)\) is the Schur function and \(P_{\mu}(x;t)\) is the Hall-Littlewood function. In this paper, the authors introduce the notion of the spin Kostka polynomials \(K^{-}_{\xi \mu}(t)\) defined as follows: \[ Q_{\xi}(x)=\sum_{\mu} K^{-}_{\xi \mu}(t) P_{\mu}(x;t), \] where \(Q_{\xi}(x)\) is the Schur \(Q\)-function. The authors prove major properties of the spin Kostka polynomials parallel to those of the Kostka polynomials and provide their connections with representation theory. In the last section, the authors also introduce the spin Hall-Littlewood polynomials and the spin Macdonald polynomials, and discuss their properties.