A refinement of the lecture hall theorem (Q1284469)

A lecture hall partition of length \(n\) is an integer sequence \(\lambda = (\lambda_1, ..., \lambda_n)\) satisfying \( 0 \leq {\lambda_1}/{1} \leq {\lambda_2}/{2} \leq ... \leq {\lambda_n}/{n}\). The generating function for these partitions asserts that there is a weight-preserving bijection between partitions into odd parts smaller than 2\(n\) and lecture hall partitions of length \(n\). No direct bijection has been discovered yet. In this paper, the authors present two direct proofs of a refinement of the lecture hall theorem. The first proof is short, and requires the use of a little \(q\)-calculus; while the second proof is the first truly bijective proof ever found in the domain of lecture hall partitions. Although the bijection is described in combinatorial terms, it finds its origin in the algebraic context of Coxeter groups. Both proofs are completely independent of all earlier proofs of the lecture hall theorem.