Linear transformations that preserve immanants (Q1320005)

Let \(S_ n\) be the symmetric group of degree \(n\). Let \(F\) be an arbitrary field, and \(c\) a function, not identically zero, from \(S_ n\) into \(F\). If \(X = (x_{ij})\) is an \(n \times n\) matrix over \(F\), the generalized Schur function \(d_ c(X)\) is defined by \(d_ c(X) = \sum_{\sigma \in S_ n} c(\sigma) \prod^ n_{i = 1} x_{i \sigma (i)}\). Let \(c\) coincide with a character \(\chi\) on a subgroup \(H\) of \(S_ n\) and be zero in \(S_ n \backslash H\), then \(d_ c(X)\) is denoted by \(d^ H_ \chi(X)\), and for the case which \(H=S_ n\) and \(\chi\) is an irreducible character, \(d^ H_ \chi\) is called an immanant a abbreviated to \(d_ \chi\). The author considers the transformations \(T\) that preserve the immanants, i.e., \(d_ \chi (T(X)) = d_ \chi (X)\) for all \(X\), where \(\chi\) is an irreducible character of degree greater than one on \(S_ n\). As a preliminary general result, he presents a necessary and sufficient condition for \(T\) to be invertible when it preserves the generalized matrix function \(d_ c\), and proves the preservers of immanants are always nonsingular. For the case \(F=\mathbb{C}\), the complex numbers, he characterizes those linear transformations on matrices which leave an immanant unaltered. He separates the cases \(n=3\) and \(n \geq 4\). The statements and proofs of these main results are too complicated to be described here.