On minuscule representations, plane partitions and involutions in complex Lie groups (Q1325172)

The main objective of the reviewed paper is to explain in an interesting way some of the combinatorial identities (labeled collectively therein as the ``\(q = - 1\) phenomenon'') that arise in connection with the enumeration of symmetry classes of plane partitions. First the author clarifies what is meant by the \(q = -1\) phenomenon. Suppose that we have a finite collection of combinatorial objects \(X\) with an associated generating function \(F(q)\) and suppose that there is some ``natural'' involution \(x \mapsto x^*\) on the set \(X\) (e.g. a type of duality). We would then regard this setting as providing an instance of the \(q = -1\) phenomenon if the number of fixed points of the involution equals \(F(- 1)\). The utility of this situation is clear in cases for which one knows a closed formula for \(F(q)\) -- by setting \(q = -1\), one obtains a closed formula for \(F(-1)\), and hence for the number of self-dual objects. The plane partition identities the author (re-)proves in the reviewed paper are actually corollaries of a more general (new) result about minuscule posets. These posets are closely related to minuscule representations of Lie algebras; their combinatorial properties were first investigated from a unified point of view by Proctor and in special cases were considered earlier by Stanley. Minuscule posets are special instances of Gaussian posets, a class of posets defined (by Stanley) roughly by the property that there should exist a ``nice'' product formula for the generating function for \(m\)-multichains of order ideals of the poset, for every \(m\). The author considers the weight poset associated to any representation of a semisimple Lie algebra. A key property of these posets is the fact that they are equipped with order-reversing involutions, given by the action of the longest element \(w_ 0\) of the Weyl group. This general construction provides an order-reversing involution in any minuscule poset. The main result of the paper is the assertion that the \(q = -1\) phenomenon occurs in any minuscule poset. More precisely, the author proves that the generating function \(F_ m(q)\) of \(m\)-multichains of order ideals of a minuscule poset has the property that \(F_ m(-1)\) counts the number of such multichains that are fixed by the order- reversing involution. Corollaries of this result include enumerations of (1) self-complementary, and (2) symmetric self-complementary plane partitions.