Reflection decompositions in the classical Weyl groups (Q1343784)

Let \(W\) be a Coxeter group. Every \(x \in W\) is a product of reflections \(\rho_ i \in W\), i.e. \(x = \rho_ 1 \dots \rho_ k\). If \(k\) is minimal, put \(k = r(x,W)\). Clearly, \(r(x,W)\) is constant on a conjugacy class \(C_ i\) of \(W\). Put \(r(C_ i) = r(x,W)\) for \(x \in C_ i\). Let \(p(C_ i)\) denote the number of minimal decompositions in the conjugacy class \(C_ i\). The author determines \(p(C_ i)\) for Weyl groups of type \(B_ n\) and \(D_ n\) and relates the results to the decomposition of elements in the symmetric groups into more than the minimal number of transpositions.