The plethysm \(s_\lambda[s_\mu]\) at hook and near-hook shapes (Q1422155)

Summary: We completely characterize the appearance of Schur functions corresponding to partitions of the form \(\nu = (1^a, b)\) (hook shapes) in the Schur function expansion of the plethysm of two Schur functions, \[ s_\lambda[s_\mu] = \sum_{\nu} a_{\lambda, \mu, \nu} s_\nu. \] Specifically, we show that no Schur functions corresponding to hook shapes occur unless \(\lambda\) and \(\mu\) are both hook shapes and give a new proof of a result of Carbonara, Remmel and Yang that a single hook shape occurs in the expansion of the plethysm \(s_{(1^c, d)}[s_{(1^a, b)}]\). We also consider the problem of adding a row or column so that \(\nu\) is of the form \((1^a,b,c)\) or \((1^a, 2^b, c)\). This proves considerably more difficult than the hook case and we discuss these difficulties while deriving explicit formulas for a special case.