The \(Z\)-polynomial of a matroid (Q1700792)

Summary: We introduce the \(Z\)-polynomial of a matroid, which we define in terms of the Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomial. We then exploit a symmetry of the \(Z\)-polynomial to derive a new recursion for Kazhdan-Lusztig coefficients. We solve this recursion, obtaining a closed formula for Kazhdan-Lusztig coefficients as alternating sums of multi-indexed Whitney numbers. For realizable matroids, we give a cohomological interpretation of the \(Z\)-polynomial in which the symmetry is a manifestation of Poincaré duality.