Lattice points and simultaneous core partitions (Q1784273)

Summary: We apply lattice point techniques to the study of simultaneous core partitions. Our central observation is that for \(a\) and \(b\) relatively prime, the abacus construction identifies the set of simultaneous \((a,b)\)-core partitions with lattice points in a rational simplex. We apply this result in two main ways: using Ehrhart theory, we reprove Anderson's theorem that there are \((a+b-1)!/a!b!\) simultaneous \((a,b)\)-cores; and using Euler-Maclaurin theory we prove Armstrong's conjecture that the average size of an \((a,b)\)-core is \((a+b+1)(a-1)(b-1)/24\). Our methods also give new derivations of analogous formulas for the number and average size of self-conjugate \((a,b)\)-cores.