A polynomiality property for Littlewood-Richardson coefficients (Q1883140)

\textit{R. C. King, C. Tollu} and \textit{F. Toumazet} [CRM Proceedings and Lecture Notes 34, 99--112 (2004; Zbl 1055.05004)] conjectured that for all non-vanishing Littlewood Richardson (LR) coefficients \(c_{\lambda\mu}^{\nu}\) there exists a polynomial \(P_{\lambda\mu}^{\nu}(x)\) in \(x\) with coefficients in \(\mathbb Q\) such that \(P_{\lambda\mu}^{\nu}(0)=1\) and \(P_{\lambda\mu}^{\nu}(N)= c_{N\lambda,N\mu}^{N\nu}\) for \(N\) a positive integer. The polynomiality part of this conjecture was first proved by Derksen and Weyman using the theory of quivers [\textit{H. Derksen} and \textit{J. Weyman}, J. Algebra 255, 247--257 (2002; Zbl 1018.16012)]. In this paper a different approach is followed, leading to an alternative proof of the polynomiality part of the KTT conjecture. First the hive model is used to show that the LR coefficients are quasipolynomial in \(\lambda,\mu\) and \(\nu\) over the conical cells of the so-called Littlewood--Richardson complex \(\text{LR}_{k}\). Here \(k\) is an integer such that the lengths of the partitions \(\lambda,\mu\) and \(\nu\) do not exceed \(k\). Next the Steinberg hyperplane arrangement is defined and it is shown that the LR coefficients are polynomial over regions of this arrangement. The result on Steinberg arrangements is then used to prove the main result of the paper: that the quasi polynomials giving the LR coefficients in the cones of \(\text{LR}_k\) are polynomials of total degree at most \(\binom{k-1}{2}\). A relatively straightforward corollary is that the polynomiality part of the KTT is true and that the polynomials \(P_{\lambda\mu}^{\nu}(x)\) have degree at most \(\binom{k-1}{2}\).