Combinatorics and total positivity (Q1899067)

An infinite real matrix \(M\) is said to be totally positive (TP) if every minor of \(M\) has nonnegative determinant. The purpose of the article is to show that many familiar matrices arising in combinatorics and the theory of symmetrical functions have this property. The author starts from two nice characterizations of the class of TP matrices (in terms of planar digraphs and in terms of generalized complete homogeneous functions). Then he proves the total positivity properties for a lot of classes of matrices, where coefficients are \(q\)-binomial, \((p,q)\)-Stirling, Delanoy, \(q\)-Lan and many other types of numbers. Especially interesting are various combinatorial interpretations for the minors. The author shows several nice applications of his approach in combinatorics, such as the proof that a product of two TP matrices is TP, such as the generalization of the result of Stembridge concerning immanants of TP matrices, and the interpretation of the minors as generating functions for a certain set of tableaux.