Explicit expressions for the central characters of the symmetric group (Q1917333)

If \(G\) is a finite group, and \(R\) is the integral group ring of \(G\), then the sums in \(R\) of the elements of single conjugacy classes in \(G\) form a basis for the center of \(R\). A representation of \(G\) will then send such an element to a diagonal matrix. The entries of these diagonal matrices are called the central characters of \(G\). They are related to ordinary characters by a simple formula involving the size of the conjugacy class. The author conjectures an explicit combinatorial (i.e. representation-free) formula for the irreducible central characters of the symmetric group, which he offers ``as a challenge to the interested community''. For a fixed Young diagram \(\Gamma\), let \(\sigma_k = \sum_{(i,j) \in \Gamma} (j - i)^k\). The proposed formula for a central character corresponding to \(\Gamma\) is in the form of a polynomial in the \(\sigma_k\), whose coefficients depend only on the conjugacy class \(C\). The author showed in previous work that a formula of this type holds in case the conjugacy class consists of \(p\)-cycles. An explicit algorithmic formula was conjectured in this case and has been verified for \(p \leq 18\). The fact that single-cycle classes generate the center of \(R\) implies that a formula of this type holds in general, and is used to formulate the conjecture contained in this paper. The coefficients of the polynomials appearing in this conjecture are determined by an iterative procedure, based on some conjectured initial data, which results in a system of linear equations. The fact that this system is consistent in all known cases \((p\)-cycle sums for \(p \leq 20)\) is cited as evidence in support of the conjecture. The procedure is demonstrated with two small examples.