When does the set of \((a, b, c)\)-core partitions have a unique maximal element? (Q2346470)

Summary: In 2007, \textit{J. B. Olsson} and \textit{D. Stanton} [Aequationes Math. 74, No. 1--2, 90--110 (2007; Zbl 1173.20010)] gave an explicit form for the largest \((a, b)\)-core partition, for any relatively prime positive integers \(a\) and \(b\), and asked whether there exists an \((a, b)\)-core that contains all other \((a, b)\)-cores as subpartitions; this question was answered in the affirmative first by \textit{J. Vandehey} [``Containment in \((s,t)\)-core partitions'', Preprint, \url{arXiv:0809.2134}] and later by \textit{M. Fayers} [J. Comb. Theory, Ser. A 118, No. 5, 1525--1539 (2011; Zbl 1232.05235)] independently. In this paper we investigate a generalization of this question, which was originally posed by Fayers: for what triples of positive integers \((a, b, c)\) does there exist an \((a, b, c)\)-core that contains all other \((a, b, c)\)-cores as subpartitions? We completely answer this question when \(a\), \(b\), and \(c\) are pairwise relatively prime; we then use this to generalize the result of Olsson and Stanton [loc. cit.].