Rationally smooth elements of Coxeter groups and triangle group avoidance. (Q2454084)

Let \(W\) be a Coxeter group generated by a reflection set \(S\) satisfying relations \((st)^{m_{st}}=e\) such that \(m_{st}=1\) if and only if \(s=t\). The Poincaré series \(P_w(q)=\sum_{x\leq w}q^{\ell(x)}\) of an element \(w\in W\) is a polynomial of degree \(l(w)\). An element \(w\) is said to be palindromic (or rationally smooth) if the coefficients of \(P_w(q)\) are the same whether read from top degree to bottom degree, or in reverse. A triangle group is a Coxeter group with \(|S|=3\). A Coxeter group contains the triangle \((a,b,c)\) if there is a subset \(\{r,s,t\}\subseteq S\) such that \((a,b,c)=(m_{rs},m_{rt},m_{st})\). If \(S\) contains no such subset then we say \(W\) avoids the triangle \((a,b,c)\). Let \(\mathrm{HQ}:=\{(2,b,c)\mid b,c\geq 3\) and \(b<\infty\}\). The main result that the authors obtain is the following: Let \(W\) be a Coxeter group which avoids all triangle groups in HQ. Then every 4-palindromic \(w\in W\) is palindromic. Furthermore, if \(W\) avoids all triangle groups \((3,3,c)\) where \(3<c<\infty\), then every 2-palindromic \(w\in W\) is palindromic.