Another proof of the Harer-Zagier formula (Q2635085)

Summary: For a regular \(2n\)-gon there are \((2n-1)!!\) ways to match and glue the \(2n\) sides. The Harer-Zagier bivariate generating function enumerates the gluings by \(n\) and the genus \(g\) of the attendant surface and leads to a recurrence equation for the counts of gluings with parameters \(n\) and \(g\). This formula was originally obtained using multidimensional Gaussian integrals. Soon after, \textit{D. M. Jackson} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 299, No. 2, 785--801 (1987; Zbl 0655.05005)] and later \textit{D. Zagier} [Nieuw Arch. Wiskd., IV. Ser. 13, No. 3, 489--495 (1995; Zbl 0854.05008)] found alternative proofs using symmetric group characters. In this note we give a different, characters-based, proof. Its core is computing and marginally inverting the Fourier transform of the underlying probability measure on \(S_{2n}\). A key ingredient is the Murnaghan-Nakayama rule for the characters associated with one-hook Young diagrams.