Chain decompositions of \(q, t\)-Catalan numbers: tail extensions and flagpole partitions (Q2674371)

In this paper, the authors develop a structure theory for integer partitions based on the partition statistics dinv, deficit, and minimum triangle height. They decompose the infinite set of partitions of deficit \(k\) into a disjoint union of chains \(\mathcal{C}_\mu\) indexed by partitions of size \(k\). Moreover, these chains can be paired to give refinements of the famous symmetry property on \(q\), \(t\)-Catalan numbers, namely, \(\mathrm{Cat}_n(q,t)=\mathrm{Cat}_n(t,q)\), introduced by \textit{M. M. Gillespie} [``Two \(q,t\)-symmetry problems in symmetric function theory'', Open problems in algebraic combinatorics, \url{https://realopacblog.wordpress.com/2020/01/12/two-qt-symmetry-problems-in-symmetric-function-theory/}]. In a former paper, the authors introduced a map that builds the tail part of each chain \(\mathcal{C}_\mu\). The purpose of this paper is threefold. The first main result of this paper is to extend the aforementioned map to construct larger second-order tails for each chain. Secondly, they introduce new classes of partitions called flagpole partitions and generalized flagpole partitions. Thirdly, the authors describe a recursive construction for building the chain \(\mathcal{C}_\mu\) for a generalized flagpole partition \(\mu\), assuming that the chains indexed by certain specific smaller partitions (depending on \(\mu\)) are already known. Finally, the authors investigate some enumerative and asymptotic results for flagpole partitions and their generalized versions.