The \(h\)-polynomial and the rook polynomial of some polyominoes (Q2699655)

Summary: Let \(X\) be a convex polyomino such that its vertex set is a sublattice of \(\mathbb{N}^2\). Let \(\Bbbk[X]\) be the toric ring (over a field \(\Bbbk)\) associated to \(X\) in the sense of \textit{A. A. Qureshi} [J. Algebra 357, 279--303 (2012; Zbl 1262.13013)]. Write the Hilbert series of \(\Bbbk[X]\) as \((1 + h_1 t + h_2 t^2 + \cdots )/(1-t)^{\dim(\Bbbk[X])}\). For \(k \in \mathbb{N}\), let \(r_k\) be the number of configurations in \(X\) with \(k\) pairwise non-attacking rooks. We show that \(h_2 < r_2\) if \(X\) is not a thin polyomino. This partially confirms a conjectured characterization of thin polyominoes by \textit{G. Rinaldo} and \textit{F. Romeo} [J. Algebr. Comb. 54, No. 2, 607--624 (2021; Zbl 1480.13014)].