Descents of permutations in a Ferrers board (Q426754)

Summary: The classical Eulerian polynomials are defined by setting \[ A_n(t)= \sum_{\sigma \in \mathfrak{S}_n} t^{1+\mathrm{des}(\sigma)}= \sum_{k=1}^n A_{n,k} t^k, \] where \(A_{n,k}\) is the number of permutations of length \(n\) with \(k-1\) descents. Let \(A_n(t, q) = \sum_{\pi \in \mathfrak{S}_n} t^{1+\text{ des}(\pi)}q^{\text{ inv}(\pi)} \) be the inv \(q\)-analogue of the classical Eulerian polynomials whose generating function is well known: \[ \sum_{n \geq 0} \frac{u^n A_n(t, q)}{[n]_q!} = \frac{1}{\displaystyle 1-t\sum_{k \geq 1} \frac{(1-t)^ku^k}{[k]_q!}}.\tag{\(*\)} \] In this paper we consider permutations restricted in a Ferrers board and study their descent polynomials. For a general Ferrers board \(F\), we derive a formula in the form of permanent for the restricted \(q\)-Eulerian polynomial \[ A_F(t,q) := \sum_{\sigma \in F} t^{1+\text{ des}(\sigma)} q^{\text{ inv}(\sigma)}. \] If the Ferrers board has the special shape of an \(n\times n\) square with a triangular board of size \(s\) removed, we prove that \(A_F(t,q)\) is a sum of \(s+1\) terms, each satisfying an equation that is similar to (\(*\)). Then we apply our results to permutations with bounded drop (or excedance) size, for which the descent polynomial was first studied by \textit{F. Chung}, \textit{A. Claesson}, \textit{M. Dukes}, and \textit{R. Graham} [``Descent polynomials for permutations with bounded drop size,'' Eur. J. Comb. 31, No. 7, 1853--1867 (2010; Zbl 1227.05011)]. Our method presents an alternative approach.