Sign balances and promotion order of Young-Fibonacci tableaux (Q6184527)

A Fibonacci word of size \(n\) is a word consisting of `1' and `2' which sums to \(n\). A Fibonacci word has a corresponding Fibonacci shape, which is an array of boxes. Here, a `1' gives a single box and a `2' gives two boxes stacked vertically, with the array of boxes bottom-justified. Given a Fibonacci shape \(\mu\) of size \(n\), a Fibonacci tableau is a filling of \(\mu\) with the numbers \(1\) to \(n\) such that the numbers in the bottom row are increasing from right to left, and the bottom box in each vertical pair is larger than the top. Fibonacci tableaux can be studied in analogous ways to Young tableaux; in particular, the paper proves results on their sign balance and promotion order. Let us consider more details of the results. One can define two different sorts of reading words from a Fibonacci tableau~\(T\), namely by reading the numbers column-by-column right to left and by either reading the bottom entry of each column first (A-reading word), or the top entry first (B-reading word). The A-reading word and the B-reading word of \(T\) both give permutations, and we denote the respective sets of inversions of these permutations by \(\mathsf{inv}_{A}(T)\) and \(\mathsf{inv}_{B}(T)\). The first result of the paper is a formula involving B-inversions, generalising an analogous result for Young tableaux [\textit{T. Lam}, J. Comb. Theory, Ser. A 107, No. 1, 87--115 (2004; Zbl 1051.05079)]. Indeed, given a Fibonacci tableaux \(T\), define \begin{itemize} \item a buddy to be a \(2 \times 2\) subtableau where the bottom two numbers are \(k + 1\) and \(k\), \item a kin to be a horizontal domino in the bottom row in which the two numbers are \(k + 1\) and \(k\). \end{itemize} If we let \(v(T)\) be the number of vertical dominoes, \(d(T)\) be the maximal number of disjoint buddies, and \(h(t)\) be the maximal number of disjoint kins, then the first main result gives that \[ \sum_{T} (-1)^{\mathsf{inv}_{B}(T)}q^{v(T)}t^{d(T)}x^{h(T)} = (q + x)^{\lfloor \frac{n}{2} \rfloor}, \] where the sum is over all Fibonacci tableaux of size \(n\). For a Fibonacci shape \(\mu\), one defines \[ I_{\mu} := \sum_{T} (-1)^{\mathrm{inv}_{A}(T)}, \] where the sum is over all Fibonacci tableaux of shape \(\mu\); this is known as the sign balance of the shape \(\mu\). The authors then give a criterion determining the sign balances of Fibonacci shapes, using a criterion they call being a good shape. This allows them to compute that \[ \sum_{\mu} (-1)^{v(\mu)} I_{\mu}^{2} = 0, \] where the sum is over the set of Fibonacci shapes of size \(n\). This also generalises an analogous result on Young tableaux [\textit{J. Sjöstrand}, J. Comb. Theory, Ser. A 111, No.~2, 190--203 (2005; Zbl 1088.05077)]. The final main result of the paper concerns promotion. Promotion is an operation which takes a linear extension of a poset to another linear extension. The promotion order of a linear extension is the minimal number of times the promotion operation needs to be applied to return the original linear extension. The promotion order of a poset is then the lowest common multiple of the promotion orders of all of its linear extensions. Fibonacci shapes can be interpreted as posets, with Fibonacci tableau linear extensions, analogously to the Young tableaux case. The final theorem of the paper gives a way of recursively computing the promotion order of a Fibonacci shape.