Multi-partition analogue of \(q\)-binomial coefficients (Q6554584)

The \(q\)-binomial coefficients (also known as Gaussian polynomials) are defined by \N\[\N \begin{bmatrix}m\\ n\end{bmatrix}=\frac{\left(q\right)_{m}}{\left(q\right)_{m-n}\left(q\right)_{n}}\N\]\Nwhere, for \(n\in\mathbb{N}^*\cup\lbrace\infty\rbrace\),\N\N\begin{align*}\N\left(a\right)_{n}=\left(a;q\right)_{n}=\prod_{k=1}^{n}\left(1-aq^{k-1}\right),\newline \left(a_1,a_2,\dots,a_m\right)_{n}=\left(a_1,a_2,\dots,a_m;q\right)_{n}=\prod_{i=1}^{m}\left(a_i;q\right)_{n}.\N\end{align*}\NMotivated by previous works of \textit{J. Dousse} and \textit{B. Kim} [Ramanujan J. 42, No. 2, 267--283 (2017; Zbl 1356.05012); J. Comb. Theory, Ser. A 158, 228--253 (2018; Zbl 1391.05039)], the article under review here studies a multi-color partition analogue of \(q\)-binomial coefficients, called a multi-Gaussian polynomial. A non increasing sequence of strictly positive integers \(\lambda=(\lambda_1,\lambda_2,\dots,\lambda_\ell)\) is a partition of size \(n\) if \(\sum_{i=1}^{\ell}\lambda_i=n\). A \(k\)-color partition is a partition\(\lambda\) with \(k\) colors, for which each part \(\lambda_i\) is colored in one of \(k\) colors. Note that these \(k\)-colored partitions have strong connections with algebraic structures such as perfect crystals (see for instance the sequel of papers [\textit{J. Dousse} and \textit{I. Konan}, Adv. Math. 400, Article ID 108275, 41 p. (2022; Zbl 1514.17027); ibid. 408, Part B, Article ID 108571, 70 p. (2022; Zbl 1497.05010)].\N\NLet the multi-Gaussian polynomial \(G_k(M,N;q)\) be the generating function for the number of \(k\)-color partitions such that the largest part is less than or equal to \(M\) and the number of parts is less than or equal to \(N\), in others words it is the generating function for the number of \(k\)-color partitions that can fit in an \(M\times N\) rectangle. By convention, note that \N\[\NG_k(M,N;q)=\begin{cases} 0, \text{ if } M<0\text{ or }N<0,\\\N1, \text{ if } M=0\text{ and }N\geq 0 \text{ or }N=0\text{ and }M\geq 0.\end{cases}\N\]\NUsing this perspective, the authors derive the generating function for the number of \(k\)-color partitions inside the \(M\times N\) rectangle: \N\[\NG_k(M,N;q)=\sum_{\substack{c_i\geq0\\\Nc_1+c_2+\dots+c_k\leq N}}q^{c_1+\dots+c_k}\begin{bmatrix}M+c_1-1\\ c_1\end{bmatrix}\dots\begin{bmatrix}M+c_k-1\\ c_k\end{bmatrix}.\N\]\NThe main theorem of the paper under review reads as follows. \N\NTheorem 1.2. For \(N\geq M>0\), the coefficients of \(G_k(M,N;q)-G_k(N,M;q)\) are non-negative for \(\geq 2\). Moreover, there are positive coefficients if \(N>M\).\N\NIn spite of the fact that \(G_k(M,N;q)\) is the generating function of \(k\)-color partitions inside an \(M\times N\) rectangle, multi-Gaussian polynomials are non-symmetric in \(M\) and \(N\). Moreover, there is no proper conjugation for the multi-color partition. Thus the proof of the above theorems is very involved and relies on a careful analysis of recurrence relations verified by multi-Gaussian polynomials listed in Section \(3\). In Section \(4\), the authors examine the properties of the generating function of \(k\)-color partitions with distinct parts which enable them to derive a Sylvester-style formula for \N\[\N\left(-x_1q,-x_2q,\dots,-x_kq\right)_M\N\]\Nas the generating function for the number of \(k\)-color partitions of \(n\) into distinct parts such that all parts are at most \(M\). Given the unimodality of Gaussian polynomials and motivated by numerical experiments, the authors conjecture in Section \(5\) the \(q\)-log concavity of the generating series of \(2\)-color partitions fitting respectively inside an \(M\times N\) rectangle, respectively inside an \(N\times N\) rectangle.\N\NThe proofs in this article are rather involved but the authors did a great job at making the expository quite clear.