Irreducible characters and bitrace for the <i>q</i> -rook monoid (Q6851929)

The paper studies irreducible characters of the \(q\)-rook monoid algebra \(R_n(q)\) via vertex-operator methods, starting from a Frobenius-type character formula in the ring of symmetric functions for the values \(\chi^\lambda_\mu(q)\) on standard elements \(T_\mu\).\N\NThe main contribution is an iterative character formula based on a vertex-operator realization of Schur functions and the Murnaghan-Nakayama rule. It uses a decomposition of \(s_\lambda\) into \(h_k s_\nu\), where \(\lambda[1]/\nu\) is a vertical strip. As applications, the authors obtain closed formulae for \(\chi^\lambda_\mu(q)\) when \(\lambda\) is a hook or a two-row partition. The paper also introduces the bitrace for \(R_n(q)\) and derives a combinatorial formula for it, generalizing the corresponding bitrace formula for the Iwahori-Hecke algebra.