A generalization of a 1998 unimodality conjecture of Reiner and Stanton

DOI10.4310/JOC.2020.V11.N1.A5MaRDI QIDQ2335909zbMATH OpenWikidataFDO

Authors Richard P. Stanley, Fabrizio Zanello

Publication date 18 November 2019

Published in Journal of Combinatorics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1711.10033

zbMATH Keywords

positivityunimodality\(q\)-binomial coefficientGaussian polynomialKOH theorem

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Symmetric functions and generalizations (05E05) Factorials, binomial coefficients, combinatorial functions (05A10) Combinatorial aspects of partitions of integers (05A17) Combinatorial identities, bijective combinatorics (05A19)

Abstract: An interesting, and still wide open, conjecture of Reiner and Stanton predicts that certain "strange" symmetric differences of $q$-binomial coefficients are always nonnegative and unimodal. We extend their conjecture to a broader, and perhaps more natural, framework, by conjecturing that, for each $kge5$, the polynomials ${\displaystyle }$f(k,m,b)(q)=�inom{m}{k}_q-q^{frac{k(m-b)}{2}+b-2k+2}cdot�inom{b}{k-2}_q${\displaystyle }$ are nonnegative and unimodal for all $mg{g}_{k}0$ and $blefrackm-4k+4k-2$ such that $kbequivkm$ (mod 2), with the only exception of $b=frackm-4k+2k-2$ when this is an integer. Using the KOH theorem, we combinatorially show the case $k=5$. In fact, we completely characterize the nonnegativity and unimodality of $f(k,m,b)$ for $kle5$. (This also provides an isolated counterexample to Reiner-Stanton's conjecture when $k=3$.) Further, we prove that, for each $k$ and $m$, it suffices to show our conjecture for the largest $2k-6$ values of $b$.

Recommendations

• Semi-invariants of binary forms pertaining to a unimodality theorem of Reiner and Stanton
• On Bergeron's positivity problem for \(q\)-binomial coefficients
• $q$-binomials and related symmetric unimodal polynomials
• Zeilberger's KOH theorem and the strict unimodality of \(q\)-binomial coefficients
• Strict unimodality of \(q\)-binomial coefficients

Cited in

(3)

• On Bergeron's positivity problem for \(q\)-binomial coefficients
• Semi-invariants of binary forms pertaining to a unimodality theorem of Reiner and Stanton
• A Unified Approach to Unimodality of Gaussian Polynomials

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