Abstract: We will look at the Catalan numbers from the {it Rigged Configurations} point of view originated cite{Kir} from an combinatorial analysis of the Bethe Ansatz Equations associated with the higher spin anisotropic Heisenberg models . Our strategy is to take a combinatorial interpretation of Catalan numbers as the number of standard Young tableaux of rectangular shape , or equivalently, as the Kostka number , as the starting point of research. We observe that the rectangular (or multidimensional) Catalan numbers introduced and studied by P. MacMahon cite{Mc}, cite{Su1}, see also cite{Su2}, can be identified with the Kostka number , and therefore can be treated by Rigged Configurations technique. Based on this technique we study the stretched Kostka numbers and polynomials, and give a proof of `` a strong rationality `` of the stretched Kostka polynomials. This result implies a polynomiality property of the stretched Kostka and stretched Littlewood--Richardson coefficients cite{KT}, cite{Ras}, cite{Ki1}. Another application of the Rigged Configuration technique presented, is a new family of counterexamples to Okounkov's log-concavity conjecture cite{Ok}. Finally, we apply Rigged Configurations technique to give a combinatorial prove of the unimodality of the principal specialization of the internal product of Schur functions. In fact we prove a combinatorial formula for generalized -Gaussian polynomials which is a far generalization of the so-called -identity cite{O}, as well as it manifests the unimodality property of the -Gaussian polynomials.
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