Hook Young diagrams with applications to combinatorics and to representations of Lie superalgebras (Q1821858)

The authors provide here the definitive account of the generalization to the general linear Lie superalgebra \(\mathfrak{pl}(V)=\mathfrak{pl}(k,\ell)\) of Schur's classical work on the irreducible representations of the general Lie algebra \(\mathfrak{gl}(V)=\mathfrak{gl}(k)\). In particular, Schur's proof that the permutation action of \(S_ n\) and the diagonal action of \(\mathfrak{gl}(V)\) on \(\text{End}(V^{\otimes n})\) centralise one another is extended to the case of \(V=T\oplus U\), with \(\dim T=k\) and \(\dim U=\ell\). The action of \(S_ n\) restricted to \(T^{\otimes n}\) is as before but involves a sign factor on restriction to \(U^{\otimes n}\). This action centralises that of \(\mathfrak{pl}(V)\) and vice versa on \(\mathrm{End}(V^{\otimes n})\). It is proved that the corresponding irreducible representations may be specified by a set \(\Gamma(k,\ell;n)\) of partitions \(\lambda =(\lambda_ 1,\lambda_ 2,\dots)\) of \(n\) for which \(\lambda_ j\leq \ell\) for \(j\geq k+1\) so that the corresponding Young diagrams lie inside a hook shaped region of arm-height \(k\) and leg-width \(\ell.\) The proof of this key result involves a generalization of the Robinson-Schensted-Knuth construction and certain new semistandard tableaux in two sets of variables. The characters of irreducible representations of \(\mathfrak{pl}(V)\) are given explicitly, along with branching rules, dimension formulae and a factorization theorem appropriate to the case \(\lambda_ k\geq \ell\). The work is self-contained but overlaps to some extent independent developments published elsewhere. [\textit{P. H. Dondi} and \textit{P. D. Jarvis}, J. Phys. A 14, 547--563 (1981; Zbl 0449.17002), \textit{A. B. Balantekin} and \textit{I. Bars}, J. Math. Phys. 22, 1149--1162 (1981; Zbl 0469.22017); 22, 1810--1818 (1981; Zbl 0547.22014), the reviewer, Lect. Notes Phys. 180, 41--47 (1983; Zbl 0529.17005), and Ars. Comb. 16A, 269--287 (1983; Zbl 0547.22016)].