Dens, nests and the Loehr-Warrington conjecture
Abstract: We prove and extend the longest-standing conjecture in “\(q,t\)-Catalan combinatorics,’ namely, the combinatorial formula for \(\nabla^m s_{\mu }\) conjectured by Loehr and Warrington, where \(s_{\mu }\) is a Schur function and \(\nabla\) is an eigenoperator on Macdonald polynomials.
Our approach is to establish a stronger identity of infinite series of \(GL_l\) characters involving Schur Catalanimals; these were recently shown by the authors to represent Schur functions \(s_{\mu }[-MX^{m,n}]\) in subalgebras \(\Lambda (X^{m,n})\subset \mathcal{E}\) isomorphic to the algebra of symmetric functions \(\Lambda\) over \(\mathbb{Q} (q,t)\), where \(\mathcal{E}\) is the elliptic Hall algebra of Burban and Schiffmann. We establish a combinatorial formula for Schur Catalanimals as weighted sums of LLT polynomials, with terms indexed by configurations of nested lattice paths called nests, having endpoints and bounding constraints controlled by data called a den.
The special case for \(\Lambda (X^{m,1})\) proves the Loehr-Warrington conjecture, giving \(\nabla^m s_{\mu }\) as a weighted sum of LLT polynomials indexed by systems of nested Dyck paths. In general, for \(\Lambda (X^{m,n})\) our formula implies a new \((m,n)\) version of the Loehr-Warrington conjecture. In the case where each nest consists of a single lattice path, the nests in a den formula reduces to our previous shuffle theorem for paths under any line. Both this and the \((m,n)\) Loehr-Warrington formula generalize the $(km,kn)$ shuffle theorem proven by Carlsson and Mellit (for \(n=1\)) and Mellit. Our formula here unifies these two generalizations.
Date published: Tuesday, June 10, 2025