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# The peak algebra and the descent algebras of types B and D

## Introduction

A descent of a permutation $`w𝒮_n`$ is a position $`i`$ for which $`w_i>w_{i+1}`$, while a peak is a position $`i`$ for which $`w_{i1}<w_i>w_{i+1}`$. The first in-depth study of the combinatorics of peaks was carried out by Stembridge , who developed an analog of Stanley’s theory of poset partitions where the notion of descents (of linear extensions of posets) is replaced by the notion of peaks. More recent works uncovered connections between peaks and such disparate topics as the generalized Dehn-Sommerville equations  and the Schubert calculus of isotropic flag manifolds . Additional interest in the study of peaks grew from Nyman’s thesis , which showed that summing permutations according to their peak sets leads to a non-unital subalgebra of the group algebra of the symmetric group, much as Solomon’s descent algebra is constructed in terms of descent sets. Work that followed includes  and the present paper.

Our work developed from the observation that peaks of ordinary permutations are closely related to descents of signed permutations (permutations of type B). This led us to the discovery of a new object: a unital subalgebra of the descent algebra of the symmetric group, which we call the peak algebra. This algebra is linearly spanned by sums of permutations with a common set of peaks. The object considered in  is the linear span of the sums of permutations with a common set of interior peaks. We find that this is in fact a two-sided ideal of the peak algebra. We warn the reader that in  the terminology “peak algebra” refers to our peak ideal, viewed as a non-unital algebra (and our peak algebra is not considered in those works).

We obtain several properties of the peak algebra and the peak ideal. Our approach consists of obtaining more general properties that hold at the level of signed permutations and then specializing by means of the canonical map that forgets the signs. This allows for simpler proofs of known results for the peak ideal, as well as many new properties for both the peak algebra and the peak ideal.

We next review the contents of the paper in more detail.

Let $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$, $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)`$ and $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(D_n)`$ denote Solomon’s descent algebras of the Coxeter systems of types A, B and D (see Section 1 for the basic definitions). Let $`𝒮_n`$, $`_n`$ and $`𝒟_n`$ be the corresponding Coxeter groups. $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$ is thus the usual descent algebra of the symmetric group $`𝒮_n`$.

In Section 2 we introduce a commutative diagram of morphisms of algebras

The map $`\chi `$ is due to Mahajan . These maps exist at the level of groups (for instance, $`\phi (w)`$ is the permutation obtained by forgetting the signs of the signed permutation $`w`$), but it is not obvious that they restrict to descent algebras. We prove these facts in Propositions 2.13.2 and 3.6. Central to this is the analysis of the transformation of descents of signed permutations under the map $`\phi `$, which we carry out in Section 3. The principle that arises is: peaks are shadows of descents of type B and are not straightforwardly related to descents of type A.

We will show that the images of $`\phi `$ and $`\psi `$ coincide. This common image is a certain subalgebra of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$ whose study is the main goal of this paper. One of our main results (Theorem 4.2) states that this subalgebra is linearly spanned by the elements

$$P_F:=\underset{\mathrm{Peak}(w)=F}{}w,$$

where $`\mathrm{Peak}(w)`$ denotes the set of peaks of a permutation $`w`$. We refer to this subalgebra as the peak algebra and denote it by $`𝔓_n`$. It is important to note that we allow $`1`$ as a possible peak (by making the convention that $`w_0=0`$).

Previous work of Nyman  had shown the existence of a similar (but nonunital) subalgebra of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$—the difference stemming solely from the fact that peaks at $`1`$ were not allowed in that work. We obtain a stronger result in this work: we show that Nyman’s algebra is in fact a two-sided ideal of $`𝔓_n`$ (Theorem 5.7). This ideal, that we denote by $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$, is the image under $`\phi `$ of the two-sided ideal $`I_n^0`$ of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)`$ introduced in , and also under $`\psi `$ of a similar ideal of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(D_n)`$ introduced in . We obtain these results in Theorems 5.9 and 5.12.

We describe an exact sequence of the form

$$0\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n𝔓_n𝔓_{n2}0$$

and relate it to the exact sequences of  and  involving the descent algebras of types B and D (Corollary 5.10 and Theorem 5.12). This is an algebraic version of the Fibonacci recursion $`f_n=f_{n1}+f_{n2}`$.

It is well-known that grouping permutations according to the number of descents leads to a commutative semisimple subalgebra of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$ . In Section 6 we derive an analogous result for the linear span of the sums of permutations with a given number of peaks. Once again, it is possible to easily derive this fact from results for type B, which are known from . We find (Theorem 6.8) in fact two commutative semisimple subalgebras $`\mathrm{}_n`$ and $`\widehat{\mathrm{}}_n`$ of $`𝔓_n`$ and a two-sided ideal $`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{}}_n`$ of $`\widehat{\mathrm{}}_n`$ such that

$$\widehat{\mathrm{}}_n=\mathrm{}_n+\stackrel{}{\mathrm{}}_n.$$

In parallel with the situation for the peak algebra and its peak ideal, $`\mathrm{}_n`$ and $`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{}}_n`$ are obtained by grouping permutations according to the number of peaks and interior peaks, respectively. Thus, we see that $`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{}}_n`$ coincides with the non-unital commutative subalgebra studied by Schocker . Objects closely related to $`\mathrm{}_n`$ and $`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{}}_n`$ were first described by Doyle and Rockmore . See Remarks 6.9 for more details about these connections.

In Corollary 6.12, we describe an exact sequence relating $`\mathrm{}_n`$ and $`\mathrm{}_{n2}`$ and an analogous sequence at the level of type B. The corresponding objects at the level of type D are discussed in Section 6.5.

Mantaci and Reutenaer have defined a certain subalgebra of the group algebra of $`_n`$ which strictly contains the descent algebra . We denote it by $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_n)`$. We recall its definition in Section 7, and provide several new results that link $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_n)`$ to $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$ by means of $`\phi `$. The correspondence between types B and A is then summarized by the diagram

We show that $`I_n^0`$ is a right ideal of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_n)`$ and that it is in fact principal (Corollary 7.7). This allows us to recover a result of Shocker: that $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$ is a principal right ideal of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$ (Corollary 7.8). In addition, we obtain a new result that states that $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$ is principal as a right ideal of $`𝔓_n`$ (this result neither implies Schocker’s result nor is it implied by it), as well as the corresponding statement for type B (Proposition 7.14).

An important map $`\mathrm{\Theta }:\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$, which we call the descents-to-peaks transform, is discussed in Section 7.4. We construct a type B analog $`\mathrm{\Theta }^\pm :\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_n)I_n^0`$, from which the basic properties of $`\mathrm{\Theta }`$ may be easily derived. The descent-to-peaks transform is a special case of a map considered by Krob, Leclerc and Thibon  and is dual to a map considered by Stembridge . See Remarks 7.11 for the precise details.

In Section 8 we consider the direct sum over all $`n0`$ of the group, descent and peak algebras discussed in previous sections. This leads to a diagram

It is known from work of Malvenuto and Reutenauer  that the space $`𝒮`$ may be endowed with a new product (called the external product) and a coproduct that turn it into a graded Hopf algebra. Moreover, this structure restricts to $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A)`$, which results in the Hopf algebra of non-commutative symmetric functions. Using results from , we discuss type B analogs of these constructions and show that all objects in the above diagram are Hopf algebras, except for $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B)`$, which is an $`I^0`$-module coalgebra, and $`𝔓`$, which is a $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}`$-module coalgebra. We also discuss the behavior with respect to the external structure of all maps from previous sections.

In Section 8.5 we clarify the connection between Stembridge’s Hopf algebra of peaks and the objects discussed in this paper. The Hopf algebra $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}`$ and the descents-to-peaks transform are dual to the objects considered by Stembridge in .

In Section 8.6 we recall the canonical action of permutations on words, and provide an explicit description for the action of the generators of the principal ideals $`I_n^0`$ and $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$ in terms of symmetrizers and Jordan brackets (Propositions 8.8 and 8.9). This complements a result of Krob, Leclerc and Thibon .

Most of the results in this paper were presented by one of us (Nyman) at the meeting of the American Mathematical Society in Montréal in May, 2002.

## 1. Descent algebras of Coxeter systems

Let $`(W,S)`$ be a finite Coxeter system . That is, $`W`$ is a finite group generated by the set $`S`$ subject to the relations

$$(st)^{m_{st}}=1\text{ for all }s,tS,$$

where the $`m_{st}`$ are positive integers and $`m_{ss}=1`$ for all $`sS`$.

Given $`wW`$, its descent set is

$$\mathrm{Des}(w):=\{sS\mathrm{}(ws)<\mathrm{}(w)\},$$

where $`\mathrm{}(w)`$ denotes the length of a minimal expression for $`w`$ as a product of elements of $`S`$.

Let $`W`$ denote the group algebra of $`W`$. The subspace spanned by the elements

(1.1)
$$Y_J:=\underset{\mathrm{Des}(w)=J}{}w$$

is closed under the product of $`W`$ . It is the Solomon’s descent algebra of $`(W,S)`$. The unit element is $`Y_{\mathrm{}}=1`$.

The set $`\{Y_J\}_{JS}`$ is a linear basis of the descent algebra. A second linear basis is defined by

(1.2)
$$X_J:=\underset{IJ}{}Y_I=\underset{\mathrm{Des}(w)J}{}w.$$

Note that

(1.3)
$$Y_J=\underset{IJ}{}(1)^{\mathrm{\#}J\mathrm{\#}I}X_I$$

so the set $`\{X_J\}_{JS}`$ indeed forms a basis. This basis has proved useful in describing the structure of descent algebras  and will be useful in our work as well.

Warning: The notations $`Y_J`$ and $`X_J`$ do not make reference to the Coxeter system, which will have to be understood from the context. This is particularly relevant in our work in which we deal with descent algebras of various Coxeter systems at the same time.

From now on, we assume that the Coxeter system $`(W,S)`$ is associated to a Coxeter graph $`G`$ : $`S`$ is the set of vertices and $`m_{st}`$ is the label of the edge joining $`s`$ and $`t`$ ($`2`$ if there is no such edge and $`3`$ is there is an edge with no label, see Figures 1, 2 and 3). We denote the descent algebra of this Coxeter system by $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(G)`$.

For the Coxeter graph $`A_{n1}`$, the Coxeter group is the symmetric group $`𝒮_n`$ and the set of generators consists of the elementary transpositions $`s_i=(i,i+1)`$ for $`i=1,\mathrm{},n1`$. We identify this set with the set $`[n1]:=\{1,2,\mathrm{},n1\}`$ via $`s_ii`$. A permutation $`w`$ is represented by a sequence $`w=w_1\mathrm{}w_n`$ of distinct symbols from the set $`[n]`$, where $`w_i=w(i)`$ are the values of the permutation. A permutation $`w𝒮_n`$ has a descent at $`i[n1]`$ if $`w_i>w_{i+1}`$.

For the Coxeter graph $`B_n`$, the Coxeter group is the group of signed permutations $`𝒮_n_2^n`$, which we denote by $`_n`$. A signed permutation $`w`$ is represented by a sequence $`w=w_1\mathrm{}w_n`$ of symbols from $`1`$ to $`n`$ (the underlying permutation from $`𝒮_n`$), some of which may be barred (according to the sign from $`_2^n`$). We order these symbols by

(1.4)
$$\mathrm{}<\overline{2}<\overline{1}<1<2<\mathrm{}.$$

The set of generators consists of the elementary transpositions $`s_i`$ as before (with no signs) plus the signed permutation

$$s_0:=\overline{1}2\mathrm{}n.$$

We identify this set with the set $`\overline{[n1]}:=\{0\}[n1]`$. A signed permutation $`w_n`$ has a descent at $`i\overline{[n1]}`$ if $`w_i>w_{i+1}`$, with respect to the order (1.4), where we agree that $`w_0=0`$.

For the Coxeter graph $`D_n`$, the Coxeter group is the subgroup of $`_n`$ consisting of those signed permutations with an even number of signs (bars). We denote it by $`𝒟_n`$.

The set of generators consists of the elementary transpositions $`s_i`$ as before, from $`i=1`$ to $`n1`$, plus the signed permutation

$$s_1^{}:=\overline{2}\overline{1}3\mathrm{}n.$$

We identify this set with the set $`[n1]^{}:=\{1^{}\}[n1]`$.

It is convenient to represent a signed permutation $`w=w_1\mathrm{}w_n𝒟_n`$ by a fork-shaped sequence

of symbols from $`1`$ to $`n`$, possibly barred, with the convention that $`w_1^{}=\overline{w_1}`$. It then turns out that an element $`w𝒟_n`$ has a descent at $`i[n1]^{}`$ if $`w_i>w_{i+1}`$, with respect to the order $`()`$, and where we understand that $`1^{}+1=2`$. For instance,

has a descent at $`1^{}`$ because $`2>\overline{1}`$, but not at $`1`$, since $`\overline{2}<\overline{1}`$.

## 2. Morphisms between descent algebras

There is a canonical morphism $`\phi :_n𝒮_n`$ from the group of signed permutations onto that of ordinary permutations, obtained by simply forgetting the signs (bars). Let $`\psi :𝒟_n𝒮_n`$ be its restriction. Consider the linear extensions of these maps to the group algebras. We will show in Section 3 that these maps restrict to the corresponding descent algebras, yielding morphisms of algebras

$$\phi :\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})\text{ and }\psi :\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(D_n)\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1}).$$

It turns out that there is also a morphism of algebras

$$\chi :\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(D_n)$$

such that $`\phi =\psi \chi `$. In this section we concentrate on this map.

The map $`\chi `$ is due to Mahajan. It is not the restriction of a morphism of groups $`_n𝒟_n`$, and its construction is better understood from the point of view of hyperplane arrangements, as explained in \[23, Section 6.1\]. We will add a group-theoretic counterpart to Mahajan’s geometric construction that makes the above commutativity evident (but does not explain why $`\chi `$ is a morphism of algebras).

We begin by defining a map $`\chi :_n𝒟_n`$ as

$$\chi (w)=\{\begin{array}{cc}w\hfill & \text{if }w𝒟_n,\hfill \\ ws_0\hfill & \text{ if }w𝒟_n.\hfill \end{array}$$

In other words, $`\chi `$ changes the sign of the first entry if the number of signs is odd. Note that $`\chi `$ is not a morphism of groups. Nevertheless, we have the following

###### Proposition 2.1.

The map $`\chi `$ restricts to descent algebras and, at that level, it is a morphism of algebras $`\chi :\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(D_n)`$. Moreover, it is explicitly given as follows: for $`J\{2,\mathrm{},n1\}`$,

$`Y_J`$ $`Y_J`$
$`Y_{\{1\}J}`$ $`Y_{\{1^{}\}J}+Y_{\{1\}J}+Y_{\{1^{},1\}J}`$
(2.1) $`Y_{\{0\}J}`$ $`Y_J+Y_{\{1^{}\}J}+Y_{\{1\}J}`$
$`Y_{\{0,1\}J}`$ $`Y_{\{1^{},1\}J}`$
or equivalently,
$`X_J`$ $`X_J`$
$`X_{\{1\}J}`$ $`X_{\{1^{},1\}J}`$
(2.2) $`X_{\{0\}J}`$ $`X_{\{1^{}\}J}+X_{\{1\}J}`$
$`X_{\{0,1\}J}`$ $`2X_{\{1^{},1\}J}`$
###### Proof.

Consider $`Y_{\{1\}J}\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)`$. Take $`w_n`$ such that $`\mathrm{Des}(w)=\{1\}J`$. There are exactly three possibilities for $`\mathrm{Des}(\chi (w))`$:

> if $`w_1>w_2`$ then $`\mathrm{Des}(\chi (w))=\{1^{},1\}J`$,
> if $`w_1<w_2`$ and $`w𝒟_n`$ then $`\mathrm{Des}(\chi (w))=\{1\}J`$, and
> if $`w_1<w_2`$ and $`w𝒟_n`$ then $`\mathrm{Des}(\chi (w))=\{1^{}\}J`$.

Conversely, given $`v𝒟_n`$ such that $`\mathrm{Des}(v)=\{1\}J`$, we must have $`v_1>0`$; so letting $`w=v_n`$ we obtain $`\mathrm{Des}(w)=\{1\}J`$ and $`\chi (w)=v`$. If, instead, $`\mathrm{Des}(v)=\{1^{}\}J`$, then we must have $`v_1<0`$, so letting $`w=vs_0_n`$ we still obtain $`\mathrm{Des}(w)=\{1\}J`$ and $`\chi (w)=v`$. Finally, if $`\mathrm{Des}(v)=\{1^{},1\}J`$, then we let $`w=v_n`$ if $`v_1>0`$ and $`w=vs_0_n`$ if $`v_1<0`$, to obtain the same conclusion.

Therefore,

$$\chi (Y_{\{1\}J})=Y_{\{1^{}\}J}+Y_{\{1\}J}+Y_{\{1^{},1\}J}.$$

The remaining expressions in (2.1) may be similarly deduced. The expressions in (2.2) follow easily from (1.2).

Comparing (2.2) to \[23, Section 6.1\] we see that $`\chi `$ coincides with Mahajan’s map. His construction guarantees that $`\chi :\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(D_n)`$ is a morphism of algebras. ∎

###### Remark 2.2.

It is possible to give a direct proof of the fact that $`\chi `$ is a morphism of algebras by making use of the multiplication rules for the $`X`$-bases of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)`$ and $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(D_n)`$ given in \[4, Theorem 1\] and \[9, Theorem 1\].

###### Corollary 2.3.

There is a commutative diagram of morphisms of algebras

(2.3)
###### Proof.

The commutativity $`\phi =\psi \chi `$ already holds at the level of groups, clearly. ∎

The descent algebras $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)`$ and $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(D_n)`$ have the same dimension $`2^n`$, but the map $`\chi `$ is not an isomorphism: its image has codimension $`2^{n2}`$. In fact, the image of $`\chi `$ may be easily described. Consider the decomposition $`𝒟_n=𝒟_n^{(1)}𝒟_n^{(2)}𝒟_n^{(3)}`$ where the $`𝒟_n^{(i)}`$ are respectively defined by the conditions

$$|w_1|<w_2,|w_1|>|w_2|\text{ and }|w_1|<w_2.$$

In the group algebra of $`𝒟_n`$, define elements

$$Y_J^{(i)}=\{w𝒟_n^{(i)}\mathrm{Des}(w)\{2,\mathrm{},n1\}=J\},$$

for each $`J\{2,\mathrm{},n1\}\text{ and }i=1,2,3`$.

###### Corollary 2.4.

The image of $`\chi :\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(D_n)`$ is linearly spanned by the elements $`Y_J^{(i)}`$. In particular, these elements span a subalgebra of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(D_n)`$ of dimension $`32^{n2}`$ (and codimension $`2^{n2}`$).

###### Proof.

It suffices to observe that

$$Y_J^{(1)}=Y_J,Y_J^{(2)}=Y_{\{1^{}\}J}+Y_{\{1\}J}\text{ and }Y_J^{(3)}=Y_{\{1^{},1\}J}$$

and to make use of (2.1). ∎

The maps $`\phi `$ and $`\psi `$ are harder to describe in terms of the $`Y`$ or $`X`$ bases. An explicit description is provided below (Propositions 3.2, 3.3 and 3.6). It turns out that these maps have the same image, even though $`\chi `$ is not surjective. The main goal of this paper is to describe this image, a certain subalgebra of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$, in explicit combinatorial terms.

###### Remark 2.5.

A similar commutative diagram to (2.3) is given in \[23, Section 6\]. In fact, the map $`\chi `$ is the same for both, but the maps $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$ and $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(D_n)\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$ considered in  are different from ours.

## 3. Peaks of permutations and descents of signed permutations

###### Definition 3.1.

Let $`w𝒮_n`$. The set of peaks of $`w`$ is

$$\mathrm{Peak}(w)=\{i[n1]w_{i1}<w_i>w_{i+1}\},$$

where we agree that $`w_0=0`$.

For instance, $`\mathrm{Peak}(42153)=\{1,4\}`$. Note that $`1`$ is a peak of $`w`$ if and only if it is a descent of $`w`$. Thus, our notion of peaks differs (slightly) from that of . This turns out to be an important distinction, as will be made clear throughout this work. We will deal with both notions of peaks starting in Section 5.

Let $`𝒬_n`$ denote the collection of all subsets of $`[n1]`$, and

$$_n=\{F𝒬_n\text{if }iF\text{ then }i+1F\}.$$

Throughout this work, by the $`n`$-th Fibonacci number we understand

(3.1)
$$f_n:=\mathrm{\#}_n.$$

Thus, $`f_0=1`$, $`f_1=1`$, $`f_2=2`$ and $`f_n=f_{n1}+f_{n2}`$.

Clearly, the peak set of any permutation $`w𝒮_n`$ belongs to $`_n`$. It is easy to see that any element of $`_n`$ is realized in this way.

Given $`J𝒬_n`$, consider the set

$$\mathrm{\Lambda }(J):=\{iJi1J\}.$$

One verifies immediately that $`\mathrm{\Lambda }(J)_n`$ and, moreover, that the diagram

(3.2)
commutes.

For each $`F_n`$, define an element of the group algebra of $`𝒮_n`$ by

(3.3)
$$P_F:=\underset{\mathrm{Peak}(w)=F}{}w.$$

It follows from (1.1) and (3.2) that

(3.4)
$$P_F=\underset{\mathrm{\Lambda }(J)=F}{}Y_J;$$

in particular, each $`P_F`$ belongs to the descent algebra $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$.

It turns out that $`\phi :\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$ maps a basis element $`Y_J`$ to a certain sum of elements $`P_F`$. In order to derive an explicit expression for $`\phi (Y_J)`$, we need to introduce some notation and make some basic observations.

First, given a permutation $`u𝒮_n`$ and a position $`i[n]`$, we refer to one of the four diagrams

$$\text{},\text{},\text{},\text{}$$

as the local shape of $`u`$ at $`i`$, according to whether $`u_{i1}>u_i>u_{i+1}`$, $`u_{i1}<u_i<u_{i+1}`$, $`u_{i1}>u_i<u_{i+1}`$ or $`u_{i1}<u_i>u_{i+1}`$, respectively. Here, we make the conventions that $`u_0=0`$ and $`u_{n+1}=+\mathrm{}`$. A position $`i`$ is a peak of $`u`$ if the local shape at $`i`$ is  ; we also say that $`i`$ is a valley if the local shape is  . Note that valleys may only occur in positions $`2,\mathrm{},n`$, while peaks only in positions $`1,\mathrm{},n1`$. Note also that the total number of peaks equals the total number of valleys, since in listing them from left to right, peaks and valleys alternate, starting always with a peak and ending with a valley (except for the case of the identity permutation, which has no peaks or valleys). For instance, the four local shapes for $`u=2413`$ are, from left to right,

$$\text{},\text{},\text{}\text{ and }\text{}.$$

Similarly, for a signed permutation $`w_n`$ and $`i[n]`$, we speak of its local shape at $`i`$, which is one of the previous diagrams decorated by the sign of the entry $`w_i`$, with the same conventions. For instance, the four local shapes of $`w=2\overline{4}13`$ are (in order)

$$\text{},\text{},\text{}\text{ and }\text{}.$$

Clearly, the collection of all local shapes of $`w_n`$ determine its descent set, and conversely. More precisely, given a subset $`J\overline{[n1]}`$, we have that $`\mathrm{Des}(w)=J`$ if and only if for each $`i[n]`$, the local shape of $`w`$ at $`i`$ is as follows

$`iJ,iJ+1`$ $`iJ,iJ+1`$ $`iJ,iJ+1`$ $`iJ,iJ+1`$
where $`J+1`$ denote the shifted set $`J+1=\{i+1iJ\}`$.

Now suppose that a permutation $`u𝒮_n`$ is given and we look for all $`2^n`$ signed permutations $`w_n`$ such that $`\phi (w)=u`$. Given a local shape of $`u`$ at $`i[n]`$, the possible local shapes of $`w`$ at $`i`$ are as follows

(B)

| $`u𝒮_n`$ |  | $`w_n`$ , | $`\phi (w)=u`$ |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |

Let $`I\mathrm{}J=(IJ)(IJ)`$ be the symmetric set difference.

###### Proposition 3.2.

The map $`\phi :\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$ is explicitly given by

(3.5)
$$Y_J\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F_n\\ FJ\mathrm{}(J+1)\text{}\end{array}}{}2^{\mathrm{\#}F}P_F,$$

for any $`J\overline{[n1]}`$.

###### Proof.

We need to show that for each $`u𝒮_n`$,

($``$)
$$\mathrm{\#}\{w_n\mathrm{Des}(w)=J\text{ and }\phi (w)=u\}=\{\begin{array}{cc}2^{\mathrm{\#}\mathrm{Peak}(u)}\hfill & \text{ if }\mathrm{Peak}(u)J\mathrm{}(J+1),\hfill \\ 0\hfill & \text{ if not.}\hfill \end{array}$$

Note that this set is defined precisely by conditions (A) and (B) above.

Suppose there is at least one $`w`$ in the above set and take $`i\mathrm{Peak}(u)`$. By (B), the local shape of $`w`$ at $`i`$ is either   or  . Then, by (A), $`iJ\mathrm{}(J+1)`$. This proves the second half of ($``$).

Assume now that $`\mathrm{Peak}(u)J\mathrm{}(J+1)`$. A signed permutation $`w`$ in the above set is completely determined once the signs of its entries $`|w_i|=u_i`$ are chosen. We will show that the signs at those positions $`i`$ that are valleys of $`u`$ can be freely chosen, while the signs at the remaining positions are uniquely determined. This proves the remaining half of ($``$), because as explained above, the number of valleys equals the number of peaks, so the number of such choices is $`2^{\mathrm{\#}\mathrm{Peak}(u)}`$.

Given a position $`i`$, it will fall into one of the four alternatives of (A) (according to $`J`$) and one of the four alternatives of (B) (according to $`u`$). Consider first the case of a position $`i`$ that is not a valley of $`u`$. In this case, whatever the alternative in (A) is, there is exactly one possible local shape for $`w`$ that satisfies (B). In particular, the sign of $`w_i`$ is uniquely determined for all those positions $`i`$. On the other hand, if $`i`$ is a valley of $`u`$, then whatever the alternative in (A) is, there are exactly two possible local shapes for $`w`$ that satisfy (B), each with the same underlying shape but with different signs. Thus, the choices of signs that lead to a signed permutation $`w`$ that satisfies (A) and (B) is the same as the choices of signs on the set of valleys of $`u`$, as claimed. ∎

We can derive a similar expression for $`\phi `$ on the $`X`$-basis of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)`$.

###### Proposition 3.3.

The map $`\phi :\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$ is explicitly given by

(3.6)
$$X_J2^{\mathrm{\#}J}\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F_n\\ FJ(J+1)\text{}\end{array}}{}P_F$$

for any $`J\overline{[n1]}`$.

###### Proof.

Since $`X_J=_{KJ}Y_K`$, equation (3.6) will follow from (3.5), once we show that for any $`F_n`$ and $`J\overline{[n1]}`$ we have

$$\mathrm{\#}\{K\overline{[n1]}FK\mathrm{}(K+1),KJ\}=\{\begin{array}{cc}2^{\mathrm{\#}J\mathrm{\#}F}\hfill & \text{ if }FJ(J+1),\hfill \\ 0\hfill & \text{ if not.}\hfill \end{array}$$

If there is at least one subset $`K`$ in the above family, then $`FK(K+1)J(J+1)`$. This proves the second case of the equality.

Suppose now that $`FJ(J+1)`$. We decompose an arbitrary subset $`K`$ of $`J`$ into five pieces:

$$K^0:=K\left(J\left(F(F1)\right)\right),K^+:=KF\text{and}K^{}:=K(F1),$$

$$K_1^+:=KF(J+1),K_2^+:=KF(J+1)^c,$$

$$K_1^{}:=K(F1)(J1),K_2^{}:=K(F1)(J1)^c.$$

Thus, $`K=K^0K_1^+K_2^+K_1^{}K_2^{}`$. One may check that, under the present assumptions ($`F_n`$ and $`FJ(J+1)`$), a subset $`K`$ of $`J`$ satisfies $`FK\mathrm{}(K+1)`$ if and only if the following conditions hold:

$$K_2^+=JF(J+1)^c,K_2^{}=J(F1)(J1)^c\text{ and }K_1^+(K_1^{}+1)=JF(J+1),$$

while $`K^0`$ may be any subset of $`J\left(F(F1)\right)`$ and $`K_1^+`$ any subset of $`JF(J+1)`$. The claim now follows from the fact that

$$\mathrm{\#}J\left(F(F1)\right)+\mathrm{\#}JF(J+1)=\mathrm{\#}J\mathrm{\#}F$$

(this also makes use of the assumptions $`F_n`$ and $`FJ(J+1)`$). ∎

###### Remark 3.4.

Formulas (3.5) and (3.6) are very similar to certain expressions for a map introduced by Stembridge \[31, Propositions 2.2, 3.5\]. This is in fact a consequence of a very non-trivial fact: that the dual of Stembridge’s map admits a type B analog and $`\phi `$ commutes with these maps. This connection will be clarified in Sections 7.4 and 8.5.

###### Remark 3.5.

It is interesting to note that for any $`J\overline{[n1]}`$,

$$\phi (Y_J)=\phi (Y_{\overline{[n1]}J}).$$

This can be deduced from the explicit formula (3.5), but it can also be understood as follows. Consider the map $`\sigma :_n_n`$ which reverses the sign of all the entries of a signed permutation ($`\sigma `$ is both left and right multiplication by $`\overline{1}\overline{2}\mathrm{}\overline{n}`$). Clearly,

$$\mathrm{Des}\left(\sigma (w)\right)=\overline{[n1]}\mathrm{Des}(w),\text{ and therefore }\sigma (Y_J)=Y_{\overline{[n1]}J}.$$

On the other hand, since $`\phi `$ simply forgets the signs, we have

$$\phi (w)=\phi \left(\sigma (w)\right),\text{ and therefore }\phi (Y_J)=\phi \left(\sigma (Y_J)\right)=\phi (Y_{\overline{[n1]}J}).$$

The map $`\psi :\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(D_n)\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$ also sends basis elements $`Y_J`$ and $`X_J`$ to sums of elements $`P_F`$. The next result provides explicit expressions.

We make use of the convention $`1^{}+1=2`$ to give meaning to the shifted set $`J+1=\{i+1iJ\}`$, where $`J`$ is any subset of $`[n1]^{}`$.

###### Proposition 3.6.

The map $`\psi :\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(D_n)\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$ is explicitly given by

$`Y_J`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F_n\\ FJ\mathrm{}(J+1)\text{}\end{array}}{}}2^{\mathrm{\#}F}P_F`$
(3.7) $`Y_{\{1\}J}\text{ and }Y_{\{1^{}\}J}`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}\{1\}F_n\\ FJ\mathrm{}(J+1)\text{}\end{array}}{}}2^{\mathrm{\#}F}P_{\{1\}F}`$
$`Y_{\{1^{},1\}J}`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F_n\\ FJ\mathrm{}\left(\{2\}(J+1)\right)\text{}\end{array}}{}}2^{\mathrm{\#}F}P_F`$
and also

$`X_J`$ $`2^{\mathrm{\#}J}{\displaystyle \underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F_n\\ FJ(J+1)\text{}\end{array}}{}}P_F`$
(3.8) $`X_{\{1\}J}\text{ and }X_{\{1^{}\}J}`$ $`2^{\mathrm{\#}J}{\displaystyle \underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F_n\\ FJ(J+1)\{1\}\text{}\end{array}}{}}P_F`$
$`X_{\{1^{},1\}J}`$ $`2^{\mathrm{\#}J+1}{\displaystyle \underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F_n\\ FJ(J+1)\{1,2\}\text{}\end{array}}{}}P_F`$
for any $`J\{2,\mathrm{},n1\}`$.

###### Proof.

It is possible to derive these expressions by a direct analysis of how the notion of descents of type D transforms after forgetting the signs, as we did for the type B case in Proposition 3.2. We find it much easier, however, to derive these from the analogous expressions for the type B case, by means of the commutativity of diagram (2.3).

If $`J\{2,\mathrm{},n1\}`$, then by Proposition 2.1, the map $`\chi :\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(D_n)`$ satisfies $`\chi (Y_J)=Y_J`$. Therefore, by Corollary 2.3 and Proposition 3.2,

$$\psi (Y_J)=\phi (Y_J)=\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F_n\\ FJ\mathrm{}(J+1)\text{}\end{array}}{}2^{\mathrm{\#}F}P_F.$$

This is the first formula in (3.6). Similarly, the last formula in (3.6) follows from the facts that $`\chi (Y_{\{0,1\}J})=Y_{\{1^{},1\}J}`$ and

$$\left(\{0,1\}J\right)\mathrm{}\left(\left(\{0,1\}J\right)+1\right)=\{0\}\left(J\mathrm{}\left(\{2\}(J+1)\right)\right)$$

(note that $`\{0\}`$ does not affect the summation over subsets $`F_n`$).

The formulas for $`Y_{\{1\}J}`$ and $`Y_{\{1^{}\}J}`$ require a little extra work. First, from Proposition 2.1 we know that

$$\chi (Y_{\{0\}J}Y_J)=Y_{\{1^{}\}J}+Y_{\{1\}J};$$

hence, by Corollary 2.3,

$$\psi (Y_{\{1^{}\}J}+Y_{\{1\}J})=\phi (Y_{\{0\}J}Y_J).$$

Now, since $`J\{2,\mathrm{},n1\}`$, $`(\{0\}J)\mathrm{}\left((\{0\}J)+1\right)=\{0,1\}\left(J\mathrm{}(J+1)\right)`$. Therefore, by Proposition 3.2,

$`\phi (Y_{\{0\}J}Y_J)`$ $`={\displaystyle \underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F_n\\ F\{1\}\left(J\mathrm{}(J+1)\right)\text{}\end{array}}{}}2^{\mathrm{\#}F}P_F{\displaystyle \underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F_n\\ FJ\mathrm{}(J+1)\text{}\end{array}}{}}2^{\mathrm{\#}F}P_F`$
$`={\displaystyle \underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}\{1\}F_n\\ FJ\mathrm{}(J+1)\text{}\end{array}}{}}2^{1+\mathrm{\#}F}P_{\{1\}F}.`$
Thus, to obtain the expressions in (3.6) for $`Y_{\{1\}J}`$ and $`Y_{\{1^{}\}J}`$, we only need to show that

$$\psi (Y_{\{1\}J})=\psi (Y_{\{1^{}\}J}).$$

This may be seen as follows. Consider the involution $`\rho :𝒟_n𝒟_n`$ given by right multiplication with the element $`\overline{1}\overline{2}3\mathrm{}n`$. In other words, $`\rho (w)`$ is obtained from $`w`$ by reversing the sign of both $`w_1`$ and $`w_2`$. Note that $`w`$ has a descent at $`1`$ but not at $`1^{}`$ if and only if $`w_1>|w_2|`$, while $`w`$ has a descent at $`1^{}`$ but not at $`1`$ if and only if $`w_1>|w_2|`$. Therefore, $`\rho `$ restricts to a bijection between $`\{w𝒟_n\mathrm{Des}(w)=\{1\}J\}`$ and $`\{w𝒟_n\mathrm{Des}(w)=\{1^{}\}J\}`$, for any $`J\{2,\mathrm{},n1\}`$. Also, since $`\psi `$ simply forgets the signs, $`\psi \rho =\psi `$. Therefore, $`\psi (Y_{\{1\}J})=\psi (Y_{\{1^{}\}J})`$. This completes the proof of (3.6). Formulas (3.6) can be obtained similarly, by making use of Proposition 3.3. ∎

## 4. The peak algebra

###### Definition 4.1.

The peak algebra $`𝔓_n`$ is the subspace of the descent algebra $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$ linearly spanned by the elements $`\{P_F\}_{F_n}`$ defined by (3.3) or (3.4).

We will show below that $`𝔓_n`$ is indeed a unital subalgebra of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$. As explained in the Introduction, this differs from the object considered in . The connection between the two will be clarified in Section 5.

Since the elements $`P_F`$ are sums over disjoint classes of permutations, they are linearly independent. Thus, they form a basis of $`𝔓_n`$ and

$$dim𝔓_n=f_n,$$

the $`n`$-th Fibonacci number as in (3.1).

The following is one of the main results of this paper.

###### Theorem 4.2.

$`𝔓_n`$ is a subalgebra of the descent algebra of the symmetric group $`𝒮_n`$. Moreover, it coincides with the image of the map $`\phi :\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$ and also with that of $`\psi :\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(D_n)\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$.

###### Proof.

Since $`\phi `$ and $`\psi `$ are morphisms of algebras, it is enough to show that their images coincide with $`𝔓_n`$. We already know that

$$\mathrm{Im}(\phi )\mathrm{Im}(\psi )𝔓_n$$

from Proposition 3.6 and Corollary 2.3. We will show that $`\phi :\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)𝔓_n`$ is in fact surjective.

Define an order on the subsets in $`_n`$ by declaring that $`E<F`$ if the maximum element in the set $`E\mathrm{}F`$ is an element of $`F`$. According to Lemma 4.3 (below), this a total order.

For each $`E_n`$ consider the shifted set $`E1\overline{[n1]}`$. We first show that $`P_F`$ does not appear in the sum $`\phi (X_{E1})`$ for any $`E<F`$. Let $`a`$ be the maximum element in $`E\mathrm{}F`$. By the choice of the total order, $`aF`$ and $`aE`$. Suppose $`aE1`$. Then $`a+1E`$, and since $`a`$ is the maximum element of $`E\mathrm{}F`$, we would have $`a+1F`$. But then both $`a`$ and $`a+1F`$, which contradicts the fact that $`F_n`$. Thus, $`aE1`$, and hence $`F(E1)E`$. It follows from (3.6) that $`P_F`$ does not appear in the sum $`\phi (X_{E1})`$ for any $`E_n`$, $`E<F`$, while it does appear in $`\phi (X_{F1})`$. In other words, the matrix of the restriction of $`\phi `$ to the subspace of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)`$ spanned by the elements $`\{X_{F1}F_n\}`$ is unitriangular (with respect to the chosen total order). In particular, $`\phi `$ is surjective. ∎

###### Lemma 4.3.

The relation $`E<F\mathrm{max}(E\mathrm{}F)F`$ defines a total order on the finite subsets of any fixed totally ordered set.

###### Proof.

Let $`X`$ be the totally ordered set. Encode subsets $`E`$ of $`X`$ as sequences $`x_E_2^X`$ in the standard way. Then $`x_{E\mathrm{}F}=x_E+x_F`$. Therefore, the relation $`E<F`$ corresponds to the right lexicographic order on $`_2^X`$ (defined from $`0<1`$ in $`_2`$), which is clearly total. ∎

Since the elements $`P_F`$ consist of sums over disjoint classes of permutations, the structure constants for the multiplication of $`𝔓_n`$ on this basis are necessarily non-negative. Tables 1-3 describe the multiplication for the first peak algebras. The structure constants for the product $`P_FP_G`$ are found at the intersection of the row indexed by $`P_F`$ and the column indexed by $`P_G`$, and they are given in the same order as the rows or columns. For instance, in $`𝔓_4`$,

$$P_{\{2\}}P_{\{1\}}=2P_{\mathrm{}}+2P_{\{1\}}+2P_{\{2\}}+3P_{\{3\}}+3P_{\{1,3\}}.$$

Note that the peak algebras are not commutative in general.

###### Remark 4.4.

The proof of Theorem 4.2 shows that the set $`\{\phi (X_{F1})\}_{F_n}`$ is a basis of $`𝔓_n`$. The structure constants for the product of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)`$ on the basis $`\{X_J\}_{J\overline{[n1]}}`$ are non-negative and in fact admit an explicit combinatorial description . However, this is no longer true for the basis $`\{\phi (X_{F1})\}_{F_n}`$ of $`𝔓_n`$. The first counterexample occurs for $`n=5`$:

$$\phi (X_{\{2\}})^2=2\phi (X_{\{2\}})+4\phi (X_{\{3\}})2\phi (X_{\{0,3\}})+14\phi (X_{\{1,3\}}).$$

We do not know of a basis of $`𝔓_n`$ for which the structure constants of the product admit an explicit combinatorial description.

## 5. Interior peaks and canonical ideals in types B and D

### 5.1. The canonical ideal in type B

###### Definition 5.1.

Let $`\beta :\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_{n1})`$ be defined by

(5.1)
$$X_J\{\begin{array}{cc}X_{J1}\hfill & \text{ if }0J\hfill \\ 0\hfill & \text{ if }0J,\hfill \end{array}$$

for any $`J\overline{[n1]}`$. The canonical ideal in type B is $`I_n^0=\mathrm{Ker}(\beta )`$.

Note that $`\beta `$ may be equivalently defined by

(5.2)
$$Y_J\{\begin{array}{cc}Y_{J1}\hfill & \text{ if }0J\hfill \\ Y_{(J\{0\})1}\hfill & \text{ if }0J.\hfill \end{array}$$

It follows that

(5.3)
$$I_n^0=\mathrm{Span}\{X_J^0J[n1]\}=\mathrm{Span}\{Y_J^0J[n1]\},$$

where we have set

(5.4)
$$X_J^0=X_{\{0\}J}\text{ and }Y_J^0=Y_{\{0\}J}+Y_J.$$

###### Proposition 5.2.

The map $`\beta :\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(X_{n1})`$ is a surjective morphism of algebras. In particular, $`I_n^0`$ is a two-sided ideal of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)`$.

###### Proof.

The fact that $`I_n^0`$ is a two-sided ideal of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)`$ is proven in \[4, Theorem 3\] (we warn the reader that the proof of that theorem contains some misprints). The same argument, which is based on the multiplication rule for the descent algebra of type B given in \[4, Theorem 1\], gives the stronger assertion that $`\beta `$ is a morphism of algebras. Surjectivity is obvious from (5.1). ∎

### 5.2. The ideal of interior peaks

###### Definition 5.3.

Let $`w𝒮_n`$. The set of interior peaks of $`w`$ is

$$\stackrel{}{\mathrm{Peak}}(w)=\{i\{2,\mathrm{},n1\}w_{i1}<w_i>w_{i+1}\}.$$

Thus,

(5.5)
$$\mathrm{Peak}(w)=\{\begin{array}{cc}\{1\}\stackrel{}{\mathrm{Peak}}(w)\hfill & \text{ if }1\mathrm{Des}(w),\hfill \\ \stackrel{}{\mathrm{Peak}}(w)\hfill & \text{ if not.}\text{}\hfill \end{array}$$

Let $`\stackrel{}{_n}`$ be the collection of those $`F_n`$ for which $`1F`$. For any $`w𝒮_n`$, $`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{Peak}}(w)\stackrel{}{_n}`$, and it is easy to see that any $`F\stackrel{}{_n}`$ can be realized in this way.

For each $`F\stackrel{}{_n}`$, define an element of the group algebra of $`𝒮_n`$ by

(5.6)
$$\stackrel{}{P}_F:=\underset{\stackrel{}{\mathrm{Peak}}(w)=F}{}w.$$

These are the elements considered in Nyman’s original work  and also in Schocker’s . The operator $`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{\Lambda }}(J):=\{iJi1,i1J\}`$ satisfies $`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{\Lambda }}(\mathrm{Des}(w))=\stackrel{}{\mathrm{Peak}}(w)`$; thus, we also have

(5.7)
$$\stackrel{}{P}_F:=\underset{\stackrel{}{\mathrm{\Lambda }}(J)=F}{}Y_J.$$

Note that if $`F\stackrel{}{_n}`$ and $`2F`$ then $`\{1\}F_n`$.

###### Lemma 5.4.

For any $`F\stackrel{}{_n}`$,

(5.8)
$$\stackrel{}{P}_F=\{\begin{array}{cc}P_F\hfill & \text{ if }2F\hfill \\ P_F+P_{\{1\}F}\hfill & \text{ if }2F.\hfill \end{array}$$

###### Proof.

Consider first the case when $`2F`$. Then, for any $`w𝒮_n`$ with $`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{Peak}}(w)=F`$, $`w_1<w_2>w_3`$; in particular, $`1\mathrm{Des}(w)`$. Hence $`\mathrm{Peak}(w)=\stackrel{}{\mathrm{Peak}}(w)`$ and it follows from (3.3) and (5.6) that $`P_F=\stackrel{}{P}_F`$.

If $`2F`$, then the class of permutations $`w𝒮_n`$ with $`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{Peak}}(w)=F`$ splits into two classes, according to whether they have a descent at $`1`$ or not. In view of (5.5), the first class consists of all those $`w`$ for which $`\mathrm{Peak}(w)=\{1\}F`$, and the second of those for which $`\mathrm{Peak}(w)=F`$; whence $`\stackrel{}{P}_F=P_{\{1\}F}+P_F`$. ∎

###### Definition 5.5.

The peak ideal $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$ is the subspace of $`𝔓_n`$ linearly spanned by the elements $`\{\stackrel{}{P}_F\}_{F\stackrel{}{_n}}`$.

We will show below that $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$ is indeed a two-sided ideal of $`𝔓_n`$. In particular, it follows that $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$ is closed under the product of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$. In , $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$ is regarded as a non unital subalgebra of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$ (and it is referred to as the peak algebra). The present work reveals the existence of the larger unital subalgebra $`𝔓_n`$ of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$, as well as the extra structure of $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$ as an ideal of $`𝔓_n`$.

First, consider the map $`\pi :𝔓_n𝔓_{n2}`$ defined by

(5.9)
$$P_F\{\begin{array}{cc}P_{F2}\hfill & \text{ if neither }1\text{ nor }2\text{ belong to }F\hfill \\ P_{F\{1\}2}\hfill & \text{ if }1F\hfill \\ 0\hfill & \text{ if }2F\hfill \end{array}$$

for any $`F_n`$. Note that (5.9) covers all possibilities, since $`1`$ and $`2`$ cannot belong to $`F`$ simultaneously. For the same reason, if $`1F`$, the set $`F\{1\}2`$ belongs to $`_{n2}`$.

As we will see below (Remark 5.11), the map $`\beta :\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_{n1})`$ does not descend to peak algebras. However, the composite

(5.10)
$$\beta ^2:\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)\stackrel{𝛽}{}\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_{n1})\stackrel{𝛽}{}\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_{n2}),X_J\{\begin{array}{cc}X_{J2}\hfill & \text{ if }0,1J\hfill \\ 0\hfill & \text{ if }0\text{ or }1J\hfill \end{array}$$

does. Indeed, it descends precisely to the map $`\pi `$ of (5.9).

###### Proposition 5.6.

The map $`\pi :𝔓_n𝔓_{n2}`$ is a surjective morphism of algebras. Moreover, there is a commutative diagram

###### Proof.

It suffices to show that the diagram commutes. That $`\pi `$ is a surjective morphism of algebras follows, since so are $`\phi `$ and $`\beta `$ (Theorem 4.2 and Proposition 5.2).

Take $`J\overline{[n1]}`$. Suppose first that $`0`$ or $`1J`$, so that $`\beta ^2(X_J)=0`$. In this case, $`1J(J+1)`$ and hence

$`\pi \phi (X_J)`$ $`\stackrel{(\text{3.6})}{=}2^{\mathrm{\#}J}{\displaystyle \underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F_n\\ FJ(J+1)\text{}\end{array}}{}}\pi (P_F)`$
$`\stackrel{(\text{5.9})}{=}2^{\mathrm{\#}J}{\displaystyle \underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F_n\\ FJ(J+1)\\ 1F,2F\text{}\end{array}}{}}P_{F2}2^{\mathrm{\#}J}{\displaystyle \underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F_n\\ FJ(J+1)\\ 1F,2F\text{}\end{array}}{}}P_{F\{1\}2}`$
$`=2^{\mathrm{\#}J}{\displaystyle \underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F_n\\ FJ(J+1)\\ 1F,2F\text{}\end{array}}{}}P_{F2}2^{\mathrm{\#}J}{\displaystyle \underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F^{}_n\\ F^{}J(J+1)\\ 1F^{},2F^{}\text{}\end{array}}{}}P_{F^{}2}=0.\text{}`$
Consider now the case when $`0,1J`$. In this case,

$$\phi \beta ^2(X_J)=\phi (X_{J2})\stackrel{(\text{3.6})}{=}2^{\mathrm{\#}J}\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F_n\\ F(J2)(J1)\text{}\end{array}}{}P_F,$$

since the cardinal of the shifted set $`J2`$ coincides with the cardinal of $`J`$. On the other hand, since $`1J(J+1)`$, we have

$$\pi \phi (X_J)\stackrel{(\text{3.6})}{=}2^{\mathrm{\#}J}\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F_n\\ FJ(J+1)\text{}\end{array}}{}\pi (P_F)\stackrel{(\text{5.9})}{=}2^{\mathrm{\#}J}\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F_n\\ FJ(J+1)\\ 1,2F\text{}\end{array}}{}P_{F2}=2^{\mathrm{\#}J}\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F_n\\ F(J2)(J1)\text{}\end{array}}{}P_F.$$

Thus, $`\phi \beta ^2(X_J)=\pi \phi (X_J)`$ and the proof is complete. ∎

Since the elements $`\stackrel{}{P}_F`$ are sums over disjoint classes of permutations, they are linearly independent. Thus, they form a basis of $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$ and

$$dim\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n=\mathrm{\#}\stackrel{}{_n}=\mathrm{\#}_{n1}=f_{n1},$$

the $`(n1)`$-th Fibonacci number as in (3.1).

We can now derive the main result of the section. It may be viewed as an algebraic counterpart of the recursion $`f_n=f_{n1}+f_{n2}`$.

###### Theorem 5.7.

$`\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$ is a two-sided ideal of $`𝔓_n`$. Moreover, for $`n2`$,

$$𝔓_n/\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n𝔓_{n2}.$$

(For $`n1`$, we have $`𝔓_0=𝔓_1=\stackrel{}{𝔓}_1=`$.)

###### Proof.

We know from Proposition 5.6 that $`\pi `$ is surjective. Therefore

$$𝔓_n/\mathrm{Ker}(\pi )𝔓_{n2}.$$

To complete the proof of the theorem it suffices to show that

$$\mathrm{Ker}(\pi )=\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n.$$

Since $`dim𝔓_n=f_n`$, we have

$$dim\mathrm{Ker}(\pi )=f_nf_{n2}=f_{n1}=dim\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n.$$

On the other hand, from (5.8) and (5.9) we immediately see that $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n\mathrm{Ker}(\pi )`$. ∎

### 5.3. From the canonical ideal to the peak ideal

Let $`I_n^{0,1}`$ denote the kernel of the map $`\beta ^2`$. Thus, $`I_n^{0,1}`$ is another ideal of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)`$ and $`I_n^0I_n^{0,1}`$. Moreover, from (5.1) and (5.10) we see that

(5.11)
$$I_n^{0,1}=\mathrm{Span}\{X_J0\text{ or }1J,J\overline{[n1]}\}.$$

We will show below that the ideal $`I_n^0`$ and the larger ideal $`I_n^{0,1}`$ both map onto $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$. First, we provide an explicit formula for the map $`\phi `$ in terms of the bases $`\{X_J^0\}_{J[n1]}`$ and $`\{Y_J^0\}_{J[n1]}`$ of $`I_n^0`$ and $`\{\stackrel{}{P}_F\}_{F\stackrel{}{_n}}`$ of $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$. These turn out to be completely analogous to the formulas in Propositions 3.2 and 3.3.

###### Proposition 5.8.

For any $`J[n1]`$,

(5.12)
$$\phi (X_J^0)=2^{1+\mathrm{\#}J}\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F\stackrel{}{_n}\\ FJ(J+1)\text{}\end{array}}{}\stackrel{}{P}_F\text{ and }\phi (Y_J^0)=\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F\stackrel{}{_n}\\ FJ\mathrm{}(J+1)\text{}\end{array}}{}2^{1+\mathrm{\#}F}\stackrel{}{P}_F.$$

###### Proof.

By Proposition 3.3 we have

$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2^{1+\mathrm{\#}J}}}\phi (X_{\{0\}J})`$ $`={\displaystyle \underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F_n\\ F\{1\}J(J+1)\text{}\end{array}}{}}P_F`$
$`={\displaystyle \underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}1F_n\\ 2FJ(J+1)\text{}\end{array}}{}}P_F+{\displaystyle \underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}1F_n\\ 2F\{1\}J(J+1)\text{}\end{array}}{}}P_F+{\displaystyle \underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}1F_n\\ 2F\{1\}J(J+1)\text{}\end{array}}{}}P_F`$
$`\stackrel{(\text{5.8})}{=}{\displaystyle \underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F\stackrel{}{_n}\\ 2FJ(J+1)\text{}\end{array}}{}}\stackrel{}{P}_F+{\displaystyle \underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F^{}_n\\ 1,2F^{}J(J+1)\text{}\end{array}}{}}P_{\{1\}F^{}}+{\displaystyle \underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F_n\\ 1,2FJ(J+1)\text{}\end{array}}{}}P_F`$
$`={\displaystyle \underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F\stackrel{}{_n}\\ 2FJ(J+1)\text{}\end{array}}{}}\stackrel{}{P}_F+{\displaystyle \underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F_n\\ 1,2FJ(J+1)\text{}\end{array}}{}}P_{\{1\}F}+P_F`$
$`\stackrel{(\text{5.8})}{=}{\displaystyle \underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F\stackrel{}{_n}\\ 2FJ(J+1)\text{}\end{array}}{}}\stackrel{}{P}_F+{\displaystyle \underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F\stackrel{}{_n}\\ 2FJ(J+1)\text{}\end{array}}{}}\stackrel{}{P}_F`$
$`={\displaystyle \underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F\stackrel{}{_n}\\ FJ(J+1)\text{}\end{array}}{}}\stackrel{}{P}_F.`$
The formula for $`Y_J^0`$ can be similarly deduced from Proposition 3.2, or from the formula for $`X_J^0`$, as in the proof of Proposition 3.3. ∎

###### Theorem 5.9.

$`\phi (I_n^{0,1})=\phi (I_n^0)=\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$.

###### Proof.

We already know that $`\phi (I_n^0)\phi (I_n^{0,1})\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$. In fact, the first inclusion is trivial and the second follows from Proposition 5.6, since $`I_n^{0,1}=\mathrm{Ker}(\beta ^2)`$ and $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n=\mathrm{Ker}(\pi )`$, as seen in the proof of Theorem 5.7.

To complete the proof, we show that $`\phi :I_n^0\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$ is surjective. For each $`E\stackrel{}{_n}`$, consider the element $`X_{E1}^0I_n^0`$. By Proposition 5.8,

$$\phi (X_{E1}^0)=2^{1+\mathrm{\#}E}\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F\stackrel{}{_n}\\ F(E1)E\text{}\end{array}}{}\stackrel{}{P}_F.$$

As in the proof of Theorem 4.2, it follows that $`\stackrel{}{P}_F`$ does not appear in $`\phi (X_{E1}^0)`$ for any $`E<F`$, where $`E<F`$ denotes the total order of Lemma 4.3. On the other hand, $`\stackrel{}{P}_F`$ does appear in $`\phi (X_{F1}^0)`$. Therefore, the matrix of the map $`\phi `$ restricted to the subspace of $`I_n^0`$ spanned by the elements $`X_{E1}^0`$ is unitriangular. Hence, $`\phi :I_n^0\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$ is surjective. ∎

The following corollary summarizes the results that relate the peak algebra and the peak ideal to the descent algebras of type B.

###### Corollary 5.10.

There is a commutative diagram

where the rows are exact and the vertical maps are surjective.

###### Proof.

The surjectivity of the vertical maps was obtained in Theorems 4.2 and 5.9. The exactness of the first row is clear from the definitions of $`\beta `$ and $`I_n^{0,1}`$. In the course of the proof of Theorem 5.7 we obtained that $`\mathrm{Ker}(\pi )=\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$. Finally, Proposition 5.6 gave the surjectivity of $`\pi `$ and the commutativity of the square. ∎

###### Remark 5.11.

There is no morphism of algebras $`𝔓_n𝔓_{n1}`$ fitting in a commutative diagram

For, such a map would be surjective, since so are $`\phi `$ and $`\beta `$, and hence its kernel would have dimension $`dim𝔓_ndim𝔓_{n1}=f_{n2}`$. But this kernel must contain

$$\phi (\mathrm{Ker}(\beta ))=\phi (I_n^0)=\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n\text{ (by Theorem }\text{5.9}\text{)}$$

which has dimension $`f_{n1}`$, a contradiction.

### 5.4. The canonical ideal in type D

There are similar results relating peaks to the descent algebras of type D. We present them in this section.

Consider the map $`\gamma :\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(D_n)\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_{n2})`$ defined by

(5.13)
$$X_J\{\begin{array}{cc}X_{J2}\hfill & \text{ if }1,1^{}J\hfill \\ 0\hfill & \text{ if }1\text{ or }1^{}J\text{.}\hfill \end{array}$$

It follows from the proof of Theorem 2 in  that $`\gamma `$ is a morphism of algebras. Moreover, it is clear from equations (2.2), (5.1) and (5.13) that the diagram

(5.14)
commutes.

Let $`I_n^{1^{},1}`$ denote the kernel of the map $`\gamma `$, an ideal of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(D_n)`$. From (5.13) we see that

(5.15)
$$I_n^{1^{},1}=\mathrm{Span}\{X_J1^{}\text{ or }1J,J[n1]^{}\}.$$

The following theorem describes the relationship between the peak algebra and the peak ideal to the descent algebras of type D and B.

###### Theorem 5.12.

There is a commutative diagram

where the rows are exact and the vertical maps are surjective.

###### Proof.

The exactness of the first row is clear from the definitions of $`\gamma `$ and $`I_n^{1^{},1}`$. The second row is exact according to Corollary 5.10.

The commutativity of the square

can be shown in the same way as in Proposition 5.6. Together with (5.14), this allows us to construct a commutative diagram

Since by Theorem 5.9 the map $`I_n^{0,1}\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$ is surjective, so must be the map $`I_n^{1^{},1}\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$. This completes the proof. ∎

## 6. Commutative subalgebras of the descent and peak algebras

Grouping permutations according to the number of descents leads to the following elements of the descent algebra of type A:

$$y_j:=\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}uS_n\\ \mathrm{\#}\mathrm{Des}(u)=j\text{}\end{array}}{}u=\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}J[n1]\\ \mathrm{\#}J=j\text{}\end{array}}{}Y_J,$$

for $`j=0,\mathrm{},n1`$. It was shown by Loday that the linear span of these elements forms a commutative subalgebra of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$ \[21, Section 1\], see also \[15, Remark 4.2\]. Moreover, this subalgebra is generated by $`y_1`$ and is semisimple. Let us denote it by $`s(A_{n1})`$.

In this section we derive an analogous result for the linear span of the sums of permutations with a given number of peaks. Once again, it is possible to easily derive this fact from the analogous result for type B.

### 6.1. Commutative subalgebras of the descent algebra of type B

Consider the following elements of the descent algebra of type B:

(6.1)
$$y_j:=\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}wB_n\\ \mathrm{\#}\mathrm{Des}(w)=j\text{}\end{array}}{}w=\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}J\overline{[n1]}\\ \mathrm{\#}J=j\text{}\end{array}}{}Y_J,$$

for each $`j=0,\mathrm{},n`$. Let $`s(B_n)`$ denote the subspace of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)`$ linearly spanned by these $`n+1`$ elements.

Let also

(6.2)
$$x_j:=\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}J\overline{[n1]}\\ \mathrm{\#}J=j\text{}\end{array}}{}X_J,$$

for $`j=0,\mathrm{},n`$. These elements also span $`s(B_n)`$, since it is easy to see that

(6.3)
$$x_j=\underset{i=0}{\overset{j}{}}\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{ni}{ji}\right)y_i.$$

Bergeron and Bergeron showed that $`s(B_n)`$ is a commutative semisimple subalgebra of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)`$ \[5, Section 4\]. Mahajan showed that one can actually do better . Below, we will formulate his results in our notation (Mahajan’s work is in the context of random walks on chambers of Coxeter complexes), together with a small extension. To this end, recall the bases $`\{Y_J^0\}_{J[n1]}`$ and $`\{X_J^0\}_{J[n1]}`$ of the ideal $`I_n^0`$ of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)`$ from (5.4), and consider the elements

(6.4)
$$y_j^0:=\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}J[n1]\\ \mathrm{\#}J=j1\text{}\end{array}}{}Y_J^0\text{ and }x_j^0:=\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}J[n1]\\ \mathrm{\#}J=j1\text{}\end{array}}{}X_J^0=\underset{i=1}{\overset{j}{}}\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{ni}{ji}\right)y_i^0$$

for $`j=1,\mathrm{},n`$. Let $`i_n^0`$ denote the subspace of $`I_n^0`$ linearly spanned by (either of) these two sets of $`n`$ elements and set

$$\widehat{s}(B_n):=s(B_n)+i_n^0,$$

the subspace of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)`$ linearly spanned by $`y_0,\mathrm{},y_n,y_1^0,\mathrm{},y_n^0`$. It is easy to see that the only relation among these elements is

(6.5)
$$\underset{j=0}{\overset{n}{}}y_j=\underset{w_n}{}w=\underset{j=1}{\overset{n}{}}y_j^0,\text{ or in other words, }x_n=x_n^0;$$

thus, $`s(B_n)i_n^0=\mathrm{Span}\{x_n\}`$ and $`dim\widehat{s}(B_n)=2n`$.

###### Theorem 6.1.

$`\widehat{s}(B_n)`$ is a commutative semisimple subalgebra of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)`$. Moreover:

* $`\widehat{s}(B_n)`$ is generated as an algebra by $`y_1`$ and $`y_1^0`$,
* $`s(B_n)`$ is the subalgebra of $`\widehat{s}(B_n)`$ generated by $`y_1`$, it is also semisimple,
* $`i_n^0`$ is the two-sided ideal of $`\widehat{s}(B_n)`$ generated by $`y_1^0`$,
* $`dim\widehat{s}(B_n)=2n`$, $`dims(B_n)=n+1`$, $`dimi_n^0=n`$.

###### Proof.

All these assertions are due to Mahajan \[23, Section 4.2\], except for (c). Since $`i_n^0I_n^0`$ and $`\widehat{s}(B_n)=s(B_n)+i_n^0`$, we have

$$I_n^0\widehat{s}(B_n)=(I_n^0s(B_n))+i_n^0.$$

By Definition 5.1, $`I_n^0=\mathrm{Ker}(\beta )`$. Hence, $`I_n^0s(B_n)=\mathrm{Ker}(\beta |_{s(B_n)})`$. Now, from our analysis of $`\beta `$ in Proposition 6.10 (below), this kernel is $`1`$-dimensional, spanned by the element $`_{i=0}^ny_i`$, which belongs to $`i_n^0`$ by (6.5). Therefore,

$$I_n^0\widehat{s}(B_n)=i_n^0.$$

Since $`I_n^0`$ is an ideal of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)`$, it follows that $`i_n^0`$ is an ideal of $`\widehat{s}(B_n)`$. Mahajan also shows that $`i_n^0`$ is generated by $`y_1^0`$ as a non-unital algebra, hence also as an ideal. ∎

### 6.2. From number of descents to number of peaks

The maximum number of peaks of a permutation $`u𝒮_n`$ is $`\frac{n}{2}`$. For each $`j=0,\mathrm{},\frac{n}{2}`$, define an element of the peak algebra $`𝔓_n`$ by

(6.6)
$$p_j:=\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}w𝒮_n\\ \mathrm{\#}\mathrm{Peak}(w)=j\text{}\end{array}}{}w=\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F_n\\ \mathrm{\#}F=j\text{}\end{array}}{}P_F.$$

It is somewhat surprising that this naive analog of (6.1) is indeed the right one, given that the expression for $`\phi (Y_J)`$ in (3.5) involves subsets $`F`$ of various cardinalities. However, we have:

###### Proposition 6.2.

The restriction of $`\phi :\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)𝔓_n`$ to $`s(B_n)`$ is explicitly given by

(6.7)
$$y_j\underset{i=0}{\overset{\mathrm{min}(j,nj)}{}}2^{2i}\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{n2i}{ji}\right)p_i$$

for $`j=0,\mathrm{},n`$.

###### Proof.

Fix $`j\{0,\mathrm{},n\}`$. By (6.1) and (3.5),

$$\phi (y_j)=\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}J\overline{[n1]}\\ \mathrm{\#}J=j\text{}\end{array}}{}\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F_n\\ FJ\mathrm{}(J+1)\text{}\end{array}}{}2^{\mathrm{\#}F}P_F.$$

To derive (6.7) we have to show that, for each $`i=0,\mathrm{},\frac{n}{2}`$ and $`F_n`$ with $`\mathrm{\#}F=i`$, we have

$$\mathrm{\#}\{J\overline{[n1]}FJ\mathrm{}(J+1)\text{ and }\mathrm{\#}J=j\}=\{\begin{array}{cc}2^i\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{n2i}{ji}\right)\hfill & \text{ if }ij,nj,\hfill \\ 0\hfill & \text{ if not.}\hfill \end{array}$$

Let $`F=\{s_1,s_2,\mathrm{},s_i\}`$ and consider the sets $`\{s_h1,s_h\}`$. These sets are disjoint since $`F_n`$. Now, $`FJ\mathrm{}(J+1)`$ if and only if $`J`$ contains exactly one of the elements $`s_h1`$, $`s_h`$ for each $`h=1,\mathrm{},i`$. In particular, there is no such set $`J`$ unless $`ij`$. In this case, $`J`$ is determined by the choice of one element from each set $`\{s_h1,s_h\}`$ plus the choice of $`ji`$ elements from the remaining $`n2i`$ elements in $`\overline{[n1]}`$ not occurring in any of those sets (which is possible only if $`inj`$). The total number of choices is thus $`2^i\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{n2i}{ji}\right)`$. ∎

###### Remark 6.3.

It follows immediately from (6.7) that $`\phi (y_j)=\phi (y_{nj})`$ for each $`j=0,\mathrm{},n`$. This is also a consequence of Remark 3.5.

The maximum number of interior peaks of a permutation $`u𝒮_n`$ is $`\frac{n1}{2}`$. For each $`j=1,\mathrm{},\frac{n+1}{2}`$ define an element of the peak ideal by

(6.8)
$$\stackrel{}{p}_j:=\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}w𝒮_n\\ \mathrm{\#}\stackrel{}{\mathrm{Peak}}(w)=j1\text{}\end{array}}{}w=\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F\stackrel{}{_n}\\ \mathrm{\#}F=j1\text{}\end{array}}{}\stackrel{}{P}_F.$$

###### Proposition 6.4.

The restriction of $`\phi `$ to $`i_n^0`$ is given by

(6.9)
$$y_j^0\underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{min}(j,n+1j)}{}}2^{2i1}\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{n2i+1}{ji}\right)\stackrel{}{p}_i$$

for each $`j=1,\mathrm{},n`$.

###### Proof.

The same argument as in the proof of Proposition 6.2 allows us to deduce this result from (5.12). ∎

###### Remark 6.5.

We may rewrite the definition of the elements $`y_j^0`$ and $`\stackrel{}{p}_j`$ as

$$y_j^0=\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}J\overline{[n1]}\\ \mathrm{\#}(J\{0\})=j1\text{}\end{array}}{}Y_J\text{ and }\stackrel{}{p}_j=\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F_n\\ \mathrm{\#}(F\{1\})=j1\text{}\end{array}}{}P_F.$$

The former follows from (6.4) and (5.4), the latter from (6.8) and (5.8).

### 6.3. Commutative subalgebras of the peak algebra

###### Definition 6.6.

Let $`\mathrm{}_n`$ denote the subspace of the peak algebra $`𝔓_n`$ linearly spanned by the elements $`\{p_j\}_{j=0,\mathrm{},\frac{n}{2}}`$, let $`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{}}_n`$ denote the subspace of the peak ideal $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$ linearly spanned by the elements $`\{\stackrel{}{p}_j\}_{j=1,\mathrm{},\frac{n+1}{2}}`$, and let

$$\widehat{\mathrm{}}_n:=\mathrm{}_n+\stackrel{}{\mathrm{}}_n.$$

###### Proposition 6.7.

The map $`\phi :\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)𝔓_n`$ maps $`\widehat{s}(B_n)`$ onto $`\widehat{\mathrm{}}_n`$, $`s(B_n)`$ onto $`\mathrm{}_n`$ and $`i_n^0`$ onto $`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{}}_n`$.

###### Proof.

It is enough to prove the last two assertions. By Proposition 6.2, $`\phi `$ maps $`s(B_n)`$ into $`\mathrm{}_n`$. Moreover, (6.7) also shows that, for any $`j=0,\mathrm{},\frac{n}{2}`$, $`p_j`$ appears in $`\phi (y_j)`$, but not in $`\phi (y_i)`$ for $`i<j`$. Thus, the matrix of the restriction of $`\phi `$ to the subspace of $`s(B_n)`$ spanned by these elements $`p_j`$ is unitriangular. Hence, $`\phi `$ maps $`s(B_n)`$ onto $`\mathrm{}_n`$. That it maps $`i_n^0`$ onto $`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{}}_n`$ follows similarly from (6.9). ∎

We can now derive our main result on commutative subalgebras of the peak algebra.

###### Theorem 6.8.

$`\widehat{\mathrm{}}_n`$ is a commutative semisimple subalgebra of $`𝔓_n`$. Moreover:

* $`\widehat{\mathrm{}}_n`$ is generated as an algebra by $`p_1`$ and $`\stackrel{}{p}_1`$,
* $`\mathrm{}_n`$ is the subalgebra of $`\widehat{\mathrm{}}_n`$ generated by $`p_1`$, it is also semisimple,
* $`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{}}_n`$ is the two-sided ideal of $`\widehat{\mathrm{}}_n`$ generated by $`\stackrel{}{p}_1`$,
* $`dim\widehat{\mathrm{}}_n=n`$, $`dim\mathrm{}_n=\frac{n}{2}+1`$, $`dim\stackrel{}{\mathrm{}}_n=\frac{n+1}{2}`$.

###### Proof.

All these statements follow from the corresponding ones in Theorem 6.1, thanks to Proposition 6.7, except for (d). Now, it is clear that both sets$`\{p_j\}_{j=0,\mathrm{},\frac{n}{2}}`$ and $`\{\stackrel{}{p}_j\}_{j=1,\mathrm{},\frac{n+1}{2}}`$ are linearly independent, and that the only relation among these elements is

$$\underset{j=0}{\overset{\frac{n}{2}}{}}p_j=\underset{u𝒮_n}{}u=\underset{j=1}{\overset{\frac{n+1}{2}}{}}\stackrel{}{p}_j.$$

(This also follows from Proposition 6.11 below). The assertions follow, since $`n=\frac{n}{2}+\frac{n+1}{2}`$. ∎

The first multiplication tables for the spanning set $`\{p_0,\mathrm{},p_{\frac{n}{2}},\stackrel{}{p}_1,\mathrm{},\stackrel{}{p}_{\frac{n+1}{2}}\}`$ of the algebra $`\widehat{\mathrm{}}_n`$ are provided below. The first block gives the multiplication within the subalgebra $`\mathrm{}_n`$ and the others describe the multiplication with elements of the ideal $`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{}}_n`$.

###### Remarks 6.9.

1. The elements $`\stackrel{}{p}_j`$ are also considered in recent work of Schocker: in \[29, Theorem 9\], it is shown that they span a commutative non-unital subalgebra. Our results (Theorem 6.8) provide a more complete picture: these elements actually span a two-sided ideal of a larger commutative unital subalgebra, also defined by grouping permutations according to the number of (not necessarily interior) peaks.
2. Doyle and Rockmore have considered two objects closely related to $`\mathrm{}_n`$ and $`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{}}_n`$ and related them to descents of signed permutations \[13, Sections 5.3-5.5\]. The difference stems from the fact that in their work permutations are grouped according to the number of peaks and valleys (since they do not consider $`n`$ as a possible valley, this number is not just twice the number of peaks).
3. The work of Mahajan  presents a powerful axiomatic construction of commutative semisimple subalgebras of descent algebras of Coxeter groups. In particular, several such subalgebras of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)`$ are described.
4. More information on the commutative subalgebra $`s(B_n)`$ of Section 6.1 can be found in Chow’s thesis \[12, Sections 4.2, 4.3 and 5.1\].
5. Neither the commutative subalgebra $`\mathrm{}_n`$ of $`𝔓_n`$ nor the ideal $`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{}}_n`$ are contained in the commutative subalgebra $`s(A_{n1})`$ of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$ discussed in the introduction to Section 6 (counterexamples already exist for low values of $`n`$). There is, however, a “correct” type B analog of $`s(A_{n1})`$: it is a commutative subalgebra of the algebra of Mantaci and Reutenauer (Section 7). We will not pursue this point in this paper.

### 6.4. Exact sequences for the commutative subalgebras

Next we consider the morphisms of algebras $`\beta `$ and $`\pi `$ (Section 5.2) restricted to the subalgebras $`s(B_n)`$ and $`\mathrm{}_n`$. Note that $`i_n^0I_n^0=\mathrm{Ker}(\beta )`$ and $`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{}}_n\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n=\mathrm{Ker}(\pi )`$.

###### Proposition 6.10.

For any $`j=0,\mathrm{},n`$,

(6.10)
$$\beta (y_j)=\{\begin{array}{cc}y_0\hfill & \text{ if }j=0,\hfill \\ y_jy_{j1}\hfill & \text{ if }0<j<n,\hfill \\ y_{n1}\hfill & \text{ if }j=n;\hfill \end{array}\text{ or equivalently, }\beta (x_j)=\{\begin{array}{cc}x_j\hfill & \text{ if }0j<n,\hfill \\ 0\hfill & \text{ if }j=n.\hfill \end{array}$$

Therefore, $`\beta `$ maps $`s(B_n)`$ onto $`s(B_{n1})`$ with a $`1`$-dimensional kernel spanned by

$$x_n=\underset{j=0}{\overset{n}{}}y_j=\underset{w_n}{}w.$$

###### Proof.

Formulas (6.10) follow easily from (5.1) and (5.2); the rest of the assertions follow at once. ∎

Even though $`\phi :s(B_n)\mathrm{}_n`$ does not map the $`y_j`$ basis onto the $`p_j`$ basis, the result for the restriction to $`\pi `$ is completely analogous.

###### Proposition 6.11.

For any $`j=0,\mathrm{},\frac{n}{2}`$,

(6.11)
$$\pi (p_j)=\{\begin{array}{cc}p_0\hfill & \text{ if }j=0,\hfill \\ p_jp_{j1}\hfill & \text{ if }1<j<\frac{n}{2},\hfill \\ p_{\frac{n}{2}1}\hfill & \text{ if }j=\frac{n}{2}.\hfill \end{array}$$

Therefore, $`\pi `$ maps $`\mathrm{}_n`$ onto $`\mathrm{}_{n2}`$ with a $`1`$-dimensional kernel spanned by

$$\underset{j=0}{\overset{\frac{n}{2}}{}}p_j=\underset{u𝒮_n}{}u.$$

###### Proof.

We have

$`\pi (p_j)`$ $`=\pi ({\displaystyle \underset{\mathrm{\#}F=j}{}}P_F)=\pi \left({\displaystyle \underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}1,2F\\ \mathrm{\#}F=j\text{}\end{array}}{}}P_F+{\displaystyle \underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}(2F)\\ \mathrm{\#}F=j1\text{}\end{array}}{}}P_{F\{1\}}+{\displaystyle \underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}2F\\ \mathrm{\#}F=j\text{}\end{array}}{}}P_F\right)`$
$`\stackrel{(\text{5.9})}{=}{\displaystyle \underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}1,2F\\ \mathrm{\#}F=j\text{}\end{array}}{}}P_{F2}{\displaystyle \underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}1,2F\\ \mathrm{\#}F=j1\text{}\end{array}}{}}P_{F2}=p_jp_{j1}.`$
The remaining assertions follow at once. ∎

It follows from (6.10) that the kernel of $`\beta ^2:s(B_n)s(B_{n2})`$ has dimension 2; in fact

$$\mathrm{Ker}(\beta ^2)=\mathrm{Span}\{\underset{j=0}{\overset{n}{}}y_j,\underset{j=0}{\overset{n}{}}jy_j\}=\mathrm{Span}\{x_n,x_{n1}\}.$$

$`\phi `$ maps this kernel to the 1-dimensional space spanned by $`_{j=0}^{\frac{n}{2}}p_j`$, since

$$\phi (\underset{j=0}{\overset{n}{}}y_j)=2^n\underset{j=0}{\overset{\frac{n}{2}}{}}p_j\text{ and }\phi (\underset{j=0}{\overset{n}{}}jy_j)=n2^{n1}\underset{j=0}{\overset{\frac{n}{2}}{}}p_j.$$

These follow from (6.7) together with $`_{j=0}^n\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{n}{j}\right)=2^n`$ and $`_{j=0}^nj\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{n}{j}\right)=n2^{n1}`$.

###### Corollary 6.12.

There is a commutative diagram

where the rows are exact and the vertical maps are surjective.

###### Proof.

This follows from Corollary 5.10, Propositions 6.2, 6.10 and 6.11 and the previous remarks. ∎

### 6.5. Commutative subalgebras of the descent algebra of type D

Grouping permutations of type D according to the number of descents does not yield a subalgebra of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(D_n)`$, as one may easily see. On the other hand, one may obtain commutative subalgebras of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(D_n)`$ simply as the image of the commutative subalgebras of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)`$ under the map $`\chi `$ of Section 2. This leads to the subalgebras considered by Mahajan in \[23, Section 5.2\]. We describe the result next.

Let $`s(D_n)`$, $`i_n^{1^{},1}`$ and $`\widehat{s}(D_n)`$ be the images under $`\chi `$ of $`s(B_n)`$, $`i_n^0`$ and $`\widehat{s}(B_n)`$, respectively. Thus, $`\widehat{s}(D_n)`$ is a commutative semisimple subalgebra of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(D_n)`$, $`s(D_n)`$ is a (commutative) semisimple subalgebra of $`\widehat{s}(D_n)`$, $`i_n^{1^{},1}`$ is a two-sided ideal of $`\widehat{s}(D_n)`$ and $`\widehat{s}(D_n)=s(D_n)+i_n^{1^{},1}`$. In addition, Proposition 2.1 implies that

$$\chi (x_j^0)=\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}J[2,n1]\\ \mathrm{\#}J=j1\text{}\end{array}}{}X_{\{1^{}\}J}+\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}J[2,n1]\\ \mathrm{\#}J=j1\text{}\end{array}}{}X_{\{1\}J}+2\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}J[2,n1]\\ \mathrm{\#}J=j2\text{}\end{array}}{}X_{\{1^{},1\}J}=\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}1^{}J[n1]^{}\\ \mathrm{\#}J=j\text{}\end{array}}{}X_J+\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}1J[n1]^{}\\ \mathrm{\#}J=j\text{}\end{array}}{}X_J,$$

for each $`j=1,\mathrm{},n`$, and

$$\chi (x_j)=\chi (x_j^0)+\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}J[2,n1]\\ \mathrm{\#}J=j\text{}\end{array}}{}X_J+\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}J[2,n2]\\ \mathrm{\#}J=j1\text{}\end{array}}{}X_{\{1^{},1\}J},$$

for each $`j=0,\mathrm{},n`$. For instance, for $`n=3`$ we have

$$\chi (x_1^0)=X_{\{1^{}\}}+X_{\{1\}},\chi (x_2^0)=X_{\{1^{},2\}}+X_{\{1,2\}}+2X_{\{1^{},1\}},\chi (x_3^0)=2X_{\{1^{},1,2\}}$$

and

$$\chi (x_0)=X_{\mathrm{}},\chi (x_1)=\chi (x_1^0)+X_{\{2\}}+X_{\{1^{},1\}},\chi (x_2)=\chi (x_2^0)+X_{\{1^{},1,2\}},\chi (x_3)=\chi (x_3^0).$$

It is easy to see that both sets $`\{\chi (x_j)\}_{j=0,\mathrm{},n}`$ and $`\{\chi (x_j^0)\}_{j=1,\mathrm{},n}`$ are linearly independent and that the only linear relation among these elements is $`\chi (x_n)=\chi (x_n^0)`$. Therefore, $`\chi `$ induces isomorphisms

$$s(B_n)s(D_n),i_n^0i_n^{1^{},1}\text{ and }\widehat{s}(B_n)\widehat{s}(D_n).$$

It follows from Corollary 2.3, diagram (5.14) and Corollary 6.12 that we have commutative diagrams

and

where $`\gamma `$ is the map of (5.13).

## 7. The algebra of Mantaci and Reutenauer. Right ideals

### 7.1. Bases of the algebra of Mantaci and Reutenauer

In order to recall the construction of Mantaci and Reutenauer, we need to introduce some notation.

An (ordinary) composition of $`n`$ is a sequence $`(a_1,\mathrm{},a_k)`$ of positive integers such that $`a_1+\mathrm{}+a_k=n`$. We make use of the standard bijection between compositions of $`n`$ and subsets of $`[n1]`$

$$(a_1,\mathrm{},a_k)\{a_1,a_1+a_2,\mathrm{},a_1+\mathrm{}+a_{k1}\}$$

to identify the poset of subsets under inclusion with the poset of compositions under refinement.

A pseudo composition of $`n`$ is a sequence $`(a_0,a_1,\mathrm{},a_k)`$ of integers such that $`a_00`$, $`a_i>0`$ for $`i1`$, and $`a_0+a_1+\mathrm{}+a_k=n`$. Pseudo composition of $`n`$ are in bijection with subsets of $`\overline{[n1]}`$ by means of the same construction as above, and inclusion of subsets corresponds to refinement of compositions.

Below, we will use these identifications to index basis elements of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$ or $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)`$ by compositions instead of subsets. Thus, for instance, if $`J[n1]`$ is the subset corresponding to the ordinary composition $`\alpha =(a_1,\mathrm{},a_k)`$, we will use $`X_\alpha `$ to denote the element $`X_J\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$ and $`X_\alpha ^0`$ or $`X_{(0,a_1,\mathrm{},a_k)}`$ to denote the element $`X_J^0=X_{\{0\}J}I_n^0`$.

A signed composition of $`n`$ is a sequence $`(a_1,\mathrm{},a_k)`$ of non-zero integers such that $`|a_1|+\mathrm{}+|a_k|=n`$. There are $`23^{n1}`$ signed compositions of $`n`$.

The parts of an (ordinary, pseudo or signed) composition are the integers $`a_i`$.

A segment of a signed composition $`\alpha =(a_1,\mathrm{},a_k)`$ is a signed composition of the form $`(a_i,a_{i+1},\mathrm{},a_j)`$ where $`[i,j]`$ is a maximal interval of $`[k]`$ on which the sign of the parts of $`\alpha `$ is constant. For instance, the segments of $`(\overline{2},1,\overline{1},\overline{2},2,2,3)`$ are

$$(\overline{2}),(1),(\overline{1},\overline{2}),(2,2,3).$$

Following Mantaci and Reutenauer, we make the following:

###### Definition 7.1.

Let $`\alpha =(a_1,\mathrm{},a_k)`$ be a signed composition of $`n`$. Consider the successive subintervals of $`[n]`$ of lengths $`|a_1|,\mathrm{},|a_k|`$. Define elements $`R_\alpha `$, $`S_\alpha `$ and $`T_\alpha `$ of the group algebra of $`_n`$ as follows:

1. $`R_\alpha `$ is the sum of all signed permutations $`w`$ such that on each of those intervals the entries $`w_j`$ are increasing and have constant sign equal to the sign of the corresponding part of $`\alpha `$.
2. $`S_\alpha `$ is the sum of all signed permutations $`w`$ such that on each of those intervals the numbers $`|w_j|`$ are increasing and have constant sign equal to the sign of the corresponding part of $`\alpha `$.
3. $`T_\alpha `$ is the sum of all signed permutations $`w`$ satisfying the conditions in (2) and the extra requirement that those intervals are maximal with those two properties.

For instance, if $`\alpha =(2,2,\overline{3},\overline{1},1)`$ then these elements are the sum of all signed permutations of the form $`w=w_1w_2w_3w_4\overline{w}_5\overline{w}_6\overline{w}_7\overline{w}_8w_9`$ and such that, respectively,

$`R_\alpha `$ $`:w_1<w_2,w_3<w_4,\overline{w}_5<\overline{w}_6<\overline{w}_7`$
$`S_\alpha `$ $`:w_1<w_2,w_3<w_4,w_5<w_6<w_7`$
$`T_\alpha `$ $`:w_1<w_2>w_3<w_4,w_5<w_6<w_7>w_8.`$
We will at times identify these elements with the classes of permutations that define them (and we will do the same for the elements $`X_\alpha `$ of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$ or $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)`$).

###### Definition 7.2.

The algebra of Mantaci and Reutenauer is the subspace $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_n)`$ of the group algebra of $`_n`$ linearly spanned by the elements $`T_\alpha `$, as $`\alpha `$ runs over the set of signed compositions of $`n`$.

###### Proposition 7.3.

$`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_n)`$ is a subalgebra of the group algebra of $`_n`$ containing the descent algebra $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)`$.

###### Proof.

This is Theorem 3.9 in . ∎

Given a signed permutation $`w`$ in the class $`T_\alpha `$, one may recover $`\alpha `$ as follows: $`|a_i|`$ is the length of the $`i`$-th maximal interval of $`[n]`$ on which $`|w_j|`$ is increasing and $`\mathrm{sign}(w_j)`$ is constant; $`\mathrm{sign}(a_i)`$ is the sign of any $`w_j`$ in this interval. For instance, if $`w=\overline{3}4617\overline{5}\overline{2}\overline{8}`$ then $`\alpha =(\overline{1},2,2,\overline{1},\overline{2})`$. Therefore, these classes are disjoint and the elements $`T_\alpha `$ form a basis of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_n)`$; in particular, $`dim\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_n)=23^{n1}`$.

The elements $`S_\alpha `$ also form a basis of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_n)`$. In order to see this, partially order the set of signed compositions of $`n`$ as follows: say that $`\alpha \beta `$ if they have the same number of segments, these segments have the same signs, and the $`i`$-th segment of $`\beta `$ refines the $`i`$-th segment of $`\alpha `$, for every $`i`$. For instance,

$$(\overline{2},1,\overline{3},2,5)(\overline{2},1,\overline{1},\overline{2},2,2,3).$$

It follows immediately from Definition 7.1 that

$$S_\alpha =\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}\beta \alpha \text{}\end{array}}{}T_\beta .$$

Thus, as $`\alpha `$ runs over the signed compositions of $`n`$, the elements $`S_\alpha `$ form another basis of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_n)`$.

The elements $`R_\alpha `$ do too. This fact is not given in  (in fact, it is not evident that these elements belong to $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_n)`$), but it may be deduced as follows.

Given an ordinary composition $`\alpha `$ of $`n`$, let $`\alpha ^c`$ denote the composition of $`n`$ that corresponds to the complement in $`[n1]`$ of the subset corresponding to $`\alpha `$. For instance, if $`\alpha =(2,1,2)`$ then $`\alpha ^c=(1,3,1)`$. Given a signed composition of $`n`$ $`\alpha `$, let $`\stackrel{~}{\alpha }`$ denote the signed composition obtained by replacing each negative segment $`\alpha _i`$ of $`\alpha `$ by $`\alpha _i^c`$ (viewing it as an ordinary composition) and keeping its (negative) sign. For instance, if $`\alpha =(3,\underset{\alpha _1}{\underset{}{\overline{2},\overline{1},\overline{2}}},4,2,\underset{\alpha _2}{\overline{\underset{}{3}}},1)`$ then $`\stackrel{~}{\alpha }=(3,\underset{\alpha _1^c}{\underset{}{\overline{1},\overline{3},\overline{1}}},4,2,\underset{\alpha _2^c}{\underset{}{\overline{1},\overline{1},\overline{1}}},1)`$. Note that $`\alpha \stackrel{~}{\alpha }`$ is an involution on the set of signed compositions of $`n`$.

Introduce a new partial order on the set of signed compositions of $`n`$ by declaring that $`\alpha \beta `$ if they have the same number of segments, these segments have the same signs, and the $`i`$-th segment of $`\beta `$ refines the $`i`$-th segment of $`\alpha `$ if they are both positive and the $`i`$-th segment of $`\alpha `$ refines the $`i`$-th segment of $`\beta `$ if they are both negative, for every $`i`$. For instance,

$$(\overline{2},1,\overline{1},\overline{2},2,2,3)(\overline{2},1,\overline{3},2,1,1,3).$$

Now, it is easy to see that with the above definitions

$$R_\alpha =\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}\beta \stackrel{~}{\alpha }\text{}\end{array}}{}T_\beta .$$

This immediately implies that the elements $`R_\alpha `$ form a basis of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_n)`$.

We summarize these facts in the following lemma.

###### Lemma 7.4.

As $`\alpha `$ runs over the signed compositions of $`n`$, the sets $`\{T_\alpha \}`$, $`\{S_\alpha \}`$ and $`\{R_\alpha \}`$ are bases of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_n)`$.

### 7.2. The image of the algebra of Mantaci and Reutenauer

We now consider the map $`\phi :_n𝒮_n`$ that forgets the signs, restricted to $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_n)`$. To describe its action on the various bases of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_n)`$, we need to introduce some notation.

Given a signed composition $`\alpha =(a_1,\mathrm{},a_k)`$ of $`n`$, we construct four ordinary compositions of $`n`$. First, $`|\alpha |:=(|a_1|,\mathrm{},|a_k|)`$ denotes the ordinary composition of $`n`$ obtained by forgetting the signs of the parts of $`\alpha `$. Another ordinary composition $`\underset{¯}{\alpha }`$ is constructed as follows. Split $`[k]`$ into maximal intervals $`[i,j]`$ with the property that the signs of the parts $`a_i,a_{i+1},\mathrm{},a_j`$ alternate. The parts of $`\underset{¯}{\alpha }`$ are then $`|a_i|+|a_{i+1}|+\mathrm{}+|a_j|`$, one for each such interval, in the same order as the intervals appear. For instance, if $`\alpha =(\underset{}{\overline{2},1,\overline{1}},\underset{}{\overline{2},2},\underset{}{2},\underset{}{3})`$ then $`\underset{¯}{\alpha }=(4,4,2,3)`$. Two other ordinary compositions $`\alpha `$$``$ and $`\alpha `$$``$ are obtained by the following procedures. Consider the various segments $`\alpha _i`$ of $`\alpha `$ (Section 7.1) and let $`n_i`$ be the sum of the parts of $`\alpha _i`$. To obtain $`\alpha `$$``$, simply replace each negative segment $`\alpha _i`$ by $`(1,\mathrm{},1)`$ (with $`n_i`$ parts equal to $`1`$) and drop the signs. To obtain $`\alpha `$$``$, replace each negative segment $`\alpha _i`$ by its complement $`\alpha _i^c`$ (keeping the negative signs), each positive segment $`\alpha _j`$ by $`(n_j)`$, and then apply the operation $`\alpha \underset{¯}{\alpha }`$. For instance, if $`\alpha =(\overline{2},1,\overline{1},\overline{2},2,2,3)`$ then $`\alpha =(1,1,1,1,1,1,2,2,3)`$ and $`\alpha =(1,4,8)`$.

With this notation, we have:

###### Proposition 7.5.

For any signed composition $`\alpha `$ we have

(7.1)
$$\phi (S_\alpha )=X_{|\alpha |},\phi (T_\alpha )=\underset{\underset{¯}{\alpha }\beta |\alpha |}{}Y_\beta \text{ and }\phi (R_\alpha )=\underset{\alpha \beta \alpha }{}Y_\beta .$$

In particular, $`\phi `$ maps $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_n)`$ onto $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$.

###### Proof.

Write $`\alpha =(a_1,\mathrm{},a_k)`$ and consider the successive subintervals of $`[n]`$ of lengths $`|a_1|,\mathrm{},|a_k|`$ as in Definition 7.1. According to the definition of descents for ordinary permutations, $`X_{|\alpha |}`$ is the sum of those permutations $`u𝒮_n`$ such that the $`u_j`$ are increasing on each such interval. Clearly, for each such $`u`$ there is a unique $`w_n`$ satisfying condition (2) in Definition 7.1 and $`\phi (w)=u`$. Hence, $`\phi (S_\alpha )=X_{|\alpha |}`$. This implies that $`\phi (\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_n))=\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$. The expressions for $`\phi (T_\alpha )`$ and $`\phi (R_\alpha )`$ follow from a similar analysis that we omit. ∎

The previous result is of crucial importance. It entails that, from the point of view of this paper, the “correct” analog of the descent algebra of type A is the algebra $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_n)`$ of Mantaci and Reutenauer. On the other hand, the descent algebra of type B is, one may say, the type B analog of the peak algebra. The precise meaning of these assertions is summarized by the commutative diagram

### 7.3. The canonical ideal in type B and the peak ideal as principal right ideals

Consider the standard embedding

$$_p\times 𝒮_q_{p+q},(w\times u)(i)=\{\begin{array}{cc}w(i)\hfill & \text{ if }1ip,\hfill \\ p+u(ip)\hfill & \text{ if }p+1ip+q.\hfill \end{array}$$

Let $`\alpha =(a_1,\mathrm{},a_k)`$ be an ordinary composition of $`n`$. The obvious extension of the above embedding allows us to view $`_0\times 𝒮_{a_1}\times \mathrm{}\times 𝒮_{a_k}`$ as a subgroup of $`_n`$. Consider the successive subintervals of $`[n]`$ of lengths $`a_1,\mathrm{},a_k`$. Recall that $`X_\alpha ^0`$ denotes the element $`X_{(0,a_1,\mathrm{},a_k)}I_n^0`$. This is the sum of all signed permutations $`\xi _n`$ such that, on each of those intervals, the entries $`\xi _j`$ are increasing. These permutations are the $`(0,a_1,\mathrm{},a_k)`$-shuffles of type B. It is well-known, and easy to see, that this is a set of left representatives for the cosets of $`_0\times 𝒮_{a_1}\times \mathrm{}\times 𝒮_{a_k}`$ as a subgroup of $`_n`$.

In particular, the element $`X_{(n)}^0=X_{(0,n)}I_n^0`$ is the sum of all signed permutations $`\xi _n`$ such that

(7.2)
$$\xi _1<\xi _2<\mathrm{}<\xi _n.$$

The basis $`R_\alpha `$ of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_n)`$ is particularly useful for our purposes because of the following simple multiplication formula with $`X_{(n)}^0`$.

###### Proposition 7.6.

For any signed composition $`\alpha `$ of $`n`$ we have

(7.3)
$$X_{(n)}^0R_\alpha =X_{|\alpha |}^0.$$

###### Proof.

It is possible to deduce this result from the multiplication rule for the basis $`R_\alpha `$ given in \[26, Corollary 5.3\], but it seems simpler to provide a direct argument.

Write $`\alpha =(a_1,a_2,\mathrm{},a_k)`$. Consider the three classes of signed permutations which define the elements $`X_n^0`$, $`R_\alpha `$ and $`X_{|\alpha |}^0`$. If $`\xi `$ is in the class $`X_n^0`$ and $`w`$ is in the class $`R_\alpha `$, then $`\xi `$ is increasing on $`[n]`$ and $`w`$ is (in particular) increasing on each of the successive subintervals of $`[n]`$ of lengths $`|a_1|,\mathrm{},|a_k|`$, according to (7.2) and Definition 7.1. Therefore, $`\xi w`$ is also increasing on these intervals, i.e., $`\xi w`$ is a permutation in the class $`X_{|\alpha |}^0`$. Thus, to prove the result it suffices to check that all permutations in $`X_{(n)}^0R_\alpha `$ are distinct and that the total number agrees with the number of permutations in the class $`X_{|\alpha |}^0`$.

According to the previous remarks, the number of permutations in $`X_{(n)}^0`$ and $`X_{|\alpha |}^0`$ are respectively

$$\frac{2^nn!}{n!}\text{ and }\frac{2^nn!}{|a_1|!\mathrm{}|a_k|!}.$$

On the other hand, it follows from Definition 7.1 that, after reversing the order of the entries within each negative segment and dropping the signs, the permutations $`w`$ which appear in the class $`R_\alpha `$ become precisely the permutations $`u`$ in the class $`X_{|\alpha |}\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$. This is the class of $`(|a_1|,\mathrm{},|a_k|)`$-shuffles of type A, which is a set of representatives for the subgroup $`𝒮_{|a_1|}\times \mathrm{}\times 𝒮_{|a_k|}`$ of $`𝒮_n`$. Hence, the number of permutations in this class is

$$\frac{n!}{|a_1|!\mathrm{}|a_k|!}.$$

Comparing these quantities we see that the total number of permutations on both sides of (7.3) is the same.

It only remains to check that repetitions do not occur in the product $`X_{(n)}^0R_\alpha `$. Suppose $`\xi w=\xi ^{}w^{}`$ with $`\xi ,\xi ^{}X_{(n)}^0`$ and $`w,w^{}R_\alpha `$. Applying the morphism $`\phi :_n𝒮_n`$ we deduce that for each $`i=1,\mathrm{},n`$,

(A)
$$|\xi _{|w_i|}|=|\xi _{|w_i^{}|}^{}|.$$

On the other hand,

$$\mathrm{sign}\left((\xi w)_i\right)=\mathrm{sign}(\xi _{|w_i|})\mathrm{sign}(w_i)\text{ and }\mathrm{sign}\left((\xi ^{}w^{})_i\right)=\mathrm{sign}(\xi _{|w_i^{}|}^{})\mathrm{sign}(w_i^{})$$

(this holds for any pair of signed permutations). Now, since $`w,w^{}R_\alpha `$, Definition 7.1 implies that $`\mathrm{sign}(w_i)=\mathrm{sign}(w_i^{})`$. Hence,

(B)
$$\mathrm{sign}(\xi _{|w_i|})=\mathrm{sign}(\xi _{|w_i^{}|}^{}).$$

Equations (A) and (B) imply that $`\xi _{|w_i|}=\xi _{|w_i^{}|}^{}`$ for every $`i`$. But $`\xi `$ and $`\xi ^{}`$ are representatives for $`𝒮_n`$ in $`_n`$, so we must have $`\xi =\xi ^{}`$, and then $`w=w^{}`$. This completes the proof. ∎

###### Corollary 7.7.

$`I_n^0`$ is a right ideal of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_n)`$. Moreover, it is the principal right ideal generated by $`X_{(n)}^0`$.

###### Proof.

As $`\alpha `$ runs over the signed compositions of $`n`$, the elements $`R_\alpha `$ form a basis of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_n)`$ (Lemma 7.4) and the elements $`X_{|\alpha |}^0`$ span $`I_n^0`$. Thus, by Proposition 7.6,

$$X_{(n)}^0\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_n)=I_n^0.$$

Consider now the element $`\stackrel{}{P}_{\mathrm{}}\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$. In order to make explicit the dependence on $`n`$, we will denote it by $`\stackrel{}{P}_{(n)}`$. According to (5.6), $`\stackrel{}{P}_{(n)}`$ is the sum of all permutations $`u𝒮_n`$ such that

(7.4)
$$u_1>\mathrm{}>u_i<u_{i+1}<\mathrm{}<u_n\text{ for some }i=1,\mathrm{},n.$$

Comparing (7.2) with (7.4) (or using (5.12)) we see that

(7.5)
$$\phi (X_{(n)}^0)=2\stackrel{}{P}_{(n)}.$$

###### Corollary 7.8.

$`\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$ is a right ideal of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$. Moreover, it is the principal right ideal generated by $`\stackrel{}{P}_{(n)}`$.

###### Proof.

By Corollary 7.7, $`I_n^0=X_{(n)}^0\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_n)`$. Applying $`\phi `$ and using Theorem 5.9, Proposition 7.5 and (7.5) we deduce that

$$\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n=\stackrel{}{P}_{(n)}\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1}).$$

###### Remarks 7.9.

1. $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$ is not a left ideal of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$. This occurs already for $`n=3`$, as one may easily verify that $`Y_{\{1\}}\stackrel{}{P}_{\{2\}}\stackrel{}{𝔓}_3`$. It follows that $`I_n^0`$ is not a left ideal of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_n)`$.
2. Corollary 7.8 was first obtained by Schocker \[29, Theorems 1 and 5\], by other means. (Schocker endows the group algebra with the opposite product of the composition of permutations. His left ideals are therefore right ideals in our sense.)
3. We will show below that $`I_n^0`$ is still generated by $`X_{(n)}^0`$ as a right ideal of the smaller algebra $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)`$, and similarly that $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$ is generated by $`\stackrel{}{P}_{(n)}`$ as a right ideal of $`𝔓_n`$ (Proposition 7.14).
4. We will say more about the elements $`X_{(n)}^0`$ and $`\stackrel{}{P}_{(n)}`$ in Section 8.6.

### 7.4. The descents-to-peaks transform and its type B analog

###### Definition 7.10.

Let $`\mathrm{\Theta }:\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$ be the unique morphism of right $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$-modules such that

(7.6)
$$\mathrm{\Theta }(1)=2\stackrel{}{P}_{(n)}.$$

Let $`\mathrm{\Theta }^\pm :\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_n)\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_n)`$ be the unique morphism of right $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_n)`$-modules such that

(7.7)
$$\mathrm{\Theta }^\pm (1)=X_{(n)}^0.$$

We refer to $`\mathrm{\Theta }`$ as the descents-to-peaks transform and to $`\mathrm{\Theta }^\pm `$ as its type B analog.

###### Remarks 7.11.

The descents-to-peaks transform should be attributed to Stembridge, and independently, to Krob, Leclerc and Thibon, as we now explain.

1. Below (7.10) we will derive an expression for $`\mathrm{\Theta }`$ which implies that this map is dual to a map previously considered by Stembridge  (the precise connection will be worked out in detail in Section 8.5).
2. Krob, Leclerc and Thibon have considered a family of maps $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$ which depend on a parameter $`q`$ \[20, Section 5.4\]. Comparing our Definition 7.10 with \[20, Proposition 5.2\] we see that our map $`\mathrm{\Theta }`$ is the specialization of their map at $`q=1`$. Many interesting results about $`\mathrm{\Theta }`$ are given in this reference. In particular, it is easy to see that (the case $`q=1`$ of) \[20, Proposition 5.41\] is equivalent to our (7.10). Our work adds the observation on the connection with the map of Stembridge, as well as the introduction of the type B analog.

It follows formally from the definitions, together with (7.5) and the fact that $`\phi `$ is a surjective morphism of algebras, that the diagram

(7.8)
commutes.

We may easily deduce the following explicit formulas for these maps.

###### Proposition 7.12.

For any signed composition $`\alpha `$ of $`n`$ we have

(7.9)
$$\mathrm{\Theta }^\pm (R_\alpha )=X_{|\alpha |}^0,$$

and for any subset $`J[n1]`$ we have

(7.10)
$$\mathrm{\Theta }(X_J)=2^{1+\mathrm{\#}J}\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F\stackrel{}{_n}\\ FJ(J+1)\text{}\end{array}}{}\stackrel{}{P}_F.$$

In particular, the image of $`\mathrm{\Theta }^\pm `$ is $`I_n^0`$ and the image of $`\mathrm{\Theta }`$ is $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$.

###### Proof.

Since $`\mathrm{\Theta }^\pm `$ is a map of right $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_n)`$-modules,

$$\mathrm{\Theta }^\pm (R_\alpha )=\mathrm{\Theta }^\pm (1)R_\alpha \stackrel{(\text{7.7})}{=}X_{(n)}^0R_\alpha \stackrel{(\text{7.3})}{=}X_{|\alpha |}^0.$$

Let $`\alpha `$ be the ordinary composition of $`n`$ corresponding to the subset $`J`$. We may also view it as a signed composition of $`n`$ (with positive signs). For such compositions we have $`R_\alpha =S_\alpha `$, according to Definition 7.1. Therefore, by (7.1), $`\phi (R_\alpha )=X_J`$. Now, from the commutativity of (7.8) we deduce

$$\mathrm{\Theta }(X_J)=\mathrm{\Theta }\phi (R_\alpha )=\phi \mathrm{\Theta }^\pm (R_\alpha )\stackrel{(\text{7.9})}{=}\phi (X_J^0)\stackrel{(\text{5.12})}{=}2^{1+\mathrm{\#}J}\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}F\stackrel{}{_n}\\ FJ(J+1)\text{}\end{array}}{}\stackrel{}{P}_F,$$

as claimed in (7.10).

Since $`\mathrm{\Theta }^\pm `$ maps a basis of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_n)`$ onto a basis of $`I_n^0`$, the assertion about its image follows. The image of $`\mathrm{\Theta }`$ is therefore $`\phi (I_n^0)=\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$ (Theorem 5.9). ∎

###### Proposition 7.13.

The restriction of $`\mathrm{\Theta }^\pm `$ to $`I_n^0`$ is a bijective map $`I_n^0I_n^0`$. The restriction of $`\mathrm{\Theta }`$ to $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$ is a bijective map $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$.

###### Proof.

Let $`\alpha =(a_1,\mathrm{},a_k)`$ be an ordinary composition of $`n`$ and consider the class of signed permutations $`X_\alpha ^0`$. A permutation $`w`$ in this class is increasing on each of the successive subintervals of $`[n]`$ of lengths $`a_1,\mathrm{},a_k`$. Let $`[t_i,t_i+a_i]`$ be one such interval. There is an index $`b_i=0,\mathrm{},a_i`$ such that

$$w_{t_i}<\mathrm{}<w_{t_i+b_i}<0<w_{t_i+b_i+1}<\mathrm{}<w_{t_i+a_i}.$$

Consider the signed composition

$$\alpha _b:=(\overline{b}_1,a_1b_1,\overline{b}_2,a_2b_2,\mathrm{},\overline{b}_k,a_kb_k)$$

where we understand that any possible zero parts are omitted. Definition 7.1 implies that $`w`$ belongs to the class $`R_{\alpha _b}`$. This shows that the class $`X_\alpha ^0`$ is the union of the classes $`R_{\alpha _b}`$, over all possible choices of indeces $`b_i=0,\mathrm{},a_i`$. This union is disjoint, since permutations in distinct classes $`R_{\alpha _b}`$ are distinguished by the signs of their entries. Thus, we may write

$$X_\alpha ^0=\underset{b_i=0}{\overset{a_i}{}}R_{\alpha _b}.$$

Now, by (7.9),

$$\mathrm{\Theta }^\pm (X_\alpha ^0)=\underset{b_i=0}{\overset{a_i}{}}X_{|\alpha _b|}^0.$$

The extreme choices $`b_i=0`$ or $`a_i`$ $`i`$ yield $`|\alpha _b|=\alpha `$. These are $`2^k`$ choices. All other choices yield compositions $`\alpha _b`$ that are finer than $`\alpha `$. Therefore,

$$\mathrm{\Theta }^\pm (X_\alpha ^0)=2^kX_\alpha ^0+\underset{\alpha <\beta }{}c_\beta X_\beta ^0$$

for some non-negative integers $`c_\beta `$. This implies that $`\mathrm{\Theta }^\pm :I_n^0I_n^0`$ is bijective.

The assertion about $`\mathrm{\Theta }`$ follows from the assertion about $`\mathrm{\Theta }^\pm `$ and the surjectivity of $`\phi `$, as usual. ∎

We can now deduce that the canonical ideal in type B and the peak ideal are principal ideals of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)`$ and $`𝔓_n`$. In fact, they are principal as right ideals. Note that these properties are neither stronger nor weaker than those in Corollaries 7.7 and 7.8.

###### Proposition 7.14.

As a right ideal of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)`$, $`I_n^0`$ is generated by $`X_{(n)}^0`$. As a right ideal of $`𝔓_n`$, $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$ is generated by $`\stackrel{}{P}_{(n)}`$.

###### Proof.

Since $`I_n^0\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_n)`$, Propositions 7.13 and 7.12 imply that

$$\mathrm{\Theta }^\pm (\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n))=I_n^0.$$

Hence,

$$I_n^0=\mathrm{\Theta }^\pm (\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n))=\mathrm{\Theta }^\pm (1)\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)=X_{(n)}^0\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n).$$

The assertion about $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$ follows similarly or by applying $`\phi `$. ∎

###### Remark 7.15.

It is also possible to deduce the result about $`I_n^0`$ from the multiplication rule for the $`X`$-basis of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)`$ given in \[4, Theorem 1\].

## 8. Hopf algebraic structures

In this section we consider the direct sum over all $`n0`$ of the group, descent and peak algebras discussed elsewhere in the paper. These spaces may be endowed with a new product (called the external product) and a coproduct, so that in the diagram

all objects are Hopf algebras, except for $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B)`$, which is an $`I^0`$-module coalgebra, and $`𝔓`$, which is a $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}`$-module coalgebra.

### 8.1. The Hopf algebras of permutations and signed permutations

Let $`p`$ and $`q`$ be non-negative integers and $`n=p+q`$. Consider the standard embedding

$$𝒮_p\times 𝒮_q𝒮_{p+q},(u\times v)(i)=\{\begin{array}{cc}u(i)\hfill & \text{ if }1ip,\hfill \\ p+v(ip)\hfill & \text{ if }p+1ip+q.\hfill \end{array}$$

The set of $`(p,q)`$-shuffles is

$$\mathrm{Sh}(p,q)=\{\xi 𝒮_n\xi _1<\mathrm{}<\xi _p\text{ and }\xi _{p+1}<\mathrm{}<\xi _n\}.$$

This is a set of left representatives for the cosets of $`𝒮_p\times 𝒮_q`$ as a subgroup of $`𝒮_n`$. In other words, given $`p`$ and $`w𝒮_n`$, there is a unique triple $`(\xi ,w_{(p)},w_{(p)}^{})`$ such that $`\xi \mathrm{Sh}(p,np)`$, $`w_{(p)}𝒮_p`$, $`w_{(p)}^{}𝒮_{np}`$ and

(8.1)
$$w=(w_{(p)}\times w_{(p)}^{})\xi ^1.$$

Consider the direct sum of all group algebras of the symmetric groups

$$𝒮:=𝒮_1𝒮_2\mathrm{}.$$

This space carries a graded Hopf algebra structure defined as follows. Given $`u𝒮_p`$ and $`v𝒮_q`$, their product is

$$uv:=\underset{\xi \mathrm{Sh}(p,q)}{}\xi (u\times v).$$

The coproduct of $`w𝒮_n`$ is

$$\mathrm{\Delta }(w):=\underset{p=0}{\overset{n}{}}w_{(p)}\text{ }w_{(p)}^{}$$

where $`w_{(p)}`$ and $`w_{(p)}^{}`$ are as in (8.1).

This is the Hopf algebra of Malvenuto and Reutenauer . A detailed study of this Hopf algebra is given in  (the object denoted by $`𝔖\mathrm{𝑆𝑦𝑚}`$ in this reference is the dual Hopf algebra to $`𝒮`$).

Similar constructions exist for the groups of signed permutations. First, we have the embedding $`_p\times _{np}_n`$, $`(u,v)u\times v`$, defined by the same formulas as before. The set of $`(p,np)`$-shuffles of type A is still a set of left representatives for the cosets of $`_p\times _{np}`$ as a subgroup of $`_n`$, which allows us to associate signed permutations $`w_{(p)}_p`$ and $`w_{(p)}^{}_{np}`$ to a signed permutation $`w_n`$ by means of (8.1).

The space

$$:=_1_2\mathrm{}.$$

carries a graded Hopf algebra structure with product

$$uv:=\underset{\xi \mathrm{Sh}(p,q)}{}\xi (u\times v)$$

(for $`u_p`$ and $`v_q`$) and coproduct

$$\mathrm{\Delta }(w):=\underset{p=0}{\overset{n}{}}w_{(p)}\text{ }w_{(p)}^{}$$

(for $`w_n`$). We refer the reader to  for a proof of this fact and for a detailed study of the Hopf algebra of signed permutations $``$.

When an explicit distinction is necessary, one refers to the product $`uv`$ of $`𝒮`$ (and $``$) as the external product, and to the product $`uv`$ in the group algebras $`𝒮_n`$ (and $`_n`$) as the internal product.

It is clear from the definitions that the map $`\phi :𝒮`$ that forgets the signs preserves all the structure; in particular, it is a morphism of graded Hopf algebras.

### 8.2. The Hopf algebra of non-commutative symmetric functions and its type B analog

Consider the direct sum of all descent algebras of type A

$$\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A):=\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_0)\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_1)\mathrm{}.$$

As in Section 7 we index the $`X`$-basis of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$ by compositions of $`n`$, instead of subsets of $`[n1]`$.

Since each $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$ is a subspace of $`𝒮_n`$, we may view $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A)`$ as a graded subspace of $`𝒮`$. It turns out that $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A)`$ is a graded Hopf subalgebra of $`𝒮`$ \[25, Theorem 3.3\]. Moreover, the external product of $`X`$-basis elements is simply

(8.2)
$$X_{(a_1,\mathrm{},a_k)}X_{(b_1,\mathrm{},b_h)}=X_{(a_1,\mathrm{},a_k,b_1,\mathrm{},b_h)},$$

which shows that $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A)`$ is freely generated as an algebra by the elements $`\{X_{(n)}\}_{n1}`$, and the coproduct is determined by

(8.3)
$$\mathrm{\Delta }(X_{(n)})=\underset{i+j=n}{}X_{(i)}\text{ }X_{(j)},$$

where we agree that $`X_{(0)}`$ denotes the unit element $`1`$. Thus, $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A)`$ is the Hopf algebra of non-commutative symmetric functions .

While the coproduct $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ is not compatible with the internal product of $`𝒮`$ (in general, $`\mathrm{\Delta }(uv)\mathrm{\Delta }(u)\mathrm{\Delta }(v)`$), it is known that it is compatible with the internal product of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A)`$ \[24, Remarque 5.15\].

Similarly, the subspace

$$\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B):=\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_1)\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_2)\mathrm{}.$$

is a graded Hopf subalgebra of $``$. We will describe this structure on the $`R`$-basis of Section 7.1. The external product is again given by concatenation (of signed compositions)

(8.4)
$$R_{(a_1,\mathrm{},a_k)}R_{(b_1,\mathrm{},b_h)}=R_{(a_1,\mathrm{},a_k,b_1,\mathrm{},b_h)}.$$

It follows that $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B)`$ is freely generated as an algebra by the elements $`\{R_{(n)},R_{(\overline{n})}\}_{n1}`$. For this reason, $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_n)`$ may be viewed as an algebra of non-commutative symmetric functions of type B. The coproduct is determined by

(8.5)
$$\mathrm{\Delta }(R_{(n)})=\underset{i+j=n}{}R_{(i)}\text{ }R_{(j)}\text{ and }\mathrm{\Delta }(R_{(\overline{n})})=\underset{i+j=n}{}R_{(\overline{i})}\text{ }R_{(\overline{j})}.$$

These facts are simple consequences of the definitions; more details will be found in .

### 8.3. The Hopf algebra of interior peaks and its type B analog

Consider the spaces

$$\stackrel{}{𝔓}:=\stackrel{}{𝔓}_1\stackrel{}{𝔓}_2\mathrm{}\text{ and }I^0:=I_1^0I_2^0\mathrm{}.$$

$`\stackrel{}{𝔓}`$ is a graded subspace of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A)`$ and $`I^0`$ is a graded subspace of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B)`$. Recall the basis $`X_\alpha ^0`$ of $`I_n^0`$, indexed by ordinary compositions of $`n`$ as in Section 7.1. It follows easily from the definitions that

(8.6)
$$X_{(a_1,\mathrm{},a_k)}^0X_{(b_1,\mathrm{},b_h)}^0=X_{(a_1,\mathrm{},a_k,b_1,\mathrm{},b_h)}^0,$$

and

(8.7)
$$\mathrm{\Delta }(X_{(n)}^0)=\underset{i+j=n}{}X_{(i)}^0\text{ }X_{(j)}^0,$$

where we agree that $`X_{(0)}^0=1`$.

###### Proposition 8.1.

The space $`I^0`$ is a graded Hopf subalgebra of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B)`$ and the space $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}`$ is a graded Hopf subalgebra of the Hopf algebra of non-commutative symmetric functions $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A)`$.

###### Proof.

The preceding formulas show that $`I^0`$ is closed for the coproduct and the external product of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B)`$. The assertion for $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}`$ follows since $`\phi :\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B)\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A)`$ is a morphism of graded Hopf algebras such that $`\phi (I^0)=\stackrel{}{𝔓}`$ (Theorem 5.9). ∎

In fact, formulas (8.2), (8.3), (8.6) and (8.7) show that $`I^0`$ and $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A)`$ are isomorphic as graded Hopf algebras. On the other hand, the internal products of $`I_n^0`$ and $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})`$ are of course distinct, and as is clear from the results of this paper, these two objects play very different roles and should be kept apart.

Recall the maps $`\mathrm{\Theta }^\pm :\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B_n)I_n^0`$ and $`\mathrm{\Theta }:\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A_{n1})\stackrel{}{𝔓}_n`$ of Section 7.4. Summing over all $`n0`$ they give rise to maps $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B)I^0`$ and $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A)\stackrel{}{𝔓}`$ that we still denote by the same symbols.

###### Proposition 8.2.

The maps $`\mathrm{\Theta }^\pm :\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B)I^0`$ and $`\mathrm{\Theta }:\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A)\stackrel{}{𝔓}`$ are morphisms of graded Hopf algebras.

###### Proof.

By Proposition 7.12, $`\mathrm{\Theta }^\pm (R_\alpha )=X_{|\alpha |}^0`$. Comparing (8.2) and (8.3) with (8.6) and (8.7) we immediately see that $`\mathrm{\Theta }^\pm `$ is a morphism of Hopf algebras. The assertion for $`\mathrm{\Theta }`$ follows from the commutativity of (7.8). ∎

### 8.4. The module coalgebra of peaks and its type B analog

Consider, finally, the spaces

$$𝔓:=𝔓_1𝔓_2\mathrm{}\text{ and }\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B):=\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_1)\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_2)\mathrm{}.$$

$`𝔓`$ is a graded subspace of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A)`$ which contains $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}`$ and $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B)`$ is a graded subspace of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B)`$ which contains $`I^0`$.

The first observation is that $`𝔓`$ is not closed under the product of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A)`$ and $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B)`$ is not closed under the product of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B)`$. For instance, the element $`P_{\{1\}}𝔓_2`$ satisfies

$$P_{\{1\}}P_{\{1\}}=Y_{\{1,2,3\}}+Y_{\{1,3\}}𝔓_4.$$

However, it is easy to see that for any pseudo composition $`(a_0,a_1,\mathrm{},a_k)`$ and any ordinary composition $`(b_1,\mathrm{},b_h)`$,

(8.8)
$$X_{(a_0,a_1,\mathrm{},a_k)}X_{(b_1,\mathrm{},b_h)}^0=X_{(a_0,a_1,\mathrm{},a_k,b_1,\mathrm{},b_h)}.$$

Also, for any $`n0`$,

(8.9)
$$\mathrm{\Delta }(X_{(n)})=\underset{i+j=n}{}X_{(i)}\text{ }X_{(j)}.$$

For the notion of module coalgebra we refer to \[19, Definition IX.2.1\].

###### Proposition 8.3.

The space $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B)`$ is a right $`I^0`$-module subcoalgebra of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B)`$ and the space $`𝔓`$ is a a right $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}`$-module subcoalgebra of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A)`$.

###### Proof.

Since $`I^0`$ is a Hopf subalgebra of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B)`$, one may view $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B)`$ as a right $`I^0`$-module coalgebra, simply by right multiplication. Equation (8.8) shows that $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B)`$ is an $`I^0`$-submodule, and moreover, that it is the free right $`I^0`$-module generated by the elements $`\{X_{(n)}\}_{n0}`$. Together with (8.9), this guarantees that $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B)`$ is closed under $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ (since $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ is a morphism of algebras). Thus, $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B)`$ is a right $`I^0`$-module subcoalgebra of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}^\pm (B)`$. The assertion for $`𝔓`$ follows by applying the morphism $`\phi `$, as usual. ∎

###### Remark 8.4.

The space $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B)`$, endowed with this coalgebra structure, has been considered in the recent thesis of Chow . Chow also considers an equivalent of the module structure (over $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A)`$ instead of $`I^0`$).

Recall the map $`\beta :\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_{n1})`$ from Section 5.1. This is a morphism of algebras with respect to the internal structure. We use the same symbol to denote the map $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B)\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B)`$ that vanishes on the component of degree $`0`$ and sends the component $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_n)`$ of degree $`n1`$ to $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B_{n1})`$. Thus, $`\beta :\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B)\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B)`$ is a homogeneous map of degree $`1`$. We now describe the behavior of this map with respect to the external structure. Recall that any coalgebra $`C`$ can be viewed as a $`C`$-bicomodule with right and left coaction given by the coproduct (for the definition of comodules see \[19, Definition III.6.1\]).

###### Proposition 8.5.

The map $`\beta :\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B)\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B)`$ is a morphism of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B)`$-bicomodules and of right $`I^0`$-modules.

###### Proof.

In terms of pseudo compositions, Definition 5.1 becomes

$$\beta (X_{(a_0,a_1,\mathrm{},a_k)})=\{\begin{array}{cc}0\hfill & \text{ if }a_0=0,\hfill \\ X_{(a_01,a_1,\mathrm{},a_k)}\hfill & \text{ if }a_0>0.\hfill \end{array}$$

Together with (8.8) this shows that $`\beta `$ is a morphism of right $`I^0`$-modules.

If $`A`$ is a commutative algebra, any element $`xA`$ determines a morphism of bimodules $`f:AA`$ by $`f(a)=xa`$. Similarly, if $`C`$ is a cocommutative coalgebra, any functional $`\eta C^{}`$ determines a morphism of bicomodules $`f:CC`$ by $`f=(\eta \text{ }\mathrm{𝑖𝑑})\mathrm{\Delta }`$.

Let $`C=\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(B)`$ (a cocommutative coalgebra) and let $`\eta :C`$ be

$$\eta (X_\alpha )=\{\begin{array}{cc}0\hfill & \text{ if }\alpha (1),\hfill \\ 1\hfill & \text{ if }\alpha =(1).\hfill \end{array}$$

It follows from (8.9), (8.8) and (5.1) that $`\beta =(\eta \text{ }\mathrm{𝑖𝑑})\mathrm{\Delta }`$. Thus, $`\beta `$ is a morphism of bicomodules. ∎

We similarly construct a map $`\pi :𝔓𝔓`$ homogeneous of degree $`2`$ from the maps $`\pi :𝔓_n𝔓_{n2}`$ of Section 5.2.

###### Corollary 8.6.

The map $`\pi :𝔓𝔓`$ is a morphism of $`𝔓`$-bicomodules and of right $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}`$-modules.

###### Proof.

This follows from Propositions 8.5 and 5.6. ∎

### 8.5. Duality. Stembridge’s Hopf algebra

In this section we clarify the connection between Stembridge’s Hopf algebra of peaks and the objects discussed in this paper.

The graded dual of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A)`$ is the Hopf algebra $`𝒬\mathrm{𝑆𝑦𝑚}`$ of quasisymmetric functions. The dual bases to the bases $`\{X_J\}`$ and $`\{Y_J\}`$ of $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A)`$ are, respectively, the monomial basis $`\{M_J\}`$ and Gessel’s basis $`\{F_J\}`$ of $`𝒬\mathrm{𝑆𝑦𝑚}`$. This is \[25, Theorem 3.2\], but for the present purposes it may be taken as the definition of $`𝒬\mathrm{𝑆𝑦𝑚}`$, $`M_J`$ and $`F_J`$.

Consider the descents-to-peaks transform $`\mathrm{\Theta }:\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A)\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A)`$ of Definition 7.6. The image of this map is $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}`$ (Proposition 7.12). Let us denote the resulting map $`\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A)\stackrel{}{𝔓}`$ by $`j`$, and the inclusion $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}\mathrm{𝑆𝑜𝑙}(A)`$ by $`i`$, so that $`\mathrm{\Theta }=ij`$. According to Propositions 8.1 and 8.2, the following is a commutative diagram of morphisms of graded Hopf algebras:

Dualizing we obtain another diagram of Hopf algebras

Now, it follows from (7.10) that the injective map $`j^{}`$ sends

$$(\stackrel{}{P}_F)^{}\underset{\begin{array}{c}\text{}J[n1]\\ FJ(J+1)\text{}\end{array}}{}2^{1+\mathrm{\#}J}M_J$$

for any $`F\stackrel{}{_n}`$. This says precisely that $`j^{}`$ identifies the Hopf algebra $`(\stackrel{}{𝔓})^{}`$ with the Hopf algebra considered by Stembridge in \[31, Theorem 3.1 and Proposition 2.2\].

Also, equation (5.7) implies that $`i^{}`$ sends

$$F_J(\stackrel{}{P}_{\stackrel{}{\mathrm{\Lambda }}(J)})^{}.$$

This says that $`\mathrm{\Theta }^{}=j^{}i^{}`$ is the map introduced by Stembridge in \[31, Theorem 3.1\]. This provides the explanation announced in Remark 7.11.

###### Remarks 8.7.

1. The fact that Stembridge’s map $`\mathrm{\Theta }^{}:𝒬\mathrm{𝑆𝑦𝑚}𝒬\mathrm{𝑆𝑦𝑚}`$ is a morphism of Hopf algebras is known from \[31, Theorem 3.1\] and \[7, page 66\]. In this work we obtained this result from the fact that its type B analog $`\mathrm{\Theta }^\pm `$ is (clearly) a morphism of Hopf algebras (Proposition 8.2).
2. The Hopf algebra structure of $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}`$ (or its dual) has been carefully studied in  and . One of the important results obtained in these works is that the elements $`\stackrel{}{P}_{\{2,4,\mathrm{},2k\}}\stackrel{}{𝔓}_{2k+1}`$, $`k0`$, freely generate $`\stackrel{}{𝔓}`$ as an algebra (with respect to the external product).
3. The graded dual of $`𝔓`$ is a comodule algebra over Stembridge’s Hopf algebra $`(\stackrel{}{𝔓})^{}`$, and a quotient algebra of $`𝒬\mathrm{𝑆𝑦𝑚}`$. This object has not been considered before.

### 8.6. The action on words

In this section we recall the action of $`𝒮`$ on words, discuss its type B analog, and provide explicit descriptions for the actions of the elements $`\stackrel{}{P}_{(n)}`$ and $`X_{(n)}^0`$. These elements were central to the results of Sections 7.3 and 7.4.

Let $`𝐗`$ be an arbitrary vector space and $`\mathrm{𝐓𝐗}=_{n0}𝐗^{\text{ }n}`$ its tensor algebra. The group $`𝒮_n`$ acts on $`𝐗^{\text{ }n}`$ from the right by

$$(𝐱_1\text{ }\mathrm{}\text{ }𝐱_n)u=𝐱_{u_1}\text{ }\mathrm{}\text{ }𝐱_{u_n}.$$

The resulting morphisms of algebras $`𝒮_n\text{End}(𝐗^{\text{ }n})`$, $`n0`$, may be assembled into a map

$$𝒮\text{End}(\mathrm{𝐓𝐗})$$

which by construction sends the internal product of $`𝒮`$ to the composition product of $`\text{End}(\mathrm{𝐓𝐗})`$. It is a basic observation of Malvenuto and Reutenauer that, on the other hand, the external product of $`𝒮`$ corresponds under this map to the convolution product of $`\text{End}(\mathrm{𝐓𝐗})`$ \[25, pages 977-978\]. The convolution product is defined from the canonical Hopf algebra structure of $`\mathrm{𝐓𝐗}`$, for which the elements of $`𝐗`$ are primitive.

The type B analog of this construction starts from a vector space $`𝐘`$ endowed with an involution $`𝐲\overline{𝐲}`$. There is then a right action of $`_n`$ on $`𝐘^{\text{ }n}`$ given by

$$(𝐲_1\text{ }\mathrm{}\text{ }𝐲_n)w=𝐲_{w_1}\text{ }\mathrm{}\text{ }𝐲_{w_n},\text{ where }𝐲_{w_i}=\{\begin{array}{cc}𝐲_{w_i}\hfill & \text{ if }w_i>0,\hfill \\ \overline{𝐲}_{w_i}\hfill & \text{ if }w_i<0.\hfill \end{array}$$

As before, the resulting map $`\text{End}(\mathrm{𝐓𝐘})`$ sends the internal and external products to the composition and convolution products of $`\text{End}(\mathrm{𝐓𝐘})`$, respectively.

Consider the symmetrizer $`\tau :\mathrm{𝐓𝐘}\mathrm{𝐓𝐘}`$ defined by

$$\tau (𝐲_1\text{ }\mathrm{}\text{ }𝐲_n)=𝐲_1\text{ }\mathrm{}\text{ }𝐲_n+\overline{𝐲}_n\text{ }\mathrm{}\text{ }\overline{𝐲}_1.$$

In other words, $`\tau `$ acts on $`𝐘^{\text{ }n}`$ as the element $`12\mathrm{}n+\overline{n}\mathrm{}\overline{2}\overline{1}_n`$.

###### Proposition 8.8.

The action of $`X_{(n)}^0`$ on $`\mathrm{𝐓𝐘}`$ is given by

(8.10)
$$(𝐲_1\text{ }\mathrm{}\text{ }𝐲_n)X_{(n)}^0=\tau \left(\mathrm{}\tau \left(\tau (𝐲_1)𝐲_2\right)𝐲_3\mathrm{}𝐲_n\right).$$

###### Proof.

We argue by induction on $`n`$. For $`n=1`$, $`X_{(1)}^0=1+\overline{1}`$, so

$$𝐲X_{(1)}^0=𝐲+\overline{𝐲}=\tau (𝐲).$$

Consider the class of signed permutations $`X_{(n+1)}^0`$, that is, the $`(0,n+1)`$-shuffles (7.2). These split into two classes: those for which the last element is $`n+1`$ and those for which the first element is $`\overline{n+1}`$. Since in both cases the entries appear in increasing order, the permutations in the first class are precisely those of the form $`\xi \times 1`$ and the permutations in the second class are those of the form $`(\xi \times 1)\overline{n+1}\mathrm{}\overline{2}\overline{1}`$, with $`\xi `$ in the class $`X_{(n)}^0`$ in both cases. Thus,

$$X_{(n+1)}^0=(X_{(n)}^0\times 1)(12\mathrm{}n+1+\overline{n+1}\mathrm{}\overline{2}\overline{1}).$$

Therefore,

$$(𝐲_1\text{ }\mathrm{}\text{ }𝐲_{n+1})X_{(n+1)}^0=\tau \left((𝐲_1\text{ }\mathrm{}\text{ }𝐲_n)X_{(n)}^0\text{ }𝐲_{n+1}\right).$$

The induction hypothesis then yields the result. ∎

We go back to the case of an arbitrary vector space $`𝐗`$. Consider the Jordan bracket on $`\mathrm{𝐓𝐗}`$. This is the operator $`\mathrm{𝐓𝐗}\times \mathrm{𝐓𝐗}\mathrm{𝐓𝐗}`$ defined by

$$[\eta ,\theta ]=\eta \theta +\theta \eta $$

for arbitrary elements $`\eta `$ and $`\theta `$ of $`\mathrm{𝐓𝐗}`$.

###### Proposition 8.9.

The action of $`\stackrel{}{P}_{(n)}𝒮`$ on $`\mathrm{𝐓𝐗}`$ is given by

(8.11)
$$(𝐱_1\text{ }\mathrm{}\text{ }𝐱_n)\stackrel{}{P}_{(n)}=[\mathrm{}[[𝐱_1,𝐱_2],𝐱_3],\mathrm{},𝐱_n].$$

###### Proof.

We may view $`𝐗`$ as endowed with the trivial involution $`\overline{𝐱}=𝐱`$ and then consider the corresponding action of $``$ on $`\mathrm{𝐓𝐗}`$. Clearly, this factors through the action of $`𝒮`$ via the map $`\phi :𝒮`$: $`\eta w=\eta \phi (w)`$. Since $`\phi (X_{(n)}^0)=2\stackrel{}{P}_{(n)}`$ (7.5), we have, using (8.10),

$$(𝐱_1\text{ }\mathrm{}\text{ }𝐱_n)\stackrel{}{P}_{(n)}=\frac{1}{2}\tau \left(\mathrm{}\tau \left(\tau (𝐱_1)𝐱_2\right)𝐱_3\mathrm{}𝐱_n\right).$$

Thus, letting $`\eta _n=\tau \left(\mathrm{}\tau \left(\tau (𝐱_1)𝐱_2\right)𝐱_3\mathrm{}𝐱_n\right)`$ and $`\theta _n=[\mathrm{}[[𝐱_1,𝐱_2],𝐱_3],\mathrm{},𝐱_n]`$, we only need to show that

$$\eta _n=2\theta _n.$$

For $`n=1`$ we have

$$\eta _1=\tau (𝐱_1)=𝐱_1+\overline{𝐱}_1=2𝐱_1=[𝐱_1,𝐱_1]=2\theta _1,$$

so the result holds. If it does for $`n`$, then

$$\eta _{n+1}=\tau (\eta _n𝐱_{n+1})=\eta _n𝐱_{n+1}+𝐱_{n+1}\eta _n=2\theta _n𝐱_{n+1}+𝐱_{n+1}2\theta _n=2[\theta _n,𝐱_{n+1}]=2\theta _{n+1},$$

as needed. ∎

###### Remark 8.10.

Proposition 8.9 is due to Krob, Leclerc and Thibon \[20, Section 5.3\]. A more general operator of the form $`[\eta ,\theta ]_q=\eta \theta q\theta \eta `$ is in fact considered in that reference.