Involution Statistics in Finite Coxeter Groups

Abstract

Let $W$ be a finite Coxeter group and $X$ a subset of $W$. The length polynomial $L_{W,X}(t)$ is defined by $L_{W,X}(t) = \sum_{x \in X} t^{\ell(x)}$, where $\ell$ is the length function on $W$. In this article we derive expressions for the length polynomial where $X$ is any conjugacy class of involutions, or the set of all involutions, in any finite Coxeter group $W$. In particular, these results correct errors in the paper "Permutation statistics on involutions", W.M.B. Dukes., European J. Combin. 28 (2007), 186--198. for the involution length polynomials of Coxeter groups of type $B_n$ and $D_n$. Moreover, we give a counterexample to a unimodality conjecture of Dukes.