Robinson-Schensted correspondence for unit interval orders

Abstract

The Stanley-Stembridge conjecture associates a symmetric function to each natural unit interval order $\mathcal P$. In this paper, we define relations \`a la Knuth on the symmetric group for each $\mathcal P$ and conjecture that the associated $\mathcal P$-Knuth equivalence classes are Schur-positive, refining theorems of Gasharov, Brosnan-Chow, and Guay-Paquet. The resulting equivalence graphs fit into the framework of D graphs studied by Assaf. Furthermore, we conjecture that the Schur expansion is given by column-readings of $\mathcal P$-tableaux that occur in the equivalence class. We prove these conjectures for $\mathcal P$ avoiding two specific suborders by introducing $\mathcal P$-analog of Robinson-Schensted insertion, giving an answer to a long standing question of Chow.