A $q$-deformation of an algebra of Klyachko and Macdonald's reduced word formula

Abstract

There is a striking similarity between Macdonald's reduced word formula and the image of the Schubert class in the cohomology ring of the permutahedral variety $\mathrm{Perm}_n$ as computed by Klyachko. Toward understanding this better, we undertake an in-depth study of a $q$-deformation of the $\mathbb{S}_n$-invariant part of the rational cohomology ring of $\mathrm{Perm}_n$, which we call the $q$-Klyachko algebra. We uncover intimate links between expansions in the basis of squarefree monomials in this algebra and various notions in algebraic combinatorics, thereby connecting seemingly unrelated results by finding a common ground to study them. Our main results are as follows. 1) A $q$-analog of divided symmetrization ($q$-DS) using Yang-Baxter elements in the Hecke algebra. It is a linear form that picks up coefficients in the squarefree basis. 2) A relation between $q$-DS and the ideal of quasisymmetric polynomials involving work of Aval--Bergeron--Bergeron. 3) A family of polynomials in $q$ with nonnegative integral coefficients that specialize to Postnikov's mixed Eulerian numbers when $q=1$. We refer to these new polynomials as remixed Eulerian numbers. For $q>0$, their normalized versions occur as probabilities in the internal diffusion limited aggregation (IDLA) stochastic process. 4) A lift of Macdonald's reduced word identity in the $q$-Klyachko algebra. 5) The Schubert expansion of the Chow class of the standard split Deligne--Lusztig variety in type $A$, when $q$ is a prime power.