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Let $P$ be a parabolic subgroup of $\mathrm{GL}_n$ and $u\in P$ a unipotent element. The parabolic Springer fibre associated to $(P,u)$ can be defined by $$ \mathcal{P}_u:=\{gP\in G/P \mathrel\vert g^{-1}u g\in P\}\subseteq G/P. $$ It is known that these varieties admit affine pavings; see for instance, Fresse - Existence of affine pavings for varieties of partial flags associated to nilpotent elements. It follows that $\lvert\mathcal{P}_U(\mathbb{F}_q)\rvert$ is a polynomial in $q$. This polynomial depends only on the partitions $\lambda$ and $\nu$ associated to $P$ and $U$. Thus, we can denote it by $f_{\lambda,\nu}$.

Question: Is there an explicit formula for $f_{\lambda,\nu}$?

For usual Springer fibres (i.e. when $P=B$) an answer is provided at Fresse - Betti numbers of Springer fibers in type A. Note that the usual Springer fibres are pure; thus, the polynomial counting the number of points is the same as the Poincaré polynomial.

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    $\begingroup$ Presumably you mean $U$ is a unipotent element of $P$, but I think it would be less confusing to use lower case letters for elements of $G$, upper case letters for subgroups. (In particular, $U$ often denotes the unipotent radical of $P$.) $\endgroup$
    – Paul Levy
    Commented Oct 2, 2021 at 11:46
  • $\begingroup$ Do you have a specific type of formula in mind? The answer is classical and related to Green polynomials for GLn, Kostka polynomials etc. but I am not sure which presentation is best for computational purposes, if that is what you are after. $\endgroup$ Commented Oct 7, 2021 at 3:45
  • $\begingroup$ Any reference which has an explicit formula for $f_{\lambda,\nu}$ would be much appreciated. $\endgroup$
    – Dr. Evil
    Commented Oct 7, 2021 at 3:46
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    $\begingroup$ @PaulLevy, I agree with your notational suggestion, and I was proofreading for some other mild typos anyway, so I changed "$U \in P$ a nilpotent element" to "$u \in P$ a unipotent element" as you suggested. $\endgroup$
    – LSpice
    Commented Oct 7, 2021 at 4:00

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The earliest reference I could find that works out the polynomial $f_{\lambda, \nu}(q)$ is the paper

R. Hotta, N. Shimomura "The Fixed Point Subvarieties of Unipotent Transformations on Generalized Flag Varieties and the Green Functions" Math. Ann. 241, 193-208 (1979)

where the authors provide a recursive description of a certain statistic on tableaux which gives the desired polynomial. I also like the calculation in

A. Lascoux, B. Leclerc, J.-Y. Thibon, "Ribbon Tableaux, Hall-Littlewood Functions, Quantum Affine Algebras and Unipotent Varieties" J. Math. Phys. 38(2), 1041-1068 (1997) (arxiv)

where things are stated a little more explicitly: Recall the Kostka polynomials $K_{\lambda,\mu}(q)$, and their modified anaolgues $\tilde{K}_{\lambda, \nu}(q)$ (the generating functions of the charge and cocharge statistic, respectively, see here). If you define the polynomial $$\tilde{Q}'_{\lambda}(X,q)=\sum_{\mu}\tilde{K}_{\lambda, \mu}(q)s_{\mu}(X)$$ then our $f_{\lambda,\nu}(q)$ is the coefficient of the monomial symmetric function $m_{\nu}$ when $\tilde{Q}'_{\lambda}$ is expressed in the monomial symmetric function basis. Thus, you can write $$f_{\lambda,\nu}(q)=\sum_{\mu}\tilde{K}_{\lambda, \mu}(q)K_{\mu,\nu}.$$ As a side note, calculating the cohomology of these parabolic Springer fibers (sometimes referred to as Spaltenstein varieties) used to be the only known proof for the nonnegativity of the coefficients of the Kostka polynomials. The combinatorial understanding of charge/cocharge came later. :)

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  • $\begingroup$ Thanks Gjergji...This is exactly the kind of answer I was hoping for. What is a good reference for the fact that these varieties are pure? $\endgroup$
    – Dr. Evil
    Commented Oct 8, 2021 at 5:01
  • $\begingroup$ @Dr.Evil The second paper attributes the fact that these varieties are pure to the first paper (and its precursor Shimomura's "A theorem of the fixed point set of a unipotent transformation of the flag manifold") so maybe that's the best reference. $\endgroup$ Commented Oct 11, 2021 at 0:08
  • $\begingroup$ @ Gjergji...Do you know if purity/numer of points is known if we consider groups beyond GL_n? I'm interested in general reductive G. $\endgroup$
    – Dr. Evil
    Commented Aug 31, 2022 at 0:30

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