Quinton Westrich

Final Paper
MATH 6910
Representations of the
Symmetric Group
Dr. Rafal Ablamowicz
December 11, 2008

Youngs Natural Representations of S4

Abstract
We calculate all inequivalent irreducible representations of S4 by specifying the
matrices for adjacent transpositions and indicating how to obtain general permutations
in S4 from these transpositions. We employ standard Young tableaux methods as
found in Sagans The Symmetric Group: Representations, Combinatorial Algorithms,
and Symmetric Functions (2001).

Contents
1 Introduction

2 The Group S4

3 The
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4

S4 -Module S 1
Standard 1 -Tableaux
Matrix for (1 2) . . . .
Matrix for (2 3) . . . .
Matrix for (3 4) . . . .

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3
3
4
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4

4 The
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4

S4 -Module S 2
Standard 2 -Tableaux
Matrix for (1 2) . . . .
Matrix for (2 3) . . . .
Matrix for (3 4) . . . .

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4
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5 The
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4

S4 -Module S 3
Standard 3 -Tableaux
Matrix for (1 2) . . . .
Matrix for (2 3) . . . .
Matrix for (3 4) . . . .

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6 The
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4

S4 -Module S 4
Standard 4 -Tableaux
Matrix for (1 2) . . . .
Matrix for (2 3) . . . .
Matrix for (3 4) . . . .

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7 The S4 -Module S 5
7.1 Standard 5 -Tableaux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.2 Matrices for (1 2), (2 3), and (3 4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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11
12

8 Conclusion

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Introduction

In this paper, we compute matrices of the adjacent transpositions (1 2), (2 3), (3 4) in S4 for
all of Youngs natural representations. These representations are irreducible and any other
irreducible representation is equivalent to one of Youngs natural representations. Moreover,
the adjacent transpositions generate all of S4 so that all the matrices of Youngs natural
representations are easily obtained by merely multiplying the appropriate generators.
There are two key ideas employed in these calculations. The first is that partitions of 4
correspond to irreducible representations of S4 . Each partition is represented graphically by
a Ferrers diagram.

1 = (1, 1, 1, 1) =

2 = (2, 1, 1) =

4 = (3, 1) =

3 = (2, 2) =

5 = (4) =

So there are five (inequivalent) irreducible representations of S4 .

The second key idea is that given a partition of 4, and hence a shape , the dimension
of representation module corresponding to the shape , or the degree of the corresponding
representation matrices, is equal to the number of standard fillings of the shape , denoted
f . This number is provided by the hook formula
n!
f = Y

.
hij

(i,j)

Throughout this paper, we use the following convention in determining the representation
of (i i + 1)et in terms of the basis of standard -polytabloids.

Case 1. i and i + 1 are in the same column of t. Then

(i, i + 1)et = et .
Case 2. i and i + 1 are in the same row of t. Then we apply the Garnir element to obtain
(i, i + 1)et as a linear combination of standard -polytabloids.
Case 3. i and i + 1 are not in the same row or column of t. Then (i, i + 1)et is a standard
-polytabloid.

The Group S4

There are 4! = 24 elements in S4 . These elements fall into five conjugacy classes, each corresponding to a partition of 4. The conjugacy classes of S4 , each labeled by its corresponding
partition of 4, are given below.
K(1,1,1,1)
K(2,1,1)
K(2,2)
K(3,1)
K(4)

= {}
= {(1 2), (1 3), (1 4), (2 3), (2 4), (3 4)}
= {(1 2)(3 4), (1 3)(2 4), (1 4)(2 3)}
= {(1 2 3), (1 3 2), (1 2 4), (1 4 2), (1 3 4), (1 4 3), (2 3 4), (2 4 3)}
= {(1 2 3 4), (1 4 3 2), (1 4 2 3), (1 3 2 4), (1 3 4 2), (1 2 4 3)}

|K(1,1,1,1) | = 1
|K(2,1,1) | = 6
|K(2,2) | = 3
|K(3,1) | = 8
|K(4) | = 6

The elements of S4 are decomposed into adjacent transpositions below.


(2 3)
(1 3) = (1 2)(2 3)(1 2)
(2 4) = (2 3)(3 4)(2 3)
(1 3)(2 4) = (1 2)(2 3)(1 2)(2 3)(3 4)(2 3)
(1 2 3) = (1 2)(2 3)
(1 2 4) = (1 2)(2 3)(3 4)(2 3)
(1 3 4) = (1 2)(2 3)(3 4)(1 2)
(2 3 4) = (2 3)(3 4)
(1 2 3 4) = (1 2)(2 3)(3 4)
(1 4 2 3) = (1 2)(2 3)(1 2)(2 3)(3 4)(2 3)(1 2)
(1 3 2 4) = (1 2)(2 3)(3 4)(2 3)(1 2)(2 3)(1 2)

(1 2)
(3 4)
(1 4) = (1 2)(2 3)(3 4)(2 3)(1 2)
(1 2)(3 4)
(1 4)(2 3) = (1 2)(2 3)(3 4)(2 3)(1 2)(2 3)
(1 3 2) = (2 3)(1 2)
(1 4 2) = (2 3)(3 4)(2 3)(1 2)
(1 4 3) = (1 2)(3 4)(2 3)(1 2)
(2 4 3) = (3 4)(2 3)
(1 4 3 2) = (3 4)(2 3)(1 2)
(1 3 4 2) = (2 3)(3 4)(1 3)
(1 2 4 3) = (1 2)(3 4)(2 3)

The homomorphism property of the representations then allows one to obtain the matrix for
any element of S4 by simply multiplying the appropriate matrices according to the above
computations.

3
3.1

The S4-Module S 1
Standard 1 -Tableaux

Recall that
1 = (1, 1, 1, 1) =
So

n!
f 1 = Y

=
hij

24
= 1.
4321

(i,j)

Therefore, dim S 1 = 1. The standard filling is

1
t= 2.
3
4
Denoting the representation by X1 we have immediately
X1 () = [1].

3.2

Matrix for (1 2)

We have (1 2)et = e(1 2)t = et by Case 1 and so

X1 (1 2) = [1].

3.3

Matrix for (2 3)

We have (2 3)et = e(2 3)t = et by Case 1 and so

X1 (2 3) = [1].

3.4

Matrix for (3 4)

We have (3 4)et = e(3 4)t = et by Case 1 and so

X1 (3 4) = [1].

4
4.1

The S4-Module S 2
Standard 2 -Tableaux

Recall that
2 = (2, 1, 1) =
So

n!
f 2 = Y

=
hij

24
= 3.
4121

(i,j)

Therefore, dim S 2 = 3. The standard fillings are

1 2
t1 = 3
4

1 3
t2 = 2
4

1 4
t3 = 2 .
3

Denoting the representation by X2 we have immediately

1 0 0
X2 () = 0 1 0 .
0 0 1

4.2

Matrix for (1 2)

We have
1 2
(1 2)t1 = (1 2) 3
4
which is Case 2. We set A = {2, 3, 4} and B = {1}.
(A0 , B 0 ) : (2 3 4, 1) (1 3 4, 2) (2 1 4, 3) (2 3 1, 4)

(1 2)
(1 3)
(1 4)
2 1
1 2
2 3
2 4
3
3
1
3
4
4
4
1
(1 2)
(1 2 3)
1 3
1 4
2
2
4
3
So gA,B =  (1 2) + (1 2)(1 3) = (1 2 3)(1 4) and therefore
(1 2)et1 = e(1 2)t1 = et1 et2 + et3 .
5

For the other two polytabloids we have Case 1.

1 3
(1 2)t2 = (1 2) 2
4

(1 2)et2 = et2

1 4
(1 2)t3 = (1 2) 2
3

(1 2)et3 = et3

Thus, the matrix for (1 2) is

1
0
0
X2 (1 2) = 1 1 0 .
1
0 1

4.3

Matrix for (2 3)

We have
1 2
1 3
= 2
= et2
(2 3)t1 = (2 3) 3
4
4
which is Case 3. Similarly,
1 3
1 2
= 3
= et1
(2 3)t2 = (2 3) 2
4
4
which is Case 3. Finally,
1 4
(2 3)t3 = (2 3) 2
3
which is Case 1. So
(2 3)et3 = et3 .
Therefore, the matrix for (2 3) is

0 1 0
X2 (2 3) = 1 0 0 .
0 0 1

4.4

Matrix for (3 4)

We have
1 2
(3 4)t1 = (3 4) 3
4
6

which is Case 1. So
(3 4)et1 = et1 .
Next,
1 3
1 4
= 2
= t3 ,
(3 4)t2 = (3 4) 2
4
3
which is Case 3. So
(3 4)et2 = et3 .
Finally,
1 4
1 3
= 2
= t2 ,
(3 4)t3 = (3 4) 2
3
4
which is Case 3. So
(3 4)et3 = et2 .
Therefore, the matrix for (3 4) is

1 0 0
X2 (3 4) = 0 0 1 .
0 1 0

5
5.1

The S4-Module S 3
Standard 3 -Tableaux

Recall that
3 = (2, 2) =
So

n!
f 3 = Y

=
hij

24
= 2.
3221

(i,j)

Therefore, dim S 3 = 2. The standard fillings are

t1 = 1 2
3 4

t2 = 1 3 .
2 4

Denoting the representation by X3 we have immediately



1 0
X3 () =
.
0 1

5.2

Matrix for (1 2)

We have
(1 2)t1 = (1 2) 1 2
3 4
which is Case 2. Setting A = {2, 3} and B = {1} we obtain
(A0 , B 0 ) : (2 3, 1) (1 3, 2) (1 2, 3)

(1 2)
(1 3)
2 1
1 2
2 3
3 4
3 4
1 4
(1 2)
1 3
2 4
so that e(1 2)t1 = et1 et2 .
We have
(1 2)t2 = (1 2) 1 3
2 4
which is Case 1. So (1 2)et2 = et2 . Therefore, the matrix for (1 2) is


1
0
X3 (1 2) =
.
1 1

5.3

Matrix for (2 3)

We have Case 3 twice:

(2 3)t1 = (2 3) 1 2 = 1 3 = t2
3 4
2 4
and
(2 3)t2 = (2 3) 1 3 = 1 2 = t1 .
2 4
3 4
Therefore,
(2 3)et1 = et2

and

(2 3)et2 = et1 .

Thus, the matrix for (2 3) is



0 1
X3 (2 3) =
.
1 0

5.4

Matrix for (3 4)

We have
(3 4)t1 = (3 4) 1 2 = 1 2
3 4
4 3

which is Case 2. Set A = {4} and B = {2, 3}. We obtain

(A0 , B 0 ) : (4, 2 3) (2, 4 3) (3, 2 4)

(2 4)
(3 4)
1 2
1 4
1 2
4 3
2 3
3 4
(3 4)
1 3
2 4
which gives
e(3 4)t1 = et2 + et1 .
Now
(3 4)t2 = (3 4) 1 3
2 4
which is Case 1 so that (3 4)et2 = et2 . Thus, the matrix for (3 4) is


1
0
X3 (3 4) =
.
1 1

6
6.1

The S4-Module S 4
Standard 4 -Tableaux

Recall that
4 = (3, 1) =
So

n!
f 4 = Y

=
hij

24
= 3.
4211

(i,j)

Therefore, dim S 4 = 3. The standard fillings are

t1 = 1 3 4
2

t2 = 1 2 4
3

t3 = 1 2 3 .
4

Denoting the representation by X4 we have immediately

1 0 0
X4 () = 0 1 0 .
0 0 1

6.2

Matrix for (1 2)

We have
(1 2)t1 = (1 2) 1 3 4
2
which is Case 1 so that (1 2)et1 = et1 .
Now
(1 2)t2 = (1 2) 1 2 4 = 2 1 4
3
3
which is Case 2. Set A = {2, 3} and B = {1}. Now
(A0 , B 0 ) :

(2 3, 1)

2 1 4
3

(1 3, 2)
(1 2)
1 2 4
3

(1 2, 3)
(1 3)
2 3 4
1
(1 2)
1 3 4
2

which gives e(1 2)t2 = et2 et1 .

Finally,
(1 2)t3 = (1 2) 1 2 3 = 2 1 3
4
4
which is Case 2. Set A = {2, 4} and B = {1}. Then
(A0 , B 0 ) :

(2 4, 1)

2 1 3
4

(1 4, 2)
(1 2)
1 2 3
4

(1 2, 4)
(1 4)
2 4 3
1
(1 2)
1 4 3
2

= {3}.
We have to find the Garnir element for the last tableau too. Set A = {4} and B
Then
(A0 , B 0 ) : (4, 3)
(3, 4)

(3 4)
1 4 3 1 3 4
2
2
This provides
e1 4 3 = e1 3 4
2

as expected since the two tableaux are equivalent as tabloids. Altogether then
(1 2)et3 = et3 et1 .
10

This gives the matrix for (1 2) to be

1 1 1
1
0 .
X4 (1 2) = 0
0
0
1

6.3

Matrix for (2 3)

We have
(2 3)t1 = (2 3) 1 3 4 = 1 2 4 = t2
2
3
as per Case 3. Likewise,
(2 3)t2 = (2 3) 1 2 4 = 1 3 4 = t1
3
2
by Case 3. Thus,
(2 3)et1 = et2

and

(2 3)et2 = et1 .

Lastly,
(2 3)t3 = (2 3) 1 2 3
4
which calls for Case 2. Set A = {3} and B = {2}, giving
(A0 , B 0 ) :

(3, 2)

1 3 2
4

so that (2 3)et3 = et3 , again as expected when taking

0 1

X4 (2 3) = 1 0
0 0

6.4

(2, 3)
(2 3)
1 2 3
4
t3 as a tabloid. Therefore

0
0 .
1

Matrix for (3 4)

We have
(3 4)t1 = (3 4) 1 3 4 = 1 4 3
2
2
which is Case 2. Set A = {4} and B = {3}. As for the cases above when A and B had one
element, we obtain e(3 4)t1 = et1 .
The last two polytabloids obey Case 3. Thus,
(3 4)t2 = (3 4) 1 2 4 = 1 2 3 = t3
3
4
11

(3 4)et2 = et3

and

(3 4)t3 = (3 4) 1 2 3 = 1 2 4 = t2
4
3
so that the matrix for (3 4) is

1 0 0
X4 (3 4) = 0 0 1 .
0 1 0

7
7.1

(3 4)et3 = et2

The S4-Module S 5
Standard 5 -Tableaux

Recall that
.

5 = (4) =
So

n!
f 5 = Y

=
hij

24
= 1.
4321

(i,j)

Therefore, dim S

= 1. The standard filling is

t= 1 2 3 4.

Denoting the representation by X5 we have immediately

X5 () = [1].

7.2

Matrices for (1 2), (2 3), and (3 4)

In every case, we obtain Case 2 with A and B being singletons. As above, we obtain
(1 2)et = et

(2 3)et = et

and

(3 4)et = et .

(Again, this can be easily seen by viewing t as its corresponding tabloid {t}.) Therefore the
matrices are
X5 (1 2) = [1]

X5 (2 3) = [1]

and

X5 (3 4) = [1].

Conclusion

We see that the representations corresponding to 1 =

and 2 =

are the sign and

trivial representations, respectively.

We can compare the characters we obtain with those obtained in a previous work. There
we had
12

S4 K(1,1,1,1)
trivial
1
1
sign
3

sgn

K(2,1,1)
1
1
1
1
0

K(2,2)
1
1
1
1
2

K(3,1)
1
1
0
0
1

K(4)
1
1
1
1
0

To obtain the characters from Youngs natural representations, we notice that each row in
the table is completely characterized by its values in the first and second columns, which
correspond to the character on the identity and on an adjacent transposition. Therefore we
can conclude that
X 4
sgn X2

X 3

Using the lexicographic order on columns then, we have a standard presentation of the
character table of S4 .
S4

K(1,1,1,1)

K(2,1,1)

K(2,2)

K(3,1)

K(4)

X1

sign

X2

sgn

X3

X4

X5

trivial

13