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A commutative unital subalgebra $D$ of an associative algebra $A$ is maximal commutative if no larger commutative subalgebra contains it. Equivalently $C_A(D)=D$: any element of its centralizer of a subalgebra generates a commutative algebra together with $D$. The full diagonal matrix algebra inside $M_n(\mathbb{C})$ is an example.

For the standard inclusion $S_{n-1}\subset S_n$, over the complex numbers,Here $X_n$ is a Young–Jucys–Murphy element. One way to see generation is to use multiplicity-free restriction: a central idempotent of $S_{n-1}$ selects a preceding shape, and the distinct contents of its addable nodes of a Young diagram distinguish all possible succeeding shapes. Polynomial interpolation in $X_n$ supplies every diagonal projection in the centralizer of a subalgebra.

The relevant centralizer of a subalgebra isEquivalently, it is the fixed subspace of $\mathbb{C}{S}_n$ under conjugation by $S_{n-1}$. We prove the Olshanskii centralizer lemma directly, without assuming multiplicity-free restriction.

A permutation has one cycle containing $n$, of some length $r\ge 1$. Let $\nu$ record the lengths of its other nontrivial cycles, omitting fixed points. Two permutations are conjugate under $S_{n-1}$ exactly when these data $(r,\nu )$ agree: a relabelling of the other letters identifies the distinguished cycles and all remaining cycles. Hence the sums $K_{r,\nu }$ over these conjugation orbits form a basis of $Z_{(n-1,1)}$.

Filter these orbit sums by the number of moved letters other than $n$:If $r=1$, the permutation fixes $n$, and $K_{1,\nu }$ is already a conjugacy-class sum in $Z_{n-1}$. For $r\ge 2$, let $C_{\nu }\in Z_{n-1}$ be the class sum with nontrivial cycle lengths $\nu$. ExpandTerms in which the $r-1$ star transpositions use distinct letters, disjoint from the support of the chosen term of $C_{\nu }$, produce precisely $K_{r,\nu }$, each with coefficient one. Indeed, a cycle through $n$ has a unique expression as an ordered product of star transpositions using each of its other letters once; the remaining cycles uniquely determine the term of $C_{\nu }$.

Every other term moves fewer than $t$ letters outside $n$. A repeated letter uses at most $r-2$ distinct such letters in the star product, and an overlap with the support of $C_{\nu }$ likewise reduces the size of their union. Since the whole product commutes with $S_{n-1}$, these remaining terms are a linear combination of lower-filtered orbit sums. ThusInduction on $t$, starting with the identity, puts every orbit sum in $\mathrm{alg}(Z_{n-1},X_n)$. The reverse inclusion holds because both proposed generators commute with $\mathbb{C}{S}_{n-1}$. ThereforeIn particular this centralizer of a subalgebra is commutative: $Z_{n-1}$ is commutative and $X_n$ commutes with it.

There is a separate problem with the printed linear-span assertion, when $Z_{((n-1),1)}$ denotes the usual centralizer of a subalgebra. Let $A_{n-1}$ be the sum of all transpositions in $H$. Direct expansion in the group algebra givesThus $Y=X_n^2-2A_{n-1}$ commutes with $H$ and satisfies ${\Pi }_n(Y)=(n-1)1$. For $n\ge 3$ it contains nonzero coefficients on three-cycles involving $n$, whereas every element of $\mathrm{span}\{1,X_n\}$ is supported only on the identity and transpositions. Therefore $Y$ is an explicit counterexample to the asserted equality.

One correct description of the entire preimage is obtained by putting $C=C_{\mathbb{C}{S}_n}(\mathbb{C}H)$. Equivariance gives ${\Pi }_n(C)\subseteq Z(\mathbb{C}H)$, and ${\Pi }_n$ is the identity on that center. It follows thatA useful corrected two-dimensional statement restricts the support to the identity and the transpositions $(in)$: invariance under conjugation by $H$ then forces their coefficients to be equal, yielding exactly $\mathrm{span}\{1,X_n\}$. This additional support restriction is absent from the PDF.