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For integer partitions $\lambda ,\mu$ of $n$, padded by zero parts, the dominance order on partitions isA $\lambda$-tableau fills the Young diagram of $\lambda$ with $1,\dots ,n$, each once. A tabloid $[t]$ remembers the sets of entries in each row, ignoring their order within that row. The Young permutation module $M^{\lambda }=\mathbb{C}{X}_{\lambda }$ has these tabloids as basis, with $S_n$ acting by permuting the entries.

The row and column stabilizers $R_t,C_t$ independently permute entries within the rows and columns of $t$. The column antisymmetrizer is ${\kappa }_t={\sum }_{c\in C_t}\mathrm{sgn}(c)c$, and $e_t={\kappa }_t[t]$ is the associated polytabloid. Since $C_{gt}=g{C}_t{g}^{-1}$ and conjugation preserves permutation sign,Thus the Specht module is the submoduleEvery tableau is $gt$ for a fixed $t$, so any single $e_t$ generates it under $S_n$. Also $C_t\cap R_t=\{1\}$, since a permutation preserving both rows and columns must fix every cell. The tabloids $[ct]$ for $c\in C_t$ are consequently distinct, and $e_t$ has coefficient $1$ at $[t]$; in particular $e_t\ne 0$.

We use the following precise column antisymmetrizer facts. If some row of a $\mu$-tableau $s$ contains two entries from one column of $t$, the transposition interchanging them pairs equal tabloids with opposite signs in ${\kappa }_t[s]$, so ${\kappa }_t[s]=0$. Otherwise each row of $s$ meets each column of $t$ at most once. The first $r$ rows of $s$ therefore contain at most $\min (r,{\lambda }_j^{\prime })$ entries from column $j$ of $t$, whenceThis states and explains dominance from a nonzero column antisymmetrizer: ${\kappa }_t[s]\ne 0$ implies $\lambda ⊵\mu$.

When $\mu =\lambda$, the nonzero column antisymmetrizer criterion says more: either ${\kappa }_t[s]=0$, or a column permutation takes $[s]$ to $[t]$, and ${\kappa }_t[s]=\pm e_t$. Thus ${\kappa }_t{M}^{\lambda }=\mathbb{C}{e}_t$. This follows by matching the row positions within each column when all intersections have size at most one; the equal row and column sizes force the Ferrers incidence pattern.

For the inner product, use the positive Hermitian extension of the orthonormal tabloid basis, linear in its first argument. It has the supplied self-adjointness of ${\kappa }_t$. Its orthogonal complement of $S^{\lambda }$ agrees with that obtained from the complex tabloid bilinear form, since the spanning polytabloids have real coefficients. Because the coefficient of $[t]$ in $e_t$ is $1$, self-adjointness and the one-dimensional image give the useful identityIndeed, the scalar multiplying $e_t$ is the $[t]$-coefficient of ${\kappa }_{t}u$, which is $⟨{\kappa }_{t}u,[t]⟩=⟨u,{\kappa }_t[t]⟩=⟨u,e_t⟩$.

The Specht module construction gives a nonzero inclusion $V^{\lambda }\hookrightarrow M^{\lambda }$ over the complex numbers: a polytabloid has coefficient one at its original tabloid, because the row and column stabilizers have trivial intersection, and its span is the corresponding irreducible representation. This establishes $a=M(\lambda ,\lambda )\ge 1$ without using the multiplicity-one conclusion. Similarly $a^{\prime }=M({\lambda }^{\prime },{\lambda }^{\prime })\ge 1$.

By the corrected tensor identity for induced representations and the conjugate-partition sign twist, the multiplicity of $V^{\lambda }$ in ${\tilde{M}}^{{\lambda }^{\prime }}$ is $a^{\prime }$. The character inner product already computed is the sum of products of multiplicities of common irreducible representations. ThusBoth are positive integers, so $a=a^{\prime }=1$. In particularThis deduction avoids assuming the full Young's rule, which would already contain the answer. Alternatively, the permitted one-dimensional R-module homomorphism space gives the same character inner product immediately.

Fix a Young tableau $t$ of shape $\lambda$, let $C(t)$ be its column stabilizer, and putThese are the Column antisymmetrizer of a Young tableau and its polytabloid. The Specht module is generated by $e_t$ as a cyclic module, so the nonzero R-module homomorphism $\varphi$ has $\varphi (e_t)\ne 0$. Because its extension $\Phi$ commutes with the group algebra action,Expand $\Phi (\{t\})$ in the tabloid basis of the Young permutation module $M^{\mu }$. At least one tabloid $\{u\}$ therefore satisfies $b_t\{u\}\ne 0$.

If a row of $u$ contains two entries from the same column of $t$, their transposition $\tau \in C(t)$ fixes $\{u\}$. Pairing the terms indexed by $g$ and $g\tau$ in $b_t\{u\}$ makes them cancel. This remains valid in characteristic two, since the paired coefficients sum to zero there as well. Thus each row of $u$ meets each column of $t$ in at most one entry.

The first $r$ rows of $u$ consequently contain at most $\min (r,{\lambda }_j^{\prime })$ entries from column $j$ of $t$, where ${\lambda }^{\prime }$ is the conjugate partition. HenceBy the dominance order on partitions, this provesThis is dominance from a nonzero column antisymmetrizer. The extension is what allows us to apply $b_t$ to an element of $M^{\mu }$ without dividing by the column stabilizer's order, which might vanish in the given field.

The James submodule theorem says that for every $F{S}_n$-submodule $U\le M^{\lambda }$, eitherwhere orthogonality is taken with respect to the tabloid bilinear form.

Fix a $\lambda$-tableau $t$. Part a shows that for every tabloid $\{s\}$, the vector $b_t\{s\}$ is either zero or a signed copy of the polytabloid $e(t)$. Comparing the coefficient of $\{t\}$ gives the precise identityIf $U⊈(S^{\lambda }{)}^{\perp }$, choose $u\in U$ and a tableau $t$ with $⟨u,e(t)⟩\ne 0$. Since $U$ is a submodule, the identity puts $e(t)$ in $U$. Every polytabloid of shape $\lambda$ is an $S_n$-translate of $e(t)$, so their span $S^{\lambda }$ lies in $U$. If no such $u,t$ exist, then by definition $U\subseteq (S^{\lambda }{)}^{\perp }$. This proves the theorem over the arbitrary field $F$.

The row stabilizer of the transposed tableau is $R(t^{\prime })=C(t)$. For $r\in R(t^{\prime })$, the polytabloid satisfiesThe two signs cancel in the tensor product, soThus the proposed value depends only on the tabloid $\{g{t}^{\prime }\}$ and $\theta$ is well-defined. Its definition immediately givesso it is an $F{S}_n$-homomorphism. Since any $e(w)$ is $ge(t)$ for some $g$, its images contain every generator $e(w)\otimes e(u)$ of $S^{\lambda }\otimes S^{(1^n)}$. Hence $\theta$ is surjective.

The symmetric group acts transitively on the tableaux of a fixed shape. Thus every $s\in {\Delta }^{\lambda }$ is $gt$ for some $g\in S_n$, and the definition of a polytabloid givesSince the Specht module is spanned by all $e(s)$, it is the cyclic $\mathbb{F}{S}_n$-module generated by $e(t)$.

The symmetric group acts transitively on the Young tableaux of a fixed shape. Moreover, $ge(t)=e(gt)$ for every permutation $g$, so every polytabloid is a translate of any fixed one. Hence the Specht module is a cyclic module generated by $e(t)$.

It remains to see that $e(t)\ne 0$. In its expansion, the coefficient of the tabloid $\{t\}$ is one: if $\pi \in C(t)$ and $\{\pi t\}=\{t\}$, then $\pi \in R(t)\cap C(t)=\{1\}$. Thus the generator, and therefore the module, is nonzero.

The nonzero homomorphism $\theta$ cannot kill $e(t)$, because the Specht module is generated by the translates of this polytabloid. Equivariance and part d(i) therefore giveThus $b_t$ acts nontrivially on $M^{\mu }/V$, and hence on $M^{\mu }$. Some $\mu$-tabloid $\{v\}$ must satisfy $b_t\{v\}\ne 0$. Fact 2 now says that $\lambda$ dominates $\mu$ in the dominance order on partitions.

A filling $T$ of shape $\lambda$ and content $\alpha$ defines a module homomorphism ${\Theta }_T:M^{\lambda }\to M^{\alpha }$: given a numbered tableau, sum over distinct assignments obtained by permuting $T$ within its rows, and put each numbered entry into output row $j$ when its assigned label is $j$. Restricting to $S^{\lambda }$ gives ${\hat{\Theta }}_T$. For Semistandard Young tableaux $T$, these restrictions are linearly independent over every field. They form a basis of ${\mathrm{Hom}}_{F{S}_n}(S^{\lambda },M^{\alpha })$ if the characteristic of a field is not two, or if $\lambda$ is a two-regular partition of an integer. For two-singular shapes in characteristic two, they need not span. Column antisymmetrization and triangular leading tabloids establish independence; straightening the images of a cyclic polytabloid establishes spanning under the stated hypotheses.

The polytabloids $e_t$ indexed by standard Young tableaux of shape $\lambda$ form a basis of $S^{\lambda }$ over every field, and a basis of its integral lattice over $\mathbb{Z}$. Column antisymmetry and Garnir relations straighten any polytabloid into this set. Ordering leading tabloids by the rows containing successive entries makes the corresponding coefficient matrix triangular with diagonal entries one, proving independence. In particular the dimension is the standard-tableau count in every characteristic.

A standard Young tableau of shape $\lambda ⊢n$ is a Young tableau that uses $1,\dots ,n$ exactly once and strictly increases left to right along every row and top to bottom down every column. Formally, a bijection $T:Y(\lambda )\to \{1,\dots ,n\}$ is standard whenwhenever the indicated cells belong to the Young diagram. We write $\mathrm{SYT}(\lambda )$ for the set of such fillings and $f^{\lambda }=|\mathrm{SYT}(\lambda )|$ for its cardinality.

For $(3,2)$, the five standard Young tableaux are listed below, with each pair giving the top row followed by the bottom row:There are no others: the upper-left entry must be $1$, and choosing the two bottom-row entries fixes both increasing row orders. Of the six choices of two entries from $\{2,3,4,5\}$, only bottom row $(2,3)$ fails, because its $3$ would lie below $4$. Hence $f^{(3,2)}=5$ by direct enumeration, independently of the hook-length formula.

The cells occupied by $1,\dots ,r$ form a Young diagram: every cell above or to the left of an occupied cell has a smaller label. Consequently a standard Young tableau is equivalently a path from the empty shape to $\lambda$ in the Young branching graph, adjoining one addable node of a Young diagram at each step. For $T_2$, the successive shapes areConversely, number the cell added at step $r$ by $r$ to recover the standard Young tableau. This path interpretation also makes a standard Young tableau a linear extension of a partially ordered set defined by the row and column requirements; see Stanley's Algebraic Combinatorics, Chapter 8, on tableaux and paths in Young's lattice.

The usefulness goes beyond counting: the standard polytabloid basis of a Specht module $S^{\lambda }$ over the complex numbers is indexed by $\mathrm{SYT}(\lambda )$, so ${\dim }_{\mathbb{C}}{S}^{\lambda }=f^{\lambda }$. Each of the five pictured standard Young tableaux therefore labels one basis element of the irreducible representation $S^{(3,2)}$ of the symmetric group $S_5$, whose dimension over the complex numbers is five. The filled diagrams index the basis; the actual vectors are polytabloids. The hook-length formula computes this dimension without listing all the standard Young tableaux.

A Young tableau is a filling of a Young diagram with entries, typically positive integers. The shape is the partition of an integer giving its row lengths. We draw Young tableaux in the English convention of Young diagram, with left-aligned rows arranged from top to bottom. A filling need not obey increasing conditions unless these are specified: standard Young tableaux use each of $1,\dots ,n$ exactly once and strictly increase along rows and down columns; Semistandard Young tableaux permit repetitions and require weakly increasing rows and strictly increasing columns.

In the constructions for a symmetric group involving Young symmetrizers, tabloids, and polytabloids, an unqualified numbered Young tableau means a bijective filling by $1,\dots ,n$, with no increasing condition imposed. This narrower convention is compatible with the broader use needed for Semistandard Young tableaux. Historically, Young's work connected these fillings to representation theory of the symmetric group; in particular, the equality between standard Young tableau counts and irreducible representation degrees over the complex numbers predates the modern hook-length formula. See Stanley's Algebraic Combinatorics, historical notes to Chapter 8.