Jucys–Murphy element ($X_r$)

In the group algebra $\mathbb{C}{S}_n$, setThese elements commute: for each triple $a<i<j$, the only overlapping contributions cancel as $[(ai),(ij)+(aj)]=0$. They generate the Gelfand–Tsetlin algebra, and on a standard Young tableau vector $X_r$ acts by the Content of a Young-diagram cell containing $r$.

The Young–Jucys–Murphy elements commute, and symmetric polynomials in them are central. The full center theorem holds integrally as well as over fields, so it survives modular reduction. On an ordinary Specht module, the scalar of such a polynomial is its value on the cell-content multiset. The integral generation step is stronger than knowing this description only over a characteristic-zero field and is essential in the modular block argument.

In the group algebra of $S_n$, the product of the Young–Jucys–Murphy elements $X_2,\dots ,X_n$ is the sum of all $n$-cycles, each with coefficient one. To prove it, multiply the sum of all $m$-cycles by $X_{m+1}$. Right multiplication by $(jm+1)$ inserts $m+1$ immediately after $j$ in the cycle. Every $(m+1)$-cycle has a unique predecessor of $m+1$, so deletion inverts this insertion bijectively. Induction starts at $X_2=(12)$. The identity turns a product of cell contents into a central character value of a conjugacy-class sum.

For the joint spectrum of the Young–Jucys–Murphy elements, adjacent coordinates $a_i,a_{i+1}$ are distinct. If $a_{i+1}-a_i=\pm 1$, the adjacent transposition $s_i$ acts on that line by $\pm 1$. Otherwise interchanging the coordinates gives a spectral vector in the same irreducible representation. These rules follow from $s_i{X}_i{s}_i+s_i=X_{i+1}$ and its two-dimensional eigenspace calculation. Together with the braid relation in a Coxeter group, they exclude the consecutive patterns $(a,a\pm 1,a)$.

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.