Counting nearest faraway flats for Coxeter chambers

Abstract

In a finite Coxeter group $W$ and with two given conjugacy classes of parabolic subgroups $[X]$ and $[Y]$, we count those parabolic subgroups of $W$ in $[Y]$ that are full support, while simultaneously being simple extensions (i.e., extensions by a single reflection) of some standard parabolic subgroup of $W$ in $[X]$. The enumeration is given by a product formula that depends only on the two parabolic types. Our derivation is case-free and combines a geometric interpretation of the “full support” property with a double-counting argument involving Crapo's beta invariant. As a corollary, this approach gives the first case-free proof of Chapoton's formula for the number of reflections of full support in a real reflection group $W$.