Characteristic polynomials of the weak order on classical and affine Coxeter groups

Abstract

We find a simple product formula for the characteristic polynomial of the permutations with a fixed descent set under the weak order. As a corollary we obtain a simple product formula for the characteristic polynomial of alternating permutations. We generalize these results to Coxeter groups. We also find a formula for the generating function for the characteristic polynomials of classical Coxeter groups, which is then related to affine Coxeter groups.