[Math] Reference request: representation theory of the hyperoctahedral group

rt.representation-theory

I was wondering if someone knows a good reference for the representation theory of the hyper-octahedral group $G$. The hyper-octahedral group $G$ is defined as the wreath product of $C_2$ (cyclic group order $2$) with $S_n$ (symmetric group on $n$ letters).

I understand that the representations of $G$ are in bijection with bi-partitions of $n$. I am looking for a reference which explains the details of why the representations of $G$ are in bijection with bi-partitions of $n$, and constructs the irreducible representations of $G$ (I imagine this is vaguely similar to the construction of Specht modules for $S_n$).

So far, the only reference I have is an Appendix of MacDonald's "Symmetric functions and Hall polynomials" (2nd version), which deals with the representation theory of the wreath product of $H$ with $S_n$ (for $H$ being an arbitrary group, not $C_2$).

Best Answer

I liked the references of Kerber listed in the wikipedia article. The most relevant chapter is available online, along with both volumes which were quite useful.

Kerber's presentation focusses on the idea that H is going to be cyclic and specifically handles H of order 2, but like MacDonald handles general H abstractly. GAP handles the hyper-octahedral group this way too, using generic code for wreath products written more or less solely for the hyper-octahedral group. The "bi" in bi-partitions just refers to the two conjugacy classes of C2, and the general theory replaces "bi" by however many conjugacy classes H has.

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