Ordered set partitions, generalized coinvariant algebras, and the Delta Conjecture

The symmetric group $\mathfrak{S}_n$ acts on the polynomial ring $\mathbb{Q}[\mathbf{x}_n] = \mathbb{Q}[x_1, \dots, x_n]$ by variable permutation. The invariant ideal $I_n$ is the ideal generated by all $\mathfrak{S}_n$-invariant polynomials with vanishing constant term. The quotient $R_n = \frac{\mathbb{Q}[\mathbf{x}_n]}{I_n}$ is called the coinvariant algebra. The coinvariant algebra $R_n$ has received a great deal of study in algebraic and geometric combinatorics. We introduce a generalization $I_{n,k} \subseteq \mathbb{Q}[\mathbf{x}_n]$ of the ideal $I_n$ indexed by two positive integers $k \leq n$. The corresponding quotient $R_{n,k} := \frac{\mathbb{Q}[\mathbf{x}_n]}{I_{n,k}}$ carries a graded action of $\mathfrak{S}_n$ and specializes to $R_n$ when $k = n$. We generalize many of the nice properties of $R_n$ to $R_{n,k}$. In particular, we describe the Hilbert series of $R_{n,k}$, give extensions of the Artin and Garsia-Stanton monomial bases of $R_n$ to $R_{n,k}$, determine the reduced Gr\"obner basis for $I_{n,k}$ with respect to the lexicographic monomial order, and describe the graded Frobenius series of $R_{n,k}$. Just as the combinatorics of $R_n$ are controlled by permutations in $\mathfrak{S}_n$, we will show that the combinatorics of $R_{n,k}$ are controlled by ordered set partitions of $\{1, 2, \dots, n\}$ with $k$ blocks. The {\em Delta Conjecture} of Haglund, Remmel, and Wilson is a generalization of the Shuffle Conjecture in the theory of diagonal coinvariants. We will show that the graded Frobenius series of $R_{n,k}$ is (up to a minor twist) the $t = 0$ specialization of the combinatorial side of the Delta Conjecture. It remains an open problem to give a bigraded $\mathfrak{S}_n$-module $V_{n,k}$ whose Frobenius image is even conjecturally equal to any of the expressions in the Delta Conjecture; our module $R_{n,k}$ solves this problem in the specialization $t = 0$.