Gamma-Positivity for a Refinement of Median Genocchi Numbers

Abstract

We study the generating function of descent numbers for the permutations with descent pairs of prescribed parities, the distribution of which turns out to be a refinement of median Genocchi numbers. We prove the $\gamma$-positivity for the polynomial and derive the generating function for the $\gamma$-vectors, expressed in the form of continued fraction. We also come up with an artificial statistic that gives a $q$-analogue of the $\gamma$-positivity for the permutations with descents only allowed from an odd value to an odd value.