TITLE: Reference for combinatorics with view towards representation theory/algebraic geometry
QUESTION [11 upvotes]: I'm making this post to ask for a reference about combinatorics: I'm a PhD student in representation theory/algebraic geometry. My background is mostly in algebra and geometry (and also mostly theoretical unfortunately).
Right now I'm interested in the cohomology of quiver and character varieties and their links with cohomological Hall algebras, quantum groups and the character ring of $\operatorname{GL}(n,\mathbb{F}_q)$. There's a lot of interesting combinatorics going on, but I really know very little about it. Especially regarding MacDonald polynomials etc.
Outside of the classic book by Macdonald "Symmetric functions and Hall polynomials" what could be a good reference to get into this area of combinatorics? Ideally I would like a book or notes with strong link to representation theory/cohomology theories etc

REPLY [10 votes]: I am not that strong on the representation-theory side, but know more about the combinatorics side. If you want to get an overview of the symmetric functions and the associated combinatorics (crystal bases, RSK etc), then one starting point (with references!) is www.symmetricfunctions.com.
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