Noncommutative symmetric functions have many properties analogous to those of classical (commutative) symmetric functions. For instance, ribbon Schur functions (analogs of the classical Schur basis) expand positively in noncommutative monomial basis. The noncommutative analog of the classical Macdonald polynomials, which depend on two parameters (q,t), has not (yet?) been discovered.

The purpose of this talk is to introduce two new noncommutative symmetric functions, each depending on one parameter, which seem to be appropriate analogs of the noncommitative Macdonald polynomial at (0,t) and (q,0).