A bar operator for involutions in a Coxeter group

In [LV] the authors defined a Hecke algebra action and a bar involution on a vector space spanned by the involutions in a Weyl group. In this paper we give a new definition of the Hecke algebra action and the bar operator which, unlike the one in [LV], is completely elementary (does not use geometry) and in particular it makes sense for an arbitrary Coxeter group.