English

$\lambda$-factorials of $n$

Combinatorics 2010-07-09 v1

Abstract

Recently, by the Riordan's identity related to tree enumerations, \begin{eqnarray*} \sum_{k=0}^{n}\binom{n}{k}(k+1)!(n+1)^{n-k} &=& (n+1)^{n+1}, \end{eqnarray*} Sun and Xu derived another analogous one, \begin{eqnarray*} \sum_{k=0}^{n}\binom{n}{k}D_{k+1}(n+1)^{n-k} &=& n^{n+1}, \end{eqnarray*} where DkD_{k} is the number of permutations with no fixed points on {1,2,,k}\{1,2,\dots, k\}. In the paper, we utilize the λ\lambda-factorials of nn, defined by Eriksen, Freij and Wa¨\ddot{a}stlund, to give a unified generalization of these two identities. We provide for it a combinatorial proof by the functional digraph theory and another two algebraic proofs. Using the umbral representation of our generalized identity and the Abel's binomial formula, we deduce several properties for λ\lambda-factorials of nn and establish the curious relations between the generating functions of general and exponential types for any sequence of numbers or polynomials.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1007.1339,
  title  = {$\lambda$-factorials of $n$},
  author = {Yidong Sun and Jujuan Zhuang},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1007.1339},
  year   = {2010}
}

Comments

13pages

R2 v1 2026-06-21T15:45:54.708Z