On a mod $3$ property of $\ell $-tuples of pairwise commuting permutations

Let $S_n$ denote the symmetric group of permutations acting on $n$ elements. We investigate the double sequence $\{N_{\ell}(n)\}$ counting the number of $\ell$ tuples of elements of the symmetric group $S_n$, where the components commute, normalized by the order of $S_n$. Our focus lies on exploring log-concavity with respect to $n$: $$N_{\ell}(n)^2 - N_{\ell}(n-1) \,\, N_{\ell}(n+1) \geq 0.$$ We establish that this depends on $n \pmod{3}$ for sufficiently large $\ell$. These numbers are studied by Bryan and Fulman as the $n$th orbifold characteristics, generalizing work of Macdonald and Hirzebruch--Hofer concerning the ordinary and string-theoretic Euler characteristics of symmetric products. Notably, $N_2(n)$ represents the partition numbers $p(n)$, while $N_{3}(n)$ represents the number of non-equivalent $n$-sheeted coverings of a torus studied by Liskovets and Medynkh. The numbers also appear in algebra since $\vert S_n \vert \,\, N_{\ell}(n) = \left\vert Hom \left( \mathbb{Z}^{\ell},S_n\right) \right\vert$.