English

The probability of long cycles in interchange processes

Probability 2019-12-19 v3 Representation Theory

Abstract

We examine the number of cycles of length k in a permutation, as a function on the symmetric group. We write it explicitly as a combination of characters of irreducible representations. This allows to study formation of long cycles in the interchange process, including a precise formula for the probability that the permutation is one long cycle at a given time t, and estimates for the cases of shorter cycles.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1009.3723,
  title  = {The probability of long cycles in interchange processes},
  author = {Gil Alon and Gady Kozma},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1009.3723},
  year   = {2019}
}

Comments

14 pages, 3rd version adds more detailed description of Toth's conjecture

R2 v1 2026-06-21T16:16:02.318Z