Related papers: Enumerating permutations sortable by $k$ passes th…
We introduce a sorting machine consisting of $k+1$ stacks in series: the first $k$ stacks can only contain elements in decreasing order from top to bottom, while the last one has the opposite restriction. This device generalizes \cite{SM},…
Pattern avoiding machines were recently introduced by Claesson, Ferrari and the current author to gain a better understanding of the classical $2$-stacksort problem. In this paper we generalize these devices by allowing permutations with…
The problem of determining which permutations can be sorted using certain switchyard networks dates back to Knuth in 1968. In this work, we are interested in permutations which are sortable on a double-ended queue (called a deque), or on…
In 1990 West conjectured that there are $2(3n)!/((n+1)!(2n+1)!)$ two-stack sortable permutations on $n$ letters. This conjecture was proved analytically by Zeilberger in 1992. Later, Dulucq, Gire, and Guibert gave a combinatorial proof of…
We prove that the class of permutations generated by passing an ordered sequence $12\dots n$ through a stack of depth 2 and an infinite stack in series is in bijection with an unambiguous context-free language, where a permutation of length…
We study permutations that are sorted by operators of the form $\mathbf{S} \circ \alpha \circ \mathbf{S}$, where $\mathbf{S}$ is the usual stack sorting operator introduced by D. Knuth and $\alpha$ is any $D_8$-symmetry obtained combining…
Let R(n,k) denote the number of permutations of {1,2,...,n} with k alternating runs. We find a grammatical description of the numbers R(n,k) and then present several convolution formulas involving the generating function for the numbers…
We study sorting by queues that can rearrange their content by applying permutations from a predefined set. These new sorting devices are called shuffle queues and we investigate those of them corresponding to sets of permutations defining…
We bound the number of permutations with a fixed number $r$ of $321 \ominus p_0$ patterns by a constant times the number of permutations which avoid $321 \ominus p_0$. We use this new upper bound to show that the ordinary generating…
We extend and generalize many of the enumerative results concerning West's stack-sorting map $s$. First, we prove a useful theorem that allows one to efficiently compute $|s^{-1}(\pi)|$ for any permutation $\pi$, answering a question of…
For a given permutation or set partition there is a natural way to assign a genus. Counting all permutations or partitions of a fixed genus according to cycle lengths or block sizes, respectively, is the main content of this article. After…
Using existing classification results for the 7- and 8-cycles in the pancake graph, we determine the number of permutations that require 4 pancake flips (prefix reversals) to be sorted. A similar characterization of the 8-cycles in the…
Partially ordered patterns (POPs) play an important role in the study of permutation patterns, providing a convenient framework for describing large families of classical patterns. The problem of enumerating permutations that avoid POPs has…
We construct an injection from the set of permutations of length $n$ that contain exactly one copy of the decreasing pattern of length $k$ to the set of permutations of length $n+2$ that avoid that pattern. We then prove that the generating…
Pop-Stack Sorting is an algorithm that takes a permutation as an input and sorts its elements. It consists of several steps. At one step, the algorithm reads the permutation it has to process from left to right and reverses each of its…
In this paper we give a bijection between the class of permutations that can be drawn on an X-shape and a certain set of permutations that appears in [Knuth] in connection to sorting algorithms. A natural generalization of this set leads us…
We investigate a generalization of stacks that we call $\mathcal{C}$-machines. We show how this viewpoint rapidly leads to functional equations for the classes of permutations that $\mathcal{C}$-machines generate, and how these systems of…
Recently Albert and Bousquet-M\'elou \cite{AB15} obtained the solution to the long-standing problem of the number of permutations sortable by two stacks in parallel (tsip). Their solution was expressed in terms of functional equations. We…
We prove that any class of permutations defined by avoiding a partially ordered pattern (POP) with height at most two has a regular insertion encoding and thus has a rational generating function. Then, we use Combinatorial Exploration to…
Machines whose main purpose is to permute and sort data are studied. The sets of permutations that can arise are analysed by means of finite automata and avoided pattern techniques. Conditions are given for these sets being enumerated by…