Related papers: Counting Permutations in $S_{2n}$ and $S_{2n+1}$
Fix a natural $\alpha$. Let $n\ge \alpha$ be an integer. Consider the symmetric group $S_{\alpha+n}$ and its subgroup $S_n$. We consider the group algebra of $S_{\alpha+n}$ and its subalgebra $\mathbb{O}[\alpha;n]$ consisting of…
Define $S_n(R;T)$ to be the number of permutations on $n$ letters which avoid all patterns in the set $R$ and contain each pattern in the multiset $T$ exactly once. In this paper we enumerate $S_n(\{\alpha\};\{\beta\})$ and…
A permutation is said to be a square if it can be obtained by shuffling two order-isomorphic patterns. The definition is intended to be the natural counterpart to the ordinary shuffle of words and languages. In this paper, we tackle the…
We describe an efficient algorithm to write any element of the alternating group A_n as a product of two n-cycles (in particular, we show that any element of A_n can be so written -- a result of E. A. Bertram). An easy corollary is that…
It is shown that the maximum number of patterns that can occur in a permutation of length $n$ is asymptotically $2^n$. This significantly improves a previous result of Coleman.
In this paper we give an affirmative answer to a conjecture proposed by Danny Neftin, that is, if the commutator of two permutations has at least n-4 fixed points where two permutations are in degree n symmetric group, then there exists a…
Given a subset $S\subseteq\mathbb{P}$, let $\Pa(S;n)$ be the number of permutations in the symmetric group of ${1,2,...,n}$ that have peak set $S$. We prove a recent conjecture due to Billey, Burdzy and Sagan, which determines the sets that…
We show that for $n \ge 6$ every even permutation on $n$ symbols is the commutator of two $n$-cycles. More precisely, let $S_n$ be the symmetric group and $A_n$ the alternating group. Let $C(n) \subset S_n$ denote the conjugacy class of…
Answering a question of Bona, it is shown that for n>1 the probability that 1 and 2 are in the same cycle of a product of two n-cycles on the set {1,2,...,n} is 1/2 if n is odd and 1/2 - 2/(n-1){n+2) if n is even. Another result concerns…
We find a formula for the number of permutations of $[n]$ that have exactly $s$ runs up and down. The formula is at once terminating, asymptotic, and exact.
Stanley, building on work of Stern, defined an array of numbers by the recurrence $s(n, 2k) = s(n-1, k)$, $s(n, 2k+1) = s(n-1, k) + s(n-1, k+1)$. Stanley showed that, for each positive integer $r$, the sequence $s_n^r:= \sum_k s(n,k)^r$…
This paper discusses the permutations that are generated by rotating $k \times k$ blocks of squares in a union of overlapping $k \times (k+1)$ rectangles. It is found that the single-rotation parity constraints effectively determine the…
Let $B(m, n)$ be the number of ways to colour a $2m \times 2n$ grid in black and white so that, in each row and each column, half of the cells are white and half are black. Bhattacharya conjectured that the exponent of $2$ in the prime…
In 1996, my brilliant student John Noonan, discovered, and proved that there are 3(2n)!/(n(n+3)!(n-3)!) ways to line-up n people of different heights in such a way that out of the n(n-1)(n-2)/6 possible triples of people exactly one is such…
Using Fermat's two squares theorem and properties of cyclotomic polynomials, we prove assertions about when numbers of the form $a^{n}+1$ can be expressed as the sum of two integer squares. We prove that $a^n + 1$ is the sum of two squares…
Kronecker sequences $(k \alpha \mod 1)_{k=1}^{\infty}$ for some irrational $\alpha > 0$ have played an important role in many areas of mathematics. It is possible to associate to each finite segment $(k \alpha \mod 1)_{k=1}^{n}$ a…
For fixed positive reals $t$ and $\alpha$, consider the sequence $S_t(\alpha) = (s_1, s_2, \ldots, )$ with $s_n = \left \lfloor t\alpha^n \right \rfloor$. In 1964, Graham managed to characterize those pairs $(t, \alpha)$ with $0 < t < 1$…
P(n,s) denotes the number of permutations of 1,2,...n that have exactly s sequences. Canfield and Wilf [math.CO/0609704] recently showed that P(n,s) can be written as a sum of s polynomials in n. We determine these polynomials explicitly…
A permutation is said to be a square if it can be obtained by shuffling two order-isomorphic patterns. The definition is intended to be the natural counterpart to the ordinary shuffle of words and languages. In this paper, we tackle the…
In a recent paper, the author proved that if $n\geq 3$ is a natural number, $R$ a commutative ring and $\sigma\in GL_n(R)$, then $t_{kl}(\sigma_{ij})$ where $i\neq j$ and $k\neq l$ can be expressed as a product of $8$ matrices of the form…