Related papers: Median-Extremes Alternation

Sampling permutations from S_n is a fundamental problem from probability theory. The nearest neighbor transposition chain \cal{M}}_{nn} is known to converge in time \Theta(n^3 \log n) in the uniform case and time \Theta(n^2) in the constant…

A general explicit upper bound is obtained for the proportion $P(n,m)$ of elements of order dividing $m$, where $n-1 \le m \le cn$ for some constant $c$, in the finite symmetric group $S_n$. This is used to find lower bounds for the…

A random $n$-permutation may be generated by sequentially removing random cards $C_1,...,C_n$ from an $n$-card deck $D = \{1,...,n\}$. The permutation $\sigma$ is simply the sequence of cards in the order they are removed. This permutation…

We describe an algorithm, implemented in Python, which can enumerate any permutation class with polynomial enumeration from a structural description of the class. In particular, this allows us to find formulas for the number of permutations…

We define an excedance number for the multi-colored permutation group, i.e. the wreath product of Z_{r_1} x ... x Z_{r_k} with S_n, and calculate its multi-distribution with some natural parameters. We also compute the multi-distribution of…

Let R(n,k) be the number of permutations of $\{1,2,\ldots,n\}$ with k alternating runs. In this paper, we establish the relationships between R(n,k) and the central factorial numbers of even indices as well as the number of signed…

Let A_n be the alternating group on n letters. For n>5, we describe the elements alpha, beta in A_n when alpha^{A_n} beta^{A_n} is the union of at most four distinct conjugacy classes.

We give multiple proofs of two formulas concerning the enumeration of permutations avoiding a monotone consecutive pattern with a certain value for the inverse peak number or inverse left peak number statistic. The enumeration in both cases…

A subset $A$ of a group $G$ is called product-free if there is no solution to $a=bc$ with $a,b,c$ all in $A$. It is easy to see that the largest product-free subset of the symmetric group $S_n$ is obtained by taking the set of all odd…

Counting permutations of $[n]$ by the number of records, i.e. left-to-right maxima, is a classic problem in combinatorial enumeration. In the first volume of ``The Art of Computer Programming", Donald Knuth demonstrated its relevance for…

A permutation array $A$ is a set of permutations on a finite set $\Omega$, say of size $n$. Given distinct permutations $\pi, \sigma\in \Omega$, we let $hd(\pi, \sigma) = |\{ x\in \Omega: \pi(x) \ne \sigma(x) \}|$, called the Hamming…

We give a bijection between permutations of length 2n and certain pairs of Dyck paths with labels on the down steps. The bijection arises from a game in which two players alternate selecting from a set of 2n items: the permutation encodes…

Let $\gamma_n$ be the permutation on $n$ symbols defined by $\gamma_n = (1\ 2\...\ n)$. We are interested in an enumerative problem on colored permutations, that is permutations $\beta$ of $n$ in which the numbers from 1 to $n$ are colored…

A sequence of reversals that takes a signed permutation to the identity is perfect if at no step a common interval is broken. Determining a parsimonious perfect sequence of reversals that sorts a signed permutation is NP-hard. Here we show…

We study the set of networks, which consist of sources, sinks and neutral points, bijective to the permutations. The set of directed edges, which characterizes a network, is constructed from a polyomino or a Rothe diagram of a permutation…

Let $A(n,m)$ denote the Eulerian numbers, which count the number of permutations on $[n]$ with exactly $m$ descents. It is well known that $A(n,m)$ also counts the number of permutations on $[n]$ with exactly $m$ excedances. In this report,…

Building on the work of Grinberg and Stanley, we begin a systematic study of permutations with a prescribed $X$-descent set. In particular, for a set $X \subseteq \mathbb{N}^2$, and $I \subseteq [n-1]$, we study the permutations $\pi \in…

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…

We propose the study of $S_n$-ensembles: $n \times n$ arrays of permutations of $[n]$ that encode the boundary data of $n\Delta_{n-1}$. We characterize precisely when an $S_4$-ensemble contains a permutation appearing exactly four times,…

Let $\mathbb{Z}_n$ denote the ring of integers modulo $n$. In this paper we consider two extremal problems on permutations of $\mathbb{Z}_n$, namely, the maximum size of a collection of permutations such that the sum of any two distinct…