English

Arithmetic functions and fixed points of powers of permutations

Combinatorics 2024-09-26 v5 Group Theory Number Theory

Abstract

Let σ\sigma be a permutation of a nonempty finite or countably infinite set XX and let FX(σk)F_X\left( \sigma^k\right) count the number of fixed points of the kkth power of σ\sigma. This paper explains how the arithmetic function k(FX(σk))k=1k \mapsto \left(F_X\left( \sigma^k\right) \right)_{k=1}^{\infty} determines the conjugacy class of the permutation σ\sigma, constructs an algorithm to compute the conjugacy class from the fixed point counting function FX(σk)F_X\left( \sigma^k\right), and describes the arithmetic functions that are fixed point counting functions of permutations.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2206.04021,
  title  = {Arithmetic functions and fixed points of powers of permutations},
  author = {Melvyn B. Nathanson},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2206.04021},
  year   = {2024}
}

Comments

Revised and corrected; 10 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-24T11:43:53.755Z