English

Partitions with fixed differences between largest and smallest parts

Number Theory 2016-05-10 v2 Combinatorics

Abstract

We study the number p(n,t)p(n,t) of partitions of nn with difference tt between largest and smallest parts. Our main result is an explicit formula for the generating function Pt(q):=n1p(n,t)qnP_t(q) := \sum_{n \ge 1} p(n,t) \, q^n. Somewhat surprisingly, Pt(q)P_t(q) is a rational function for t>1t>1; equivalently, p(n,t)p(n,t) is a quasipolynomial in nn for fixed t>1t>1. Our result generalizes to partitions with an arbitrary number of specified distances.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1406.3374,
  title  = {Partitions with fixed differences between largest and smallest parts},
  author = {George E. Andrews and Matthias Beck and Neville Robbins},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1406.3374},
  year   = {2016}
}

Comments

5 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-22T04:37:34.663Z