A nonrecursive combinatorial rule for Eulerian numbers

A simple nonrecursive combinatorial rule is given for the number A(n, k) of permutations of 1, 2,…, n with k descents.     

The smallest length of binary 7–dimensional linear codes with prescribed minimum distance

Let n(k,d) denote the smallest value of n for which a binary (n,k,d) code exists. Then n(k, d) was known for all d, when k ?6. All values of n(7, d) will now be presented.     

Distributive lattices of small width, II: A problem from Stanley's 1986 text Enumerative Combinatorics

In Richard P. Stanley's 1986 text, Enumerative Combinatorics, the following problem is posed: Fix a natural number k. Consider the posets P of cardinality n such that, for 0<i<n, P has exactly k order ideals (down-sets) of cardinality i. Let fk(n) be the number of such posets. What is the generating function ∑f₃(n)xn?In this paper, the problem is solved.     

Sums over numbers with restricted prime factors

For k a non-negative integer, let P_k(n) denote the kth largest prime factor of n where P₀(n) = +∞ and if the number of prime factors of n is less than k, then P_k(n) = 1. We shall study the asymptotic behavior of the sum Ψ_k(x, y; g) = Σ_{1 ≤ n ≤ x, Pk(n) ≤ y}g(n), where g(n) is an arithmetic function satisfying certain general conditions regarding its behavior on primes. The special case where g(n) = μ(n), the Möbius function, is discussed as an application.     

Orbits of parabolic subgroups on metabelian ideals

Let k be an algebraically closed field, t∈Z?1, and let B be the Borel subgroup of GLt(k) consisting of upper-triangular matrices. Let Q be a parabolic subgroup of GLt(k) that contains B and such that the Lie algebra qu of the unipotent radical of Q is metabelian, i.e. the derived subalgebra of qu is abelian. For a dimension vector with , we obtain a parabolic subgroup P(d) of GLn(k) from B by taking upper-triangular block matrices with (i,j) block of size di×dj. In a similar manner we obtain a parabolic subgroup Q(d) of GLn(k) from Q. We determine all instances when P(d) acts on qu(d) with a finite number of orbits for all dimension vectors d. Our methods use a translation of the problem into the representation theory of certain quasi-hereditary algebras. In the finite cases, we use Auslander-Reiten theory to explicitly determine the P(d)-orbits; this also allows us to determine the degenerations of P(d)-orbits.     

On van der Waerden's theorem and the theorem of Paris and Harrington

A 2-coloring of the non-negative integers and a function h are given such that if P is any monochromatic arithmetic progression with first term a and common difference d then 6P6 ? h(a) and 6P6 ? h(d). In contrast to this the following result is noted. For any k, f there is n = n(k, f) such that whenever n is k-colored there is a monochromatic subset A of n with 6A6 > f(d), where d is the maximum of the differences between consecutive elements of A.     

Counting Simsun Permutations by Descents

We count in the present work simsun permutations of length n by their number of descents. Properties studied include the recurrence relation and real-rootedness of the generating function of the number of n-simsun permutations with k descents. By means of generating function arguments, we show that the descent number is equidistributed over n-simsun permutations and n-André permutations. We also compute the mean and variance of the random variable X _n taking values the descent number of random n-simsun permutations, and deduce that the distribution of descents over random simsun permutations of length n satisfies a central and a local limit theorem as n ?? +???.     

All rationals occur as exponents

For integers n ⩾k⩾ 1 and L ⊃ {0, 1,…, k − 1};, m(n, k, L) denotes the maximum number of k-subsets of an n-set so that the size of the intersection of any two among them is in L. It is proven that for every rational number r ⩾ 1 there is a choice of k and L so that cn^r < m(n, k, L) < dn^r, where c, d depend on k and L but not on n.     

Generalization of matching extensions in graphs (III)

Proposing them as a general framework, Liu and Yu (2001) [6] introduced (n,k,d)-graphs to unify the concepts of deficiency of matchings, n-factor-criticality and k-extendability. Let G be a graph and let n,k and d be non-negative integers such that n+2k+d+2?|V(G)| and |V(G)|−n−d is even. If on deleting any n vertices from G the remaining subgraph H of G contains a k-matching and each k-matching can be extended to a defect-d matching in H, then G is called an (n,k,d)-graph. In this paper, we obtain more properties of (n,k,d)-graphs, in particular the recursive relations of (n,k,d)-graphs for distinct parameters n,k and d. Moreover, we provide a characterization for maximal non-(n,k,d)-graphs.     

Domino tilings of rectangles with fixed width

Let t(k,n) denote the number of ways to tile a 1 × n rectangle with 1 × 2 rectangles (called dominoes). We show that for each fixed k the sequence t_k=(t(k,0), t(k,1),…) satisfies a difference equation (linear, homogeneous, and with constant coefficients). Furthermore, a computational method is given for finding this difference equation together with the initial terms of the sequence. This gives rise to a new way to compute t(k,n) which differs completely with the known Pfaffian method. The generating function of t_k is a rational function F_k, and F_k is given explicitly for k=1,…,8. We end with some conjectures concerning the form of F_k based on our computations.     

Stirling polynomials

An investigation is made of the polynomials f_k(n) = S(n + k, n) and g_k(n) = (?1)^ks(n, n ? k), where S and s denote the Stirling numbers of the second and first kind, respectively. The main result gives a combinatorial interpretation of the coefficients of the polynomial (1 ? x)^2k+1Σ_n=0^∞f_k(n)xⁿ analogous to the well-known combinatorial interpretation of the Eulerian numbers in terms of descents of permutations.     

The Eulerian generating function of q-derangements

Let F_q denote the finite field with q elements. For nonnegative integers n,k, let d_q(n,k) denote the number of n×nF_q-matrices having k as the sum of the dimensions of the eigenspaces (of the eigenvalues lying in F_q). Let d_q(n)=d_q(n,0), i.e., d_q(n) denotes the number of n×nF_q-matrices having no eigenvalues in F_q. The Eulerian generating function of d_q(n) has been well studied in the last 20 years [Kung, The cycle structure of a linear transformation over a finite field, Linear Algebra Appl. 36 (1981) 141-155, Neumann and Praeger, Derangements and eigenvalue-free elements in finite classical groups, J. London Math. Soc. (2) 58 (1998) 564-586 and Stong, Some asymptotic results on finite vector spaces, Adv. Appl. Math. 9(2) (1988) 167-199]. The main tools have been the rational canonical form, nilpotent matrices, and a q-series identity of Euler. In this paper we take an elementary approach to this problem, based on Möbius inversion, and find the following bivariate generating function:

     

The disconnection number of a graph

The disconnection number d(X) is the least number of points in a connected topological graph X such that removal of d(X) points will disconnect X (Nadler, 1993 [6]). Let Dn denote the set of all homeomorphism classes of topological graphs with disconnection number n. The main result characterizes the members of Dn+1 in terms of four possible operations on members of Dn. In addition, if X and Y are topological graphs and X is a subspace of Y with no endpoints, then d(X)?d(Y) and Y obtains from X with exactly d(Y)−d(X) operations. Some upper and lower bounds on the size of Dn are discussed.The algorithm of the main result has been implemented to construct the classes Dn for n?8, to estimate the size of D₉, and to obtain information on certain subclasses such as non-planar graphs (n?9) and regular graphs (n?10).     

On the Maximum Number of Translates in a Point Set

Given a finite set P⊆ℝ ^d , called a pattern, t _P (n) denotes the maximum number of translated copies of P determined by n points in ℝ ^d . We give the exact value of t _P (n) when P is a rational simplex, that is, the points of P are rationally affinely independent. In this case, we prove that t _P (n)=n−m _r (n), where r is the rational affine dimension of P, and m _r (n) is the r -Kruskal–Macaulay function. We note that almost all patterns in ℝ ^d are rational simplices. The function t _P (n) is also determined exactly when | P |≤3 or when P has rational affine dimension one and n is large enough. We establish the equivalence of finding t _P (n) and the maximum number s _R (n) of scaled copies of a suitable pattern R⊆ℝ⁺ determined by n positive reals. As a consequence, we show that s_Ak(n)=n-\varTheta (n^1-1/p(k))s_{A_{k}}(n)=n-\varTheta (n^{1-1/\pi(k)}) , where A _k ={1,2,…,k} is an arithmetic progression of size k, and π(k) is the number of primes less than or equal to k.     

On a problem of rota

Let S(n, k) denote Stirling numbers of the second kind; for each n, let K_n be such that S(n, K_n) ? S(n, k) for all k. Also, let P(n) denote the lattice of partitions of an n-element set. Say that a collection of partitions from P(n) is incomparable if no two are related by refinement. Rota has asked if for all n, the largest possible incomparable collection in P(n) contains S(n, K_n) partitions. In this paper, we construct for all n sufficiently large an incomparable collection in P(n) containing strictly more than S(n, K_n) partitions. We also estimate how large n must be for this construction to work.     

New linear codes over GF(8)

Let [n, k, d; q]-codes be linear codes of length n, dimension k and minimum Hamming distance d over GF(q). Let d₈(n, k) be the maximum possible minimum Hamming distance of a linear [n, k, d; 8]-code for given values of n and k. In this paper, eighteen new linear codes over GF(8) are constructed which improve the table of d₈(n, k) by Brouwer.     

The Erdös-Jacobson-Lehel conjecture on potentiallyP k-graphic sequence is true

A variation in the classical Turan extrernal problem is studied. A simple graphG of ordern is said to have propertyPk if it contains a clique of sizek+1 as its subgraph. Ann-term nonincreasing nonnegative integer sequence π=(d₁, d₂,⋯, d₂) is said to be graphic if it is the degree sequence of a simple graphG of ordern and such a graphG is referred to as a realization of π. A graphic sequence π is said to be potentiallyP _k-graphic if it has a realizationG having propertyP _k . The problem: determine the smallest positive even number σ(k, n) such that everyn-term graphic sequence π=(d₁, d₂,…, d₂) without zero terms and with degree sum σ(π)=(d ₁+d ₂+ …+d ₂) at least σ(k,n) is potentially P_k-graphic has been proved positive. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 19671077) and the Doctoral Program Foundation of National Education Department of China.     

Generalized Latin squares and their defining sets

A generalized Latin square of type (n,k) is an n×n array of symbols 1,2,…,k such that each of these symbols occurs at most once in each row and each column. Let d(n,k) denote the cardinality of the minimal set S of given entries of an n×n array such that there exists a unique extension of S to a generalized Latin square of type (n,k). In this paper we discuss the properties of d(n,k) for k=2n-1 and k=2n-2. We give an alternate proof of the identity d(n,2n-1)=n²-n, which holds for even n, and we establish the new result . We also show that the latter bound is tight for n divisible by 10.     

On Ranks of Polynomials

Let V be a vector space over a field k, P : V → k, d ≥?3. We show the existence of a function C(r, d) such that rank(P) ≤ C(r, d) for any field k, char(k) > d, a finite-dimensional k-vector space V and a polynomial P : V → k of degree d such that rank(?P/?t) ≤ r for all t ∈ V ??0. Our proof of this theorem is based on the application of results on Gowers norms for finite fields k. We don’t know a direct proof even in the case when k = ?.