Counting numerical semigroups by genus and some cases of a question of Wilf. (Q436083): Difference between revisions

A numerical semigroup \(S\) is a set of non-negative integers closed under addition and containing all sufficiently large integers. Its genus is the cardinality of \(\mathbb N_0\setminus S\), and its multiplicity is the smallest nonzero element of \(S\). The number of numerical semigroups with genus \(g\) and multiplicity \(m\) is denoted by \(N(g,m)\). The author shows that for each \(k\geq 0\) there exists a monic polynomial \(f_k(X)\) such that if \(m>2k\), then \[ N(m,m+k)={1\over(k+1)!}f_k(m), \] and determines explicitly \(f_k\) for \(k\leq 7\). He shows also that this formula may fail if \(m\leq 2k\), as the example \(m=k=5\) shows. An important step in the proof forms the equality \[ N(m-1,g-1)+N(m-1,g-2)=N(m,g) \] established in Theorem 1. The paper contains also interesting discussions on other aspects of the theory of numerical semigroups.