On the average number of \(k\)-sets (Q1193707)

An allowable circular sequence of permutations is a sequence \[ P=(P_ 0,P_ 1,\dots,P_{n(n-1)}=P_ 0) \] of permutations on \(\{1,2,\dots,n\}\) satisfying (1) \(P_ i\) and \(P_{i+n(n-1)/2}\) are in reverse order; and (2) \(P_{k+1}\) differs from \(P_ k\) by an adjacent transposition. A \(k\)-set of an allowable circular sequence \(P\) is a subsequence in the form \(\{P_ c,P_{c+1},\dots,P_{c+k-1}\}\) where the addition is taken modulo \(n(n-1)\). In this paper, a closed form formula for the average number of \(k\)-sets of an allowable sequence is given.