Counting partitions of a fixed genus (Q1627201)

Summary: We show that, for any fixed genus \(g\), the ordinary generating function for the genus \(g\) partitions of an \(n\)-element set into \(k\) blocks is algebraic. The proof involves showing that each such partition may be reduced in a unique way to a primitive partition and that the number of primitive partitions of a given genus is finite. We illustrate our method by finding the generating function for genus \(2\) partitions, after identifying all genus \(2\) primitive partitions, using a computer-assisted search.