On the numbers of orbits of permutations under an operator related to Eulerian numbers (Q1880358)

In the present paper the author continues the study of the periodicity properties of the operator \(\sigma\) on the set of permutations of \(\{ 1,2,\dots ,n\}\) which he introduced in 2001. If \(b_i=a_i+1\pmod n\) for \(1\leq i\leq n\), then \(\sigma(a_1a_2\dots a_n)=b_1b_2\dots b_n\) if \(a_1,a_n\not=n\), \(\sigma(na_2\dots a_n)=b_2b_3\dots b_n1\) and \(\sigma(a_1a_2\dots a_{n-1}n)=1b_1b_2\dots b_{n-1}\). The author showed in 2003 that the operator \(\sigma\) is useful for the study of Eulerian numbers \(e(n,k)\) which are defined as the number of permutations with exactly \(k\) ascents \(a_i<a_{i+1}\). In the present paper the author gives explicit formulas for the number of orbits for each period and establishes several identities involving these numbers.