Asymptotics of 3-stack-sortable permutations (Q2034079)

Summary: We derive a simple functional equation with two catalytic variables characterising the generating function of 3-stack-sortable permutations. Using this functional equation, we extend the 174-term series to 1000 terms. From this series, we conjecture that the generating function behaves as \[W(t) \sim C_0(1-\mu_3 t)^\alpha \cdot \log^\beta(1-\mu_3 t),\] so that \[[t^n]W(t)=w_n \sim \frac{c_0\mu_3^n}{ n^{(\alpha+1)}\cdot \log^\lambda{n}} ,\] where \(\mu_3 = 9.69963634535(30), \alpha = 2.0 \pm 0.25.\) If \(\alpha = 2\) exactly, then \(\lambda = -\beta+1\), and we estimate \(\beta \approx -2,\) but with a wide uncertainty of \(\pm 1.\) If \(\alpha\) is not an integer, then \(\lambda=-\beta \), but we cannot give a useful estimate of \(\beta \). The growth constant estimate (just) contradicts a conjecture of the first author [J. Comb. Theory, Ser. A 172, Article ID 105209, 26 p. (2020; Zbl 1433.05005)] that \[9.702 < \mu_3 \leqslant 9.704.\] We also prove a new rigorous lower bound of \(\mu_3\geqslant 9.4854\), allowing us to disprove a conjecture of \textit{M. Bóna} [Electron. J. Comb. 9, No. 2, Research paper A1, 16 p. (2003; Zbl 1028.05003); Combinatorics of permutations. 2nd ed. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press (2012; Zbl 1255.05001)]. We then further extend the series using differential-approximants to obtain approximate coefficients \(O(t^{2000}),\) expected to be accurate to 20 significant digits, and use the approximate coefficients to provide additional evidence supporting the results obtained from the exact coefficients.