The maximum number of Hamiltonian paths in tournaments (Q2276976)

Let P(n) denote the maximum number of Hamiltonian directed paths taken over all tournaments on n vertices. The average number of Hamiltonian paths, \(n!/2^{n-1}\), is an obvious lower bound. This remarkable paper establishes the upper bound \(cn^{3/2}\cdot n!/2^{n-1}\) where c is a positive constant independent of n. From this follows the 1943 conjecture of T. Szele that \((P(n)/n!)^{1/n}\) tends to 1/2 as n tends to infinity. The proof is an elegant application of (the validity of) Minc's conjecture on permanents of (0,1)-matrices.