Using recurrence relations to count certain elements in symmetric groups (Q5942870)
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scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1643799
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English | Using recurrence relations to count certain elements in symmetric groups |
scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1643799 |
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Using recurrence relations to count certain elements in symmetric groups (English)
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28 May 2002
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For the symmetric group \(S_n\), acting on the set \(\{1,\dots,n\}\), and \(k=0,1,\dots,n\), denote by \(G_{n,k}\) the subgroup of \(S_n\) that fixes each of \(1,2,\dots,k\). Set \(C_{n,k-1}=G_{n,k-1}(1,2,\dots,k)\). The author obtains recurrence relations for the number of elements in \(C_{n,k-1}\) which have orders: a multiple of a given number \(q\), dividing \(q\) and equal to \(q\), or which contain a cycle of length: a multiple of \(q\), dividing \(q\) and equal to \(q\), respectively. These relations can be solved in ``closed form''. For example, the probability that a random element of \(S_n\) has no cycle of length divisible by \(q\) is \(\prod_{d=1}^{[n/q]}(1-1/dq)\).
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random elements
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probabilistic group theory
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symmetric groups
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recurrence relations
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numbers of elements
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