Permutations with prescribed cycle lengths. (Q6584490)

This is a survey paper dealing with permutations of finite sets having the property that the cycle decomposition involves only cycles whose lengths are from a certain prescribed set. For example, derangements (i.e., permutations having no fixed points) have only cycles of length at least 2, while involutions of a finite set have only cycles of length 1 or 2.\N\NGiven a set \(C\subset\mathbb{N}\), the problem is to calculate the number of all permutations of an \(n\)-element set such that the cycle lengths are from \(C\). The number of derangements is well known, and involutions are counted by the so-called telephone numbers. The author presents two techniques for dealing with a general set \(C\): The first approach is based on recurrence relations, and the second involves exponential generating functions. The article contains a wealth of examples demonstrating both methods.