Shuffle series (Q7008703)

Given two decks, one with \(n\) cards, \(A_1 < \ldots < A_n\) and one with \(m\) cards, \(B_1 < \ldots < B_m\), the deck obtained from giving a linear order \(<_{sh}\) to \(\{A_1m\ldots, A_n\} \cup \{B_1, \ldots, B_m\}\) is called a \((n, m)\) shuffle if the image of the original decks preserve their own order \(A_1 <_{sh} \ldots <_{sh} A_n\) and \(B_1 <_{sh} \ldots <_{sh} B_m\). The shuffle of decks appears classically in probability and combinatorics, and it is used to define a shuffle product of multizeta values in number theory. Recent work on operad theory motivates an extension of shuffles of decks to shuffles of other partially ordered sets (posets). In the paper, they provide a precise definition of a shuffle between a poset and a \(n\)-chain \(< n> = 1 < 2<\ldots < n\).\N\NA finite poset is a set with a partial order. They also describe a poset as a finite set with a particular Alexandrov topology; then continuous functions coincide with order-preserving functions. By a series-parallel posets (\(S P\)-poset), they mean a finite poset generated by a point under the operations of ordinal sum and disjoint union. Given a \(S P\)-poset P, they study the generating series \(\sum_{i=0}^{\infty} a_i x^i\) whose \(n\) coefficient \(a_n\) is the number of shuffles between \(P\) and \(<n>\). They call these generating series shuffle series. They denote the shuffle series of \(P\) by \(\mathcal S \mathcal H (P)\), and they denote \(\mathcal S \mathcal H (i)= \mathcal S \mathcal H (<i>)\). The shuffle series of a point is \(\mathcal S \mathcal H (1)=\frac{1}{(1-x)^2}.\) \N\NThis paper is part of a larger project, developing the theory of algebras over the operad of finite posets. The language of operads allows us to study customized operations and the sets in which those operations are defined. They also define symmetric topological operads.\N\NIn this paper they apply operad theory to enumerative combinatorics in order to count the number of shuffles between series-parallel posets and chains. We work with three types of shuffles, two of them noncommutative. They also explain how shuffle series are isomorphic to order series as algebras over the operad of series parallel posets. The weak and strict order polynomials are well known in the literature. At the level of generating series, with the theory of sets with a negative number of elements, they introduce a third-order series and prove a theorem in the style of Stanley's Reciprocity Theorem compatible with the structure of algebras over the operad of finite posets. Finally they conclude by describing the relationship of our work with the combinatorial properties of the operadic tensor product of free trees operads.