On the location of the maximum Stirling number(s) of the second kind (Q732762)

From MaRDI portal
scientific article
Language Label Description Also known as
English
On the location of the maximum Stirling number(s) of the second kind
scientific article

    Statements

    On the location of the maximum Stirling number(s) of the second kind (English)
    0 references
    0 references
    15 October 2009
    0 references
    The Stirling number of the second kind, \(S(n,k)\), is the number of partitions of an \(n\)-element set into \(k\) nonempty subsets. It has been known that sequence is unimodal in \(k\) and asymptotically normal. Unimodality implies that for fixed \(n\), one or two consecutive values of \(k\) realize \(\max_k S(n,k)\). The paper gives an explicit interval that includes the (first) \(k\) realizing the maximum -- i.e. no \(O(\,)\) notation is involved. (It is not known whether the maximum value can occur twice for any \(n\geq 3\).)
    0 references
    Stirling numbers of the second kind
    0 references
    unimodality
    0 references
    asymptotic methods
    0 references

    Identifiers