Sorting permutations with fixed pinnacle set (Q785571)

Summary: We give a positive answer to a question raised by \textit{R. Davis} et al. [Discrete Math. 341, No. 11, 3249--3270 (2018; Zbl 1395.05002)], concerning permutations with the same \(\pi_{i-1}<\pi_i>\pi_{i+1}\). The question is: given \(\pi,\pi^\prime\in S_n\) with the same pinnacle set \(S\), is there a sequence of operations that transforms \(\pi\) into \(\pi'\) such that all the intermediate permutations have pinnacle set \(S\)? We introduce balanced reversals, defined as reversals that do not modify the pinnacle set of the permutation to which they are applied. Then we show that \(\pi\) may be sorted by balanced reversals (i.e. transformed into a standard permutation \(Id_S)\), implying that \(\pi\) may be transformed into \(\pi^\prime\) using at most \(4n-2\min\{p,3\}\) balanced reversals, where \(p=|S|\geq 1\). In case \(p=0\), at most \(2n-1\) balanced reversals are needed.