On a generalisation of the minimal excludant function

DOI10.1007/S11139-025-01224-1MaRDI QIDQ6921095zbMATH OpenFDO

Authors R. Sachdeva

Publication date 6 October 2025

Published in The Ramanujan Journal (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://doi.org/10.1007/S11139-025-01224-1

zbMATH Keywords

complete partitionsgap-free partitionsmaximal excludantminimal excludantmock theta functionspartitions in arithmetic progressionRamanujan's functions

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Exact enumeration problems, generating functions (05A15) Combinatorial aspects of partitions of integers (05A17) Combinatorial identities, bijective combinatorics (05A19) Elementary theory of partitions (11P81)

Review text

The paper extends the concept of the \textit{minimal excludant} (mex) of a partition, introduced by \textit{G. E. Andrews} and \textit{D. Newman} [Ann. Comb. 23, No. 2, 249--254 (2019; Zbl 1458.11011)], to partitions whose parts are restricted to an arbitrary set \(S\) of integers. Analogous definitions are given for the corresponding \textit{maximal excludant} (maex), as well as for \textit{\(S\)-gap-free} and \textit{\(S\)-complete} partitions. For these generalised objects the author derives explicit generating functions for the associated counting functions \(\sigma_{\mathrm{mex}_S}(n)\), \(\sigma_{\mathrm{maex}_S}(n)\), \(G_S(n)\), and \(C_S(n)\). Two combinatorial bijections are established that extend classical results of \textit{P. J. Grabner} and \textit{A. Knopfmacher} [Ramanujan J. 12, No. 3, 439--454 (2006; Zbl 1113.05012)] on gap-free and complete partitions.\N\NSpecialising to arithmetic progressions \(S=\{0,a,a+d,a+2d,\dots\}\), the author obtains elegant \(q\)-series identities connecting these generating functions with Ramanujan's classical functions \(\varphi(q)\) and \(\psi(q)\) and with the third-order mock theta function \(\phi(q)\). In particular, Fine's identity relating \(\phi(q)\) to partitions into odd parts without gaps appears as a limiting case of the general theory, yielding new combinatorial interpretations. The exposition is detailed and self-contained and opens several directions for further research, such as asymptotic formulas and higher-order gap statistics.

Cites work

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