On some properties of the number of permutations being products of pairwise disjoint d-cycles

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On some properties of the number of permutations being products of pairwise disjoint \(d\)-cycles



Abstract: Let dgeq2 be an integer. In this paper we study arithmetic properties of the sequence (Hd(n))ninN, where Hd(n) is the number of permutations in Sn being products of pairwise disjoint cycles of a fixed length d. In particular we deal with periodicity modulo a given positive integer, behaviour of the p-adic valuations and various divisibility properties. Moreover, we introduce some related families of polynomials and study they properties. Among many results we obtain qualitative description of the p-adic valuation of the number Hd(n) extending in this way earlier results of Ochiai and Ishihara, Ochiai, Takegehara and Yoshida.


For fixed \(d\) and \(n\) let \(H_d(n)\) be the number of elements of the symmetric group \(S_n\) which are products of pairwise disjoint cycles of length \(d\). For prime \(p\) \(H_p(n)\) is the number of elements of order \(p\) in \(S_n\), and an explicit formula for \(H_p(n)\) has been obtained by \textit{E. Jacobsthal} [Norske Vid. Selsk. Forhdl. 21, 49--51 (1949; Zbl 0040.15103)]. In [J. Comb. 6, No. 4, 483--508 (2015; Zbl 1325.05006)] \textit{T. Amdeberhan} and \textit{V. Moll} studied the arithmetical and combinatorial properties of the sequence \(H_2(n)\). The authors consider the sequence \(H_d(n)\) for arbitrary \(d\). In the first sections they obtained numerous identities and congruences involving this sequence, studied the periodic properties of the sequence \(H_d(n)\) modulo a fixed integer, showing in particular (Theorem 3.5) that if \(d\ge2,r\ge1\) and \(p\ne d\) is a prime, then the sequence \(H_d(n)\bmod{p^r}\) has period \(p^r\), except when \(d=4, p=r=2\). In Sect. 5 one finds a description the \(p\)-adic valuation of \(H_d(n)\), and in sections \(6\) and \(8\) the authors introduce two families of polynomials. The first is related to the derivatives of the generating function \[ \sum_{n=0}^\infty\frac{H_d(n)}{n!}x^n=\exp\left(x+\frac{x^d}d\right), \] and the second generalizes the sequence of involution polynomials introduced by Amdeberhan and Moll [loc. cit.], related to Hermite polynomials. In Sect.7 some divisibility questions are considered and it is shown that for any fixed \(d\) the set of prime divisors of the sequence \(H_d(n)\) is infinite, and every prime divides some number \(H_d(n)-1\). In the last section some open problems and conjectures are presented.





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