Two Notes on Notation

DOI10.2307/2325085zbMATH Open0785.05014arXivmath/9205211OpenAlexW2133006861WikidataQ55871849 ScholiaQ55871849MaRDI QIDQ3138043FDOQ3138043

Donald E. Knuth

Publication date: 25 October 1993

Published in: The American Mathematical Monthly (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: The author advocates two specific mathematical notations from his popular course and joint textbook, "Concrete Mathematics". The first of these, extending an idea of Iverson, is the notation "[P]" for the function which is 1 when the Boolean condition P is true and 0 otherwise. This notation can encourage and clarify the use of characteristic functions and Kronecker deltas in sums and integrals. The second notation puts Stirling numbers on the same footing as binomial coefficients. Since binomial coefficients are written on two lines in parentheses and read "n choose k", Stirling numbers of the first kind should be written on two lines in brackets and read "n cycle k", while Stirling numbers of the second kind should be written in braces and read "n subset k". (I might say "n partition k".) The written form was first suggested by Imanuel Marx. The virtues of this notation are that Stirling partition numbers frequently appear in combinatorics, and that it more clearly presents functional relations similar to those satisfied by binomial coefficients.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/math/9205211

zbMATH Keywords

Stirling numbersnotation

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Enumerative combinatorics (05A99)

Cited In (only showing first 100 items - show all)

• Note on Toda brackets
• The structure of the space of polynomial solutions to the canonical central systems of differential equations on the block Heisenberg groups: a generalization of a theorem of Korányi
• Convolution identities and lacunary recurrences for Bernoulli numbers
• Legendre-Stirling permutations
• The Brown-Peterson \([2^ k]\)-series revisited
• Multivariate Stirling polynomials of the first and second kind
• Generalizations of poly-Bernoulli and poly-Cauchy numbers
• The number of maximum matchings in a tree
• Moments of orthogonal polynomials and exponential generating functions
• Eventual positivity of Hermitian polynomials and integral operators
• Partial zeta functions, partial exponential sums, and \(p\)-adic estimates
• The Catalan combinatorics of the hereditary artin algebras
• Fast approximations for sums of distances, clustering and the Fermat-Weber problem
• Approximation error of the Lagrange reconstructing polynomial
• Lattice paths and negatively indexed weight-dependent binomial coefficients
• Stirling number representations
• A pair of operator summation formulas and their applications
• An asymptotic distribution theory for Eulerian recurrences with applications
• Confidence intervals in regression centred on the SCAD estimator
• The Legendre-Stirling numbers
• Flag-symmetry of the poset of shuffles and a local action of the symmetric group
• Set-partition tableaux and representations of diagram algebras
• Sum the Multiplicative Odds to One and Stop
• The Number of Two Consecutive Successes in a Hoppe-Pólya Urn
• A simple algorithm for expanding a power series as a continued fraction
• Two series expansions for the logarithm of the gamma function involving Stirling numbers and containing only rational coefficients for certain arguments related to \(\pi^{-1}\)
• Polynomial approach to explicit formulae for generalized binomial coefficients
• Some applications of the \(q\)-exponential formula
• Expansions of generalized Euler's constants into the series of polynomials in \(\pi^{- 2}\) and into the formal enveloping series with rational coefficients only
• False beliefs in unreliable knowledge networks
• The coverage probability of confidence intervals in one-way analysis of covariance after two F tests
• Graph colorings and related symmetric functions: ideas and applications: A description of results, interesting applications, and notable open problems.
• Reciprocity for multirestricted Stirling numbers
• On the shape of the fringe of various types of random trees
• Variants of the general interval power function
• The packing radius of a code and partitioning problems: the case for poset metrics on finite vector spaces
• Characteristic roots for two-lag linear delay differential equations
• New definitions of the generalized Stirling numbers
• Towards the n-point one-loop superstring amplitude. III: One-loop correlators and their double-copy structure
• Counts of Failure Strings in Certain Bernoulli Sequences
• Perfect radar pulse compression via unimodular Fourier multipliers
• Admissibility of the usual confidence interval for the normal mean
• Gamma and Factorial in the Monthly
• On two kinds of \(q\)-analogues of generalized Stirling numbers
• Igusa’s 𝑝-adic Local Zeta Function and the Monodromy Conjecture for Non-Degenerate Surface Singularities
• Pointfree expression and calculation: From quantification to temporal logic
• Discrete Appell-Dunkl sequences and Bernoulli-Dunkl polynomials of the second kind
• Stirling-Dunkl numbers
• A variation of the \(q\)-Painlevé system with affine Weyl group symmetry of type \(E_7^{(1)}\)
• Title not available (Why is that?)
• Angles of random simplices and face numbers of random polytopes
• Symmetric polynomials, Pascal matrices, and Stirling matrices
• On occupation times of one-dimensional diffusions
• \(E=I+T\): the internal extent formula for compacted tries
• Asymptotics of Stirling and Chebyshev-Stirling numbers of the second kind
• Inverse relations and reciprocity laws involving partial Bell polynomials and related extensions
• Exponential polynomials, Stirling numbers, and evaluation of some gamma integrals
• Axioms for Centrality
• The cache-oblivious Gaussian elimination paradigm: Theoretical framework, parallelization and Experimental evaluation
• Dimensions of irreducible modules for partition algebras and tensor power multiplicities for symmetric and alternating groups
• Transient and periodic solution to the time-inhomogeneous quasi-birth death process
• Tree-level amplitudes from the pure spinor superstring
• The minimum coverage probability of confidence intervals in regression after a preliminary \(F\) test
• Symmetric functions and a natural framework for combinatorial and number theoretic sequences
• Periodic solution to the time-inhomogeneous multi-server Poisson queue
• Indicator Function and Hattendorff Theorem
• Stirling numbers revisited
• Hermitian dual-containing narrow-sense constacyclic BCH codes and quantum codes
• Design of a discrete algebraic robust differentiation FIR filter using an annihilator of the Z-transform; frequency response analysis and parameter tuning
• On some dynamical features of the complete Moran model for neutral evolution in the presence of mutations
• The Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic and q -series
• Title not available (Why is that?)
• Bell numbers in Matsunaga's and Arima's Genjikō combinatorics: modern perspectives and local limit theorems
• On the connection between Stirling numbers and Bessel numbers
• Short-circuiting the definition of mathematical knowledge for an artificial general intelligence
• Title not available (Why is that?)
• Orthogonal root numbers of tempered parameters
• \(r\)-Lah distribution: properties, limit theorems and an application to compressed sensing
• Differential Power Analysis of a McEliece Cryptosystem
• Semantics of computable physical models
• On convergence of points to limiting processes, with an application to zeta zeros
• Communication policies in knowledge networks
• Another Alternating Analogue of Euler’s Constant
• Multiple Bragg reflection by a thick mosaic crystal
• SRISKv2 -- a note
• Boson operator ordering identities from generalized Stirling and Eulerian numbers
• The Wallis products for Fermat curves
• Two problems of binomial sums involving harmonic numbers
• Boole-Dunkl polynomials and generalizations
• Probabilistic unifying relations for modelling epistemic and aleatoric uncertainty: semantics and automated reasoning with theorem proving
• Notations Around the World: Census and Exploitation
• Differentiation matrices for univariate polynomials
• A note on 0-gaps in 3D digital curves
• Title not available (Why is that?)
• Jacobi and Laguerre polynomial approximations for the distributions of statistics useful in testing for outliers in exponential and gamma samples
• A class of constacyclic BCH codes of length \(n = \frac{q^{2m} - 1}{2( q^2-1)}\) and related quantum codes
• Coefficients and higher order derivatives of cyclotomic polynomials: old and new (with an appendix by Pedro García-Sánchez)
• Computation and Applications of Mathieu Functions: A Historical Perspective
• Exponential-type extended Riordan arrays and reciprocity law for generalized Stirling numbers
• Structural stability of the hepatitis C model with the proliferation of infected and uninfected hepatocytes

This page was built for publication: Two Notes on Notation

Report a bug (only for logged in users!)Click here to report a bug for this page (MaRDI item Q3138043)