arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Anant Godbole.
The Erd\H os-R\'enyi law states that given a sequence $\{X_j\}_{j=1}^\infty$ of i.i.d.~($p$) coin-tosses, the longest run $L_n$ of heads in the first $n$ coin tosses approaches $\log_{1/p}n$ almost surely. In this paper we explore a formulation of this result in the case of random permutations and prove an Erd\H os-R\'enyi law for the longest consecutive monotone block in a random permutation.
Let $\pi_n$ be a uniformly chosen random permutation on $[n]$. The authors of [2] showed that the expected number of distinct consecutive patterns of all lengths $k\in\{1,2,\ldots,n\}$ in $\pi_n$ was $\frac{n^2}{2}(1-o(1))$ as $n\to\infty$, exhibiting the fact that random permutations pack consecutive patterns near-perfectly. A conjecture was made in [11] that the same is true for non-consecutive patterns, i.e., that there are $2^n(1-o(1))$ distinct non-consecutive patterns expected in a random permutation. This conjecture is false, but, in this paper, we prove that a random permutation contains an expected number of at least $2^{n-1}(1+o(1))$ distinct permutations; this number is half of the range of the number of distinct permutations.
The McCarty Conjecture states that any McCarty Matrix (an $n\times n$ matrix $A$ with positive integer entries and each of the $2n$ row and column sums equal to $n$), can be additively decomposed into two other matrices, $B$ and $C$, such that $B$ has row and column sumsets both equal to $\{1, 2,... n\}$, and $C$ has row and column sumsets both equal to $\{0, 1,... n-1\}$. The problem can also be formulated in terms of bipartite graphs. In this paper we use probabilistic methods to resolve this conjecture.
We pose a natural generalization to the well-studied and difficult no-three-in-a-line problem: How many points can be chosen on an $n \times n$ grid such that no three of them form an angle of $\theta$? In this paper, we classify which angles yield nontrivial problems, noting that some angles appear in surprising configurations on the grid. We prove a lower bound of $2n$ points for angles $\theta$ such that $135^\circ \leq \theta < 180^\circ$, and further explore the case $\theta = 135^\circ$, utilizing geometric properties of the grid to prove an upper bound of $3n - 2$ points. Lastly, we generalize the proof strategy used in proving the upper bound for $\theta = 135^\circ$ to provide a general upper bound for all angles.
Let $\pi_n$ be a uniformly chosen random permutation on $[n]$. Using an analysis of the probability that two overlapping consecutive $k$-permutations are order isomorphic, the authors of a recent paper showed that the expected number of distinct consecutive patterns of all lengths $k\in\{1,2,\ldots,n\}$ in $\pi_n$ is $\frac{n^2}{2}(1-o(1))$ as $n\to\infty$. This exhibited the fact that random permutations pack consecutive patterns near-perfectly. We use entirely different methods, namely the Stein-Chen method of Poisson approximation, to reprove and slightly improve their result.
Let $π_n$ be a uniformly chosen random permutation on $[n]$. Using an analysis of the probability that two overlapping consecutive $k$-permutations are order isomorphic, we show that the expected number of distinct consecutive patterns in $π_n$ is $\frac{n^2}{2}(1-o(1))$. This exhibits the fact that random permutations pack consecutive patterns near-perfectly.
Using standard methods (due to Janson, Stein-Chen, and Talagrand) from probabilistic combinatorics, we explore the following general theme: As one progresses from each member of a family of objects ${\cal A}$ being "covered" by at most one object in a random collection ${\cal C}$, to being covered at most $λ$ times, to being covered at least once, to being covered at least $λ$ times, a hierarchy of thresholds emerge. We will then see how such results vary according to the context, and level of dependence introduced. Examples will be from extremal set theory, combinatorics, and additive number theory.
A connected digraph in which the in-degree of any vertex equals its out-degree is Eulerian; this baseline result is used as the basis of existence proofs for universal cycles (also known as ucycles or generalized deBruijn cycles or U-cycles) of several combinatorial objects. The existence of ucycles is often dependent on the specific representation that we use for the combinatorial objects. For example, should we represent the subset $\{2,5\}$ of $\{1,2,3,4,5\}$ as "25" in a linear string? Is the representation "52" acceptable? Or it it tactically advantageous (and acceptable) to go with $\{0,1,0,0,1\}$? In this paper, we represent combinatorial objects as graphs, as in \cite{bks}, and exhibit the flexibility and power of this representation to produce {\it graph universal cycles}, or {\it Gucycles}, for $k$-subsets of an $n$-set; permutations (and classes of permutations) of $[n]=\{1,2,\ldots,n\}$, and partitions of an $n$-set, thus revisiting the classes first studied in \cite{cdg}. Under this graphical scheme, we will represent $\{2,5\}$ as the subgraph $A$ of $C_5$ with edge set consisting of $\{2,3\}$ and $\{5,1\}$, namely the "second" and "fifth" edges in $C_5$. Permutations are represented via their permutation graphs, and set partitions through disjoint unions of complete graphs.
Mathematicians have traditionally been a select group of academics that produce high-impact ideas allowing substantial results in several fields of science. Throughout the past 35 years, undergraduates enrolling in mathematics or statistics have represented a nearly constant rate of approximately 1% of bachelor degrees awarded in the United States. Even within STEM majors, mathematics or statistics only constitute about 6% of undergraduate degrees awarded nationally. However, the need for STEM professionals continues to grow and the list of needed occupational skills rests heavily in foundational concepts of mathematical modeling curricula, where the interplay of data, computer simulation and underlying theoretical frameworks takes center stage. It is not viable to expect a majority of these STEM undergraduates to pursue a double-major that includes mathematics. Here we present our solution, some early results of implementation, and a vision for possible nationwide adoption.
Covering arrays for words of length $t$ over a $d$ letter alphabet are $k \times n$ arrays with entries from the alphabet so that for each choice of $t$ columns, each of the $d^t$ $t$-letter words appears at least once among the rows of the selected columns. We study two schemes in which all words are not considered to be different. In the first case words are equivalent if they induce the same partition of a $t$ element set. In the second case, words of the same weight are equivalent. In both cases we produce logarithmic upper bounds on the minimum size $k=k(n)$ of a covering array. Definitive results for $t=2,3,4$, as well as general results, are provided.
A connected digraph in which the in-degree of any vertex equals its out-degree is Eulerian, this baseline result is used as the basis of existence proofs for universal cycles (also known as generalized deBruijn cycles or U-cycles) of several combinatorial objects. We extend the body of known results by presenting new results on the existence of universal cycles of monotone, "augmented onto", and Lipschitz functions in addition to universal cycles of certain types of lattice paths and random walks.
A set $\mathcal{A}$ is said to be an additive $h$-basis if each element in $\{0,1,\ldots,hn\}$ can be written as an $h$-sum of elements of $\mathcal{A}$ in {\it at least} one way. We seek multiple representations as $h$-sums, and, in this paper we make a start by restricting ourselves to $h=2$. We say that $\mathcal{A}$ is said to be a truncated $(α,2,g)$ additive basis if each $j\in[αn, (2-α)n]$ can be represented as a $2$-sum of elements of $\mathcal{A}$ in at least $g$ ways. In this paper, we provide sharp asymptotics for the event that a randomly selected set is a truncated $(α,2,g)$ additive basis with high or low probability.
When considering binary strings, it's natural to wonder how many distinct subsequences might exist in a given string. Given that there is an existing algorithm which provides a straightforward way to compute the number of distinct subsequences in a fixed string, we might next be interested in the expected number of distinct subsequences in random strings. This expected value is already known for random binary strings where each letter in the string is, independently, equally likely to be a 1 or a 0. We generalize this result to random strings where the letter 1 appears independently with probability $\alpha \in [0,1]$. Also, we make some progress in the case of random strings from an arbitrary alphabet as well as when the string is generated by a two-state Markov chain.
A {\it superpattern} is a string of characters of length $n$ that contains as a subsequence, and in a sense that depends on the context, all the smaller strings of length $k$ in a certain class. We prove structural and probabilistic results on superpatterns for {\em preferential arrangements}, including (i) a theorem that demonstrates that a string is a superpattern for all preferential arrangements if and only if it is a superpattern for all permutations; and (ii) a result that is reminiscent of a still unresolved conjecture of Alon on the smallest permutation on $[n]$ that contains all $k$-permutations with high probability.
There exists a significant body of work on determining the acquisition number $a_t(G)$ of various graphs when the vertices of those graphs are each initially assigned a unit weight. We determine properties of the acquisition number of the path, star, complete, complete bipartite, cycle, and wheel graphs for variations on this initial weighting scheme, with the majority of our work focusing on the expected acquisition number of randomly weighted graphs. In particular, we bound the expected acquisition number $E(a_t(P_n))$ of the $n$-path when $n$ distinguishable "units" of integral weight, or chips, are randomly distributed across its vertices between $0.242n$ and $0.375n$. With computer support, we improve it by showing that $E(a_t(P_n))$ lies between $0.29523n$ and $0.29576n$. We then use subadditivity to show that the limiting ratio $\lim E(a_t(P_n))/n$ exists, and simulations reveal more exactly what the limiting value equals. The Hoeffding-Azuma inequality is used to prove that the acquisition number is tightly concentrated around its expected value. Additionally, in a different context, we offer a non-optimal acquisition protocol algorithm for the randomly weighted path and exactly compute the expected size of the resultant residual set.
Seymour's distance two conjecture states that in any digraph there exists a vertex (a "Seymour vertex") that has at least as many neighbors at distance two as it does at distance one. We explore the validity of probabilistic statements along lines suggested by Seymour's conjecture, proving that almost surely there are a "large" number of Seymour vertices in random tournaments and "even more" in general random digraphs.
We study universal cycles of the set ${\cal P}(n,k)$ of $k$-partitions of the set $[n]:=\{1,2,\ldots,n\}$ and prove that the transition digraph associated with ${\cal P}(n,k)$ is Eulerian. But this does not imply that universal cycles (or ucycles) exist, since vertices represent equivalence classes of partitions! We use this result to prove, however, that ucycles of ${\cal P}(n,k)$ exist for all $n \geq 3$ when $k=2$. We reprove that they exist for odd $n$ when $k = n-1$ and that they do not exist for even $n$ when $k = n-1$. An infinite family of $(n,k)$ for which ucycles do not exist is shown to be those pairs for which $S(n-2, k-2)$ is odd ($3 \leq k < n-1$). We also show that there exist universal cycles of partitions of $[n]$ into $k$ subsets of distinct sizes when $k$ is sufficiently smaller than $n$, and therefore that there exist universal packings of the partitions in ${\cal P}(n,k)$. An analogous result for coverings completes the investigation.
We discuss results dealing with universal cycles (u-cycles) and $s$-overlap cycles, and contribute to the body of those results by proving existence of universal cycles of naturally labeled posets (NL posets), $s$-overlap cycles of words of weight $k$, and juggling patterns. The result on posets is, to the best of our knowledge, the first demonstration of the existence of a u-cycle whose length is unknown.