arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to George Beck.
We introduce the subsum polynomial of a partition $\lambda=(\lambda_1, \lambda_2, \ldots, \lambda_k)$ defined by $\mathrm{sp}(\lambda, x)=\prod_{i=1}^k(1+x^{\lambda_i})$. We study the sum of reciprocals of $\mathrm{sp}(\lambda, x)$ over all partitions of $n$. We prove arithmetic properties of related polynomials and offer connections to other combinatorial objects.
Let e_k(x_1,...,x_l) be an elementary symmetric polynomial and let mu = (mu_1,...,mu_l) be an integer partition. Define pre_k(mu) to be the partition whose parts are the summands in the evaluation e_k(mu_1,...,mu_l). The study of such partitions was initiated by Ballantine, Beck, and Merca who showed (among other things) that pre_2 is injective as a map on binary partitions of n. In the present work we derive a host of identities involving the sequences which count the number of parts of a given value in the image of pre_2. These include generating functions, explicit expressions, and formulas for forward differences. We generalize some of these to d-ary partitions and explore connections with color partitions. Our techniques include the use of generating functions and bijections on rooted partitions. We end with a list of conjectures and a direction for future research.
Given a partition $\lambda$, we write $e_j(\lambda)$ for the $j^{\textrm{th}}$ elementary symmetric polynomial $e_j$ evaluated at the parts of $\lambda$ and $e_jp_A(n)$ for the sum of $e_j(\lambda)$ as $\lambda$ ranges over the set of partitions of $n$ with parts in $A$. For $e_jp_A(n)$, we prove analogs of the classical formula for the partition function, $p(n)=1/n \sum_{k=0}^{n-1}\sigma_1(n-k)p(k)$, where $\sigma_1$ is the sum of divisors function. We prove several congruences for $e_2p_4(n)$, the sum of $e_2$ over the set of partitions of $n$ into four parts. Define the function $\textrm{pre}_j(\lambda)$ to be the multiset of monomials in $e_j(\lambda)$, which is itself a partition. If $\mathcal A$ is a set of partitions, we define $\textrm{pre}_j(\mathcal A)$ to be the set of partitions $\textrm{pre}_j(\lambda)$ as $\lambda$ ranges over $\mathcal A$. If $\mathcal P(n)$ is the set of all partitions of $n$, we conjecture that the number of odd partitions in $\textrm{pre}_2(\mathcal P(n))$ is at least the number of distinct partitions. We prove some results about $\textrm{pre}_2(\mathcal B(n))$, where $\mathcal B(n)$ is the set of binary partitions of $n$. We conclude with conjectures on the log-concavity of functions related to $e_jp(n)$, the sum of $e_j(\lambda)$ for all $\lambda\in \mathcal P(n)$.
The Fibonacci numbers are the prototypical example of a recursive sequence, but grow too quickly to enumerate sets of integer partitions. The same is true for the other classical sequences $a(n)$ defined by Fibonacci-like recursions: the tribonacci, Padovan, Pell, Narayana's cows, and Lucas sequences. For each sequence $a(n)$, however, we can define a related sequence $\textrm{sa}(n)$ by defining $\textrm{sa}(n)$ to have the same recurrence and initial conditions as $a(n)$, except that $\textrm{sa}(2n)=\textrm{sa}(n)$. Growth is no longer a problem: for each $n$ we construct recursively a set $\mathcal{SA}(n)$ of partitions of $n$ such that the cardinality of $\mathcal{SA}(n)$ is $\textrm{sa}(n)$. We study the properties of partitions in $\mathcal{SA}(n)$ and in each case we give non-recursive descriptions. We find congruences for $\textrm{sa}(n)$ and also for $\textrm{psa}(n)$, the total number of parts in all partitions in $\mathcal{SA}(n)$.
In this paper, we extend the work of Andrews, Beck and Hopkins by considering partitions and compositions with bounded gaps between each pair of consecutive parts. We show that both their generating functions and two matrices determined by them satisfy certain reciprocal relations.
The Stern polynomials defined by $s(0;x)=0$, $s(1;x)=1$, and for $n\geq 1$ by $s(2n;x)=s(n;x^2)$ and $s(2n+1;x)=x\,s(n;x^2)+s(n+1;x^2)$ have only 0 and 1 as coefficients. We construct an infinite lower-triangular matrix related to the coefficients of the $s(n;x)$ and show that its inverse has only 0, 1, and $-1$ as entries, which we find explicitly. In particular, the sign distribution of the entries is determined by the Prouhet-Thue-Morse sequence. We also obtain other properties of this matrix and a related Pascal-type matrix that involve the Catalan, Stirling, Fibonacci, Fine, and Padovan numbers. Further results involve compositions of integers, the Sierpi\'nski matrix, and identities connecting the Stern and Prouhet-Thue-Morse sequences.