Permutation Statistics and Pattern Avoidance in Involutions

Dokos et. al. studied the distribution of two statistics over permutations $\mathfrak{S}_n$ of $\{1,2,\dots, n\}$ that avoid one or more length three patterns. A permutation $\sigma\in\mathfrak{S}_n$ contains a pattern $\pi\in\mathfrak{S}_k$ if $\sigma$ has a subsequence of length $k$ whose letters are in the same relative order as $\pi$. This paper is a comprehensive study of the same two statistics, number of inversions and major index, over involutions $\mathcal{I}_n=\{\sigma\in\mathfrak{S}_n:\sigma^2=\text{id}\}$ that avoid one or more length three patterns. The equalities between the generating functions are consequently determined via symmetries and we conjecture this happens for longer patterns as well. We describe the generating functions for each set of patterns including the fixed-point-free case, $\sigma(i)\neq i$ for all $i.$ Notating $M\mathcal{I}_n(\pi)$ as the generating function for the major index over the avoidance class of involutions associated to $\pi$ we particularly present an independent determination that $M\mathcal{I}_n(321)$ is the $q$-analogue for the central binomial coefficient that first appeared in a paper by Barnebei, Bonetti, Elizalde and Silimbani. A shorter proof is presented that establishes a connection to core, a central topic in poset theory. We also prove that $M\mathcal{I}_n(132;q)=q^{\binom{n}{2}}M\mathcal{I}_n(213;q^{-1})$ and that the same symmetry holds for the larger class of permutations conjecturing that the same equality is true for involutions and permutations given any pair of patterns of the form $k(k-1)\dots 1(k+1)(k+2)\dots m$ and $12\dots (k-1) m(m-1)\dots k$, $k\leq m$

Permutation patterns and statistics

Let S_n denote the symmetric group of all permutations of the set {1, 2, ...,n} and let S = \cup_{n\ge0} S_n. If Pi is a set of permutations, then we let Av_n(Pi) be the set of permutations in S_n which avoid every permutation of Pi in the sense of pattern avoidance. One of the celebrated notions in pattern theory is that of Wilf-equivalence, where Pi and Pi' are Wilf equivalent if #Av_n(Pi)=#Av_n(Pi') for all n\ge0. In a recent paper, Sagan and Savage proposed studying a q-analogue of this concept defined as follows. Suppose st:S->N is a permutation statistic where N represents the nonnegative integers. Consider the corresponding generating function, F_n^{st}(Pi;q) = sum_{sigma in Av_n(Pi)} q^{st sigma}, and call Pi,Pi' st-Wilf equivalent if F_n^{st}(Pi;q)=F_n^{st}(Pi';q) for all n\ge0. We present the first in-depth study of this concept for the inv and maj statistics. In particular, we determine all inv- and maj-Wilf equivalences for any Pi containd in S_3. This leads us to consider various q-analogues of the Catalan numbers, Fibonacci numbers, triangular numbers, and powers of two. Our proof techniques use lattice paths, integer partitions, and Foata's fundamental bijection. We also answer a question about Mahonian pairs raised in the Sagan-Savage article.Comment: 28 pages, 5 figures, tightened up the exposition, noted that some of the conjectures have been prove

Block patterns in Stirling permutations

We introduce and study a new notion of patterns in Stirling and $k$-Stirling permutations, which we call block patterns. We prove a general result which allows us to compute generating functions for the occurrences of various block patterns in terms of generating functions for the occurrences of patterns in permutations. This result yields a number of applications involving, among other things, Wilf equivalence of block patterns and a new interpretation of Bessel polynomials. We also show how to interpret our results for a certain class of labeled trees, which are in bijection with Stirling permutations

Pattern avoidance in matchings and partitions

Extending the notion of pattern avoidance in permutations, we study matchings and set partitions whose arc diagram representation avoids a given configuration of three arcs. These configurations, which generalize 3-crossings and 3-nestings, have an interpretation, in the case of matchings, in terms of patterns in full rook placements on Ferrers boards. We enumerate 312-avoiding matchings and partitions, obtaining algebraic generating functions, in contrast with the known D-finite generating functions for the 321-avoiding (i.e., 3-noncrossing) case. Our approach also provides a more direct proof of a formula of B\'ona for the number of 1342-avoiding permutations. Additionally, we give a bijection proving the shape-Wilf-equivalence of the patterns 321 and 213 which greatly simplifies existing proofs by Backelin--West--Xin and Jel\'{\i}nek, and provides an extension of work of Gouyou-Beauchamps for matchings with fixed points. Finally, we classify pairs of patterns of length 3 according to shape-Wilf-equivalence, and enumerate matchings and partitions avoiding a pair in most of the resulting equivalence classes.Comment: 34 pages, 12 Figures, 5 Table

Pattern avoidance for set partitions \`a la Klazar

In 2000 Klazar introduced a new notion of pattern avoidance in the context of set partitions of $[n]=\{1,\ldots, n\}$. The purpose of the present paper is to undertake a study of the concept of Wilf-equivalence based on Klazar's notion. We determine all Wilf-equivalences for partitions with exactly two blocks, one of which is a singleton block, and we conjecture that, for $n\geq 4$, these are all the Wilf-equivalences except for those arising from complementation. If $\tau$ is a partition of $[k]$ and $\Pi_n(\tau)$ denotes the set of all partitions of $[n]$ that avoid $\tau$, we establish inequalities between $|\Pi_n(\tau_1)|$ and $|\Pi_n(\tau_2)|$ for several choices of $\tau_1$ and $\tau_2$, and we prove that if $\tau_2$ is the partition of $[k]$ with only one block, then $|\Pi_n(\tau_1)| k$ and all partitions $\tau_1$ of $[k]$ with exactly two blocks. We conjecture that this result holds for all partitions $\tau_1$ of $[k]$. Finally, we enumerate $\Pi_n(\tau)$ for all partitions $\tau$ of $[4]$.Comment: 21 page

Egge triples and unbalanced Wilf-equivalence

Egge conjectured that permutations avoiding the set of patterns $\{2143,3142,\tau\}$, where $\tau\in\{246135,254613,263514,524361,546132\}$, are enumerated by the large Schr\"oder numbers. Consequently, $\{2143,3142,\tau\}$ with $\tau$ as above is Wilf-equivalent to the set of patterns $\{2413,3142\}$. Burstein and Pantone proved the case of $\tau=246135$. We prove the remaining four cases. As a byproduct of our proof, we also enumerate the case $\tau=4132$.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures (published version

A general theory of Wilf-equivalence for Catalan structures

The existence of apparently coincidental equalities (also called Wilf-equivalences) between the enumeration sequences, or generating functions, of various hereditary classes of combinatorial structures has attracted significant interest. We investigate such coincidences among non-crossing matchings and a variety of other Catalan structures including Dyck paths, 231-avoiding permutations and plane forests. In particular we consider principal classes defined by not containing an occurrence of a single given structure. An easily computed equivalence relation among structures is described such that if two structures are equivalent then the associated principal classes have the same enumeration sequence. We give an asymptotic estimate of the number of equivalence classes of this relation among structures of a given size and show that it is exponentially smaller than the corresponding Catalan number. In other words these "coincidental" equalities are in fact very common among principal classes. Our results also allow us to prove, in a unified and bijective manner, several known Wilf-equivalences from the literature.Comment: 24page

Matchings Avoiding Partial Patterns

We show that matchings avoiding certain partial patterns are counted by the 3-Catalan numbers. We give a characterization of 12312-avoiding matchings in terms of restrictions on the corresponding oscillating tableaux. We also find a bijection between Schr\"oder paths without peaks at level one and matchings avoiding both patterns 12312 and 121323. Such objects are counted by the super-Catalan numbers or the little Schr\"{o}der numbers. A refinement of the super-Catalan numbers is obtained by fixing the number of crossings in the matchings. In the sense of Wilf-equivalence, we find that the patterns 12132, 12123, 12321, 12231, 12213 are equivalent to 12312.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figure

Refined Wilf-equivalences by Comtet statistics

We launch a systematic study of the refined Wilf-equivalences by the statistics $\mathsf{comp}$ and $\mathsf{iar}$, where $\mathsf{comp}(\pi)$ and $\mathsf{iar}(\pi)$ are the number of components and the length of the initial ascending run of a permutation $\pi$, respectively. As Comtet was the first one to consider the statistic $\mathsf{comp}$ in his book {\em Analyse combinatoire}, any statistic equidistributed with $\mathsf{comp}$ over a class of permutations is called by us a {\em Comtet statistic} over such class. This work is motivated by a triple equidistribution result of Rubey on $321$-avoiding permutations, and a recent result of the first and third authors that $\mathsf{iar}$ is a Comtet statistic over separable permutations. Some highlights of our results are: (1) Bijective proofs of the symmetry of the double Comtet distribution $(\mathsf{comp},\mathsf{iar})$ over several Catalan and Schr\"oder classes, preserving the values of the left-to-right maxima. (2) A complete classification of $\mathsf{comp}$- and $\mathsf{iar}$-Wilf-equivalences for length $3$ patterns and pairs of length $3$ patterns. Calculations of the $(\mathsf{des},\mathsf{iar},\mathsf{comp})$ generating functions over these pattern avoiding classes and separable permutations. (3) A further refinement by the Comtet statistic $\mathsf{iar}$, of Wang's recent descent-double descent-Wilf equivalence between separable permutations and $(2413,4213)$-avoiding permutations.Comment: 39 pages, 2 tables, 2 figures. Comments are welcom

kk-arrangements, statistics and patterns

The $k$-arrangements are permutations whose fixed points are $k$-colored. We prove enumerative results related to statistics and patterns on $k$-arrangements, confirming several conjectures by Blitvi\'c and Steingr\'imsson. In particular, one of their conjectures regarding the equdistribution of the number of descents over the derangement form and the permutation form of $k$-arrangements is strengthened in two interesting ways. Moreover, as one application of the so-called Decrease Value Theorem, we calculate the generating function for a symmetric pair of Eulerian statistics over permutations arising in our study.Comment: 25 pages, 1 figure and 1 tabl