Asymptotic distribution of fixed points of pattern-avoiding involutions

For a variety of pattern-avoiding classes, we describe the limiting distribution for the number of fixed points for involutions chosen uniformly at random from that class. In particular we consider monotone patterns of arbitrary length as well as all patterns of length 3. For monotone patterns we utilize the connection with standard Young tableaux with at most $k$ rows and involutions avoiding a monotone pattern of length $k$. For every pattern of length 3 we give the bivariate generating function with respect to fixed points for the involutions that avoid that pattern, and where applicable apply tools from analytic combinatorics to extract information about the limiting distribution from the generating function. Many well-known distributions appear.Comment: 16 page

A Hybrid of Darboux's Method and Singularity Analysis in Combinatorial Asymptotics

A ``hybrid method'', dedicated to asymptotic coefficient extraction in combinatorial generating functions, is presented, which combines Darboux's method and singularity analysis theory. This hybrid method applies to functions that remain of moderate growth near the unit circle and satisfy suitable smoothness assumptions--this, even in the case when the unit circle is a natural boundary. A prime application is to coefficients of several types of infinite product generating functions, for which full asymptotic expansions (involving periodic fluctuations at higher orders) can be derived. Examples relative to permutations, trees, and polynomials over finite fields are treated in this way.Comment: 31 page

On the Spectrum of the Derangement Graph

We derive several interesting formulae for the eigenvalues of the derangement graph and use them to settle affirmatively a conjecture of Ku regarding the least eigenvalue

Real Zeros and Partitions without singleton blocks

We prove that the generating polynomials of partitions of an $n$-element set into non-singleton blocks, counted by the number of blocks, have real roots only and we study the asymptotic behavior of the leftmost roots. We apply this information to find the most likely number of blocks.Comment: 16 page

Binomial Eulerian polynomials for colored permutations

Binomial Eulerian polynomials first appeared in work of Postnikov, Reiner and Williams on the face enumeration of generalized permutohedra. They are $\gamma$-positive (in particular, palindromic and unimodal) polynomials which can be interpreted as $h$-polynomials of certain flag simplicial polytopes and which admit interesting Schur $\gamma$-positive symmetric function generalizations. This paper introduces analogues of these polynomials for $r$-colored permutations with similar properties and uncovers some new instances of equivariant $\gamma$-positivity in geometric combinatorics.Comment: Final version; minor change

Combinatorics of patience sorting piles

Despite having been introduced in 1962 by C.L. Mallows, the combinatorial algorithm Patience Sorting is only now beginning to receive significant attention due to such recent deep results as the Baik-Deift-Johansson Theorem that connect it to fields including Probabilistic Combinatorics and Random Matrix Theory. The aim of this work is to develop some of the more basic combinatorics of the Patience Sorting Algorithm. In particular, we exploit the similarities between Patience Sorting and the Schensted Insertion Algorithm in order to do things that include defining an analog of the Knuth relations and extending Patience Sorting to a bijection between permutations and certain pairs of set partitions. As an application of these constructions we characterize and enumerate the set S_n(3-\bar{1}-42) of permutations that avoid the generalized permutation pattern 2-31 unless it is part of the generalized pattern 3-1-42.Comment: 19 pages, LaTeX; uses pstricks; view PS, not DVI; use dvips + ps2pdf, not dvi2pdf; part of FPSAC'05 proceedings; v3: final journal version, revised Section 3.