A079884 Number of comparisons required to create all permutations of n distinct elements using the "streamlined" version of Algorithm L (lexicographic permutation generation) from Knuth's The Art of Computer Programming, Vol. 4, chapter 7.2.1.2.

11, 54, 285, 1731, 12145, 97196, 874809, 8748145, 96229661, 1154756010, 15011828221, 210165595199, 3152483928105, 50439742849816, 857475628447025, 15434561312046621, 293256664928885989, 5865133298577719990, 123167799270132120021, 2709691583942906640715, 62322906430686852736721

Offset: 3

Author

Hugo Pfoertner, Jan 12 2003

Keywords

• easy
• nonn

Comments

The method generates all permutations in lexicographic order. It is described in the answer to Exercise 1, Section 7.2.1.2 of Knuth's The Art of Computer Programming Vol. 4. The description is based on the Algol procedure NEXTPERM by J.P.N.Phillips. The operation counts were determined with a FORTRAN subroutine LPG. To create all permutations of n distinct elements the number of comparisons between the array elements approaches 2.410756*n! for large n (e.g. n>8).

Examples

			The "streamlined" permutation algorithm L' needs fewer comparisons a(n) than the original Algorithm L, for which the number of required comparisons between the elements to be permuted is given by A038156(n) for step L2 and A038155(n) for step L3. A038156(3)+A038155(3)=9+6=15 > a(3)=11 A038156(4)+A038155(4)=40+30=70 > a(4)=54 A038156(10)+A038155(10)=6235300+4932045=11167345 > a(10)=8748145.
		

References

• D. E. Knuth: The Art of Computer Programming, Volume 4, Combinatorial Algorithms, Volume 4A, Enumeration and Backtracking. Pre-fascicle 2B, A draft of section 7.2.1.2: Generating all permutations.
• J. P. N. Phillips: "Algorithm 28, PERMUTATIONS OF THE ELEMENTS OF A VECTOR IN LEXICOGRAPHIC ORDER" The Computer Journal, Volume 10, Issue 3: November 1967. (Algorithms supplement), page 311. See link.

Links

• Hugo Pfoertner, FORTRAN program for lexicographic permutation generation.
• J. P. N. Phillips, Algorithm 28 from Algorithms supplement.

Crossrefs

Partial counts given in A079750, A079753.

Number of index tests: A079885.

Cf. A000217, A000142, A038155, A038156.

Programs

Fortran

Program available at Pfoertner link

PARI

a079884(nmax) = {my(a=vector(nmax)); a[3]=11; for(k=4, nmax, a[k]=k*a[k-1]+k*(k+1)/2); a[3..nmax]} \\ Hugo Pfoertner, Jun 05 2024

Formula

a(3) = 11; a(n) = n*a(n-1) + n*(n+1)/2.

a(n) = 2*n! - 1 + A079750(n) + A079753(n).

For n>=3, a(n)=floor(c*n!-(n-3)/2) where c = lim_{n->oo} a(n)/n! = 2.4107560760219... - Benoit Cloitre; c=3*e/2-5/3 - Guido Dhondt (dhondt(AT)t-online.de), Jan 20 2003