cp's OEIS Frontend

From Peter Bala, Feb 02 2011: (Start)

The Springer numbers were originally considered by Glaisher (see references). They are a type B analog of the zigzag numbers A000111 for the group of signed permutations.

COMBINATORIAL INTERPRETATIONS

Several combinatorial interpretations of the Springer numbers are known:

1) a(n) gives the number of Weyl chambers in the principal Springer cone of the Coxeter group B_n of symmetries of an n dimensional cube. An example can be found in [Arnold - The Calculus of snakes...].

2) Arnold found an alternative combinatorial interpretation of the Springer numbers in terms of snakes. Snakes are a generalization of alternating permutations to the group of signed permutations. A signed permutation is a sequence (x_1,x_2,...,x_n) of integers such that {|x_1|,|x_2|,...,|x_n|} = {1,2,...,n}. They form a group, the hyperoctahedral group of order 2^n*n! = A000165(n), isomorphic to the group of symmetries of the n dimensional cube. A snake of type B_n is a signed permutation (x_1,x_2,...,x_n) such that 0 < x_1 > x_2 < ... x_n. For example, (3,-4,-2,-5,1,-6) is a snake of type B_6. a(n) gives the number of snakes of type B_n [Arnold]. The cases n=2 and n=3 are given in the Example section below.

3) The Springer numbers also arise in the study of the critical points of functions; they count the topological types of odd functions with 2*n critical values [Arnold, Theorem 35].

4) Let F_n be the set of plane rooted forests satisfying the following conditions:

... each root has exactly one child, and each of the other internal nodes has exactly two (ordered) children,

... there are n nodes labeled by integers from 1 to n, but some leaves can be non-labeled (these are called empty leaves), and labels are increasing from each root down to the leaves. Then a(n) equals the cardinality of F_n. An example and proof are given in [Verges, Theorem 4.5].

OTHER APPEARANCES OF THE SPRINGER NUMBERS

1) Hoffman has given a connection between Springer numbers, snakes and the successive derivatives of the secant and tangent functions.

2) For integer N the quarter Gauss sums Q(N) are defined by ... Q(N) := Sum_{r = 0..floor(N/4)} exp(2*Pi*I*r^2/N). In the cases N = 1 (mod 4) and N = 3 (mod 4) an asymptotic series for Q(N) as N -> inf that involves the Springer numbers has been given by Evans et al., see 1.32 and 1.33.

For a sequence of polynomials related to the Springer numbers see A185417. For a table to recursively compute the Springer numbers see A185418.

(End)

Similar to the way in which the signed Euler numbers A122045 are 2^n times the value of the Euler polynomials at 1/2, the generalized signed Euler numbers A188458 can be seen as 2^n times the value of generalized Euler polynomials at 1/2. These are the Swiss-Knife polynomials A153641. A recursive definition of these polynomials is given in A081658. - Peter Luschny, Jul 19 2012

a(n) is the number of reverse-complementary updown permutations of [2n]. For example, the updown permutation 241635 is reverse-complementary because its complement is 536142, which is the same as its reverse, and a(2)=3 counts 1324, 2413, 3412. - David Callan, Nov 29 2012

a(n) = |2^n G(n,1/2;-1)|, a specialization of the Appell sequence of polynomials umbrally formed by G(n,x;t) = (G(.,0;t) + x)^n from the Grassmann polynomials G(n,0;t) of A046802 enumerating the cells of the positive Grassmannians. - Tom Copeland, Oct 14 2015

Named "Springer numbers" after the Dutch mathematician Tonny Albert Springer (1926-2011). - Amiram Eldar, Jun 13 2021

Coefficients are listed in Abramowitz and Stegun order (A036036).

Given an invertible function f(t) analytic about t=0 (or a formal power series) with f(0)=0 and Df(0) not equal to 0, form h(t) = t / f(t) and let h_n denote the coefficient of t^n in h(t).

Lagrange inversion gives the compositional inverse about t=0 as g(t) = Sum_{j>=1} ( t^j * (1/j) * Sum_{permutations s with s(1) + s(2) + ... + s(j) = j - 1} h_s(1) * h_s(2) * ... * h_s(j) ) = t * T(1,1) * h_0 + Sum_{j>=2} ( t^j * Sum_{k=1..(# of partitions for j-1)} T(j,k) * H(j-1,k ; h_0,h_1,...) ), where H(j-1,k ; h_0,h_1,...) is the k-th partition for h_1 through h_(j-1) corresponding to n=j-1 on page 831 of Abramowitz and Stegun (ordered as in A&S) with (h_0)^(j-m)=(h_0)^(n+1-m) appended to each partition subsumed under n and m of A&S.

Denoting h_n by (n') for brevity, to 8th order in t,

g(t) = t * (0')

+ t^2 * [ (0') (1') ]

+ t^3 * [ (0')^2 (2') + (0') (1')^2 ]

+ t^4 * [ (0')^3 (3') + 3 (0')^2 (1') (2') + (0') (1')^3 ]

+ t^5 * [ (0')^4 (4') + 4 (0')^3 (1') (3') + 2 (0')^3 (2')^2 + 6 (0')^2 (1')^2 (2') + (0') (1')^4 ]

+ t^6 * [ (0')^5 (5') + 5 (0')^4 (1') (4') + 5 (0')^4 (2') (3') + 10 (0')^3 (1')^2 (3') + 10 (0')^3 (1') (2')^2 + 10 (0')^2 (1')^3 (2') + (0') (1')^5 ]

+ t^7 * [ (0')^6 (6') + 6 (0')^5 (1') (5') + 6 (0')^5 (2') (4') + 3 (0')^5 (3')^2 + 15 (0')^4 (1')^2 (4') + 30 (0')^4 (1') (2') (3') + 5 (0')^4 (2')^3 + 20 (0')^3 (1')^3 (3') + 30 (0')^3 (1')^2 (2')^2 + 15 (0')^2 (1')^4 (2') + (0') (1')^6]

+ t^8 * [ (0')^7 (7') + 7 (0')^6 (1') (6') + 7 (0')^6 (2') (5') + 7 (0')^6 (3') (4') + 21 (0')^5 (1')^2* (5') + 42 (0')^5 (1') (2') (4') + 21 (0')^5 (1') (3')^2 + 21 (0')^5 (2')^2 (3') + 35 (0')^4 (1')^3 (4') + 105 (0)^4 (1')^2 (2') (3') + 35 (0')^4 (1') (2')^3 + 35 (0')^3 (1')^4 (3') + 70 (0')^3 (1')^3 (2')^2 + 21 (0')^2 (1')^5 (2') + (0') (1')^7 ]

+ ..., where from the formula section, for example, T(8,1',2',...,7') = 7! / ((8 - (1'+ 2' + ... + 7'))! * 1'! * 2'! * ... * 7'!) are the coefficients of the integer partitions (1')^1' (2')^2' ... (7')^7' in the t^8 term.

A125181 is an extended, reordered version of the above sequence, omitting the leading 1, with alternate interpretations.

If the coefficients of partitions with the same exponent for h_0 are summed within rows, A001263 is obtained, omitting the leading 1.

From identification of the elements of the inversion with those on page 25 of the Ardila et al. link, the coefficients of the irregular table enumerate non-crossing partitions on [n]. - Tom Copeland, Oct 13 2014

From Tom Copeland, Oct 28-29 2014: (Start)

Operating with d/d(1') = d/d(h_1) on the n-th partition polynomial Prt(n;h_0,h_1,..,h_n) in square brackets above associated with t^(n+1) generates n * Prt(n-1;h_0,h_1,..,h_(n-1)); therefore, the polynomials are an Appell sequence of polynomials in the indeterminate h_1 when h_0=1 (a special type of Sheffer sequence).

Consequently, umbrally, [Prt(.;1,x,h_2,..) + y]^n = Prt(n;1,x+y,h_2,..); that is, Sum_{k=0..n} binomial(n,k) * Prt(k;1,x,h_2,..) * y^(n-k) = Prt(n;1,x+y,h_2,..).

Or, e^(x*z) * exp[Prt(.;1,0,h_2,..) * z] = exp[Prt(.;1,x,h_2,..) * z]. Then with x = h_1 = -(1/2) * d^2[f(t)]/dt^2 evaluated at t=0, the formal Laplace transform from z to 1/t of this expression generates g(t), the comp. inverse of f(t), when h_0 = 1 = df(t)/dt eval. at t=0.

I.e., t / (1 - t*(x + Prt(.;1,0,h_2,..))) = t / (1 - t*Prt(.;1,x,h_2,..)) = g(t), interpreted umbrally, when h_0 = 1.

(End)

Connections to and between arrays associated to the Catalan (A000108 and A007317), Riordan (A005043), Fibonacci (A000045), and Fine (A000957) numbers and to lattice paths, e.g., the Motzkin, Dyck, and Łukasiewicz, can be made explicit by considering the inverse in x of the o.g.f. of A104597(x,-t), i.e., f(x) = P(Cinv(x),t-1) = Cinv(x) / (1 + (t-1)*Cinv(x)) = x*(1-x) / (1 + (t-1)*x*(1-x)) = (x-x^2) / (1 + (t-1)*(x-x^2)), where Cinv(x) = x*(1-x) is the inverse of C(x) = (1 - sqrt(1-4*x)) / 2, a shifted o.g.f. for the Catalan numbers, and P(x,t) = x / (1+t*x) with inverse Pinv(x,t) = -P(-x,t) = x / (1-t*x). Then h(x,t) = x / f(x,t) = x * (1+(t-1)Cinv(x)) / Cinv(x) = 1 + t*x + x^2 + x^3 + ..., i.e., h_1=t and all other coefficients are 1, so the inverse of f(x,t) in x, which is explicitly in closed form finv(x,t) = C(Pinv(x,t-1)), is given by A091867, whose coefficients are sums of the refined Narayana numbers above obtained by setting h_1=(1')=t in the partition polynomials and all other coefficients to one. The group generators C(x) and P(x,t) and their inverses allow associations to be easily made between these classic number arrays. - Tom Copeland, Nov 03 2014

From Tom Copeland, Nov 10 2014: (Start)

Inverting in x with t a parameter, let F(x;t,n) = x - t*x^(n+1). Then h(x) = x / F(x;t,n) = 1 / (1-t*x^n) = 1 + t*x^n + t^2*x^(2n) + t^3*x^(3n) + ..., so h_k vanishes unless k = m*n with m an integer in which case h_k = t^m.

Finv(x;t,n) = Sum_{j>=0} {binomial((n+1)*j,j) / (n*j + 1)} * t^j * x^(n*j + 1), which gives the Catalan numbers for n=1, and the Fuss-Catalan sequences for n>1 (see A001764, n=2). [Added braces to disambiguate the formula. - N. J. A. Sloane, Oct 20 2015]

This relation reveals properties of the partitions and sums of the coefficients of the array. For n=1, h_k = t^k for all k, implying that the row sums are the Catalan numbers. For n = 2, h_k for k odd vanishes, implying that there are no blocks with only even-indexed h_k on the even-numbered rows and that only the blocks containing only even-sized bins contribute to the odd-row sums giving the Fuss-Catalan numbers for n=2. And so on, for n > 2.

These relations are reflected in any combinatorial structures enumerated by this array and the partitions, such as the noncrossing partitions depicted for a five-element set (a pentagon) in Wikipedia.

(End)

From Tom Copeland, Nov 12 2014: (Start)

An Appell sequence possesses an umbral inverse sequence (cf. A249548). The partition polynomials here, Prt(n;1,h_1,...), are an Appell sequence in the indeterminate h_1=u, so have an e.g.f. exp[Prt(.;1,u,h_2...)*t] = e^(u*t) * exp[Prt(.;1,0,h2,...)*t] with umbral inverses with an e.g.f e^(-u*t) / exp[Prt(.;1,0,h2,...)*t]. This makes contact with the formalism of A133314 (cf. also A049019 and A019538) and the signed, refined face partition polynomials of the permutahedra (or their duals), which determine the reciprocal of exp[Prt(.,0,u,h2...)*t] (cf. A249548) or exp[Prt(.;1,u,h2,...)*t], forming connections among the combinatorics of permutahedra and the noncrossing partitions, Dyck paths and trees (cf. A125181), and many other important structures isomorphic to the partitions of this entry, as well as to formal cumulants through A127671 and algebraic structures of Lie algebras. (Cf. relationship of permutahedra with the Eulerians A008292.)

(End)

From Tom Copeland, Nov 24 2014: (Start)

The n-th row multiplied by n gives the number of terms in the homogeneous symmetric monomials generated by [x(1) + x(2) + ... + x(n+1)]^n under the umbral mapping x(m)^j = h_j, for any m. E.g., [a + b + c]^2 = [a^2 + b^2 + c^2] + 2 * [a*b + a*c + b*c] is mapped to [3 * h_2] + 2 * [3 * h_1^2], and 3 * A134264(3) = 3 *(1,1)= (3,3) the number of summands in the two homogeneous polynomials in the square brackets. For n=3, [a + b + c + d]^3 = [a^3 + b^3 + ...] + 3 [a*b^2 + a*c^2 + ...] + 6 [a*b*c + a*c*d + ...] maps to [4 * h_3] + 3 [12 * h_1 * h_2] + 6 [4 * (h_1)^3], and the number of terms in the brackets is given by 4 * A134264(4) = 4 * (1,3,1) = (4,12,4).

The further reduced expression is 4 h_3 + 36 h_1 h_2 + 24 (h_1)^3 = A248120(4) with h_0 = 1. The general relation is n * A134264(n) = A248120(n) / A036038(n-1) where the arithmetic is performed on the coefficients of matching partitions in each row n.

Abramowitz and Stegun give combinatorial interpretations of A036038 and relations to other number arrays.

This can also be related to repeated umbral composition of Appell sequences and topology with the Bernoulli numbers playing a special role. See the Todd class link.

(End)

These partition polynomials are dubbed the Voiculescu polynomials on page 11 of the He and Jejjala link. - Tom Copeland, Jan 16 2015

See page 5 of the Josuat-Verges et al. reference for a refinement of these partition polynomials into a noncommutative version composed of nondecreasing parking functions. - Tom Copeland, Oct 05 2016

(Per Copeland's Oct 13 2014 comment.) The number of non-crossing set partitions whose block sizes are the parts of the n-th integer partition, where the ordering of integer partitions is first by total, then by length, then lexicographically by the reversed sequence of parts. - Gus Wiseman, Feb 15 2019

With h_0 = 1 and the other h_n replaced by suitably signed partition polynomials of A263633, the refined face partition polynomials for the associahedra of normalized A133437 with a shift in indices are obtained (cf. In the Realm of Shadows). - Tom Copeland, Sep 09 2019

Number of primitive parking functions associated to each partition of n. See Lemma 3.8 on p. 28 of Rattan. - Tom Copeland, Sep 10 2019

With h_n = n + 1, the d_k (A006013) of Table 2, p. 18, of Jong et al. are obtained, counting the n-point correlation functions in a quantum field theory. - Tom Copeland, Dec 25 2019

By inspection of the diagrams on Robert Dickau's website, one can see the relationship between the monomials of this entry and the connectivity of the line segments of the noncrossing partitions. - Tom Copeland, Dec 25 2019

Speicher has examples of the first four inversion partition polynomials on pp. 22 and 23 with his k_n equivalent to h_n = (n') here with h_0 = 1. Identifying z = t, C(z) = t/f(t) = h(t), and M(z) = f^(-1)(t)/t, then statement (3), on p. 43, of Theorem 3.26, C(z M(z)) = M(z), is equivalent to substituting f^(-1)(t) for t in t/f(t), and statement (4), M(z/C(z)) = C(z), to substituting f(t) for t in f^(-1)(t)/t. - Tom Copeland, Dec 08 2021

Given a Laurent series of the form f(z) = 1/z + h_1 + h_2 z + h_3 z^2 + ..., the compositional inverse is f^(-1)(z) = 1/z + Prt(1;1,h_1)/z^2 + Prt(2;1,h_1,h_2)/z^3 + ... = 1/z + h_1/z^2 + (h_1^2 + h_2)/z^3 + (h_1^3 + 3 h_1 h_2 + h_3)/z^4 + (h_1^4 + 6 h_1^2 h_2 + 4 h_1 h_3 + 2 h_2^2 + h_4)/z^5 + ... for which the polynomials in the numerators are the partition polynomials of this entry. For example, this formula applied to the q-expansion of Klein's j-invariant / function with coefficients A000521, related to monstrous moonshine, gives the compositional inverse with the coefficients A091406 (see He and Jejjala). - Tom Copeland, Dec 18 2021

The partition polynomials of A350499 'invert' the polynomials of this entry giving the indeterminates h_n. A multinomial formula for the coefficients of the partition polynomials of this entry, equivalent to the multinomial formula presented in the first four sentences of the formula section below, is presented in the MathOverflow question referenced in A350499. - Tom Copeland, Feb 19 2022

Let Q(m, n) = Sum_(k=0..n-1) (-1)^k * binomial(n, k) * (n-k)^m. Then Q(m,n) is the numerator of the probability P(m,n) = Q(m,n)/n^m of seeing each card at least once if m >= n cards are drawn with replacement from a deck of n cards, written in a two-dimensional array read by antidiagonals with Q(m,m) as first row and Q(m,1) as first column.

The sequence is given as a matrix with the first row containing the cases #draws = size_of_deck. The second row contains #draws = 1 + size_of_deck. If "mn" indicates m cards drawn from a deck with n cards then the locations in the matrix are:

11 22 33 44 55 66 77 ...

21 32 43 54 65 76 87 ...

31 42 53 64 75 86 97 ...

41 52 63 74 85 .. .. ...

read by antidiagonals ->:

11, 22, 21, 33, 32, 31, 44, 43, 42, 41, 55, 54, 53, 52, ....

The probabilities are given by Q(m,n)/n^m:

.(m,n):.....11..22..21..33..32..31..44..43..42..41...55...54..53..52..51

.....Q:......1...2...1...6...6...1..24..36..14...1..120..240.150..30...1

...n^m:......1...4...1..27...8...1.256..81..16...1.3125.1024.243..32...1

%.Success:.100..50.100..22..75.100...9..44..88.100....4...23..62..94.100

P(n,n) = n!/n^n which can be approximated by sqrt(Pi*(2n+1/3))/e^n (Gosper's approximation to n!).

Let P[n] be the set of all n-permutations. Build a superset Q[n] of P[n] composed of n-permutations in which some (possibly all or none) ascents have been designated. An ascent in a permutation s[1]s[2]...s[n] is a pair of consecutive elements s[i],s[i+1] such that s[i] < s[i+1]. As a triangular array read by rows T(n,k) is the number of elements in Q[n] that have exactly k distinguished ascents, n >= 1, 0 <= k <= n-1. Row sums are A000670. E.g.f. is y/(1+y-exp(y*x)). For example, T(3,1)=6 because there are four 3-permutations with one ascent, with these we would also count 1->2 3, and 1 2->3 where exactly one ascent is designated by "->". (After Flajolet and Sedgewick.) - Geoffrey Critzer, Nov 13 2012

Sum_(k=1..n) Q(n, k)*binomial(x, k) = x^n such that Sum_{k=1..n} Q(n, i)*binomial(x+1,i+1) = Sum_{k=1..x} k^n. - David A. Corneth, Feb 17 2014

A141618(n,n-k+1) = a(n,k) * C(n,k-1) / k. - Tom Copeland, Oct 25 2014

See A074909 and above g.f.s below for associations among this array and the Bernoulli polynomials and their umbral compositional inverses. - Tom Copeland, Nov 14 2014

For connections to toric varieties and Eulerian polynomials (in addition to those noted below), see the Dolgachev and Lunts and the Stembridge links in A019538. - Tom Copeland, Dec 31 2015

See A008279 for a relation between the e.g.f.s enumerating the faces of permutahedra (this entry) and stellahedra. - Tom Copeland, Nov 14 2016

From the Hasan and Franco and Hasan papers: The m-permutohedra for m=1,2,3,4 are the line segment, hexagon, truncated octahedron and omnitruncated 5-cell. The first three are well-known from the study of elliptic models, brane tilings and brane brick models. The m+1 torus can be tiled by a single (m+2)-permutohedron. Relations to toric Calabi-Yau Kahler manifolds are also discussed. - Tom Copeland, May 14 2020

Row sums have e.g.f. exp(x)*sech(x) (signed version of A009006). Inverse of masked Pascal triangle A119467. Transforms the sequence with e.g.f. g(x) to the sequence with e.g.f. g(x)*sech(x).

Coefficients of the Swiss-Knife polynomials for the computation of Euler, tangent and Bernoulli number (triangle read by rows). Another version in A153641. - Philippe Deléham, Oct 26 2013

Relations to Green functions and raising/creation and lowering/annihilation/destruction operators are presented in Hodges and Sukumar and in Copeland's discussion of this sequence and 2020 pdf. - Tom Copeland, Jul 24 2020

Triangle is second binomial transform of A008290. - Paul Barry, May 25 2006

Ignoring signs, n-th row is the coefficient list of the permanental polynomial of the n X n matrix with 2's along the main diagonal and 1's everywhere else (see Mathematica code below). - John M. Campbell, Jul 02 2012

Row n gives the coefficients in the expansion of (1/4)*(1 + x)^n + (9/4)*2^n*(1 - x)^(1 + n)*Phi(x, -n, 1/2) - (3/2)*(1 - x)^(n + 2)*Phi(x, -1 - n, 1), where Phi is the Lerch transcendant.

Old name was: Triangle T(n,k), 0<=k<=n, read by rows given by [1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4,5,5,...] DELTA [1,0,2,0,3,0,4,0,5,0,6,0,...] where DELTA is the operator defined in A084938.

Vandervelde (2018) refers to this as the Worpitzky number triangle - N. J. A. Sloane, Mar 27 2018 [Named after the German mathematician Julius Daniel Theodor Worpitzky (1835-1895). - Amiram Eldar, Jun 24 2021]

Triangle given by A123125*A007318 (as infinite lower triangular matrices), A123125 = Euler's triangle, A007318 = Pascal's triangle; A007318*A123125 gives A046802.

Taylor coefficients of Eulerian polynomials centered at 1. - Louis Zulli, Nov 28 2015

A signed refinement is A263634. - Tom Copeland, Nov 14 2016

With all offsets 0, let A_n(x;y) = (y + E.(x))^n, an Appell sequence in y where E.(x)^k = E_k(x) are the Eulerian polynomials of A123125. Then the row polynomials of A046802 (the h-polynomials of the stellahedra) are given by h_n(x) = A_n(x;1); the row polynomials of A248727 (the face polynomials of the stellahedra), by f_n(x) = A_n(1 + x;1); the Swiss-knife polynomials of A119879, by Sw_n(x) = A_n(-1;1 + x); and the row polynomials of this entry (the Worpitsky triangle, A130850), by w_n(x) = A(1 + x;0). Other specializations of A_n(x;y) give A090582 (the f-polynomials of the permutohedra, cf. also A019538) and A028246 (another version of the Worpitsky triangle). - Tom Copeland, Jan 24 2020

The general case corresponding to other diagonals of A046802 can be derived from A046802(m,n) = Sum C(m-1,n-1) * A008292(m-r,n-1).