Counting Descents Awesome Math 2011

We wish to count the number of ways to arrange the integers in the set
[n] = {1, 2, 3, . . . , n} so that they are neither ascending nor descending. For
example, consider the table below showing three orderings of the integers in
the set [5]: 12345 has 4 ascents and no descents; 24135 has 3 ascents and 1
descents; and 14253 has 2 of each.
We use the symbol H45 to denote the set of all orderings of [5] with 4
descents. Of course, |H45 | denotes the number of such permutations. More
generally, Hkn denotes the set of all permutations of [n] with exactly k de-
scents. Our goal is to compute Hkn for specific values of n and k.
Part I

1. How many ways are there to order the set [3] in ascending order? That
is, compute |H03 |.
Also compute |H23 |.
2. The ordering [132] of [3] = {1, 2, 3} is an ordering that has one descent.
List the other three orderings of [3] that have one descent. So, from
this question we know |H13 | = 4.
Part II
Now consider the set [4] = {1, 2, 3, 4}. We will now outline two ways
to count the number of orderings of this set that are neither ascending
nor descending.
3. How many orderings are there of this set? Note that |H04 | = 1 and
|H34 | = 1. Prove that |H14 | = |H24 | by finding a one-to-one correspon-
dence between the sets H14 and |H24 |.
Here is a second method where we use information about the kinds of
orderings of [3] to gain information about orderings of [4]:
4. Recall that H13 = 4 and note that 132 is an ordering with one descent.
Explain why there are two ways the digit 4 can be inserted into this
ordering to obtain an ordering to obtain an ordering of [4] with exactly
one descent.
5. Given any member of H13 , show that there are exactly two ways to
insert the number 4 to result in a member of H14 .
6. In how many ways can 4 be inserted into the ordering 123 to obtain an
ordering that has one descent?

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Counting Descents Awesome Math 2011

Part III

7. Build a recurrence relation that describes |H1n | from |H1n−1 |.

8. More generally, explain how the number |Hkn | can be computed as a

n−1
sum of multiples of |Hk−1 | and |Hkn−1 |.

9. In this problem we focus on the sets with one descent, H1n . Note that
H17 has 120 elements. Suppose these permutations are thought of as
numbers, and arranged in order from smallest to largest.

(a) What permutation is in the position 60?

(b) What permutation is in the position 90?
(c) Let Gn = 2n − n − 1. Then G1 = 0, G2 = 1, G3 = 23 − 4 = 4, . . ..
Prove that |H1n | = Gn for all n ≥ 1.

10. Find a relation that describes each row in terms of the row above it.

11. It follows from the recursive relation and the result in 9c that |H19 | =
29 −10 = 512 −10 = 502. Give a combinatorial argument for this fact.