Combinatorics

Permutations are represented in gp as t_VECSMALLs and can be input directly as Vecsmall([1,3,2,4]) or obtained from the iterator forperm:

  ? forperm(3, p, print(p))  \\ iterate through S3
  Vecsmall([1, 2, 3])
  Vecsmall([1, 3, 2])
  Vecsmall([2, 1, 3])
  Vecsmall([2, 3, 1])
  Vecsmall([3, 1, 2])
  Vecsmall([3, 2, 1])

Permutations can be multiplied via *, raised to some power using ^, inverted using ^(-1), conjugated as p * q * p^(-1). Their order and signature are available via permorder and permsign.


bernfrac(n)

Bernoulli number Bn, where B0 = 1, B1 = -1/2, B2 = 1/6,..., expressed as a rational number. The argument n should be a nonnegative integer. The function bervec creates a cache of successive Bernoulli numbers which greatly speeds up later calls to bernfrac:

  ? bernfrac(20000);
  time = 107 ms.
  ? bernvec(10000); \\ cache B0, B2, ..., B_20000
  time = 35,957 ms.
  ? bernfrac(20000); \\ now instantaneous
  ?

The library syntax is GEN bernfrac(long n).


bernpol(n, {a = 'x})

Bernoulli polynomial Bn evaluated at a ('x by default).

  ? bernpol(1)
  %1 = x - 1/2
  ? bernpol(3)
  %2 = x^3 - 3/2*x^2 + 1/2*x
  ? bernpol(3, 2)
  %3 = 3

Note that evaluation at a is only provided for convenience and uniformity of interface: contrary to, e.g., polcyclo, computing the evaluation is no faster than

  B = bernpol(k); subst(B, 'x, a)

and the latter allows to reuse B to evaluate Bk at different values.

The library syntax is GEN bernpol_eval(long n, GEN a = NULL). The variant GEN bernpol(long k, long v) returns the k-the Bernoulli polynomial in variable v.


bernreal(n)

Bernoulli number Bn, as bernfrac, but Bn is returned as a real number (with the current precision). The argument n should be a nonnegative integer. The function slows down as the precision increases:

  ? \p1000
  ? bernreal(200000);
  time = 5 ms.
  ? \p10000
  ? bernreal(200000);
  time = 18 ms.
  ? \p100000
  ? bernreal(200000);
  time = 84 ms.

The library syntax is GEN bernreal(long n, long prec).


bernvec(n)

Returns a vector containing, as rational numbers, the Bernoulli numbers B0, B2,..., B2n:

  ? bernvec(5) \\ B0, B2..., B_10
  %1 = [1, 1/6, -1/30, 1/42, -1/30, 5/66]
  ? bernfrac(10)
  %2 = 5/66

This routine uses a lot of memory but is much faster than repeated calls to bernfrac:

  ? forstep(n = 2, 10000, 2, bernfrac(n))
  time = 18,245 ms.
  ? bernvec(5000);
  time = 1,338 ms.

The computed Bernoulli numbers are stored in an incremental cache which makes later calls to bernfrac and bernreal instantaneous in the cache range: re-running the same previous bernfracs after the bernvec call gives:

  ? forstep(n = 2, 10000, 2, bernfrac(n))
  time = 1 ms.

The time and space complexity of this function are Õ(n2); in the feasible range n ≤ 105 (requires about two hours), the practical time complexity is closer to Õ(nlog2 6).

The library syntax is GEN bernvec(long n).


binomial(n, {k})

binomial coefficient binom{n}{k}. Here k must be an integer, but n can be any PARI object. For nonnegative k, binom{n}{k} = (n)k / k! is polynomial in n, where (n)k = n(n-1)...(n-k+1) is the Pochammer symbol.

  ? binomial(4,2)
  %1 = 6
  ? n = 4; vector(n+1, k, binomial(n,k-1))
  %2 = [1, 4, 6, 4, 1]
  ? binomial('x, 2)
  %3 = 1/2*x^2 - 1/2*x

When n is a negative integer and k is negative, we use Daniel Loeb's extension, limt → 1 Γ(n+t) / Γ(k+t) / Γ(n-k+t). (Sets with a negative number of elements, Adv. Math. 91 (1992), no. 1, 64–74. See also https://arxiv.org/abs/1105.3689.) This way the symmetry relation binom{n}{k} = binom{n}{n - k} becomes valid for all integers n and k, and the binomial theorem holds for all complex numbers a, b, n with |b| < |a|: (a + b)n = ∑k ≥ 0 binom{n}{k} an-k bk. Beware that this extension is incompatible with another traditional extension (binom{n}{k} := 0 if k < 0); to enforce the latter, use

    BINOMIAL(n, k) = if (k >= 0, binomial(n, k));

The argument k may be omitted if n is a nonnegative integer; in this case, return the vector with n+1 components whose k+1-th entry is binomial(n,k)

  ? binomial(4)
  %4 = [1, 4, 6, 4, 1]

The library syntax is GEN binomial0(GEN n, GEN k = NULL).


eulerfrac(n)

Euler number En, where E0 = 1, E1 = 0, E2 = -1,..., are integers such that (1)/(cosh t) = ∑n ≥ 0 (En)/(n!) tn. The argument n should be a nonnegative integer.

  ? vector(10,i,eulerfrac(i))
  %1 = [0, -1, 0, 5, 0, -61, 0, 1385, 0, -50521]
  ? eulerfrac(20000);
  ? sizedigit(%))
  %3 = 73416

The library syntax is GEN eulerfrac(long n).


eulerianpol(n, {v = 'x})

Eulerian polynomial An in variable v.

  ? eulerianpol(2)
  %1 = x + 1
  ? eulerianpol(5, 't)
  %2 = t^4 + 26*t^3 + 66*t^2 + 26*t + 1

The library syntax is GEN eulerianpol(long n, long v = -1) where v is a variable number.


eulerpol(n, {v = 'x})

Euler polynomial En in variable v.

  ? eulerpol(1)
  %1 = x - 1/2
  ? eulerpol(3)
  %2 = x^3 - 3/2*x^2 + 1/4

The library syntax is GEN eulerpol(long n, long v = -1) where v is a variable number.


eulerreal(n)

Euler number En, where E0 = 1, E1 = 0, E2 = -1,..., are integers such that (1)/(cosh t) = ∑n ≥ 0 (En)/(n!) tn. The argument n should be a nonnegative integer. Return En as a real number (with the current precision).

  ? sizedigit(eulerfrac(20000))
  %1 = 73416
  ? eulerreal(20000);
  %2 = 9.2736664576330851823546169139003297830 E73414

The library syntax is GEN eulerreal(long n, long prec).


eulervec(n)

Returns a vector containing the nonzero Euler numbers E0, E2,..., E2n:

  ? eulervec(5) \\ E0, E2..., E_10
  %1 = [1, -1, 5, -61, 1385, -50521]
  ? eulerfrac(10)
  %2 = -50521

This routine uses more memory but is faster than repeated calls to eulerfrac:

  ? forstep(n = 2, 8000, 2, eulerfrac(n))
  time = 27,3801ms.
  ? eulervec(4000);
  time = 8,430 ms.

The computed Euler numbers are stored in an incremental cache which makes later calls to eulerfrac and eulerreal instantaneous in the cache range: re-running the same previous eulerfracs after the eulervec call gives:

  ? forstep(n = 2, 10000, 2, eulerfrac(n))
  time = 0 ms.

The library syntax is GEN eulervec(long n).


fibonacci(x)

x-th Fibonacci number.

The library syntax is GEN fibo(long x).


hammingweight(x)

If x is a t_INT, return the binary Hamming weight of |x|. Otherwise x must be of type t_POL, t_VEC, t_COL, t_VECSMALL, or t_MAT and the function returns the number of nonzero coefficients of x.

  ? hammingweight(15)
  %1 = 4
  ? hammingweight(x^100 + 2*x + 1)
  %2 = 3
  ? hammingweight([Mod(1,2), 2, Mod(0,3)])
  %3 = 2
  ? hammingweight(matid(100))
  %4 = 100

The library syntax is long hammingweight(GEN x).


harmonic(n, {r = 1})

Generalized harmonic number of index n ≥ 0 in power r, as a rational number. If r = 1 (or omitted), this is the harmonic number Hn = ∑i = 1n (1)/(i). In general, this is Hn,r = ∑i = 1n (1)/(ir). The function runs in time Õ(r n), essentially linear in the size of the output.

  ? harmonic(0)
  %1 = 0
  ? harmonic(1)
  %2 = 1
  ? harmonic(10)
  %3 = 7381/2520
  ? harmonic(10, 2)
  %4 = 1968329/1270080
  ? harmonic(10, -2)
  %5 = 385

Note that the numerator and denominator are of order exp((r+o(1))n) and this will overflow for large n. To obtain Hn as a floating point number, use Hn = psi(n+1) + Euler.

The library syntax is GEN harmonic0(ulong n, GEN r = NULL). Also available is GEN harmonic(ulong n) for r = 1.


numbpart(n)

Gives the number of unrestricted partitions of n, usually called p(n) in the literature; in other words the number of nonnegative integer solutions to a+2b+3c+.. .= n. n must be of type integer and n < 1015 (with trivial values p(n) = 0 for n < 0 and p(0) = 1). The algorithm uses the Hardy-Ramanujan-Rademacher formula. To explicitly enumerate them, see partitions.

The library syntax is GEN numbpart(GEN n).


numtoperm(n, k)

Generates the k-th permutation (as a row vector of length n) of the numbers 1 to n. The number k is taken modulo n!, i.e. inverse function of permtonum. The numbering used is the standard lexicographic ordering, starting at 0.

The library syntax is GEN numtoperm(long n, GEN k).


partitions(k, {a = k}, {n = k})

Returns the vector of partitions of the integer k as a sum of positive integers (parts); for k < 0, it returns the empty set [], and for k = 0 the trivial partition (no parts). A partition is given by a t_VECSMALL, where parts are sorted in nondecreasing order:

  ? partitions(3)
  %1 = [Vecsmall([3]), Vecsmall([1, 2]), Vecsmall([1, 1, 1])]

correspond to 3, 1+2 and 1+1+1. The number of (unrestricted) partitions of k is given by numbpart:

  ? #partitions(50)
  %1 = 204226
  ? numbpart(50)
  %2 = 204226

Optional parameters n and a are as follows:

* n = nmax (resp. n = [nmin,nmax]) restricts partitions to length less than nmax (resp. length between nmin and nmax), where the length is the number of nonzero entries.

* a = amax (resp. a = [amin,amax]) restricts the parts to integers less than amax (resp. between amin and amax).

  ? partitions(4, 2)  \\ parts bounded by 2
  %1 = [Vecsmall([2, 2]), Vecsmall([1, 1, 2]), Vecsmall([1, 1, 1, 1])]
  ? partitions(4,, 2) \\ at most 2 parts
  %2 = [Vecsmall([4]), Vecsmall([1, 3]), Vecsmall([2, 2])]
  ? partitions(4,[0,3], 2) \\ at most 2 parts
  %3 = [Vecsmall([4]), Vecsmall([1, 3]), Vecsmall([2, 2])]

By default, parts are positive and we remove zero entries unless amin ≤ 0, in which case nmin is ignored and we fix #X = nmax:

  ? partitions(4, [0,3])  \\ parts between 0 and 3
  %1 = [Vecsmall([0, 0, 1, 3]), Vecsmall([0, 0, 2, 2]),\
        Vecsmall([0, 1, 1, 2]), Vecsmall([1, 1, 1, 1])]
  ? partitions(1, [0,3], [2,4]) \\ no partition with 2 to 4 nonzero parts
  %2 = []

The library syntax is GEN partitions(long k, GEN a = NULL, GEN n = NULL).


permcycles(x)

Given a permutation x on n elements, return the orbits of {1,...,n} under the action of x as cycles.

  ? permcycles(Vecsmall([1,2,3]))
  %1 = [Vecsmall([1]),Vecsmall([2]),Vecsmall([3])]
  ? permcycles(Vecsmall([2,3,1]))
  %2 = [Vecsmall([1,2,3])]
  ? permcycles(Vecsmall([2,1,3]))
  %3 = [Vecsmall([1,2]),Vecsmall([3])]

The library syntax is GEN permcycles(GEN x).


permorder(x)

Given a permutation x on n elements, return its order.

  ? p = Vecsmall([3,1,4,2,5]);
  ? p^2
  %2 = Vecsmall([4,3,2,1,5])
  ? p^4
  %3 = Vecsmall([1,2,3,4,5])
  ? permorder(p)
  %4 = 4

The library syntax is GEN permorder(GEN x).


permsign(x)

Given a permutation x on n elements, return its signature.

  ? p = Vecsmall([3,1,4,2,5]);
  ? permsign(p)
  %2 = -1
  ? permsign(p^2)
  %3 = 1

The library syntax is long permsign(GEN x).


permtonum(x)

Given a permutation x on n elements, gives the number k such that x = numtoperm(n,k), i.e. inverse function of numtoperm. The numbering used is the standard lexicographic ordering, starting at 0.

The library syntax is GEN permtonum(GEN x).


stirling(n, k, {flag = 1})

Stirling number of the first kind s(n,k) (flag = 1, default) or of the second kind S(n,k) (flag = 2), where n, k are nonnegative integers. The former is (-1)n-k times the number of permutations of n symbols with exactly k cycles; the latter is the number of ways of partitioning a set of n elements into k nonempty subsets. Note that if all s(n,k) are needed, it is much faster to compute ∑k s(n,k) xk = x(x-1)...(x-n+1). Similarly, if a large number of S(n,k) are needed for the same k, one should use ∑n S(n,k) xn = (xk)/((1-x)...(1-kx)). (Should be implemented using a divide and conquer product.) Here are simple variants for n fixed:

  /* list of s(n,k), k = 1..n */
  vecstirling(n) = Vec( factorback(vector(n-1,i,1-i*'x)) )
  
  /* list of S(n,k), k = 1..n */
  vecstirling2(n) =
  { my(Q = x^(n-1), t);
    vector(n, i, t = divrem(Q, x-i); Q=t[1]; simplify(t[2]));
  }
  
  /* Bell numbers, Bn = B[n+1] = sum(k = 0, n, S(n,k)), n = 0..N */
  vecbell(N)=
  { my (B = vector(N+1));
    B[1] = B[2] = 1;
    for (n = 2, N,
      my (C = binomial(n-1));
      B[n+1] = sum(k = 1, n, C[k]*B[k]);
    ); B;
  }

The library syntax is GEN stirling(long n, long k, long flag). Also available are GEN stirling1(ulong n, ulong k) (flag = 1) and GEN stirling2(ulong n, ulong k) (flag = 2).