3
$\begingroup$

In the literature on overpartitions Percy A. MacMahon is usally cited as the genesis of the theory. Often the reference is to his 1916 textbook -- but, having recently checked this out of my school's library, I can attest that the subject does not seem to appear anywhere in it.

Most likely, MacMahon did not refer to them as overpartitions, and they go by other names as well, such as superpartitions, standard MacMahon diagrams (almost certainly not his name for them!), et cetera, but still, nothing with a plausible name from the index or table of contents seems to be a match.

I could fetch his collected papers through Illiad but that would take some time, so I thought I would drop the question here first, in the hopes that someone has easy access or is simply familiar with the reference: in what actual paper or book did MacMahon invent overpartitions, by whatever name... assuming he did?

$\endgroup$
1
  • $\begingroup$ A Math Reviews search turned up "No publications results for 'Anywhere=(overpartition) AND Anywhere=(MacMahon)'." $\endgroup$ Jul 17, 2014 at 1:33

0

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.