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Geoff Robinson
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The quantity you are asking about is in fact a well-known expression: When multiplied by $n!$, it is the number of ordered pairs $\sigma, \tau \in S_{n}$ such that $[\sigma, \tau] = \mu$, where $[\sigma, \tau] = \sigma^{-1}\tau^{-1}\sigma \tau$ is the commutator of $\sigma$ and $\tau$. However, I do not know how to relate this to the disjoint cycle structure of $\mu$, except to say that this quantity is clearly zero if $\mu$ is an odd permutation.

The quantity you are asking about is in fact a well-known expression: When multiplied by $n!$, it is the number of ordered pairs $\sigma, \tau \in S_{n}$ such that $[\sigma, \tau] = \mu$, where $[\sigma, \tau] = \sigma^{-1}\tau^{-1}\sigma \tau$ is the commutator of $\sigma$ and $\tau$. However, I do not know how to relate this to the disjoint cycle structure of $\mu$.

The quantity you are asking about is in fact a well-known expression: When multiplied by $n!$, it is the number of ordered pairs $\sigma, \tau \in S_{n}$ such that $[\sigma, \tau] = \mu$, where $[\sigma, \tau] = \sigma^{-1}\tau^{-1}\sigma \tau$ is the commutator of $\sigma$ and $\tau$. However, I do not know how to relate this to the disjoint cycle structure of $\mu$, except to say that this quantity is clearly zero if $\mu$ is an odd permutation.

Source Link
Geoff Robinson
  • 44.4k
  • 5
  • 123
  • 169

The quantity you are asking about is in fact a well-known expression: When multiplied by $n!$, it is the number of ordered pairs $\sigma, \tau \in S_{n}$ such that $[\sigma, \tau] = \mu$, where $[\sigma, \tau] = \sigma^{-1}\tau^{-1}\sigma \tau$ is the commutator of $\sigma$ and $\tau$. However, I do not know how to relate this to the disjoint cycle structure of $\mu$.