All Questions
Tagged with co.combinatorics pr.probability
119 questions
11
votes
2
answers
714
views
Pursuit-Evasion type game on graph ("Flyswatter game")
An instance of the "flyswatter game" is defined by a graph $G$ and positive integer $k$. There are two players, A (the 'fly') and B (the 'swatter'). Essentially, the fly moves around $G$ and the ...
- 113
11
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Heuristic lower bounds on small sums of roots of unity
Let $f(k,n)$ be the smallest non-zero absolute value of a sum of $k$ complex $n$th roots of unity. Asking for bounds in either direction, Tao suggested that a polynomial lower bound seemed plausible ...
- 4,589
11
votes
5
answers
2k
views
Coin flipping and a recurrence relation
How can one solve the following recurrence relation?
$f(n) = 1 + \frac{1}{2^n} \sum_{k = 0}^n {{n}\choose{k}} f(k)$
$f(0) = 0$
As it happens, I can show $f(n) = \Theta(\log n)$ through other means (...
- 501
11
votes
1
answer
636
views
A simple proof for a theorem of Szekeres and Turán
Szekeres and Turán found in 1937 a formula for the sum of the squares and the sum of the fourth powers of determinants of all $n$ by $n$ matrices with $\pm 1$ entries. (The sum of squares case follows ...
- 24.7k
10
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Random Voronoi Diagrams
I'm interested in what research has already been done with regards to the statistics of random voronoi diagrams. I have had a look on google scholar and results are a little inconclusive. I'm ...
- 903
10
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Mean maximum distance for N random points on a unit square
Following up on Mean minimum distance for N random points on a one-dimensional line and Mean minimum distance for N random points on a unit square (plane), I have the following questions.
Given N ...
- 193
10
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Random Unfoldings of the Cube
Motivated by unfoldings of the dodecahedron in How To Fold It --
How many (labeled or unlabeled) unfoldings of the 1 x 1 x n stack of unit cubes are there?
JORourke (4Nov16): John's original image is ...
- 22.8k
9
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Bounding the probability that two binomials are equal
Note: This question was migrated from this earlier post, where it initially appeared. Following suggestions, I moved this into its own question.
Let $B_{n,p}$ denote the usual binomial random ...
- 2,720
9
votes
3
answers
749
views
Random RSK and Plancherel Measure
Let $(X_1,X_2,\ldots)$ be a sequence of i.i.d. random variables. It is known that if these random variables are distributed uniformly on the unit interval, then applying the RSK algorithm to this ...
- 4,952
9
votes
2
answers
878
views
Is there a combinatorial/topological treatment of statistical independence?
Is there any reference which studies sets of random variables as independence systems, a type of combinatorial object (see below)?
Motivation:
In particular, since independence systems are abstract ...
- 2,680
8
votes
3
answers
411
views
Identifying a subset with as few tests as possible
Informal description: You are given a set of $n$ blood samples, each having probability $p$ of being infected with a disease. Your goal is to determine the set $P$ of infected samples with as few ...
- 32.5k
8
votes
1
answer
380
views
Question about estimating random symmetric sums modulo p
Let $n > 0$ be a positive integer (large) and $p > 2$ a fixed prime number. What is the probability that $$\sum_{ 1 \leq i < j \leq n} a_ia_j = 0 \mod p$$ where $a_1, a_2, \dots a_n$ are ...
- 1,101
8
votes
1
answer
270
views
Sizes of connected components from a random choice in a grid
This is inspired by the illustration in this recently updated question. So we take a (fairly big) $n$ and an $n \times n$ grid where we draw at random one diagonal in each of the $1 \times 1$ squares. ...
- 13.4k
8
votes
2
answers
990
views
What is the tropical Robinson-Schensted-Knuth correspondence?
And what are it's applications? A conceptual explanation would be great! Is there an expository note about this somewhere?
Some references have already appeared in the answers and comments below. To ...
- 85.6k
8
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Van Den Berg-Kesten-Reimer inequality
Van Den Berg-Kesten-Reimer inequality
Let $n$ be a positive integer. For $i\in[n]$, let $\Omega_i$ be a finite set and $\mu_i$ a probability measure on it. Set $\Omega=\Omega_1\!\times\!\ldots\!\...
- 148
7
votes
1
answer
390
views
Combinatorial/probabilistic statements having $F_{\text{un}}$/$F_q$ geometric interpetation
$\newcommand{\Fun}{F_\text{un}}$There was lots of "Fun with $\Fun$" (field with one element) in recent years.
One of the points is that it provides bridge between geometrical and ...
- 24.9k
7
votes
5
answers
682
views
Bound on sum of complex summands involving binomial coefficients
I am trying to find the asymptotic behavior of the sum:
$$ \sum^n_{i=0} \begin{pmatrix} 2n \\ i \end{pmatrix} x^i y^{2n-i}$$
as $n\rightarrow\infty$. Here $x$, $y$ are complex numbers and I have $|x|...
- 93
7
votes
3
answers
330
views
Quantifying the noninvertibility of a function
Given a function $f$ from a finite set $X$ to itself, it seems natural to consider $\kappa_f := (\sum_{x \in X} |f^{-1}(x)|^2)/|X|$ as a measure of the non-invertibility of $f$: it equals 1 if $f$ is ...
- 19.7k
7
votes
1
answer
309
views
The time to drift a binary string from one state to another via deterministic selection of two possible random bit mutation procedures
I have some length $L$ binary string consisting of an ordered array of bits: $(b_1, b_2, ..., b_{L})$, where all bit values $b_i$ are originally set to zero. I'd like a particular set of $n$ bits to ...
- 123
7
votes
2
answers
3k
views
The largest Wasserstein distance to uniform distribution among all probability distributions with uniform marginals
I am looking for the largest Wasserstein distance to the uniform distribution among all probability distributions with uniform marginals.
More specifically, let $\Xi=\{1,2,\ldots,N\}^2$, and let $\nu$...
- 422
7
votes
0
answers
162
views
Approximating any convex shape in $\mathbb{R}^d$ with a polytope having $\mathrm{poly}(d)$ facets
We denote by $V(A)$ the $d$-volume of any convex set $A$. Furthermore, given any two convex sets $A,B\in\mathbb{R}^d$, we denote by $V_{A,B}$ the $d$-volume of the symmetric difference $V\left(A \...
- 1,677
6
votes
0
answers
321
views
extensions of the Nekrasov-Okounkov formula
This post is related to the issues addressed in
A q,t-extension of Plancherel Measure thru Yang-Mills Theory ?
however the generalization/interpolation which John Mangual asks for looks different ...
- 2,137
6
votes
1
answer
349
views
Ramsey type theorem
Let $\mathcal{P}(\{0,\dotsc,7\})$ denote the power set of $\{0,\dotsc,7\}$.
Is the following true?
For any function $f: \mathcal{P}(\{0,\dotsc,7\})\rightarrow\{0,1\}$ there exists $0\leq k\leq 3$ ...
- 909
6
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Is the Binomial Expectation of Convex Function Convex in p?
Suppose $X$ has a binomial distribution with success probability $p$ and $n$ trials and let $h(\cdot)$ be a positive convex real-valued function.
Is the function $g(p)=\mathbb{E}[h(X)\ |\ p]$ convex ...
- 103
6
votes
1
answer
837
views
Average minimum number of random k-sparse vectors in GF(2) to span the whole space?
What is the average minimum required number of independent $k$-sparse (having at most $k$ non-zero elements) random vectors belonging to $\mathbb{F}_2^n$ to span the whole space of $\mathbb{F}_2^n$? ...
- 307
5
votes
1
answer
209
views
Randomized version of Turán's theorem
Turán's theorem says the following.
Take any natural $n$ and $r$. Suppose that
\begin{equation*}
|G|>\Big(1-\frac1r\Big)\frac{n^2}2, \tag{0}
\end{equation*}
where $|G|$ is the number of edges of ...
- 128k
5
votes
0
answers
287
views
Infinite tridiagonal matrices and a special class of totally positive sequences
Let $\Bbb{y} = \big(y_1, y_2, y_3, \dots \big)$ be an infinite sequence of positive real numbers such that following $\Bbb{N} \times \Bbb{N}$ tridiagonal matrix
\begin{equation}
T(\Bbb{y}) := \,
\...
- 2,137
5
votes
1
answer
980
views
"Nice" eigenvectors for (square of) adjacency matrix of a bipartite graph?
Let $G$ be a bipartite graph, and let $A$ be its adjacency matrix.
I was wondering in this case whether $A^2$ will have nice eigenvectors that reflect combinatorial structure of the graph. I'd be ...
- 53
5
votes
0
answers
235
views
Riemann theta function inequality for a class of large random matrices
The following is essentially the same question as in this previous post, but since I have completely re-formulated it (hopefully for the better ;-), I decided to post a new question instead of an edit....
- 686
5
votes
4
answers
917
views
Limit of a sum with binomial coefficients
Let $$A_k = \frac{\sum_{i=1}^ki{2k-i-1 \choose i-1}{i-1 \choose k-i}}{k{2k-1\choose k}}$$
$$B_k = \frac{\sum_{i=1}^ki{2k-i-2 \choose i-1}{i \choose k-i}}{k{2k-1\choose k}}$$
$$C_k = \frac{\sum_{i=1}^k(...
- 155
5
votes
0
answers
295
views
inequality in a shape of inclusion exclusion formula
I have two inequalities to show, both of which describe some probabilities. First I know how to handle, and it follows from applying arithmetic-harmonic mean inequality:
consider 9 numbers $a_1,a_2,...
- 341
5
votes
1
answer
226
views
A polynomial identity involving Wick ordering of a complex power
The problem is related to the paper 1509.02093 by Oh and Thomann, where the authors considered the 2D Wick ordered NLS.
Let $g=a+ib$ be a complex number. Then it is claimed (see (2.7) in the paper and ...
- 333
4
votes
0
answers
188
views
Distributions over permutation groups $\mathcal{S}_n$
Partly inspired by recent developments in enumeration of pattern avoiding permutations, which is known to be connected with Brownian excursions [Hoffman&Rizzolo]. The exciting milestone is the ...
- 8,071
4
votes
1
answer
398
views
Variance of load in maximally loaded bin, if $m$ balls are thrown into $n$ bins
In the paper "Balls and bins a simple and tight analysis" by Raab and Steger, available here strong upper and lower bounds are proved about the number $M$ of balls in a maximally loaded bin when $m$ ...
- 10.4k
4
votes
1
answer
197
views
On a double sum involving binomial coefficients
For natural $n$, let
\begin{equation}
p_n:=2^{1-n}\sum_{v=1}^l \binom l{(v+l)/2}1(v\equiv l)
\sum_{u=1-v}^{v-1}\binom k{(u+k)/2}1(u\equiv k), \tag{1}\label{1}
\end{equation}
where $k:=\lfloor(n+1)/...
- 128k
4
votes
0
answers
144
views
Approximation of a convex shape in the $d$-dimensional Euclidean space for $d\gg 1$
We are given a convex shape $C$ lying inside the hypercube $[0,1]^d$ in the $d$-dimensional Euclidean space. Let the volume of $C$ be $\tfrac12$ (I guess nothing changes for any other fixed constant ...
- 1,677
4
votes
0
answers
182
views
Determine the minimal elements of a Dynkin system generated by a finite set of finite sets
(This is a refined version of https://cs.stackexchange.com/q/144371)
Let $\Omega$ be a finite set. A Dynkin system on $\Omega$ is a subset of the power set of $\Omega$ containing $\Omega$, which is ...
- 5,822
4
votes
1
answer
299
views
Collecting stones in n buckets
There are $n$ stones distributed in $n$ buckets (initially one stone in each bucket). At each step the content of each bucket is put in a random bucket, chosen independently out of a set of $n$ new ...
- 1,269
4
votes
0
answers
1k
views
Number of arrangements that contain at least 1 path from top to bottom of 2D matrix
I have a $n\times n$ matrix of objects. $n'$ objects are black, and the rest $n^2-n'$ are white.
With that information, I can easily calculate the total number of black element arrangements that exist ...
- 47
4
votes
2
answers
1k
views
expected values over binomial distributions
In some works of economics/risk analysis etc., I have seen situations where people take the expected value of a function (such as a utility function/cost function) over a binomial distribution:
$$F(n)...
- 7,320
3
votes
1
answer
128
views
A ratio of two probabilities
I am concerned about the monotonicity of the following ratio
$
f(\eta)=\frac{\sum_{x=K}^{N}\left(\begin{array}{c}
N\\
x
\end{array}\right)\left(q_{G}\eta\right)^{x}\left(1-q_{G}\eta\right)^{N-x}}{\...
- 207
3
votes
1
answer
315
views
Distribution of the first occurrence of a maximum (record) run of zeros in the digits of a normal number (say $\pi$)
If the question was stated to appeal to the general public, it would be something like this. For a number such as $\pi$ or $\sqrt{2}$, the digits in base $b$ appear to be randomly distributed. We are ...
- 3,098
3
votes
1
answer
153
views
Randomized version of Turán's theorem II
$\newcommand{\om}{\omega}$Let $\om(G)$ denote the number of vertices in a largest clique of an (undirected) graph $G$ with the set $[n]:=\{1,\dots,n\}$ of vertices. Then
\begin{equation}
\om(G)\ge\...
- 128k
3
votes
0
answers
516
views
The distribution of collision stopping time in 2D random walk
Assume two particles A at $(0, 0)$ and B at $(a, b)$ in 2D discrete grid, both of them have the same possibility of $\frac{1}{4}$ for moving up/down/left/right (i.e. 2D random walk). We define the ...
3
votes
1
answer
395
views
Symmetric distribution optimization problem of distances between points in $[0,1]$
Let $\mathcal{D}$ be a probability distribution with support $[0,1]$. Let $x, y, z$ the outcomes of three i.i.d. random variables $X, Y, Z$ with distribution $\mathcal{D}$, sorted in increasing order, ...
- 1,677
3
votes
0
answers
202
views
Difficult Gaussian-sum inequality for large random Bernoulli-Toeplitz matrices
I have come across the following problem in an attempt to prove an entropy bound for large random Bernoulli-Toeplitz matrices (Conjecture 1 on p. 16 of this preprint by Clifford et al. 2015), which is ...
- 686
3
votes
1
answer
206
views
Component properties in Euclidean graphs with distance threshold
In the context of Euclidean graphs with vertices randomly embedded in either a 2D plane (for instance square with length $L$) or in 3D (similarly, cube of side $L$), where an edge between two given ...
- 649
3
votes
1
answer
184
views
Why is number of single cell clusters always greatest in a random matrix?
Consider a large $N\times N$ square lattice, where each cell has a probability $p$ of being "occupied" (let's call denote them as "black") and a probability $1-p$ of being empty (let's denote them as "...
user125648
3
votes
1
answer
220
views
Number rank-k 0-1 matrices (characteristic 0)
What is the number of $n\times n$ 0/1-matrices with rank $k$?
(The rank is taken over the rationals.)
- 103
3
votes
1
answer
229
views
Inequality for difference of consecutive atom probabilities for binomial distribution
Edit: This post was originally two questions, the first of which has been answered, but a reference would still be appreciated if existent. The second question has been removed and migrated to its ...
- 2,720