Let $p(n)$ denote the number of partitions of a positive integer $n$. It seems to me that we have for all $n>25$
$$
p(n)^2>p(n-1)p(n+1).
$$
In other words, the sequence $(p(n))_{n\in \mathbb{N}}$ is log-concave, or satisfies $PF_2$, with
$$
\det \begin{pmatrix} p(n) & p(n+1) \cr p(n-1) & p(n) \end{pmatrix}>0
$$
for $n>25$. Is this true ? I could not find a reference in the literature so far. On the other hand, the partition function is really studied a lot.
So it seems likely that this is known.
Similarly, property $PF_3$, with the corresponding $3\times 3$ determinant, seems to hold for all $n>221$, too, and also
$PF_4$ for all $n>657$.
Is the sequence of partition numbers log-concave?
Dietrich Burde
- 12.1k
- 1
- 33
- 66