Where does my counting argument fails (Counting of numbers with freshness $k$)?












3












$begingroup$


Doing some recreational math, i was trying to reproduce the combinatorial proof of the identity



$$
n^n=sum_{k=1}^nfrac{n!}{(n-k)!}cdot kcdot n^{n-k-1},,,,(*)
$$



mentioned by OP in the Question Non combinatorial proof of formula for nn
?



To be honest this shouldn't be too difficult:



the number of all sequences with length $n$ out of numbers $1,2,..,n$ is clearly $underbrace{ n cdot n...cdot n}_{n,,times}=n^n$ which establishs the l.h.s. . For the r.h.s we demand that the first $k$ numbers are distinct but that the rest of the sequence can be choosen freely as before (Denote this number by $a_k$). In the end we sum over all $a_k$. I get



$$
a_k=underbrace{ncdot(n-1)...cdot(n-k+1)}_{choose,,k,,numbers\distinct}timesunderbrace{n^{n-k}}_{choose,,n-k,,numbers\freely}\=
frac{n!}{(n-k)!}n^{n-k} ,,,,(**)
$$



But this is not the same then the terms under the summation sign in $(*)$ so what am i doing wrong?





Edit 1:



I think i got it, i have to discount for the sequences with $k'>k$ distinct numbers (they can still fall out of the random part of my product) .Is this correct?





Edit 2:



To finish this, the correct quantity is given by the difference of sequences with $k$ and $k+1$ distinct numbers:



$$
a_{k+1}-a_{k}=-frac{n!}{n^{n-k}}left(frac{1}{(n-k-1)!n}-frac{1}{(n-k)!}right)=-frac{k}{n(n-k)!}frac{n!}{n^{n-k}}
$$



Done!





Edit3:



To avoid algebra we can also reason as follows (credit to @darijgrinberg):



Add to $(**)$ the following condtion: the $k+1$ number is fixed to ne one of the numbers in the first part of the product so that we don't get a sequence with $k+1$ distinct numbers. There are $k$ possiblities. Afterwards we can choose all remaining $n-k-1$ numbers at our wish. This results in a replacement $n^{n-k}rightarrow ktimes n^{n-k-1}$










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$








  • 2




    $begingroup$
    You don't choose the last $n-k$ numbers freely. You have to make sure that the first of them violates the distinctness condition, i.e., equals one of the preceding $k$ numbers. That's where the $k$ factor will come from.
    $endgroup$
    – darij grinberg
    Jan 5 at 14:15










  • $begingroup$
    @darijgrinberg thanks: i was already suspecting that. See my edit!
    $endgroup$
    – tired
    Jan 5 at 14:17










  • $begingroup$
    @darijgrinberg do you have any idea how to see the last Formula (after edit) directly without resorting to annoying Algebra? Thx!
    $endgroup$
    – tired
    Jan 5 at 14:22






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    You don't have to subtract anything. Just fix your argument as I suggested in the first comment.
    $endgroup$
    – darij grinberg
    Jan 5 at 14:43










  • $begingroup$
    apart from the sign, edit 2 is correct.
    $endgroup$
    – G Cab
    Jan 5 at 14:57
















3












$begingroup$


Doing some recreational math, i was trying to reproduce the combinatorial proof of the identity



$$
n^n=sum_{k=1}^nfrac{n!}{(n-k)!}cdot kcdot n^{n-k-1},,,,(*)
$$



mentioned by OP in the Question Non combinatorial proof of formula for nn
?



To be honest this shouldn't be too difficult:



the number of all sequences with length $n$ out of numbers $1,2,..,n$ is clearly $underbrace{ n cdot n...cdot n}_{n,,times}=n^n$ which establishs the l.h.s. . For the r.h.s we demand that the first $k$ numbers are distinct but that the rest of the sequence can be choosen freely as before (Denote this number by $a_k$). In the end we sum over all $a_k$. I get



$$
a_k=underbrace{ncdot(n-1)...cdot(n-k+1)}_{choose,,k,,numbers\distinct}timesunderbrace{n^{n-k}}_{choose,,n-k,,numbers\freely}\=
frac{n!}{(n-k)!}n^{n-k} ,,,,(**)
$$



But this is not the same then the terms under the summation sign in $(*)$ so what am i doing wrong?





Edit 1:



I think i got it, i have to discount for the sequences with $k'>k$ distinct numbers (they can still fall out of the random part of my product) .Is this correct?





Edit 2:



To finish this, the correct quantity is given by the difference of sequences with $k$ and $k+1$ distinct numbers:



$$
a_{k+1}-a_{k}=-frac{n!}{n^{n-k}}left(frac{1}{(n-k-1)!n}-frac{1}{(n-k)!}right)=-frac{k}{n(n-k)!}frac{n!}{n^{n-k}}
$$



Done!





Edit3:



To avoid algebra we can also reason as follows (credit to @darijgrinberg):



Add to $(**)$ the following condtion: the $k+1$ number is fixed to ne one of the numbers in the first part of the product so that we don't get a sequence with $k+1$ distinct numbers. There are $k$ possiblities. Afterwards we can choose all remaining $n-k-1$ numbers at our wish. This results in a replacement $n^{n-k}rightarrow ktimes n^{n-k-1}$










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$








  • 2




    $begingroup$
    You don't choose the last $n-k$ numbers freely. You have to make sure that the first of them violates the distinctness condition, i.e., equals one of the preceding $k$ numbers. That's where the $k$ factor will come from.
    $endgroup$
    – darij grinberg
    Jan 5 at 14:15










  • $begingroup$
    @darijgrinberg thanks: i was already suspecting that. See my edit!
    $endgroup$
    – tired
    Jan 5 at 14:17










  • $begingroup$
    @darijgrinberg do you have any idea how to see the last Formula (after edit) directly without resorting to annoying Algebra? Thx!
    $endgroup$
    – tired
    Jan 5 at 14:22






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    You don't have to subtract anything. Just fix your argument as I suggested in the first comment.
    $endgroup$
    – darij grinberg
    Jan 5 at 14:43










  • $begingroup$
    apart from the sign, edit 2 is correct.
    $endgroup$
    – G Cab
    Jan 5 at 14:57














3












3








3


1



$begingroup$


Doing some recreational math, i was trying to reproduce the combinatorial proof of the identity



$$
n^n=sum_{k=1}^nfrac{n!}{(n-k)!}cdot kcdot n^{n-k-1},,,,(*)
$$



mentioned by OP in the Question Non combinatorial proof of formula for nn
?



To be honest this shouldn't be too difficult:



the number of all sequences with length $n$ out of numbers $1,2,..,n$ is clearly $underbrace{ n cdot n...cdot n}_{n,,times}=n^n$ which establishs the l.h.s. . For the r.h.s we demand that the first $k$ numbers are distinct but that the rest of the sequence can be choosen freely as before (Denote this number by $a_k$). In the end we sum over all $a_k$. I get



$$
a_k=underbrace{ncdot(n-1)...cdot(n-k+1)}_{choose,,k,,numbers\distinct}timesunderbrace{n^{n-k}}_{choose,,n-k,,numbers\freely}\=
frac{n!}{(n-k)!}n^{n-k} ,,,,(**)
$$



But this is not the same then the terms under the summation sign in $(*)$ so what am i doing wrong?





Edit 1:



I think i got it, i have to discount for the sequences with $k'>k$ distinct numbers (they can still fall out of the random part of my product) .Is this correct?





Edit 2:



To finish this, the correct quantity is given by the difference of sequences with $k$ and $k+1$ distinct numbers:



$$
a_{k+1}-a_{k}=-frac{n!}{n^{n-k}}left(frac{1}{(n-k-1)!n}-frac{1}{(n-k)!}right)=-frac{k}{n(n-k)!}frac{n!}{n^{n-k}}
$$



Done!





Edit3:



To avoid algebra we can also reason as follows (credit to @darijgrinberg):



Add to $(**)$ the following condtion: the $k+1$ number is fixed to ne one of the numbers in the first part of the product so that we don't get a sequence with $k+1$ distinct numbers. There are $k$ possiblities. Afterwards we can choose all remaining $n-k-1$ numbers at our wish. This results in a replacement $n^{n-k}rightarrow ktimes n^{n-k-1}$










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$




Doing some recreational math, i was trying to reproduce the combinatorial proof of the identity



$$
n^n=sum_{k=1}^nfrac{n!}{(n-k)!}cdot kcdot n^{n-k-1},,,,(*)
$$



mentioned by OP in the Question Non combinatorial proof of formula for nn
?



To be honest this shouldn't be too difficult:



the number of all sequences with length $n$ out of numbers $1,2,..,n$ is clearly $underbrace{ n cdot n...cdot n}_{n,,times}=n^n$ which establishs the l.h.s. . For the r.h.s we demand that the first $k$ numbers are distinct but that the rest of the sequence can be choosen freely as before (Denote this number by $a_k$). In the end we sum over all $a_k$. I get



$$
a_k=underbrace{ncdot(n-1)...cdot(n-k+1)}_{choose,,k,,numbers\distinct}timesunderbrace{n^{n-k}}_{choose,,n-k,,numbers\freely}\=
frac{n!}{(n-k)!}n^{n-k} ,,,,(**)
$$



But this is not the same then the terms under the summation sign in $(*)$ so what am i doing wrong?





Edit 1:



I think i got it, i have to discount for the sequences with $k'>k$ distinct numbers (they can still fall out of the random part of my product) .Is this correct?





Edit 2:



To finish this, the correct quantity is given by the difference of sequences with $k$ and $k+1$ distinct numbers:



$$
a_{k+1}-a_{k}=-frac{n!}{n^{n-k}}left(frac{1}{(n-k-1)!n}-frac{1}{(n-k)!}right)=-frac{k}{n(n-k)!}frac{n!}{n^{n-k}}
$$



Done!





Edit3:



To avoid algebra we can also reason as follows (credit to @darijgrinberg):



Add to $(**)$ the following condtion: the $k+1$ number is fixed to ne one of the numbers in the first part of the product so that we don't get a sequence with $k+1$ distinct numbers. There are $k$ possiblities. Afterwards we can choose all remaining $n-k-1$ numbers at our wish. This results in a replacement $n^{n-k}rightarrow ktimes n^{n-k-1}$







combinatorics summation






share|cite|improve this question















share|cite|improve this question













share|cite|improve this question




share|cite|improve this question








edited Jan 5 at 15:52







tired

















asked Jan 5 at 13:59









tiredtired

10.6k12043




10.6k12043








  • 2




    $begingroup$
    You don't choose the last $n-k$ numbers freely. You have to make sure that the first of them violates the distinctness condition, i.e., equals one of the preceding $k$ numbers. That's where the $k$ factor will come from.
    $endgroup$
    – darij grinberg
    Jan 5 at 14:15










  • $begingroup$
    @darijgrinberg thanks: i was already suspecting that. See my edit!
    $endgroup$
    – tired
    Jan 5 at 14:17










  • $begingroup$
    @darijgrinberg do you have any idea how to see the last Formula (after edit) directly without resorting to annoying Algebra? Thx!
    $endgroup$
    – tired
    Jan 5 at 14:22






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    You don't have to subtract anything. Just fix your argument as I suggested in the first comment.
    $endgroup$
    – darij grinberg
    Jan 5 at 14:43










  • $begingroup$
    apart from the sign, edit 2 is correct.
    $endgroup$
    – G Cab
    Jan 5 at 14:57














  • 2




    $begingroup$
    You don't choose the last $n-k$ numbers freely. You have to make sure that the first of them violates the distinctness condition, i.e., equals one of the preceding $k$ numbers. That's where the $k$ factor will come from.
    $endgroup$
    – darij grinberg
    Jan 5 at 14:15










  • $begingroup$
    @darijgrinberg thanks: i was already suspecting that. See my edit!
    $endgroup$
    – tired
    Jan 5 at 14:17










  • $begingroup$
    @darijgrinberg do you have any idea how to see the last Formula (after edit) directly without resorting to annoying Algebra? Thx!
    $endgroup$
    – tired
    Jan 5 at 14:22






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    You don't have to subtract anything. Just fix your argument as I suggested in the first comment.
    $endgroup$
    – darij grinberg
    Jan 5 at 14:43










  • $begingroup$
    apart from the sign, edit 2 is correct.
    $endgroup$
    – G Cab
    Jan 5 at 14:57








2




2




$begingroup$
You don't choose the last $n-k$ numbers freely. You have to make sure that the first of them violates the distinctness condition, i.e., equals one of the preceding $k$ numbers. That's where the $k$ factor will come from.
$endgroup$
– darij grinberg
Jan 5 at 14:15




$begingroup$
You don't choose the last $n-k$ numbers freely. You have to make sure that the first of them violates the distinctness condition, i.e., equals one of the preceding $k$ numbers. That's where the $k$ factor will come from.
$endgroup$
– darij grinberg
Jan 5 at 14:15












$begingroup$
@darijgrinberg thanks: i was already suspecting that. See my edit!
$endgroup$
– tired
Jan 5 at 14:17




$begingroup$
@darijgrinberg thanks: i was already suspecting that. See my edit!
$endgroup$
– tired
Jan 5 at 14:17












$begingroup$
@darijgrinberg do you have any idea how to see the last Formula (after edit) directly without resorting to annoying Algebra? Thx!
$endgroup$
– tired
Jan 5 at 14:22




$begingroup$
@darijgrinberg do you have any idea how to see the last Formula (after edit) directly without resorting to annoying Algebra? Thx!
$endgroup$
– tired
Jan 5 at 14:22




1




1




$begingroup$
You don't have to subtract anything. Just fix your argument as I suggested in the first comment.
$endgroup$
– darij grinberg
Jan 5 at 14:43




$begingroup$
You don't have to subtract anything. Just fix your argument as I suggested in the first comment.
$endgroup$
– darij grinberg
Jan 5 at 14:43












$begingroup$
apart from the sign, edit 2 is correct.
$endgroup$
– G Cab
Jan 5 at 14:57




$begingroup$
apart from the sign, edit 2 is correct.
$endgroup$
– G Cab
Jan 5 at 14:57










1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes


















2












$begingroup$

I cannot tell if you already figured it out, but in case you haven't:



$$
a_k = underbrace{ncdot (n-1)cdotldotscdot (n-k+1)}_text{choose first $k$ numbers distinct}timesunderbrace{k}_{begin{array}{c}text{choose $(k+1)^{st}$ number equal to }\text{one of the first $k$ numbers}end{array}}times underbrace{n^{n-k-1}}_text{choose remaining numbers freely}
$$

The middle term must be $k$ because you need the "freshness" to be exactly $k$, meaning the first $k$ numbers are distinct, but the first $k+1$ numbers are not. Therefore, the $(k+1)^{st}$ number needs to be equal to one of the previous $k$.






share|cite|improve this answer









$endgroup$













  • $begingroup$
    Thanks, this is exactely what i added to my Question a few seconds ago. So now i have two different Proofs relying purely on combinatorics, cool!!! :)
    $endgroup$
    – tired
    Jan 5 at 15:54






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @tired Indeed! Since you are doing this for recreation, let me mention one other connection. Let $f_{n,k}=binom{n}k kn^{n-k-1}$, then the formula can be written $$n^n=sum_{k=1}^n k! f_{n,k}.$$ This is interesting because $f_{n,k}$ has a combinatorial interpretation; it is the number of "rooted forests" (forest with a root in each component) on a set of size $n$ with $k$ components. This shows that a function can be described as rooted forest together with a permutation $pi$ of the roots. The correspondence is: if $v$ is a not a root, $f(v)$ is its parent; if $v$ is a root, $f(v)=pi(v)$.
    $endgroup$
    – Mike Earnest
    Jan 5 at 15:59












  • $begingroup$
    this is cool indeed. I wish i would have done more of this stuff back at University. Another Thing that i found nice is to divide everything by $n^n$ and use Stirling. We then see that the probability to get sequences with freshness $k$ is given by $k/n$ for sufficently small $k/n$ ...
    $endgroup$
    – tired
    Jan 5 at 16:09








  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @tired That probability distribution is cool, too! Letting $X_n$ be the freshness, then $P(X_n/sqrt{n}>t)to e^{-t^2/2}$ as $ntoinfty$, so $X_n$ has an asymptotically Weibull distribution. Then $E[X_n]sim sqrt{npi/2}$, so in a random function, around $sqrt{npi/2}$ elements will be contained in a cycle, meaning $f^m(x)=x$ for some $m$.
    $endgroup$
    – Mike Earnest
    Jan 5 at 16:22











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1 Answer
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active

oldest

votes








1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes









2












$begingroup$

I cannot tell if you already figured it out, but in case you haven't:



$$
a_k = underbrace{ncdot (n-1)cdotldotscdot (n-k+1)}_text{choose first $k$ numbers distinct}timesunderbrace{k}_{begin{array}{c}text{choose $(k+1)^{st}$ number equal to }\text{one of the first $k$ numbers}end{array}}times underbrace{n^{n-k-1}}_text{choose remaining numbers freely}
$$

The middle term must be $k$ because you need the "freshness" to be exactly $k$, meaning the first $k$ numbers are distinct, but the first $k+1$ numbers are not. Therefore, the $(k+1)^{st}$ number needs to be equal to one of the previous $k$.






share|cite|improve this answer









$endgroup$













  • $begingroup$
    Thanks, this is exactely what i added to my Question a few seconds ago. So now i have two different Proofs relying purely on combinatorics, cool!!! :)
    $endgroup$
    – tired
    Jan 5 at 15:54






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @tired Indeed! Since you are doing this for recreation, let me mention one other connection. Let $f_{n,k}=binom{n}k kn^{n-k-1}$, then the formula can be written $$n^n=sum_{k=1}^n k! f_{n,k}.$$ This is interesting because $f_{n,k}$ has a combinatorial interpretation; it is the number of "rooted forests" (forest with a root in each component) on a set of size $n$ with $k$ components. This shows that a function can be described as rooted forest together with a permutation $pi$ of the roots. The correspondence is: if $v$ is a not a root, $f(v)$ is its parent; if $v$ is a root, $f(v)=pi(v)$.
    $endgroup$
    – Mike Earnest
    Jan 5 at 15:59












  • $begingroup$
    this is cool indeed. I wish i would have done more of this stuff back at University. Another Thing that i found nice is to divide everything by $n^n$ and use Stirling. We then see that the probability to get sequences with freshness $k$ is given by $k/n$ for sufficently small $k/n$ ...
    $endgroup$
    – tired
    Jan 5 at 16:09








  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @tired That probability distribution is cool, too! Letting $X_n$ be the freshness, then $P(X_n/sqrt{n}>t)to e^{-t^2/2}$ as $ntoinfty$, so $X_n$ has an asymptotically Weibull distribution. Then $E[X_n]sim sqrt{npi/2}$, so in a random function, around $sqrt{npi/2}$ elements will be contained in a cycle, meaning $f^m(x)=x$ for some $m$.
    $endgroup$
    – Mike Earnest
    Jan 5 at 16:22
















2












$begingroup$

I cannot tell if you already figured it out, but in case you haven't:



$$
a_k = underbrace{ncdot (n-1)cdotldotscdot (n-k+1)}_text{choose first $k$ numbers distinct}timesunderbrace{k}_{begin{array}{c}text{choose $(k+1)^{st}$ number equal to }\text{one of the first $k$ numbers}end{array}}times underbrace{n^{n-k-1}}_text{choose remaining numbers freely}
$$

The middle term must be $k$ because you need the "freshness" to be exactly $k$, meaning the first $k$ numbers are distinct, but the first $k+1$ numbers are not. Therefore, the $(k+1)^{st}$ number needs to be equal to one of the previous $k$.






share|cite|improve this answer









$endgroup$













  • $begingroup$
    Thanks, this is exactely what i added to my Question a few seconds ago. So now i have two different Proofs relying purely on combinatorics, cool!!! :)
    $endgroup$
    – tired
    Jan 5 at 15:54






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @tired Indeed! Since you are doing this for recreation, let me mention one other connection. Let $f_{n,k}=binom{n}k kn^{n-k-1}$, then the formula can be written $$n^n=sum_{k=1}^n k! f_{n,k}.$$ This is interesting because $f_{n,k}$ has a combinatorial interpretation; it is the number of "rooted forests" (forest with a root in each component) on a set of size $n$ with $k$ components. This shows that a function can be described as rooted forest together with a permutation $pi$ of the roots. The correspondence is: if $v$ is a not a root, $f(v)$ is its parent; if $v$ is a root, $f(v)=pi(v)$.
    $endgroup$
    – Mike Earnest
    Jan 5 at 15:59












  • $begingroup$
    this is cool indeed. I wish i would have done more of this stuff back at University. Another Thing that i found nice is to divide everything by $n^n$ and use Stirling. We then see that the probability to get sequences with freshness $k$ is given by $k/n$ for sufficently small $k/n$ ...
    $endgroup$
    – tired
    Jan 5 at 16:09








  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @tired That probability distribution is cool, too! Letting $X_n$ be the freshness, then $P(X_n/sqrt{n}>t)to e^{-t^2/2}$ as $ntoinfty$, so $X_n$ has an asymptotically Weibull distribution. Then $E[X_n]sim sqrt{npi/2}$, so in a random function, around $sqrt{npi/2}$ elements will be contained in a cycle, meaning $f^m(x)=x$ for some $m$.
    $endgroup$
    – Mike Earnest
    Jan 5 at 16:22














2












2








2





$begingroup$

I cannot tell if you already figured it out, but in case you haven't:



$$
a_k = underbrace{ncdot (n-1)cdotldotscdot (n-k+1)}_text{choose first $k$ numbers distinct}timesunderbrace{k}_{begin{array}{c}text{choose $(k+1)^{st}$ number equal to }\text{one of the first $k$ numbers}end{array}}times underbrace{n^{n-k-1}}_text{choose remaining numbers freely}
$$

The middle term must be $k$ because you need the "freshness" to be exactly $k$, meaning the first $k$ numbers are distinct, but the first $k+1$ numbers are not. Therefore, the $(k+1)^{st}$ number needs to be equal to one of the previous $k$.






share|cite|improve this answer









$endgroup$



I cannot tell if you already figured it out, but in case you haven't:



$$
a_k = underbrace{ncdot (n-1)cdotldotscdot (n-k+1)}_text{choose first $k$ numbers distinct}timesunderbrace{k}_{begin{array}{c}text{choose $(k+1)^{st}$ number equal to }\text{one of the first $k$ numbers}end{array}}times underbrace{n^{n-k-1}}_text{choose remaining numbers freely}
$$

The middle term must be $k$ because you need the "freshness" to be exactly $k$, meaning the first $k$ numbers are distinct, but the first $k+1$ numbers are not. Therefore, the $(k+1)^{st}$ number needs to be equal to one of the previous $k$.







share|cite|improve this answer












share|cite|improve this answer



share|cite|improve this answer










answered Jan 5 at 15:52









Mike EarnestMike Earnest

20.9k11951




20.9k11951












  • $begingroup$
    Thanks, this is exactely what i added to my Question a few seconds ago. So now i have two different Proofs relying purely on combinatorics, cool!!! :)
    $endgroup$
    – tired
    Jan 5 at 15:54






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @tired Indeed! Since you are doing this for recreation, let me mention one other connection. Let $f_{n,k}=binom{n}k kn^{n-k-1}$, then the formula can be written $$n^n=sum_{k=1}^n k! f_{n,k}.$$ This is interesting because $f_{n,k}$ has a combinatorial interpretation; it is the number of "rooted forests" (forest with a root in each component) on a set of size $n$ with $k$ components. This shows that a function can be described as rooted forest together with a permutation $pi$ of the roots. The correspondence is: if $v$ is a not a root, $f(v)$ is its parent; if $v$ is a root, $f(v)=pi(v)$.
    $endgroup$
    – Mike Earnest
    Jan 5 at 15:59












  • $begingroup$
    this is cool indeed. I wish i would have done more of this stuff back at University. Another Thing that i found nice is to divide everything by $n^n$ and use Stirling. We then see that the probability to get sequences with freshness $k$ is given by $k/n$ for sufficently small $k/n$ ...
    $endgroup$
    – tired
    Jan 5 at 16:09








  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @tired That probability distribution is cool, too! Letting $X_n$ be the freshness, then $P(X_n/sqrt{n}>t)to e^{-t^2/2}$ as $ntoinfty$, so $X_n$ has an asymptotically Weibull distribution. Then $E[X_n]sim sqrt{npi/2}$, so in a random function, around $sqrt{npi/2}$ elements will be contained in a cycle, meaning $f^m(x)=x$ for some $m$.
    $endgroup$
    – Mike Earnest
    Jan 5 at 16:22


















  • $begingroup$
    Thanks, this is exactely what i added to my Question a few seconds ago. So now i have two different Proofs relying purely on combinatorics, cool!!! :)
    $endgroup$
    – tired
    Jan 5 at 15:54






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @tired Indeed! Since you are doing this for recreation, let me mention one other connection. Let $f_{n,k}=binom{n}k kn^{n-k-1}$, then the formula can be written $$n^n=sum_{k=1}^n k! f_{n,k}.$$ This is interesting because $f_{n,k}$ has a combinatorial interpretation; it is the number of "rooted forests" (forest with a root in each component) on a set of size $n$ with $k$ components. This shows that a function can be described as rooted forest together with a permutation $pi$ of the roots. The correspondence is: if $v$ is a not a root, $f(v)$ is its parent; if $v$ is a root, $f(v)=pi(v)$.
    $endgroup$
    – Mike Earnest
    Jan 5 at 15:59












  • $begingroup$
    this is cool indeed. I wish i would have done more of this stuff back at University. Another Thing that i found nice is to divide everything by $n^n$ and use Stirling. We then see that the probability to get sequences with freshness $k$ is given by $k/n$ for sufficently small $k/n$ ...
    $endgroup$
    – tired
    Jan 5 at 16:09








  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @tired That probability distribution is cool, too! Letting $X_n$ be the freshness, then $P(X_n/sqrt{n}>t)to e^{-t^2/2}$ as $ntoinfty$, so $X_n$ has an asymptotically Weibull distribution. Then $E[X_n]sim sqrt{npi/2}$, so in a random function, around $sqrt{npi/2}$ elements will be contained in a cycle, meaning $f^m(x)=x$ for some $m$.
    $endgroup$
    – Mike Earnest
    Jan 5 at 16:22
















$begingroup$
Thanks, this is exactely what i added to my Question a few seconds ago. So now i have two different Proofs relying purely on combinatorics, cool!!! :)
$endgroup$
– tired
Jan 5 at 15:54




$begingroup$
Thanks, this is exactely what i added to my Question a few seconds ago. So now i have two different Proofs relying purely on combinatorics, cool!!! :)
$endgroup$
– tired
Jan 5 at 15:54




1




1




$begingroup$
@tired Indeed! Since you are doing this for recreation, let me mention one other connection. Let $f_{n,k}=binom{n}k kn^{n-k-1}$, then the formula can be written $$n^n=sum_{k=1}^n k! f_{n,k}.$$ This is interesting because $f_{n,k}$ has a combinatorial interpretation; it is the number of "rooted forests" (forest with a root in each component) on a set of size $n$ with $k$ components. This shows that a function can be described as rooted forest together with a permutation $pi$ of the roots. The correspondence is: if $v$ is a not a root, $f(v)$ is its parent; if $v$ is a root, $f(v)=pi(v)$.
$endgroup$
– Mike Earnest
Jan 5 at 15:59






$begingroup$
@tired Indeed! Since you are doing this for recreation, let me mention one other connection. Let $f_{n,k}=binom{n}k kn^{n-k-1}$, then the formula can be written $$n^n=sum_{k=1}^n k! f_{n,k}.$$ This is interesting because $f_{n,k}$ has a combinatorial interpretation; it is the number of "rooted forests" (forest with a root in each component) on a set of size $n$ with $k$ components. This shows that a function can be described as rooted forest together with a permutation $pi$ of the roots. The correspondence is: if $v$ is a not a root, $f(v)$ is its parent; if $v$ is a root, $f(v)=pi(v)$.
$endgroup$
– Mike Earnest
Jan 5 at 15:59














$begingroup$
this is cool indeed. I wish i would have done more of this stuff back at University. Another Thing that i found nice is to divide everything by $n^n$ and use Stirling. We then see that the probability to get sequences with freshness $k$ is given by $k/n$ for sufficently small $k/n$ ...
$endgroup$
– tired
Jan 5 at 16:09






$begingroup$
this is cool indeed. I wish i would have done more of this stuff back at University. Another Thing that i found nice is to divide everything by $n^n$ and use Stirling. We then see that the probability to get sequences with freshness $k$ is given by $k/n$ for sufficently small $k/n$ ...
$endgroup$
– tired
Jan 5 at 16:09






1




1




$begingroup$
@tired That probability distribution is cool, too! Letting $X_n$ be the freshness, then $P(X_n/sqrt{n}>t)to e^{-t^2/2}$ as $ntoinfty$, so $X_n$ has an asymptotically Weibull distribution. Then $E[X_n]sim sqrt{npi/2}$, so in a random function, around $sqrt{npi/2}$ elements will be contained in a cycle, meaning $f^m(x)=x$ for some $m$.
$endgroup$
– Mike Earnest
Jan 5 at 16:22




$begingroup$
@tired That probability distribution is cool, too! Letting $X_n$ be the freshness, then $P(X_n/sqrt{n}>t)to e^{-t^2/2}$ as $ntoinfty$, so $X_n$ has an asymptotically Weibull distribution. Then $E[X_n]sim sqrt{npi/2}$, so in a random function, around $sqrt{npi/2}$ elements will be contained in a cycle, meaning $f^m(x)=x$ for some $m$.
$endgroup$
– Mike Earnest
Jan 5 at 16:22


















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