Top to random and reverse: analysis of a new descent algebra shuffle

Fuente: arXiv
Enregistré dans:
Détails bibliographiques
Auteurs principaux: Grinberg, Darij, Parlett, Jonathan
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
Sujets:
Accès en ligne:
Tags: Ajouter un tag
Pas de tags, Soyez le premier à ajouter un tag!
_version_ 1866915437076283392
author Grinberg, Darij
Parlett, Jonathan
author_facet Grinberg, Darij
Parlett, Jonathan
contents We study the "top-to-random-and-reverse shuffle", defined as the top-to-random shuffle in the symmetric group algebra composed with the permutation $w_0$ (which sends each $i$ to $n+1-i$). More generally, we analyze the composition of any B-basis element of the descent algebra with $w_0$. We show that the minimal polynomial of any such composition (over $\mathbb{Q}$) factors into distinct linear factors, which correspond to the "signed knapsack numbers" of set compositions. This is a counterpart to an analogous property of the B-basis elements themselves, which was proved by Brown using Bidigare's face monoid. In the case of the top-to-random-and-reverse shuffle, the minimal polynomial turns out to be $\prod_{k \in \set{-n+2} \cup \interval{-n+4, n-3} \cup \set{0} \cup \set{n}} \tup{x-k}$.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_06740
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Top to random and reverse: analysis of a new descent algebra shuffle
Grinberg, Darij
Parlett, Jonathan
Combinatorics
20B30, 05E18, 60J10, 60B15
We study the "top-to-random-and-reverse shuffle", defined as the top-to-random shuffle in the symmetric group algebra composed with the permutation $w_0$ (which sends each $i$ to $n+1-i$). More generally, we analyze the composition of any B-basis element of the descent algebra with $w_0$. We show that the minimal polynomial of any such composition (over $\mathbb{Q}$) factors into distinct linear factors, which correspond to the "signed knapsack numbers" of set compositions. This is a counterpart to an analogous property of the B-basis elements themselves, which was proved by Brown using Bidigare's face monoid. In the case of the top-to-random-and-reverse shuffle, the minimal polynomial turns out to be $\prod_{k \in \set{-n+2} \cup \interval{-n+4, n-3} \cup \set{0} \cup \set{n}} \tup{x-k}$.
title Top to random and reverse: analysis of a new descent algebra shuffle
topic Combinatorics
20B30, 05E18, 60J10, 60B15
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.06740