The proportion of permutations fixing a $k$-set
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| _version_ | 1866918476317196288 |
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| author | Green, Ben Sawhney, Mehtaab |
| author_facet | Green, Ben Sawhney, Mehtaab |
| contents | Denote by $p(k)$ the limit, as $n \rightarrow \infty$, of the probability that a random permutation on a set of size $n$ has an invariant set of size $k$. We give an asymptotic formula for $p(k)$, showing that it is asymptotically $f(\{\log_2 k\}) k^{-δ} (\log k)^{-3/2}$ where $δ= 1 - \frac{1 + \log \log 2}{\log 2} \approx 0.086$ and $f$ is a smooth, positive, function on $\mathbb{R}/\mathbb{Z}$, which we will describe explicitly. The function $f$ satisfies $\frac{\max f}{\min f} < 1 + 2 \times 10^{-7}$ and we conjecture that it is not constant.
Estimating $p(k)$ is a model for the more well-known question which asks for an estimation of $M(n)$, the number of distinct elements in the $n$-by-$n$ multiplication table. By elaborating on the techniques in this paper, we will give an asymptotic for $M(n)$ in forthcoming work. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_28116 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | The proportion of permutations fixing a $k$-set Green, Ben Sawhney, Mehtaab Combinatorics Number Theory Probability Denote by $p(k)$ the limit, as $n \rightarrow \infty$, of the probability that a random permutation on a set of size $n$ has an invariant set of size $k$. We give an asymptotic formula for $p(k)$, showing that it is asymptotically $f(\{\log_2 k\}) k^{-δ} (\log k)^{-3/2}$ where $δ= 1 - \frac{1 + \log \log 2}{\log 2} \approx 0.086$ and $f$ is a smooth, positive, function on $\mathbb{R}/\mathbb{Z}$, which we will describe explicitly. The function $f$ satisfies $\frac{\max f}{\min f} < 1 + 2 \times 10^{-7}$ and we conjecture that it is not constant. Estimating $p(k)$ is a model for the more well-known question which asks for an estimation of $M(n)$, the number of distinct elements in the $n$-by-$n$ multiplication table. By elaborating on the techniques in this paper, we will give an asymptotic for $M(n)$ in forthcoming work. |
| title | The proportion of permutations fixing a $k$-set |
| topic | Combinatorics Number Theory Probability |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.28116 |