Journal of Integer Sequences, Vol. 26 (2023), Article 23.5.8

On Flattened Parking Functions


Jennifer Elder
Department of Computer Science, Mathematics and Physics
Missouri Western State University
4525 Downs Drive
St. Joseph, MO 64507
USA

Pamela E. Harris
Department of Mathematical Sciences
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
3200 N. Cramer Street
Milwaukee, WI 53211
USA

Zoe Markman
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Swarthmore College
500 College Avenue
Swarthmore, PA 19081
USA

Izah Tahir
School of Mathematics
Georgia Institute of Technology
686 Cherry Street
Atlanta, GA 30332
USA

Amanda Verga
Department of Mathematics
Trinity College
300 Summit Street
Hartford, CT 06106
USA

Abstract:

A permutation of length n is called a flattened partition if the leading terms of maximal chains of ascents (called runs) are in increasing order. We analogously define flattened parking functions: a subset of parking functions for which the leading terms of maximal chains of weak ascents (also called runs) are in weakly increasing order. For n ≤ 8, where there are at most four runs, we give data for the number of flattened parking functions, and it remains an open problem to give formulas for their enumeration in general. We then specialize to a subset of flattened parking functions that we call 𝒮-insertion flattened parking functions. These are obtained by inserting all numbers of a multiset 𝒮 whose elements are in [n] = {1, 2, ... , n}, into a permutation of [n] and checking that the result is flattened. We provide bijections between 𝒮-insertion flattened parking functions and 𝒮′-insertion flattened parking functions, where 𝒮 and 𝒮′ have certain relations. We then further specialize to the case 𝒮 = 1r, the multiset with r ones, and we establish a bijection between 1r-insertion flattened parking functions and set partitions of [n + r] with the first r integers in different subsets.


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(Concerned with sequences A000108 A000110 A077802 A124324.)


Received October 25 2022; revised versions received October 26 2022; March 31 2023; June 5 2023; June 7 2023; June 9 2023. Published in Journal of Integer Sequences, June 10 2023.


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