Restricted r-Stirling numbers and their combinatorial applications

Beáta Bényi, Miguel Méndez, José L. Ramírez and Tanay Wakhare

Applied Mathematics and Computation, 2019, vol. 348, issue C, 186-205

Abstract: We study set partitions with r distinguished elements and block sizes found in an arbitrary index set S. The enumeration of these (S, r)-partitions leads to the introduction of (S, r)-Stirling numbers, an extremely wide-ranging generalization of the classical Stirling numbers and the r-Stirling numbers. We also introduce the associated (S, r)-Bell and (S, r)-factorial numbers. We study fundamental aspects of these numbers, including recurrence relations and determinantal expressions. For S with some extra structure, we show that the inverse of the (S, r)-Stirling matrix encodes the Möbius functions of two families of posets. Through several examples, we demonstrate that for some S the matrices and their inverses involve the enumeration sequences of several combinatorial objects. Further, we highlight how the (S, r)-Stirling numbers naturally arise in the enumeration of cliques and acyclic orientations of special graphs, underlining their ubiquity and importance. Finally, we introduce related (S, r) generalizations of the poly-Bernoulli and poly-Cauchy numbers, uniting many past works on generalized combinatorial sequences.

Keywords: Set partitions; Generalized Stirling numbers; Generating functions; Combinatorial identities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:apmaco:v:348:y:2019:i:c:p:186-205

DOI: 10.1016/j.amc.2018.11.047

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