5
$\begingroup$

For each integer $n$, let $a_n$ be the number of partitions of $\{1, \ldots, n+1\}$ into subsets of nonconsecutive integers.

I found (by listing) that $ a_1, a_2, a_3, a_4$ are $1, 2, 5, 15$ respectively. When I looked it up on https://oeis.org/, $a_n$ turned out to be the $n$-th Bell number https://oeis.org/A000110. At this point, I am thinking about counting using recursion. However, the recurrence relation for the Bell numbers is $$B_{n+1} = \sum_{k=0}^n \binom{n}{k} B_k$$ I have not been able to connect this to the problem above.

$\endgroup$
1
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Could you clarify "subsets of nonconsecutive integers"? Is a "nonconsecutive set" $S$ such that for all $x \in S$, $x+1 \notin S$? Or rather by "nonconsecutive set" do you mean there are no integers $m,k$ such that we can write $S=\{m, m+1, \cdots, m+k\}$? $\endgroup$ Commented Jun 27 at 6:51

3 Answers 3

5
$\begingroup$

Write the numbers out 1-2-3-...-n-(n+1). For each "link" j-(j+1) introduce the set $A_j$ of those set partitions where $j$ and $j+1$ go to the same part.

By inclusion-exclusion

$$ a_n = \left| \left( \bigcup A_j \right)^C \right| = \sum_{J\subset [n]} (-1)^{|J|} \left| \bigcap_{j\in J} A_j \right| $$

The intersection $\left| \bigcap_{j\in J} A_j \right| $ has size $B_{n+1-|J|}$ because there are $|J|$ links and each link ties a pair of elements together. An element could be already tied block, doesn't matter. Each new tie drops the number of elements by one. And thus we are left with $n+1-|J|$ elements to partition.

So

$$ a_n = \sum_{r=0}^n (-1)^r \binom{n}{r}B_{n+1-r} $$

Let's check that this agrees with $B_n$. (Or you can see it already with Pascal's inversion formula.) Write the $B_{n+1-r}$ inside the formula with the Bell recurrence to get

$$ a_n = \sum_{r=0}^n (-1)^r \binom{n}{r} \sum_{j=0}^{n-r}\binom{n-r}{j}B_{j} = \sum_{j=0}^{n} B_{j} \sum_{r=0}^{n-j} (-1)^r \binom{n}{r} \binom{n-r}{j} = B_n $$

since the inner sum over $r$ is zero for $0\leq j<n$ and one for $j=n$. This is because

$$ \sum_{r=0}^{n-j} (-1)^r \binom{n}{r} \binom{n-r}{j} = \frac{n!}{j!} \sum_{r=0}^{n-j} (-1)^r \frac{1}{r! (n-j-r)!} = \frac{n!}{j!} \frac{1}{(n-j)!} \sum_{r=0}^{n-j} (-1)^r \frac{(n-j)!}{r! (n-j-r)!} = \binom{n}{j} \sum_{r=0}^{n-j} (-1)^r \binom{n-j}{r} $$

$\endgroup$
2
  • $\begingroup$ "An element could already be tied to a block, it doesn't matter. Each new tie reduces the number of elements by one. Thus, we are left with $n+1-|J|$ elements to partition. I understand your point, but I haven't proven why the number of such partitions is $ B_{n+1-|J|} $. $\endgroup$ Commented Jun 29 at 11:24
  • $\begingroup$ @Math_fun2006 Think of a linked block as a single element. Then you're just partitioning those. $\endgroup$
    – ploosu2
    Commented Jun 29 at 12:54
4
$\begingroup$

Here, I give a bijective proof that $a_n=B_{n}$.

Let $P$ be an arbitrary partition $\{1,\dots,n\}$. We will use $P$ to produce a partition $Q$ of $\{1,\dots,n+1\}$, where every part of $Q$ is made of nonconsecutive integers.

Start by assigning a color to each number $x$ in $[n]$, as follows. Each number will be colored black, white, or gray. We do this in such a way that whenever two consecutive numbers are in the same part, they will be colored black or white, such that consecutive numbers are colored opposite each other. If a number is not in the same part as its consecutive neighbors, it is colored gray. Here are the specifics of how to achieve this:

  • If $x$ is in the same part as $x-1$, but $x$ is not in the same part as $x+1$, then $x$ will be colored black.

  • If $x$ is the in the same part as $x+1$, then $x$ will be colored the opposite color of $x+1$. In this case, $x+1$ is always black or white, so $x$ is colored white or black.

  • If $x$ is not in the same part as $x-1$ or $x+1$, then $x$ is colored gray.

With this coloring, here is how we produce the nonconsecutive partition $Q$ of $\{1,\dots,n+1\}$. Start by taking all of the parts of $P$, together with a new part which initially only contains the number $n+1$. Then, move all of the white-colored numbers into the new part.

To prove this is a bijection, we just need to demonstrate the inverse mapping. Given a nonconsecutive partition $Q$ of $\{1,\dots,n+1\}$, we will delete the part containing $n+1$, and then for each number $x$ in the deleted part, we move $x$ to the part containing $x+1$.


More generally, you can use the same method to bijectively prove that, for any positive integer $d$, the number of partitions of $\{1,\dots,n+d\}$ with the property that any $x,y$ in the same part have $|x-y|>d$ is equal to $B_n$. See this earlier MSE question.

$\endgroup$
3
$\begingroup$

The following solution is a detailed version of ploosu2 above. We recall the following equality for the Bell number (see the link here) $$B_{n+1}=\sum_{l=0}^n\binom{n}{l}B_l.$$ According to the binomial inverse formula, from the above equality we obtain $$B_n=\sum_{l=0}^{n}(-1)^{n-l} \binom{n}{l}B_{l+1} \quad (\star)$$ Returning to the problem, for each number $i \in [n]$, let $A_i$ be the set of partitions of the set $[n+1]$ into component sets such that $i;i+1$ are in the same component set. Combining the inclusion-exclusion principle, we have $$a_n=\left|\overline{\bigcup_{i=1}^n A_i} \right|=B_{n+1}+\sum_{\varnothing \neq I \subseteq[n]}(-1)^{|I|}\left|\bigcap_{i \in I} A_i\right|. $$ For each fixed set $\varnothing \neq I \subseteq [n]$, let $$C_I=\bigcap_{i \in I} A_i$$ and $D_{n+1-m}$ be the set of partitions of the set $[n+1] \setminus I$. We have, $|D_{n+1-m}|=B_{n+1-m}$. We consider a mapping $f$ with the rule defined as follows: for $\alpha=\{X_1;X_2;\cdots;X_l\} \in C_I$ we associate it with $\beta=\{Y_1;Y_2;\cdots;Y_l\}$, where $$Y_i = X_i \setminus I,\quad \forall i=1,2,\cdots,l.$$ We will prove that the mapping $f$ is a bijection from $C_I$ to $D_{n+1-m}$, from which it follows that $\left|\bigcap_{i \in I} A_i\right|=B_{n+1-m}$.

1. First, for each $\alpha$, we can uniquely determine a $\beta$ according to the rule above. We observe that

$\quad$ a) $Y_i \neq \varnothing$ for every $i$. Indeed, by definition, $Y_i=\varnothing$ if and only if $$X_i \subseteq I.$$ Consider the largest element in $X_i$, assume it is $x$. Hence, $$x \in I.$$ According to the definition of the set $A_{x}$, the set $X_i$ must contain both $x$ and $x+1$. This is a contradiction since $x$ is already the largest element.

$\quad$ b) $Y_i \cap Y_j = \varnothing$ for all $i \neq j$. Indeed, $$(Y_i \cap Y_j) \subseteq (X_i \cap X_j) = \varnothing,\forall i=1,2,\cdots,l.$$

$\quad$ c) $\bigcup_{i \in I}Y_i=[n+1] \setminus I$. Indeed, $$\bigcup_{i \in I}Y_i=\bigcup_{i \in I}\left(X_i \setminus I \right)=\left(\bigcup_{i \in I}X_i\right) \setminus I=[n+1]\setminus I.$$ Therefore, $f$ is a mapping from $C_I$ to $D_{n+1-m}$.

2. $f$ is an injective function. Suppose there exist $\alpha=\{X_1;X_2;\cdots;X_l\}$ and $\alpha^{\prime}=\{X_1^{\prime};X_2^{\prime};\cdots;X_l^{\prime}\} \in C_I$ such that $$X_i \setminus I=X_i^{\prime} \setminus I, \forall i=1,2,\cdots,l.$$ For each $i$, our goal is to show that $X_i=X_i^{\prime}$ (this may not hold for arbitrary sets, but it holds here due to the special properties of $C_I$ and is not overly complex). Assume $X_i \neq X_i^{\prime}$ but because $X_i \setminus I=X_i^{\prime} \setminus I$, without loss of generality, we can assert that there exists $x$ such that $$x \in X_i, x \in I, x \not \in X_i^{\prime} \quad (\star\star).$$ Among the $x$ satisfying $(\star\star)$, consider the largest element, assume it is $x'$. Hence, $x'+1 \in X_i$ (since $x' \in X_i, x' \in I$). Due to the largest element property of $x'$, $x'+1 \in X_i^{\prime}$. However, $\alpha^{\prime} \in C_I$, so $x'$ and $x'+1$ must belong to the same component set, that is, $x' \in X_i^{\prime}$. This is a contradiction. Therefore, $f$ is injective.

3. $f$ is surjective. Consider $\beta=\{Y_1;Y_2;\cdots;Y_p\} \in D_{n+1-m}$ (arbitrary), we construct $$\alpha = \{X_1;X_2;\cdots;X_p\},$$ based on $\beta$ as follows: for each $i$, assume $$Y_i=\{y_{i,1};y_{i,2};\cdots;y_{i,t}\} \text{ with } 1 \le y_{i,1}<y_{i,2}<\cdots<y_{i,t},$$ the set $X_i$ is determined by the algorithm below

$\quad\quad$ Step 1: Place all elements of $Y_i$ into $X_i$. Then move to step 2. Since $Y_i \in D_{n+1-m}$, $Y_i$ must contain at least one element, meaning $X_i$ is non-empty after step 1. We will call $Y_i$ the generating set of $X_i$.

$\quad\quad$ Step 2: Order the current elements of $X_i$. Without loss of generality, assume $X_i=\{x_{i,1};x_{i,2};\cdots;x_{i,v}\}$ with $1 \le x_{i,1}<x_{i,2}<\cdots<x_{i,v}$. Move to step 3.

$\quad\quad$ Step 3: If for each $x_{i,j} \in X_i$ we have $x_{i,j}-1 \not \in I$, then the algorithm for constructing $X_i$ terminates and we obtain $X_i$. Otherwise, consider the elements $x_{i,j}$ such that $x_{i,j}-1 \in I$. Then, add $x_{i,j}-1$ to $X_i$. Perform this for all such $x_{i,j}$ and then return to step 2.

(Since the elements in $I$ are bounded below by 1, the above algorithm will only execute a finite number of times)

In summary, through the above 3 steps, we obtain the set $X_i$. Without loss of generality, assume $X_i$ is then $$\left\{ {\underbrace {\overbrace {{x_{{1,i_1}}};{x_{{1,i_2}}}; \cdots ;{x_{{1,i_q}}}}^{ \in I};{y_{i,1}}}_{\textrm{Consecutive integers}};\underbrace {\overbrace {{x_{{2,i_1}}};{x_{{2,i_2}}}; \cdots ;{x_{{2,i_r}}}}^{ \in I};{y_{i,2}}}_{\textrm{Consecutive integers}} \cdots ;\underbrace {\overbrace {{x_{{t,i_1}}};{x_{{t,i_2}}}; \cdots ;{x_{{t,i_u}}}}^{ \in I};{y_{i,t}}}_{\textrm{Consecutive integers}}} \right\}$$ with $$ x_{1,i_1}<x_{1,i_2}<\cdots x_{1,i_q}<y_{i,1}<x_{2,i_1}<x_{2,i_2}<\cdots<x_{t,i_1}<x_{t,i_2}<\cdots<x_{t,i_u}<y_{i,t} $$ (note that $x_{1,i_1},x_{1,i_2},\cdots,x_{1,i_q}$ may not exist, meaning the smallest element in $X_i$ is then $y_{i,1}$)

We have three observations about the sets $X_i$ formed:

$\quad\quad$ i) First, $Y_i \subseteq X_i, \forall i=1,2,\cdots,p$. This follows from step 1.

$\quad\quad$ ii) Second, for each set $X_i$, the largest integer in each sequence of consecutive integers in $X_i$ always belongs to $Y_i$.

$\quad\quad$ iii) Third, $Y_i \cap X_j=\varnothing$ for all $i \neq j$. Indeed, \begin{align*} Y_i \cap X_j &= \{x \mid x \in (Y_i \cap (X_j \setminus I))\} \cup \{x \mid x \in (Y_i \cap (X_j \cap I))\} \\ & \subseteq \{x \mid x \in (Y_i \cap Y_j)\} \cup \{x \mid x \in (Y_i \cap I)\} \\ &=\varnothing. \end{align*}

For convenience in the following argument, we call $y_{i,j}$ (for $j=1,2,\cdots,t$) the generating element of the elements $x_{j,i_h}$ less than $y_{i,j}$. We see that:

$\quad$ a) $X_i \neq \varnothing, \forall i \in I$. According to step 1, $$\varnothing \neq Y_i \subseteq X_i.$$

$\quad$ b) $\bigcup_{i=1}^p X_i = [n+1]$. Indeed, $\bigcup_{i=1}^p X_i \subseteq [n+1]$ is obvious. Consider $z \in [n+1]$. Then:

$\quad\quad$ i) For $z \not \in I$. Since $\beta \in D_{n+1-m}$, there exists a unique $j$ such that $z \in Y_j$. According to step 1, we have $z \in X_j \subset \bigcup_{i=1}^p X_i.$

$\quad\quad$ ii) For $z \in I$. Let $y \in [n+1] \setminus I$ be the smallest element that is greater than $z$ (this element always exists because the elements in $I$ are at most $n$). Suppose $y \in Y_j$. According to step 3, $y$ is the generating element of $z$, meaning $z \in X_j \subset \bigcup_{i=1}^p X_i.$

In summary, $ \bigcup_{i \in I} X_i \subseteq [n+1] \subseteq \bigcup_{i \in I} X_i,$ meaning $\bigcup_{i \in I} X_i = [n+1]$.

$\quad$ c) $X_i \cap X_j = \varnothing, \forall i \neq j$. Using the third observation, we have \begin{align*} X_i \cap X_j &= ((X_i \setminus I) \cup (X_i \cap I)) \cap X_j \\ &= (Y_i \cup (X_i \cap I)) \cap X_j \\ &= (Y_i \cap X_j) \cup (X_i \cap I \cap X_j) \\ &= X_i \cap X_j \cap I. \end{align*} This means that if $X_i$ and $X_j$ intersect, the common element must belong to $I$. Suppose $X_i \cap X_j \neq \varnothing$, consider $z \in (X_i \cap X_j)$, let the generating element of $z$ in $X_i$ be $y_{i,s} \in Y_i$; the generating element of $z$ in $X_j$ be $y_{j,v} \in Y_j$. Without loss of generality, assume $y_{i,s} < y_{j,v}$. It follows that $y_{i,s}$ is a natural number in the interval $[z, y_{j,v}]$. According to step 3, $y_{i,s} \in X_j$. This implies $Y_i \cap X_j \neq \varnothing$. This contradicts the third observation.

$\quad$ d) For each set $X_i$, when $X_i \cap I \neq \varnothing$, we need to prove that for each $x \in X_i \cap I$, $x+1$ also belongs to $X_i$. Indeed, suppose $x+1 \not \in X_i$, which means $x$ is the largest natural number in some sequence of consecutive natural numbers in $X_i$. It follows that $x \in Y_i = X_i \setminus I$ (according to the second observation). Thus, $$x \in ((X_i \cap I) \cap (X_i \setminus I)) = \varnothing.$$ This is impossible.

In summary, $\alpha = \{X_1;X_2;\cdots;X_p\} \in C_I$. According to the definition of the mapping $f$, we have $$f(\alpha) = \beta.$$ At this point, we can affirm that $f$ is a bijection. Therefore, we have $$\left|\bigcap_{i \in I} A_i \right| = B_{n+1-|I|}.$$ In other words, \begin{align*} a_n &= B_{n+1} + \sum_{\varnothing \neq I \subseteq [n]} (-1)^{|I|} \left| \bigcap_{i \in I} A_i \right| \\ &= B_{n+1} + \sum_{m=1}^{n} (-1)^{m} \binom{n}{m} B_{n-m+1} \\ &= \sum_{m=0}^{n} (-1)^{m} \binom{n}{n-m} B_{n-m+1} \\ &= \sum_{m=0}^{n} (-1)^{n-(n-m)} \binom{n}{n-m} B_{n-m+1} \\ &= \sum_{l=0}^{n} (-1)^{n-l} \binom{n}{l} B_{l+1} \\ &= B_n \quad \textrm{(according to $(\star)$)} \end{align*} The problem is thus solved.

$\endgroup$

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .