We prove a conjecture of Liu and Wang on the q-log-convexity of the polynomial sequence $\{\sum_{k=0}^n{n\choose k}^2q^k\}_{n\geq 0}$. By using Pieri's rule and the Jacobi-Trudi identity for Schur functions, we obtain an expansion of a sum of products of elementary symmetric functions in terms of Schur functions with nonnegative coefficients. Then the principal specialization leads to the q-log-convexity. We also prove that a technical condition of Liu and Wang holds for the squares of the binomial coefficients. Hence we deduce that the linear transformation with respect to the triangular array $\{{n\choose k}^2\}_{0\leq k\leq n}$ is log-convexity preserving.
This paper is devoted to the study of the log-convexity of combinatorial sequences. We show that the log-convexity is preserved under componentwise sum, under binomial convolution, and by the linear transformations given by the matrices of binomial coefficients and Stirling numbers of two kinds. We develop techniques for dealing with the log-convexity of sequences satisfying a three-term recurrence. We also introduce the concept of $q$-log-convexity and establish the connection with linear transformations preserving the log-convexity. As applications of our results, we prove the log-convexity …
The $p$-th power of the logarithm of the Catalan generating function is computed using the Stirling cycle numbers. Instead of Stirling numbers, one may write this generating function in terms of higher order harmonic numbers.
In this paper, we prove the $q$-log-convexity of Domb's polynomials, which was conjectured by Sun in the study of Ramanujan-Sato type series for powers of $π$. As a result, we obtain the log-convexity of Domb's numbers. Our proof is based on the $q$-log-convexity of Narayana polynomials of type $B$ and a criterion for determining $q$-log-convexity of self-reciprocal polynomials.
We study logarithmic integrals of the form $\int_0^1 x^i\ln^n(x)\ln^m(1-x)dx$. They are expressed as a rational linear combination of certain rational numbers $(n,m)_i$, which we call tiered binomial coefficients, and products of the zeta values $ζ(2)$, $ζ(3)$,\dots. Various properties of the tiered binomial coefficients are established. They involve, amongst others, the binomial transform, truncated multiple zeta and multiple zeta star values, as well as special functions. As an application we discuss the limit law of the number of comparisons of the Quicksort algorithm: we reprove that the m…
Let $P_{n,k}$ be the number of permutations $π$ on [n]={1, 2,..., n} such that the length of the longest increasing subsequences of $π$ equals k, and let $M_{2n, k}$ be the number of matchings on [2n] with crossing number k. Define $P_n(x)= \sum_k P_{n,k}x^k$ and $M_{2n}(x)=\sum_{k} M_{2n,k}x^k$. We propose some conjectures on the log-concavity and q-log-convexity of the polynomials $P_n(x)$ and $M_{2n}(x)$. We also introduce the notions of $\infty$-q-log-convexity and $\infty$-q-log-concavity, and the notion of higher order log-concavity with respect to $\infty$-q-log-convex or $\infty$-q-log…
A sequence $\{ a_n \}_{n \ge 0}$ is said to be asymptotically $r$-log-convex if it is $r$-log-convex for $n$ sufficiently large. We present a criterion on the asymptotical $r$-log-convexity based on the asymptotic behavior of $a_n a_{n+2}/a_{n+1}^2$. As an application, we show that most P-recursive sequences are asymptotic $r$-log-convexity for any integer $r$ once they are log-convex. Moreover, for a concrete integer $r$, we present a systematic method to find the explicit integer $N$ such that a P-recursive sequence $\{a_n\}_{n \ge N}$ is $r$-log-convex. This enable us to prove the $r$-log-c…
In this paper we prove the strong $q$-log-convexity of the Eulerian polynomials of Coxeter groups using their exponential generating functions. Our proof is based on the theory of exponential Riordan arraya and a criterion for determining the strong $q$-log-convexity of polynomials sequences, whose generating functions can be given by the continued fraction. As consequences, we get the strong $q$-log-convexity the Eulerian polynomials of type $A_n,B_n$, their $q$-analogous and the generalized Eulerian polynomials associated to the arithmetic progression $\{a,a+d,a+2d,a+3d,\ldots\}$ in a unifie…
Using Schur positivity and the principal specialization of Schur functions, we provide a proof of a recent conjecture of Liu and Wang on the $q$-log-convexity of the Narayana polynomials, and a proof of the second conjecture that the Narayana transformation preserves the log-convexity. Based on a formula of Bränd$\mathrm{\acute{e}}$n which expresses the $q$-Narayana numbers as the specializations of Schur functions, we derive several symmetric function identities using the Littlewood-Richardson rule for the product of Schur functions, and obtain the strong $q$-log-convexity of the Narayana pol…
The q-Catalan numbers studied by Carlitz and Riordan are polynomials in q with nonnegative coefficients. They evaluate, at q=1, to the Catalan numbers: 1, 1, 2, 5, 14,..., a log-convex sequence. We use a combinatorial interpretation of these polynomials to prove a q-log-convexity result. The sequence of q-Catalan numbers is not q-log-convex in the narrow sense used by other authors, so our work suggests a more flexible definition of q-log convex be adopted.
The Catalan-Larcombe-French sequence $\{P_n\}_{n\geq 0}$ arises in a series expansion of the complete elliptic integral of the first kind. It has been proved that the sequence is log-balanced. In the paper, by exploring a criterion due to Chen and Xia for testing 2-log-convexity of a sequence satisfying three-term recurrence relation, we prove that the new sequence $\{P^2_n-P_{n-1}P_{n+1}\}_{n\geq 1}$ are strictly log-convex and hence the Catalan-Larcombe-French sequence is strictly 2-log-convex.
In his study of Ramanujan-Sato type series for $1/π$, Sun introduced a sequence of polynomials $S_n(q)$ as given by $$S_n(q)=\sum\limits_{k=0}^n{n\choose k}{2k\choose k}{2(n-k)\choose n-k}q^k,$$ and he conjectured that the polynomials $S_n(q)$ are $q$-log-convex. By imitating a result of Liu and Wang on generating new $q$-log-convex sequences of polynomials from old ones, we obtain a sufficient condition for determining the $q$-log-convexity of self-reciprocal polynomials. Based on this criterion, we then give an affirmative answer to Sun's conjecture.
We extend the exponential formula by Bender and Canfield (1996), which relates log-concavity and the cycle index polynomials. The extension clarifies the log-convexity relation. The proof is by noticing the property of a compound Poisson distribution together with its moment generating function. We also give a combinatorial proof of extended "log-convex part" referring Bender and Canfield's approach, where the formula by Bruijn and Erdös (1953) is additionally exploited. The combinatorial approach yields richer structural results more than log-convexity. Furthermore, we consider normal and bin…
We establish discrete and continuous log-concavity results for a biparametric extension of the $q$-numbers and of the $q$-binomial coefficients. By using classical results for the Jacobi theta function we are able to lift some of our log-concavity results to the elliptic setting. One of our main ingredients is a putatively new lemma involving a multiplicative analogue of Turán's inequality.
In this paper, we present some criteria for the $2$-$q$-log-convexity and $3$-$q$-log-convexity of combinatorial sequences, which can be regarded as the first column of certain infinite triangular array $[A_{n,k}(q)]_{n,k\geq0}$ of polynomials in $q$ with nonnegative coefficients satisfying the recurrence relation $$A_{n,k}(q)=A_{n-1,k-1}(q)+g_k(q)A_{n-1,k}(q)+h_{k+1}(q)A_{n-1,k+1}(q).$$ Those criterions can also be presented by continued fractions and generating functions. These allow a unified treatment of the $2$-$q$-log-convexity of alternating Eulerian polynomials, $2$-log-convexity of Eu…
Using calculus we show how to prove some combinatorial inequalities of the type log-concavity or log-convexity. It is shown by this method that binomial coefficients and Stirling numbers of the first and second kinds are log-concave, and that Motzkin numbers and secondary structure numbers of rank 1 are log-convex. In fact, we prove via calculus a much stronger result that a natural continuous ``patchwork'' (i.e. corresponding dynamical systems) of Motzkin numbers and secondary structures recursions are increasing functions. We indicate how to prove asymptotically the log-convexity for general…
In this paper we further study the relationship between convexity and additive growth, building on the work of Schoen and Shkredov (\cite{SS}) to get some improvements to earlier results of Elekes, Nathanson and Ruzsa (\cite{ENR}). In particular, we show that for any finite set $A\subset{\mathbb{R}}$ and any strictly convex or concave function $f$, \[|A+f(A)|\gg{\frac{|A|^{24/19}}{(\log|A|)^{2/19}}}\] and \[\max\{|A-A|,\ |f(A)+f(A)|\}\gg{\frac{|A|^{14/11}}{(\log|A|)^{2/11}}}.\] For the latter of these inequalities, we go on to consider the consequences for a sum-product type problem.
Let $\{b_{k}(n)\}_{n=0}^{\infty}$ be the Bell numbers of order $k$. It is proved that the sequence $\{b_{k}(n)/n!\}_{n=0}^{\infty}$ is log-concave and the sequence $\{b_{k}(n)\}_{n=0}^{\infty}$ is log-convex, or equivalently, the following inequalities hold for all $n\geq 0$, $$1\leq {b_{k}(n+2) b_{k}(n) \over b_{k}(n+1)^{2}} \leq {n+2 \over n+1}.$$ Let $\{\a(n)\}_{n=0}^{\infty}$ be a sequence of positive numbers with $\a(0)=1$. We show that if $\{\a(n)\}_{n=0}^{\infty}$ is log-convex, then $$\a (n) \a (m) \leq \a(n+m), \quad \forall n, m\geq 0.$$ On the other hand, if $\{\a(n)/n!\}_{n=0}^{\in…
We show that the sequence of moments of order less than 1 of averages of i.i.d. positive random variables is log-concave. For moments of order at least 1, we conjecture that the sequence is log-convex and show that this holds eventually for integer moments (after neglecting the first $p^2$ terms of the sequence).
We present an approach to proving the 2-log-convexity of sequences satisfying three-term recurrence relations. We show that the Apery numbers, the Cohen-Rhin numbers, the Motzkin numbers, the Fine numbers, the Franel numbers of order 3 and 4 and the large Schroder numbers are all 2-log-convex. Numerical evidence suggests that all these sequences are k-log-convex for any $k\geq 1$ possibly except for a constant number of terms at the beginning.
Polynomial sequence ${P_m}_{m\geq0}$ is $q$-logarithmically concave if $P_{m}^2-P_{m+1}P_{m-1}$ is a polynomial with nonnegative coefficients for any $m\geq{1}$. We introduce an analogue of this notion for formal power series whose coefficients are nonnegative continuous functions of parameter. Four types of such power series are considered where parameter dependence is expressed by a ratio of gamma functions. We prove six theorems stating various forms of $q$-logarithmic concavity and convexity of these series. The main motivating examples for these investigations are hypergeometric functions…
In a previous paper, we studied an overpartition analogue of Gaussian polynomials as the generating function for overpartitions fitting inside an $m \times n$ rectangle. Here, we add one more parameter counting the number of overlined parts, obtaining a two-parameter generalization $\overline{m+n \brack n}_{q,t}$ of Gaussian polynomials, which is also a $(q,t)$-analogue of Delannoy numbers. First we obtain finite versions of classical $q$-series identities such as the $q$-binomial theorem and the Lebesgue identity, as well as two-variable generalizations of classical identities involving Gauss…
Log-concavity and almost log-convexity of the cycle index polynomials were proved by Bender and Canfield [J. Combin. Theory Ser. A 74 (1996)]. Schirmacher [J. Combin. Theory Ser. A 85 (1999)] extended them to $q$-log-concavity and almost $q$-log-convexity. Motivated by these, we consider the stronger properties total positivity from the Toeplitz matrix and Hankel matrix. By using exponential Riordan array methods, we give some criteria for total positivity of the triangular matrix of coefficients of the generalized cycle index polynomials, the Toeplitz matrix and Hankel matrix of the polynomia…
Two interesting sequences arose in the study of the series expansions of the complete elliptic integrals, which are called the Catalan-Larcombe-French sequence $\{P_n\}_{n\geq 0}$ and the Fennessey-Larcombe-French sequence $\{V_n\}_{n\geq 0}$ respectively. In this paper, we prove the log-convexity of $\{V_n^2-V_{n-1}V_{n+1}\}_{n\geq 2}$ and $\{n!V_n\}_{n\geq 1}$, the ratio log-concavity of $\{P_n\}_{n\geq 0}$ and the sequence $\{A_n\}_{n\geq 0}$ of Apéry numbers, and the ratio log-convexity of $\{V_n\}_{n\geq 1}$.
We show that for every $r \geq 1$, and all $r$ distinct (sufficiently large) primes $p_1,..., p_r > p_0(r)$, there exist infinitely many integers $n$ such that ${2n \choose n}$ is divisible by these primes to only low multiplicity. From a theorem of Kummer, an upper bound for the number of times that a prime $p_j$ can divide ${2n \choose n}$ is $1+\log n / \log p_j$; and our theorem shows that for every $\varepsilon > 0$, $r \geq 1$, and any sufficiently large primes $p_1,...,p_r > p_0(\varepsilon,r)$, we can find integers $n$ where for $j=1,...,r$, $p_j$ divides ${2n \choose n}$ with multipli…
We consider binomial and inverse binomial sums at infinity and rewrite them in terms of a small set of constants, such as powers of $π$ or $\log(2)$. In order to perform these simplifications, we view the series as specializations of generating series. For these generating series, we derive integral representations in terms of root-valued iterated integrals. Using substitutions, we express the interated integrals as cyclotomic harmonic polylogarithms. Finally, by applying known relations among the cyclotomic harmonic polylogarithms, we derive expressions in terms of several constants.
Friedland (1981) showed that for a nonnegative square matrix A, the spectral radius r(e^D A) is a log-convex functional over the real diagonal matrices D. He showed that for fully indecomposable A, log r(e^D A) is strictly convex over D_1, D_2 if and only if D_1-D_2 != c I for any c \in R. Here the condition of full indecomposability is shown to be replaceable by the weaker condition that A and A'A be irreducible, which is the sharpest possible replacement condition. Irreducibility of both A and A'A is shown to be equivalent to irreducibility of A^2 and A'A, which is the condition for a number…
We prove a new class of low-energy decompositions which, amongst other consequences, imply that any finite set $A$ of integers may be written as $A = B \cup C$, where $B$ and $C$ are disjoint sets satisfying \[ |\{ (b_1, \dots, b_{2s}) \in B^{2s} \ | \ b_1 + \dots + b_{s} = b_{s+1} + \dots + b_{2s}\}| \ll_{s} |B|^{2s - (\log \log s)^{1/2 - o(1)}} \] and \[ |\{ (c_1, \dots, c_{2s}) \in C^{2s} \ | \ c_1 \dots c_{s} = c_{s+1} \dots c_{2s} \}| \ll_{s} |C|^{2s - (\log \log s)^{1/2 - o(1)}}.\] This generalises previous results of Bourgain--Chang on many-fold sumsets and product sets to the setting o…
We show that for every fixed $\ell\in\mathbb{N}$, the set of $n$ with $n^\ell|\binom{2n}{n}$ has a positive asymptotic density $c_\ell$, and we give an asymptotic formula for $c_\ell$ as $\ell\to \infty$. We also show that $\# \{n\le x, (n,\binom{2n}{n})=1 \} \sim cx/\log x$ for some constant $c$. One novelty is a method to capture the effect of large prime factors of integers in general sequences.
We show that a well-known asymptotic series for the logarithm of the central binomial coefficient is strictly enveloping in the sense of Pólya and Szegö, so the error incurred in truncating the series is of the same sign as the next term, and is bounded in magnitude by that term. We consider closely related asymptotic series for Binet's function, for $\lnΓ(z+1/2)$, and for the Riemann-Siegel theta function, and make some historical remarks.
