Grinstead-Snell-Probability · Problem 3.3.1

Conditional Probability

Mathematics · card-shuffling-rising-sequences

Problem

Given any ordering σ\sigma of {1,2,…,n}\{1, 2, \ldots, n\}, we can define σ−1\sigma^{-1}, the inverse ordering of σ\sigma, to be the ordering in which the iith element is the position occupied by ii in σ\sigma. For example, if σ=(1,3,5,2,4,7,6)\sigma = (1, 3, 5, 2, 4, 7, 6), then σ−1=(1,4,2,5,3,7,6)\sigma^{-1} = (1, 4, 2, 5, 3, 7, 6). (If one thinks of these orderings as permutations, then σ−1\sigma^{-1} is the inverse of σ\sigma.) A fall occurs between two positions in an ordering if the left position is occupied by a larger number than the right position. It will be convenient to say that every ordering has a fall after the last position. In the above example, σ−1\sigma^{-1} has four falls. They occur after the second, fourth, sixth, and seventh positions. Prove that the number of rising sequences in an ordering σ\sigma equals the number of falls in σ−1\sigma^{-1}.

Related theory

Browse the problem library