We analyse the expected performance of various group testing, or pooling, designs. The context is that of identifying characterized clones in a large collection of clones. Here we choose as performance criterion the expected number of unresolved ‘negative’ clones, and we aim to minimize this quantity. Technically, long inclusion–exclusion summations are encountered which, aside from being computationally demanding, give little inkling of the qualitative effect of parametric control on the pooling strategy. We show that readily-interpreted re-summation can be performed, leading to asymptotic forms and systematic corrections. We apply our results to randomized designs, illustrating how they might be implemented for approximating combinatorial formulae.

A random mapping (T n ;q) of a finite set V, V = {1,2,…,n}, into itself assigns independently to each i ∊ V its unique image j ∊ V with probability q if i = j and with probability P = (1-q)/(n−1) if i ≠ j. Three versions of epidemic processes on a random digraph G T representing (T n ;q) are studied. The exact probability distributions of the total number of infected elements as well as the threshold functions for these epidemic processes are determined.

A general analytic scheme for Poisson approximation to discrete distributions is studied in which the asymptotic behaviours of the generalized total variation, Fortet-Mourier (or Wasserstein), Kolmogorov and Matusita (or Hellinger) distances are explicitly characterized. Applications of this result include many number-theoretic functions and combinatorial structures. Our approach differs from most of the existing ones in the literature and is easily amended for other discrete approximations; arithmetic and combinatorial examples for Bessel approximation are also presented. A unified approach is developed for deriving uniform estimates for probability generating functions of the number of components in general decomposable combinatorial structures, with or without analytic continuation outside their circles of convergence.

This paper studies the absorption time of an integer-valued Markov chain with a lower-triangular transition matrix. The main results concern the asymptotic behavior of the absorption time when the starting point tends to infinity (asymptotics of moments and central limit theorem). They are obtained using stochastic comparison for Markov chains and the classical theorems of renewal theory. Applications to the description of large random chains of partitions and large random ordered partitions are given.

In this contribution we consider an M/M/1 queueing model with general server vacations. Transient and steady state analysis are carried out in discrete time by combinatorial methods. Using weak convergence of discrete-parameter Markov chains we also obtain formulas for the corresponding continuous-time queueing model. As a special case we discuss briefly a queueing system with a T-policy operating.

We shall say that the sets A, B ⊂ Rk are equivalent, if they are equidecomposable using translations; that is, if there are finite decompositions and vectors x1,…, xd∈Rk such that Bj = Aj + xj, (j = 1,…,d). We shall denote this fact by In [3], Theorem 3 we proved that if A ⊂ Rk is a bounded measurable set of positive measure then A is equivalent to a cube provided that Δ(δA)<k where δA denotes the boundary of A and Δ(E) denotes the packing dimension (or box dimension or upper entropy index) of the bounded set E. This implies, in particular, that any bounded convex set of positive measure is equivalent to a cube. C. A. Rogers asked whether or not the set

For a two-dimensional random walk {X (n) = (X(n)1, X(n)2 )T, n ∈ ℕ0} with correlated components the first-crossing-time probability problem through unit-slope straight lines x 2 = x 1 - r(r = 0,1) is analysed. The p.g.f.'s for the first-crossing-time probabilities are expressed as solutions of a fourth-degree algebraic equation and are then exploited to obtain the first-crossing-time probabilities. Several additional results, including the mean first-crossing time and the probability of ultimate crossing, are also given.

By studying the minimum of moving maxima, that is the maxima taken over a sliding window of length k in an i.i.d. sequence, we obtain new results on the reliability of consecutive k-out-of-n systems. In particular, we give the reliability asymptotically with both k and n varying. The underlying method of our approach is to analyze the singularities of a generating function.

Using a technique of Agarwal and Andrews (1987), bijective proofs of some n-color partition identities discovered recently by the author, are given.

Nous obtenons différentes identités de l'analyse combinatoire contenant des coefficients binomiaux de Gauss.

Let ℱ be a set of m subsets of X = {1,2,…, n}. We study the maximum number λ of containments Y ⊂ Z with Y, Z ∊ ℱ. Theorem 9. , if, and only if, ml/n → 1. When n is large and members of ℱ have cardinality k or k–1 we determine λ. For this we bound (ΔN)/N where ΔN is the shadow of Kruskal's k-cascade for the integer N. Roughly, if m ∼ N + ΔN, then λ ∼ kN with infinitely many cases of equality. A by-product is Theorem 7 of LYM posets.

In [10] the following generalization of the Erdös–Ko–Rado [6] theorem was proved:

If 1 ≤ h ≤ m/2 andare r sets of h-subsets of {1,…, m} such that

then

In this paper we prove two analogues of the following theorem:

If is a collection of distinct subsets of {1, …, m} such that , i ≠ j ⇒ Ai ∩ Aj ≠ ∅, Ai ∪ Aj ≠ {1, …, m} then .

An asymptotic expansion is obtained for this sequence, of interest in combinatorial analysis. Values are given for the constants appearing in the leading term and a numerical comparison made.

The letters a, b, n, m, t (perhaps with suffixes) always denote natural numbers. A, B, S denote finite sets of natural numbers. |A| stands for the cardinality of A.

For a given constant c > 1 we say that the set A has property α(c) if there are at most c|A| differences a − b ≥ 0 for a, b ∈ A.

A. J. W. Hilton [5] conjectured that if P, Q are collections of subsets of a finite set S, with |S| = n, and |P| > 2n−2, |Q| ≥ 2n−2, then for some A ∈ P, B ∈ Q we have A ⊆ B or B ⊆ A. We here show that this assertion, indeed a stronger one, can be deduced from a result of D. J. Kleitman. We then give another proof of a recent result also proved by Lovász and by Schönheim.

Let En+1, for some integer n ≥ 0, be the (n + 1)-dimensional Euclidean space, and denote by Sn the standard n–sphere in En+1, . It is convenient to introduce the (–1)-dimensional sphere , where denotes the empty set. By an i-dimensional subsphere T of Sn, i = 0 n, we understand the intersection of Sn with some (i+1)-dimensional subspace of En+1. The affine hull of T always contains, with this definition, the origin of En+1. is the unique (–1)-dimensional subsphere of Sn. By the spherical hull, sph X, of a set , we understand the intersection of all subspheres of Sn containing X. Further we set dim X: = dim sph X. The interior, the boundary and the complement of an arbitrary set , with respect to Sn, shall be denoted by int X, bd X and cpl X. Finally we define the relative interior rel int X to be the interior of with respect to the usual topology sphZ . For each (n–1)-dimensional subsphere of Sn defines two closed hemispheres of Sn, whose common boundary it is. The two hemispheres of the sphere Sº are denned to be the two one-pointed subsets of Sº. A subset is called a closed (spherical) polytope, if it is the intersection of finitely many closed hemispheres, and, if, in addition, it does not contain a subsphere of Sn. is called an i-dimensional, relatively open polytope, , or shortly an i-open polytope, if there exists a closed polytope such that dim P = i and Q = rel int P. is called a closed polyhedron, if it is a finite union of closed polytopes P1 …, Pr. The empty set is the only (–1)-dimensional closed polyhedron of Sn. We denote by the set of all closed polyhedra of Sn. is called an i-open polyhedron, for some , if there are finitely many i-open polytopes Q1 …, Qr in Sn such that , and dim . By we denote the set of all i-open polyhedra. Clearly for all , and each i-dimensional subsphere of Sn, , belongs to and to , For each i-dimensional subsphere T of Sn, set . A map is defined by , for all , and, for all .

In [1], A. H. Stone proved that for a cardinal number k ≥ 1 a set with a transitive relation can be partitioned into k cofinal subsets provided each element of the set has at least k successors. Using methods quite different from those of Stone, we show that for k ≥ ℵ0 the same condition on successors guarantees that a set on which there are defined not more than k transitive relations can be partitioned into k sets each of which is cofinal with respect to each of the relations. We also show that such a partition exists even if some of the relations are not transitive as long as the non-transitive relations have no more than k elements.