<> Definition & Example ==================== - An **integer partition** $\lambda$ of $n \in \mathbb{N}_+$ is a sequence $\lambda = (\lambda_1,\ldots,\lambda_k)$ such that $\lambda_i \in \mathbb{N}_{+}$, $\lambda_1 \geq \lambda_2 \geq \dots \geq \lambda_k$ and $\sum_{1 \leq i \leq k} \lambda_i = n$. - We write $\lambda \vdash n$ if $\lambda$ is a partition of $n$, and denote the set of integer partitions of $n$ by $\mathbf{P}_n$. <> - Integer partitions are graphically represented by their [Ferrers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Macleod_Ferrers) diagram (or Young diagram) as a collection of boxes. - The number of integer partitions $p(n) = |\mathbf{P}_n|$ is [A000041](http://oeis.org/A000041), and the number of integer partitions into distinct parts is [A000009](http://oeis.org/A000009). Its generating function is $$\displaystyle \sum_{n=0}^\infty p(n) x^n = \prod_{k=1}^\infty \frac{1}{1-x^k}.$$ This is also known as the Euler's generating function which allows $p(n)$ to be calculated for any $n$, see <>. Properties ========== - Let $p_n(r)$ be the number of partitions of $n$ in which the largest part is $r$. Let $q_n(r)$ be the number of partitions of $n-r$ which no part is greater than r. Then $$p_n(r)=q_n(r)$$ - Let $p_n^s$ denote the number of [self conjugate partitions](http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Self-ConjugatePartition.html) of n and let $p_n^t$ be the number of partitions of n into distinct odd parts. Then $$p_n^s=p_n^t$$ - Let $p_n^o$ be the number of partitions of n into odd parts, and let $p_n^d$ be the number of partitions of n into distinct parts. Then $$p_n^o=p_n^d,$$ see <>. - The elements of $\mathbf{P}_n$ index the number of irreducible representations of the symmetric group $\mathbf{S}_n$ over a field of characteristic $0$. - The number of non-isomorphic abelian groups of order $n=\sum_ip_i^{j_i}$ where $p_i$ are distinct primes and $j_i$ are positive integers is given by $\prod_ip(j_i)$ [A000688](http://oeis.org/A000688) - Congruence partitions are partitions that are similar under modulation. For example: $$p(5k+4)= 0 (mod\text{ }5)$$ $$p(7k+5)= 0 (mod\text{ }7)$$ $$p(11k+6)=0 (mod\text{ }11)$$ are just a couple examples proven by Srinivasa Ramanujan. - The approximation formula for p(n): $$\displaystyle p(n) \sim \frac {1} {4n\sqrt3} \exp\left({\pi \sqrt {\frac{2n}{3}}}\right) \mbox { as } n\rightarrow \infty$$ - For many combinatorial statistics and bijections see <> References ========== <> Sage examples ============= {{{#!sagecell for n in [2,3,4,5]: print Compositions(n).cardinality() for c in Compositions(3): print c }}} Technical information for database usage ======================================== - An integer partition is uniquely represented as a list of its parts. - Integer partitions are graded by their sum. - The database contains all integer partitions of size at most 17.