The most probable order of a random permutation

Given positive integers $n$ and $m$, let $p_n(m)$ be the probability that a uniform random permutation of $[n]$ has order exactly $m$. We show that, as $n \to \infty$, the maximum of $p_n(m)$ over all $m$ is asymptotic to $1/n$, the probability of an $n$-cycle. Furthermore, for sufficiently large $n$, we show that the maximum is attained precisely if $m$ is the least positive integer divisible by all positive integers less than or equal to $n-m$. This answers a question of Acan, Burnette, Eberhard, Schmutz and Thomas, originally attributed to work of Erdős and Turán from 1968.

Publication Details

Journal
ArXiv.org
Published
2025-10-13
Primary Topic
Water Quality and Resources Studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

The most probable order of a random permutation

ArXiv.org
Water Quality and Resources Studies
article

The most probable order of a random permutation

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Abstract

Given positive integers $n$ and $m$, let $p_n(m)$ be the probability that a uniform random permutation of $[n]$ has order exactly $m$. We show that, as $n \to \infty$, the maximum of $p_n(m)$ over all $m$ is asymptotic to $1/n$, the probability of an $n$-cycle. Furthermore, for sufficiently large $n$, we show that the maximum is attained precisely if $m$ is the least positive integer divisible by all positive integers less than or equal to $n-m$. This answers a question of Acan, Burnette, Eberhard, Schmutz and Thomas, originally attributed to work of Erdős and Turán from 1968.

ArXiv.org
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Water Quality and Resources Studies
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The most probable order of a random permutation · ArXiv.org (2025) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS