Counting Partitions Inside a Rectangle
Speaker:
Steve Melczer
Date and Time:
Tuesday, January 8, 2019 - 4:00pm to 5:00pm
Location:
Fields Institute, Room 210
Abstract:
Integer partitions are a classic subject having applications across mathematics, with recent interest driven by a connection to geometric complexity theoretic approaches to the P vs NP conjecture. Here we give the first asymptotic formulas and limit shapes for integer partitions of n fitting inside an m x l rectangle in every regime where a limit shape exists. Furthermore, we give an asymptotic generalization of Sylvester's notoriously difficult 1878 unimodality theorem for q-binomial coefficients. Our approach uses a carefully chosen probability distribution on partitions to apply a two-dimensional local central limit theorem. Joint work with Greta Panova and Robin Pemantle.