Holmes–Plummer enumeration conjecture for cds-sortable permutations

Let Sn\mathfrak{S}_n denote the symmetric group on nn elements, and let a permutation be cds-sortable if it can be sorted using the context-directed reversal operations described in the paper. For every integer k0k\geq 0, the number of cds-sortable elements of S2k+1\mathfrak{S}_{2k+1} is

#{cds-sortable elements in S2k+1}=(k+1)(2k)!.\#\{\text{cds-sortable elements in }\mathfrak{S}_{2k+1}\}=(k+1)(2k)!.

Holmes–Plummer conjecture. The number of cds-sortable elements in S2k+1\mathfrak{S}_{2k+1} equals (k+1)(2k)!(k+1)(2k)!. This conjecture proposes a closed formula for the odd-degree terms in the enumeration of cds-sortable permutations; the paper states that a general formula was not known and attributes this conjecture to E. Holmes and P. A. Plummer.

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Primary source

K. L. M. Adamyk, E. Holmes, G. R. Mayfield, D. J. Moritz, M. Scheepers, B. E. Tenner and H. C. Wauck, “Sorting Permutations: Games, Genomes, and Cycles”, arXiv:1410.2353 (2017).

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