The asymptotic generating-triple count conjecture for prefix reversals

From papers

For nn and integers m,km,k with 2k<m<n2\leqslant k<m<n, let f(n)f(n) be the number of pairs (m,k)(m,k) for which the prefix reversals rn,rm,rkr_n,r_m,r_k generate the symmetric group Symn\operatorname{Sym}_n. Generating-triple count conjecture. As nn tends to infinity,

f(n)={113n2+O(n)n0(mod4),19n2+O(n)n1(mod4),110n2+O(n)n2(mod4),17n2+O(n)n3(mod4).f(n)=\begin{cases} \frac{1}{13}n^2+O(n)&n\equiv0\pmod{4},\\[6pt] \frac{1}{9}n^2+O(n)&n\equiv1\pmod{4},\\[6pt] \frac{1}{10}n^2+O(n)&n\equiv2\pmod{4},\\[6pt] \frac{1}{7}n^2+O(n)&n\equiv3\pmod{4}. \end{cases}

This is based on computational experiments for 6n706\leqslant n\leqslant70; the source provides no proof or resolution.

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Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

Saúl A. Blanco, Mikhail P. Golubyatnikov, Elena V. Konstantinova, Natalia V. Maslova and Luka A. Nikiforov, “Generating the symmetric group by three prefix reversals”, arXiv:2511.16959 (2025).

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