Fragmenting random permutations

Abstract

Problem 1.5.7 from Pitman's Saint-Flour lecture notes: Does there exist for each n a fragmentation process (Π_{n,k}, 1 \leq k \leq n) taking values in the space of partitions of {1,2,...,n} such that Π_{n,k} is distributed like the partition generated by cycles of a uniform random permutation of {1,2,...,n} conditioned to have k cycles? We show that the answer is yes. We also give a partial extension to general exchangeable Gibbs partitions.

13 pages, 3 figures