Study of $p^k$-Eulerian polynomials and $p^k$-Fibonacci numbers for every odd prime $p$ and $k\ge 0$

Abstract

In this paper, we define the notion of descent for the paths in the $p$-Bratteli diagram. This leads to the definition of $p^k$-Eulerian polynomials, whose coefficients count the number of paths with a given number of descents. We provide a method for constructing the $p^k$-Eulerian polynomials at each vertex. Furthermore, we compute the total number of descents of all paths ending at a given vertex as the corresponding $p^k$-Fibonacci numbers. We show that the derivative of the $p^k$-Eulerian polynomial evaluated at 1 for a fixed vertex equals the corresponding $p^k$-Fibonacci number. Finally, we discuss the generating function for the sequence of $p^k$-Fibonacci numbers and the recurrence relations they satisfy.

46 pages, 11 figures