Probablity of fixed points in permutations

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on calculating the probability of fixed points in permutations of the set (1,...,n). The proposed formula for the probability of exactly i fixed points is \binom{n}{i}\frac{(n-i-1)!}{n!}. The expected number of fixed points is stated as 1, but the summation \sum_{i=0}^{n}i\binom{n}{i}\frac{(n-i-1)!}{n!} does not yield 1, leading to confusion about the definition of (n-i-1)! when i equals n. The participant realizes their approach was overly complicated.

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Randomly permute (1,...,n). What is the probability that exactly i points are fixed?

I think it should be

[tex]\binom{n}{i}\frac{(n-i-1)!}{n!}[/tex]

Is it right?

If so, is the expected number of fixed points (I know it's 1):

[tex]\sum_{i=0}^{n}i\binom{n}{i}\frac{(n-i-1)!}{n!}[/tex]

But it doesn't sum to 1, I think
 
Last edited:
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How is (n-i-1)! defined when i = n?
 
It isn't. Nevermind. I was approaching the problem in a unnecessarily hard way.
 

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