# Tag Archives: permutations

## Python's "map" method and permutations of lists

Let's look at Python's map function. What does this function do? Here is the syntax:

It takes a function called function and applies it to each element of iterable, returning the result as an iterable. For example:

The output of this program is:

## Polynomial over finite field: permutation polynomial?

Let's assume you have a polynomial over a finite field $\F_q$, defined in Sage. How can you tell whether it's a permutation polynomial? That is, when is the corresponding function $\F_q\to\F_q$ bijective? This is how you might have a polynomial over $\F_q$ defined in Sage:

Here, the variable $x$ refers the element $x$ in […]

## Degrees of some permutation polynomials

Let $\F_q$ be a finite field. For any function $f:\F_q\to \F_q$, there exists a polynomial $p\in \F_q[x]$ such that $f(a) = p(a)$ for all $a\in \F_q$. In other words, every function from a finite field to itself can be represented by a polynomial. In particular, every permutation of $\F_q$ can be represented by a polynomial. […]

## Determinants, Permutations and the Lie Algebra of SL(n)

Here is an old classic from linear algebra: given an $n\times n$ matrix $A = (a_{ij})$, the determinant of $A$ can be calculated using the permuation formula for the determinant: $\det(A) = \sum_{\sigma\in S_n} (-1)^\sigma a_{1\sigma(1)}\cdots a_{n\sigma(n)}$. Here $S_n$ denotes the permutation group on $n$ symbols and $(-1)^\sigma$ […]