Publication:
On the number of summands in a random prime partition

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Abstract
We study the length (number of summands) in partitions of an integer into primes, both in the restricted (unequal summands) and unrestricted case. It is shown how one can obtain asymptotic expansions for the mean and variance (and potentially higher moments), which is in contrast to the fact that there is no asymptotic formula for the number of such partitions in terms of elementary functions. Building on ideas of Hwang, we also prove a central limit theorem in the restricted case. The technique also generalizes to partitions into powers of primes, or even more generally, the values of a polynomial at the prime numbers.
Description
Paper presented at Strathmore International Math Research Conference on July 23 - 27, 2012
We study the length (number of summands) in partitions of an integer into primes, both in the restricted (unequal summands) and unrestricted case. It is shown how one can obtain asymptotic expansions for the mean and variance (and potentially higher moments), which is in contrast to the fact that there is no asymptotic formula for the number of such partitions in terms of elementary functions. Building on ideas of Hwang, we also prove a central limit theorem in the restricted case. The technique also generalizes to partitions into powers of primes, or even more generally, the values of a polynomial at the prime numbers.
Keywords
Asymptotic expansions, Limit distribution, Mellin transform, Prime partitions, Paddle point method.
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