Cyclic permutation
Type of (mathematical) permutation with no fixed element / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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In mathematics, and in particular in group theory, a cyclic permutation is a permutation consisting of a single cycle.[1][2] In some cases, cyclic permutations are referred to as cycles;[3] if a cyclic permutation has k elements, it may be called a k-cycle. Some authors widen this definition to include permutations with fixed points in addition to at most one non-trivial cycle.[3][4] In cycle notation, cyclic permutations are denoted by the list of their elements enclosed with parentheses, in the order to which they are permuted.
For example, the permutation (1 3 2 4) that sends 1 to 3, 3 to 2, 2 to 4 and 4 to 1 is a 4-cycle, and the permutation (1 3 2)(4) that sends 1 to 3, 3 to 2, 2 to 1 and 4 to 4 is considered a 3-cycle by some authors. On the other hand, the permutation (1 3)(2 4) that sends 1 to 3, 3 to 1, 2 to 4 and 4 to 2 is not a cyclic permutation because it separately permutes the pairs {1, 3} and {2, 4}.
The set of elements that are not fixed by a cyclic permutation is called the orbit of the cyclic permutation.[citation needed] Every permutation on finitely many elements can be decomposed into cyclic permutations on disjoint orbits.
The individual cyclic parts of a permutation are also called cycles, thus the second example is composed of a 3-cycle and a 1-cycle (or fixed point) and the third is composed of two 2-cycles.