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A188428
Number of strings of length n on three symbols containing all permutations of those three symbols as substrings (factors), divided by six.
3
0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 9, 54, 276, 1282, 5585, 23223, 93146, 362928, 1380535, 5145692, 18846775, 67982489, 241940204, 850777688, 2959796467, 10197732687, 34828459508, 118003182174, 396897710483, 1326018464696, 4402883891950, 14536059784925, 47737688829399
OFFSET
1,10
COMMENTS
Division by six is performed so that strings that are identical up to swapping the symbols are not double-counted.
The corresponding sequence for strings of length n on two symbols is given by a(n) = 2^(n-1) - n = A000295(n-1).
EXAMPLE
a(9) = 1 because there are 6 strings of length 9 on the three symbols "1", "2", and "3" containing each of "123", "132", "213", "231", "312", and "321" as substrings: they are "123121321" and the five other strings obtained by swapping the roles of "1", "2", and "3" in that string.
The substrings must be contiguous -- if they were allowed to be non-contiguous (i.e., subsequences) then there would be a valid string of length 7: "1232132" (see A062714).
CROSSREFS
KEYWORD
nonn
AUTHOR
Nathaniel Johnston, Mar 30 2011
STATUS
approved