Enumerating cycles in the graph of overlapping permutations

Abstract

The graph of overlapping permutations is a directed graph that is an analogue to the De Bruijn graph. It consists of vertices that are permutations of length $n$ and edges that are permutations of length $n+1$ in which an edge $a_1\cdots a_{n+1}$ would connect the standardization of $a_1\cdots a_n$ to the standardization of $a_2\cdots a_{n+1}$. We examine properties of this graph to determine where directed cycles can exist, to count the number of directed $2$-cycles within the graph, and to enumerate the vertices that are contained within closed walks and directed cycles of more general lengths.