Counting set systems by weight

Abstract

Applying the enumeration of sparse set partitions, we show that the number of set systems H such that the emptyset is not in H, the total cardinality of edges in H is n, and the vertex set of H is {1, 2, ..., m}, equals (1/log(2)+o(1))^nb_n where b_n is the n-th Bell number. The same asymptotics holds if H may be a multiset. If vertex degrees in H are restricted to be at most k, the asymptotics is (1/alpha_k+o(1))^nb_n where alpha_k is the unique root of x^k/k!+...+x^1/1!-1 in (0,1].