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Consider the set $N=\{1,\ldots, n\}$. Let $p_n(m,k)$ denote the probability that we have $m$ unique elements from $N$ after $x$ draws (with replacement). As per this post, we explicitly have $$p_n(m,x)=\frac{S_2(x,m) \; n!}{n^x \; (n-m)!},$$ where $S_2(x,m)$ is a Stirling number of the second kind. I have been asked to express $p_n(m,x)$ recursively in terms of $p_n(m,x-1)$ and $p_n(m-1,x-1)$. I have tried playing around with the equation above but I have not gotten any results. Maybe I need to simply condition on something? If that is the case, then I am not seeing it. Thanks in advance for the help.

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strawberryBeef
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1 Answers1

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Suppose after $x$ draws we have $m$ unique elements.

This implies that after the first $x-1$ draws, we either had $m-1$ unique elements or $m$ unique elements. Can you use these two cases (combined with the appropriate deduction of what the $x$th draw must be in each case) to get an expression for $p(m,x)$?

angryavian
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  • I see. After $x-1$ draws if we have $m-1$ unique elements then the chance of drawing a new element is $(n-m+1)/n$. On the other hand, if we already had $m$ unique elements then with $m/n$ probability we still have $m$ elements after a new draw. So $p_n(m,x)=(n-m+1)p_n(m-1,x-1)/n + mp_n(m,x-1)/n$. – strawberryBeef Dec 01 '16 at 04:13