Bell Numbers, Log-Concavity, and Log-Convexity

Abstract

Let {b _k (n)} _n=0 ^∞ be the Bell numbers of order k. It is proved that the sequence {b _k (n)/n!} _n=0 ^∞ is log-concave and the sequence {b _k (n)} _n=0 ^∞ is log-convex, or equivalently, the following inequalities hold for all n⩾0,

$$1 \leqslant \frac{{b_k (n + 2)b_k (n)}}{{b_k (n + 1)^2 }} \leqslant \frac{{n + 2}}{{n + 1}}$$

. Let {α(n)} _n=0 ^∞ be a sequence of positive numbers with α(0)=1. We show that if {α(n)} _n=0 ^∞ is log-convex, then α(n)α(m)⩽α(n+m), ∀n,m⩾0. On the other hand, if {α(n)/n!} ^∞ _n=0 is log-concave, then

$$\alpha (n + m) \leqslant \left( {\begin{array}{*{20}c} {n + m} \\ n \\ \end{array} } \right)\alpha (n)\alpha (m),{\text{ }}\forall n,m \geqslant 0$$

. In particular, we have the following inequalities for the Bell numbers

$$b_k (n)b_k (m) \leqslant b_k (n + m) \leqslant \left( {\begin{array}{*{20}c} {n + m} \\ n \\ \end{array} } \right)b_k (n)b_k (m),{\text{ }}\forall n,m \geqslant 0$$

. Then we apply these results to characterization theorems for CKS-space in white noise distribution theory.