Derangements and Euler's difference table for $C_\ell\wr S_n$

Abstract

Euler's difference table associated to the sequence $\{n!\}$ leads naturally to the counting formula for the derangements. In this paper we study Euler's difference table associated to the sequence $\{\ell^n n!\}$ and the generalized derangement problem. For the coefficients appearing in the later table we will give the combinatorial interpretations in terms of two kinds of $k$-successions of the group $C_\ell\wr S_n$. In particular for $\ell=1$ we recover the known results for the symmetric groups while for $\ell=2$ we obtain the corresponding results for the hyperoctahedral groups.