On the unimodality and combinatorics of Bessel numbers Original Research Article

The Bessel numbers are reparametrized coefficients of Bessel polynomials. The paper investigates the analogies between Stirling numbers and Bessel numbers. A generating function for the Bessel numbers is obtained, and a proof of their unimodality is given. Stirling numbers and Bessel numbers are applied to the enumeration of orbit decompositions of various powers of permutation representations.