OFFSET
1,4
COMMENTS
An ordered factorization of n is a sequence of positive integers > 1 with product n.
We define the alternating product of a sequence (y_1,...,y_k) to be Product_i y_i^((-1)^(i-1)).
EXAMPLE
The ordered factorizations for n = 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, 32, 36:
4 8 12 16 24 32 36
2*2 4*2 6*2 4*4 12*2 8*4 6*6
2*2*2 2*2*3 8*2 2*2*6 16*2 12*3
3*2*2 2*2*4 3*2*4 2*2*8 18*2
2*4*2 4*2*3 2*4*4 2*2*9
4*2*2 6*2*2 4*2*4 2*3*6
2*2*2*2 4*4*2 2*6*3
8*2*2 3*2*6
2*2*4*2 3*3*4
4*2*2*2 3*6*2
2*2*2*2*2 4*3*3
6*2*3
6*3*2
9*2*2
2*2*3*3
2*3*3*2
3*2*2*3
3*3*2*2
MATHEMATICA
facs[n_]:=If[n<=1, {{}}, Join@@Table[Map[Prepend[#, d]&, Select[facs[n/d], Min@@#>=d&]], {d, Rest[Divisors[n]]}]];
altprod[q_]:=Product[q[[i]]^(-1)^(i-1), {i, Length[q]}];
Table[Length[Select[Join@@Permutations/@facs[n], IntegerQ[altprod[#]]&]], {n, 100}]
CROSSREFS
Positions of 2's are A001248.
Positions of 1's are A005117.
The restriction to powers of 2 is A116406.
The even-length case is A347048
The odd-length case is A347049.
A046099 counts factorizations with no alternating permutations.
A273013 counts ordered factorizations of n^2 with alternating product 1.
A347438 counts factorizations with alternating product 1.
A347460 counts possible alternating products of factorizations.
KEYWORD
nonn
AUTHOR
Gus Wiseman, Oct 07 2021
STATUS
proposed