M-partitions: Optimal partitions of weight for one scale pan

Edwin O'Shea

Published 2003-11-14Version 1

An M-partition of a positive integer m is a partition with as few parts as possible such that any positive integer less than m has a partition made up of parts taken from that partition of m. This is equivalent to partitioning a weight m so as to be able to weigh any integer weight l < m with as few weights as possible and only one scale pan. We show that the number of parts of an M-partition is a log-linear function of m and the M-partitions of m correspond to lattice points in a polytope. We exhibit a recurrence relation for counting the number of M-partitions of m and, for ``half'' of the positive integers, this recurrence relation will have a generating function. The generating function will be, in some sense, the same as the generating function for counting the number of distinct binary partitions for a given integer.