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This paper introduces Stirling subset permutations and a consecutive-descent statistic to provide combinatorial interpretations for the $r$th-order Stirling subset triangles, resolving an open problem from Deb and Sokal. The authors also prove conjectures on the row log-concavity of both higher-order Stirling cycle and subset triangles. These log-concavity proofs are achieved through applications of Sagan's criterion, Dey's extension, and novel strengthened log-concavity inequalities, some of which were identified with AI assistance.
Stirling subset permutations unlock combinatorial interpretations for higher-order Stirling subset triangles, while novel log-concavity proofs reveal deeper structural properties.
The $r$th-order Stirling cycle and subset triangles and their associated quasi-Eulerian triangles were introduced by Deb and Sokal in their study of total positivity of combinatorial triangles. They found combinatorial interpretations for the cycle case in terms of Stirling permutations, leaving the subset case open. For $r\ge 2$, we resolve this problem by introducing the notion of Stirling subset permutations along with a consecutive-descent statistic. We also prove the conjectures of Deb and Sokal on the row log-concavity of the higher-order Stirling cycle and subset triangles. Our log-concavity proofs rely on Sagan's criterion, Dey's extension, and strengthened log-concavity inequalities discovered with the assistance of ChatGPT 5.6.