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Couples adjacent at an alternating round table

Question

Around a circular table with 2n2n seats (n>2n>2), nn husbands and their nn wives are seated at random, subject to men and women alternating. What is the expected number of couples in which the husband and wife sit next to each other?

Short answer

22. Fix a husband's seat. Both of his neighbours are women, and his wife is equally likely to be in any of the nn women's seats, so she is next to him with probability 2/n2/n. Summing over nn couples gives 22.

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