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Log of the limiting fraction of empty bins

Question

Throw nn balls independently and uniformly into nn bins, and let PnP_n denote the fraction of bins left empty. Find lim⁡n→∞ln⁡(E[Pn])\lim_{n\to\infty}\ln\big(\mathbb{E}[P_n]\big); if the limit does not exist, answer 22.

Short answer

−1-1. A given bin stays empty with probability (1−1n)n(1-\tfrac1n)^n, and by linearity this is also E[Pn]\mathbb{E}[P_n]. It tends to e−1e^{-1}, whose logarithm is −1-1.

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