The distributions of the entries of a Young tableau

Let T ∗ be a standard Young tableau of k cells. We show that the probability that a Young tableau of n cells contains T ∗ as a subtableau is, in the limit n → ∞, equal to ν(π(T ∗))/k!, where π(T ∗) is the shape (= Ferrers diagram) of T ∗ and ν(π) is the number of all tableaux of shape π. In other words, the probability that a large tableau contains T ∗ is equal to the number of tableaux whose shape is that of T ∗, divided by k!. We give several applications, to the probabilities that a set of prescribed entries will appear in a set of prescribed cells of a tableau, and to the probabilities that subtableaux of given shapes will occur. Our argument rests on a notion of quasirandomness of families of permutations, and we give sufficient conditions for this to hold. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 05E10