Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 October 2014
A two-row array of integers
\[
\alpha_{n}= \begin{pmatrix}a_1 & a_2 & \cdots & a_n\\
b_1 & b_2 & \cdots & b_n \end{pmatrix}
\]
${\cal D}$n, for different families of distributions
${\cal D} = ({\cal D}_{n})_{n\in\NN}$, and when n goes to infinity. This general framework encompasses well-studied problems such as the so-called longest increasing subsequence problem, the longest common subsequence problem, and problems concerning directed bond percolation models, among others. We define several natural families of different distributions and characterize the asymptotic behaviour of the length of a longest increasing subsequence chosen according to them. In particular, we consider generalizations to d-row arrays as well as symmetry-restricted two-row arrays.