Let F X denote a polynomial ring over a finite field F with q elements.
q qLet P P be the set of monic polynomials over F of degree n. Assuming that each of the q n n q possible monic polynomials in P P is equally likely, we give a complete characterization of n Ž . the limiting behavior of P ⍀ s m as n ª ϱ by a uniform asymptotic formula valid for n Ž . m G 1 and n y m ª ϱ, where ⍀ represents the number multiplicities counted of irren ducible factors in the factorization of a random polynomial in P P . The distribution of ⍀ is n n essentially the convolution of a Poisson distribution with mean log n and a negative binomial distribution with parameters q and q y1 . Such a convolution law exhibits three modes of asymptotic behaviors: when m is small, it behaves like a Poisson distribution; when m becomes large, its behavior is dominated by a negative binomial distribution, the transitional Ž behavior being essentially a parabolic cylinder function or some linear combinations of the . standard normal law and its iterated integrals . As applications of this uniform asymptotic Ž . formula, we derive most known results concerning P ⍀ s m and present many new ones n like the unimodality of the distribution. The methods used are widely applicable to other problems on multiset constructions. An extension to Renyi's problem, concerning thé Ž . distribution of the difference of the total number of irreducibles and the number of distinct irreducibles, is also presented.