The Baxter number can be written as $B_n = \sum_0^n Θ_{k,n-k-1}$. These numbers have first appeared in the enumeration of so-called Baxter permutations; $B_n$ is the number of Baxter permutations of size $n$, and $Θ_{k,l}$ is the number of Baxter permutations with $k$ descents and $l$ rises. With a series of bijections we identify several families of combinatorial objects counted by the numbers $Θ_{k,l}$. Apart from Baxter permutations, these include plane bipolar orientations with $k+2$ vertices and $l+2$ faces, 2-orientations of planar quadrangulations with $k+2$ white and $l+2$ black vertices, certain pairs of binary trees with $k+1$ left and $l+1$ right leaves, and a family of triples of non-intersecting lattice paths. This last family allows us to determine the value of $Θ_{k,l}$ as an application of the lemma of Gessel and Viennot. The approach also allows us to count certain other subfamilies, e.g., alternating Baxter permutations, objects with symmetries and, via a bijection with a class of plan bipolar orientations also Schnyder woods of triangulations, which are known to be in bijection with 3-orientations.
We present a simple bijection between Baxter permutations of size $n$ and plane bipolar orientations with n edges. This bijection translates several classical parameters of permutations (number of ascents, right-to-left maxima, left-to-right minima...) into natural parameters of plane bipolar orientations (number of vertices, degree of the sink, degree of the source...), and has remarkable symmetry properties. By specializing it to Baxter permutations avoiding the pattern 2413, we obtain a bijection with non-separable planar maps. A further specialization yields a bijection between permutation…
Baxter permutations are known to be in bijection with a wide number of combinatorial objects. Previously, it was shown that each of these objects had a natural involution which was carried equivariantly by the known bijections, and the number of objects fixed under involution was given by Stembridge's $q=-1$ phenomenon. In this paper, we consider the order 4 action of a quarter-turn rotation of a Baxter permutation matrix, refining the half-turn rotation previously studied. Using the method of generating trees, we show that the number of Baxter permutations fixed under quarter-turn rotation ha…
Tree-like tableaux are objects in bijection with alternative or permutation tableaux. They have been the subject of a fruitful combinatorial study for the past few years. In the present work, we define and study a new subclass of tree-like tableaux enumerated by Baxter numbers. We exhibit simple bijective links between these objects and three other combinatorial classes: (packed or mosaic) floorplans, twisted Baxter permutations and triples of non-intersecting lattice paths. From several (and unrelated) works, these last objects are already known to be enumerated by Baxter numbers, and our mai…
Baxter permutations originally arose in studying common fixed points of two commuting continuous functions. In 2015, Dilks proposed a conjectured bijection between Baxter permutations and non-intersecting triples of lattice paths in terms of inverse descent bottoms, descent positions and inverse descent tops. We prove this bijectivity conjecture by investigating its connection with the Françon--Viennot bijection. As a result, we obtain a permutation interpretation of the $(t,q)$-analog of the Baxter numbers $$ \frac{1}{{n+1\brack 1}_q{n+1\brack 2}_q}\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}q^{3{k+1\choose2}}{n+1\brack…
Walks on Young's lattice of integer partitions encode many objects of algebraic and combinatorial interest. Chen et al. established connections between such walks and arc diagrams. We show that walks that start at $\varnothing$, end at a row shape, and only visit partitions of bounded height are in bijection with a new type of arc diagram -- open diagrams. Remarkably two subclasses of open diagrams are equinumerous with well known objects: standard Young tableaux of bounded height, and Baxter permutations. We give an explicit combinatorial bijection in the former case.
Baxter numbers are known to count several families of combinatorial objects, all of which come equipped with natural involutions. In this paper, we add a combinatorial family to the list, and show that the known bijections between these objects respect these involutions. We also give a formula for the number of objects fixed under this involution, showing that it is an instance of Stembridge's "$q=-1$ phenomenon".
Motivated by the relation holding for the m-generalized Catalan numbers of type A and C, the connection between dominant regions of the m-Shi arrangement of type A and C is investigated. In the same line of thought, a bijection between mn+1 copies of each m-Dyck path of height n and the set of NE lattice paths inside an n times mn rectangle is provided.
The Euler number $E_n$ (resp. Entringer number $E_{n,k}$) enumerates the alternating (down-up) permutations of $\{1,\dots,n\}$ (resp. starting with $k$). The Springer number $S_n$ (resp. Arnold number $S_{n,k}$) enumerates the type $B$ alternating permutations (resp. starting with $k$). In this paper, using bijections we first derive the counterparts in {\em André permutations} and {\em Simsun permutations} for the Entringer numbers $(E_{n,k})$, and then the counterparts in {\em signed André permutations} and {\em type $B$ increasing 1-2 trees} for the Arnold numbers $(S_{n,k})$.
A permutation of size $n$ can be identified to its diagram in which there is exactly one point per row and column in the grid $[n]^2$. In this paper we consider multidimensional permutations (or $d$-permutations), which are identified to their diagrams on the grid $[n]^d$ in which there is exactly one point per hyperplane $x_i=j$ for $i\in[d]$ and $j\in[n]$. We first investigate exhaustively all small pattern avoiding classes. We provide some bijection to enumerate some of these classes and we propose some conjectures for others. We then give a generalization of well-studied Baxter permutation…
Baxter permutations are a class of permutations which are in bijection with a class of floorplans that arise in chip design called mosaic floorplans. We study a subclass of mosaic floorplans called $HFO_k$ defined from mosaic floorplans by placing certain geometric restrictions. This naturally leads to studying a subclass of Baxter permutations. This subclass of Baxter permutations are characterized by pattern avoidance. We establish a bijection, between the subclass of floorplans we study and a subclass of Baxter permutations, based on the analogy between decomposition of a floorplan into sma…
André proved that the number of alternating permutations on $\{1, 2, \dots, n\}$ is equal to the Euler number $E_n$. A refinement of André's result was given by Entringer, who proved that counting alternating permutations according to the first element gives rise to Seidel's triangle $(E_{n,k})$ for computing the Euler numbers. In a series of papers, using generating function method and induction, Poupard gave several further combinatorial interpretations for $E_{n,k}$ both in alternating permutations and increasing trees. Kuznetsov, Pak, and Postnikov have given more combinatorial interpretat…
We are interested in finding an explicit bijection between two families of combinatorial objects: Gog and Magog triangles. These two families are particular classes of Gelfand-Tsetlin triangles and are respectively in bijection with alternating sign matrices (ASM) and totally symmetric self complementary plane partitions (TSSCPP). For this purpose, we introduce left Gog and GOGAm trapezoids. We conjecture that these two families of trapezoids are equienumerated and we give an explicit bijection between the trapezoids with one or two diagonals.
Two subfamilies of Motzkin paths, with the same numbers of up, down, horizontal steps were known to be equinumerous with ternary trees and related objects. We construct a bijection between these two families that does not use any auxiliary objects, like ternary trees.
Baxter permutations, plane bipolar orientations, and a specific family of walks in the non-negative quadrant are well-known to be related to each other through several bijections. We introduce a further new family of discrete objects, called coalescent-walk processes, that are fundamental for our results. We relate these new objects with the other previously mentioned families introducing some new bijections. We prove joint Benjamini--Schramm convergence (both in the annealed and quenched sense) for uniform objects in the four families. Furthermore, we explicitly construct a new fractal random…
We present a bijection between permutation matrices and descending plane partitions without special parts, which respects the quadruple of statistics considered by Behrend, Di Francesco and Zinn--Justin. This bijection involves the inversion words of permutations and the "usual" representation of descending plane partitions as families of non--intersec\-ting lattice paths.
We give a bijective proof of the Aztec diamond theorem, stating that there are $2^{n(n+1)/2}$ domino tilings of the Aztec diamond of order $n$. The proof in fact establishes a similar result for non-intersecting families of $n+1$ Schröder paths, with horizontal, diagonal or vertical steps, linking the grid points of two adjacent sides of an $n\times n$ square grid; these families are well known to be in bijection with tilings of the Aztec diamond. Our bijection is produced by an invertible "combing" algorithm, operating on families of paths without non-intersection condition, but instead with …
We present a simple bijection between permutation matrices and descending plane partitions without special parts. This bijection is already mentioned in work of P. Lalonde (without giving the details); it involves the inversion words of permutations and the (well-known) representation of descending plane partitions as families of non--intersecting lattice paths. (Taking a short detour, we will also exhibit how the (well--known) enumeration of descending plane partitions follows easily from the evaluation of Andrew's determinant.)
P.L. Erdos and L.A. Szekely [Adv. Appl. Math. 10(1989), 488-496] gave a bijection between rooted semilabeled trees and set partitions. L.H. Harper's results [Ann. Math. Stat. 38(1967), 410-414] on the asymptotic normality of the Stirling numbers of the second kind translates into asymptotic normality of rooted semilabeled trees with given number of vertices, when the number of internal vertices varies. The Erdos-Szekely bijection specializes to a bijection between phylogenetic trees and set partitions with classes of size \geq 2. We consider modified Stirling numbers of the second kind that en…
Dyck paths (also balanced brackets and Dyck words) are among the most heavily studied Catalan families. This paper is a continuation of [2, 3]. In the paper we enumerate the terms of the OEIS A036991, Dyck numbers, and construct a concomitant bijection with symmetric Dyck paths. In the case of binary coding of Dyck paths we work with compact natural numbers after removing leading zeros. Analysis of binary suffixes, allowed us to obtain a bijection between arbitrary A036991 terms and symmetric A036991 terms which encode symmetric Dyck paths. The bijection generates a forest of unary non-interse…
In this paper, we enumerate two families of pattern-avoiding permutations: those avoiding the vincular pattern $2-41-3$, which we call semi-Baxter permutations, and those avoiding the vincular patterns $2-41-3$, $3-14-2$ and $3-41-2$, which we call strong-Baxter permutations. We call semi-Baxter numbers and strong-Baxter numbers the associated enumeration sequences. We prove that the semi-Baxter numbers enumerate in addition plane permutations (avoiding $2-14-3$). The problem of counting these permutations was open and has given rise to several conjectures, which we also prove in this paper. F…
A bijection $Φ$ is presented between plane bipolar orientations with prescribed numbers of vertices and faces, and non-intersecting triples of upright lattice paths with prescribed extremities. This yields a combinatorial proof of the following formula due to R. Baxter for the number $Θ_{ij}$ of plane bipolar orientations with $i$ non-polar vertices and $j$ inner faces: $Θ_{ij}=2\frac{(i+j)!(i+j+1)!(i+j+2)!}{i!(i+1)!(i+2)!j!(j+1)!(j+2)!}$. In addition, it is shown that $Φ$ specializes into the bijection of Bernardi and Bonichon between Schnyder woods and non-crossing pairs of Dyck words.
We study generating functions in the context of Rota-Baxter algebras. We show that exponential generating functions can be naturally viewed in a very special case of complete free commutative Rota-Baxter algebras. This allows us to use free Rota-Baxter algebras to give a broad class of algebraic structures in which generalizations of generating functions can be studied. We generalize the product formula and composition formula for exponential power series. We also give generating functions both for known number families such as Stirling numbers of the second kind and partition numbers, and for…
A combinatorial structure, $\mathcal{F}$, with counting sequence $\{a_n\}_{n\ge 0}$ and ordinary generating function $G_\mathcal{F}=\sum_{n\ge0} a_n x^n$, is positive algebraic if $G_\mathcal{F}$ satisfies a polynomial equation $G_\mathcal{F}=\sum_{k=0}^N p_k(x)\,G_\mathcal{F}^k $ and $p_k(x)$ is a polynomial in $x$ with non-negative integer coefficients. We show that every such family is associated with a normed $\mathbf{n}$-magma. An $\mathbf{n}$-magma with $\mathbf{n}=(n_1,\dots, n_k)$ is a pair $\mathcal{M}$ and $\mathcal{F}$ where $\mathcal{M}$ is a set of combinatorial structures and $\m…
We study permutations that are sorted by operators of the form $\mathbf{S} \circ α\circ \mathbf{S}$, where $\mathbf{S}$ is the usual stack sorting operator introduced by D. Knuth and $α$ is any $D_8$-symmetry obtained combining the classical reverse, complement and inverse operations. Such permutations can be characterized by excluded (generalized) patterns. Some conjectures about the enumeration of these permutations, refined with numerous classical statistics, have been proposed by A. Claesson, M. Dukes and E. Steingrímsson. We prove these conjectures, and enrich one of them with a few more …
Bona [2007+] studied the distribution of ascents, plateaux and descents in the class of Stirling permutations, introduced by Gessel and Stanley [1978]. Recently, Janson [2008+] showed the connection between Stirling permutations and plane recursive trees and proved a joint normal law for the parameters considered by Bona. Here we will consider generalized Stirling permutations extending the earlier results of Bona and Janson, and relate them with certain families of generalized plane recursive trees, and also $(k+1)$-ary increasing trees. We also give two different bijections between certain f…
We study a curious class of partitions, the parts of which obey an exceedingly strict congruence condition we refer to as "sequential congruence": the $m$th part is congruent to the $(m+1)$th part modulo $m$, with the smallest part congruent to zero modulo the length of the partition. It turns out these obscure-seeming objects are embedded in a natural way in partition theory. We show that sequentially congruent partitions with largest part $n$ are in bijection with the partitions of $n$. Moreover, we show sequentially congruent partitions induce a bijection between partitions of $n$ and parti…
This article presents a unified bijective scheme between planar maps and blossoming trees, where a blossoming tree is defined as a spanning tree of the map decorated with some dangling half-edges that enable to reconstruct its faces. Our method generalizes a previous construction of Bernardi by loosening its conditions of applications so as to include annular maps, that is maps embedded in the plane with a root face different from the outer face. The bijective construction presented here relies deeply on the theory of α-orientations introduced by Felsner, and in particular on the existence of …
We perform the asymptotic enumeration of two classes of rooted maps on orientable surfaces of genus g: m-hypermaps and m-constellations. For m=2, they correspond respectively to maps with even face degrees and bipartite maps. We obtain explicit asymptotic formulas for the number of such maps with any finite set of allowed face degrees. Our proofs rely on the generalisation to orientable surfaces of the Bouttier-Di Francesco-Guitter bijection, and on generating series methods. We show that each of the 2g fondamental cycles of the surface contributes a factor m between the numbers of m-hypermaps…
In "Square partitions and Catalan numbers" (arXiv0912.4983), Bennett et al. presented a recursive algorithm to create a family of partitions from one or several partitions. They were mainly interested in the cases when we begin with a single square partition or with several partitions with only one part. The cardinalities of those families of partitions are the Catalan and ballot numbers, respectively. In this paper we present a closed description for those families. We also present bijections between those sets of partitions and sets of trees and forests enumerated by the Catalan an ballot nu…
We present a study of three families of Kronecker coefficients, which we describe in terms of reduced Kronecker coefficients. This study is grounded on the generating function of the coefficients, proved by a bijection between two combinatorial objects. This study includes the connection between plane partitions and these three families of reduced Kronecker coefficients, providing us their combinatorial interpretation. As an application, we verify that the saturation hypothesis holds for our three families of reduced Kronecker coefficients. The study also includes other interpretation in terms…
It was shown that in a group of bijections of an infinite set some families of subsets, related to the cardinality of some eigenspaces, are generating. Besides, we derived a criterion for generating by sets of this kind.
We look at geometric limits of large random non-uniform permutations. We mainly consider two theories for limits of permutations: permuton limits, introduced by Hoppen, Kohayakawa, Moreira, Rath, and Sampaio to define a notion of scaling limits for permutations; and Benjamini-Schramm limits, introduced by the author to define a notion of local limits for permutations. The models of random permutations that we consider are mainly constrained models, that is, uniform permutations belonging to a given subset of the set of all permutations. We often identify this subset using pattern-avoidance, fo…
Bipolar orientations of planar maps have recently attracted some interest in combinatorics, probability theory and theoretical physics. Plane bipolar orientations with $n$ edges are known to be counted by the $n$th Baxter number $b(n)$, which can be defined by a linear recurrence relation with polynomial coefficients. Equivalently, the associated generating function $\sum_n b(n)t^n$ is D-finite. In this paper, we address a much refined enumeration problem, where we record for every $r$ the number of faces of degree $r$. When these degrees are bounded, we show that the associated generating fun…
MacMahon enumerated the plane partitions in an $a \times b \times c$ box. These are in bijection to lozenge tilings of a hexagon, to certain perfect matchings, and to families of non-intersecting lattice paths. In this work we consider more general regions, called triangular regions, and establish signed versions of the latter three bijections. Indeed, we use perfect matchings and families of non-intersecting lattice paths to define two signs of a lozenge tiling. A combinatorial argument involving a new method, called resolution of a puncture, then shows that the signs are in fact equivalent. …
