A finitization of the Catalan numbers $ C_n $ can be defined as Euler characteristics of an algebraic structure. We conjecture the existence of a $ q $-deformed version of such structure, and provide evidence for the first two non-trivial cases. This $ q $-deformed version will likely categorify series arise from identities of the Roger-Ramanujan type.
We present determinantal representations of the Catalan numbers, k-Fuss-Catalan numbers, and its generalized number. The entries of the normalized Hessenberg matrices are the binomial coefficients that related with the enumeration of lattice paths.
A generalization of the Catalan numbers is considered. New results include binomial identities, recursive relations and a close formula for the multivariate generating function. A simple expression for the Catalan determinant is derived.
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.
We show that the Catalan-Schroeder convolution recurrences and their higher order generalizations can be solved using Riordan arrays and the Catalan numbers. We investigate the Hankel transforms of many of the recurrence solutions, and indicate that Somos $4$ sequences often arise. We exhibit relations between recurrences, Riordan arrays, elliptic curves and Somos $4$ sequences. We furthermore indicate how one can associate a family of orthogonal polynomials to a point on an elliptic curve, whose moments are related to recurrence solutions.
In this note we introduce a determinant and then give its evaluating formula. The determinant turns out to be a generalization of the well-known ballot and Fuss-Catalan numbers, which is believed to be new. The evaluating formula is proved by showing that the determinant coincides with the number of lattice paths with (1,0), (0,1)-steps in the plane that stay below a boundary line of rational slope.
We give two proofs of the $q,t$-symmetry of the generalized $q,t$-Catalan number $C_{\vec{k}}(q,t)$ for $\vec{k}=(k_1,k_2,k_3)$. One is by using MacMahon's partition analysis as we proposed; the other is a direct bijection. We also prove $C_{(k,k,k,k)}(q,t) = C_{(k,k,k,k)}(t,q)$ by using MacMahon's partition analysis.
Standard set-valued Young tableaux are a generalization of standard Young tableaux in which cells may contain more than one integer, with the added conditions that every integer at position $(i,j)$ must be smaller than every integer at positions $(i,j+1)$ and $(i+1,j)$. This paper explores the combinatorics of standard set-valued Young tableaux with two-rows, and how those tableaux may be used to provide new combinatorial interpretations of generalized Catalan numbers. New combinatorial interpretations are provided for the two-parameter Fuss-Catalan numbers (Raney numbers), the rational Catala…
The Catalan numbers (C_n)_{n >= 0} = 1,1,2,5,14,42,... form one of the most venerable sequences in combinatorics. They have many combinatorial interpretations, from counting bracketings of products in non-associative algebra to counting plane trees and noncrossing set partitions. They also arise in the GUE matrix model as the leading coefficient of certain polynomials, a connection closely related to the plane trees and noncrossing set partitions interpretations. In this paper we define a generalization of the Catalan numbers. In fact we define an infinite collection of generalizations C_n^(m)…
Path pairs are a modification of parallelogram polyominoes that provide yet another combinatorial interpretation of the Catalan numbers. More generally, the number of path pairs of length $n$ and distance $δ$ corresponds to the $(n-1,δ-1)$ entry of Shapiro's so-called Catalan triangle. In this paper, we widen the notion of path pairs $(γ_1,γ_2)$ to the situation where $γ_1$ and $γ_2$ may have different lengths, and then enforce divisibility conditions on runs of vertical steps in $γ_2$. This creates a two-parameter family of integer triangles that generalize the Catalan triangle and qualify as…
In this paper we present a bijection $ω_n$ between two well known families of Catalan objects: the set of facets of the $m$-generalized cluster complex $Δ^m(A_n)$ and the set of dominant regions in the $m$-Catalan arrangement ${\rm Cat}^m(A_n)$, where $m\in\mathbb{N}_{>0}$. In particular, $ω_n$ bijects the facets containing the negative simple root $-α$ to dominant regions having the hyperplane $\{v\in V\mid<v,α>=m\}$ as separating wall. As a result, $ω_n$ restricts to a bijection between the set of facets of the positive part of $Δ^m(A_n)$ and the set of bounded dominant regions in ${\rm Cat}…
We discuss the properties of the Hankel transformation of a sequence whose elements are the sums of consecutive generalized Catalan numbers and find their values in the closed form.
The Raney numbers $R_{p,r}(n)$ are a two-parameter generalization of the Catalan numbers that were introduced by Raney in his investigation of functional composition patterns \cite{Raney}. We give a new combinatorial interpretation for all Raney numbers in terms of planar embeddings of certain collections of trees, a construction that recovers the usual interpretation of the $p$-Catalan numbers in terms of $p$-ary trees via the specialization $R_{p,1}(n) =_{p} c_n$. Our technique leads to several combinatorial identities involving the Raney numbers and ordered partitions. We then give addition…
Recent work of the first author, Negut and Rasmussen, and of Oblomkov and Rozansky in the context of Khovanov--Rozansky knot homology produces a family of polynomials in $q$ and $t$ labeled by integer sequences. These polynomials can be expressed as equivariant Euler characteristics of certain line bundles on flag Hilbert schemes. The $q,t$-Catalan numbers and their rational analogues are special cases of this construction. In this paper, we give a purely combinatorial treatment of these polynomials and show that in many cases they have nonnegative integer coefficients. For sequences of length…
We investigate compositions of a positive integer with a fixed number of parts, when there are several types of each natural number. These compositions produce new relationships among binomial coefficients, Catalan numbers, and numbers of the Catalan triangle.
The Catalan numbers constitute one of the most important sequences in combinatorics. Catalan objects have been generalized in various directions, including the classical Fuss-Catalan objects and the rational Catalan generalization of Armstrong-Rhoades-Williams. We propose a wider generalization of these families indexed by a composition $s$ which is motivated by the combinatorics of planar rooted trees; when $s=(2,...,2)$ and $s=(k+1,...,k+1)$ we recover the classical Catalan and Fuss-Catalan combinatorics, respectively. Furthermore, to each pair $(a,b)$ of relatively prime numbers we can asso…
We refine Catalan numbers and Fuß-Catalan numbers by introducing colour statistics for triangulations of polygons and $d$-dimensional generalisations there-of which we call Fuß-Catalan complexes. Our refinements consist in showing that the number of triangulations, respectively Fuß-Catalan complexes, with a given colour distribution of its vertices is given by closed product formulae. The crucial ingredient in the proof is the Lagrange-Good inversion formula.
We prove that the inverse of the Hankel matrix of the reciprocals of the Catalan numbers has integer entries. We generalize the result to an infinite family of generalized Catalan numbers. The Hankel matrices that we consider are associated with orthogonal polynomials that are variants of Jacobi polynomials. Our proofs use these polynomials and computer algebra based on Wilf-Zeilberger theory.
We show that the limiting distributions of the coefficients of the $q$-Catalan numbers and the generalized $q$-Catalan numbers are normal. Despite the fact that these coefficients are not unimodal for small $n$, we conjecture that for sufficiently large $n$, the coefficients are unimodal and even log-concave except for a few terms of the head and tail.
The Catalan numbers $C_n$ are an extremely well-studied sequence of numbers that appear as the answer to many combinatorial problems. Two generalizations of these numbers that have been studied are the Fuss-Catalan numbers and the Hypergraph Catalan numbers. In this paper, we study the combination of these, the Hypergraph Fuss-Catalan numbers. We provide some combinatorial interpretations of these numbers, as well as describe their generating function.
The Catalan transform of a sequence (a_{n})_{n>=0} is the sequence (b_{n})_{n>=0} with b_{n} = Sum[k/(2n-k) (2n-k)-choose-(n-k) a_{k},k=0..n]. Here we show that the Catalan transform of the Catalan numbers has a simple interpretation: it counts functions f:[1,n] -> [1,n] satisfying the condition that, for all i<j, f(j)-(j-i) is not in the interval [1,f(i)-1].
In this note, we study two generalizations of the Catalan numbers, namely the $s$-Catalan numbers and the spin $s$-Catalan numbers. These numbers first appeared in relation to quantum physics problems about spin multiplicities. We give a combinatorial description for these numbers in terms of Littlewood-Richardson coefficients, and explain some of the properties they exhibit in terms of Littlewood-Richardson polynomials.
Given a permutation $f$, we study the positroid Catalan number $C_f$ defined to be the torus-equivariant Euler characteristic of the associated open positroid variety. We introduce a class of repetition-free permutations and show that the corresponding positroid Catalan numbers count Dyck paths avoiding a convex subset of the rectangle. We show that any convex subset appears in this way. Conjecturally, the associated $q,t$-polynomials coincide with the generalized $q,t$-Catalan numbers that recently appeared in relation to the shuffle conjecture, flag Hilbert schemes, and Khovanov-Rozansky hom…
We calculate moments of the so-called Kesten distribution by means of the expansion of the denominator of the density of this distribution and then integrate all summands with respect to the semicircle distribution. By comparing this expression with the formulae for the moments of Kesten's distribution obtained by other means, we find identities involving polynomials whose power coefficients are closely related to Catalan numbers, Catalan triangles, binomial coefficients. Finally, as applications of these identities we obtain various interesting relations between the aforementioned numbers, al…
In this paper, we generalize the Catalan number to the $(n,k)$-th Catalan numbers and find a combinatorial description that the $(n,k)$-th Catalan numbers is equal to the number of partitions of $n(k-1)+2$ polygon by $(k+1)$-gon where all vertices of all $(k+1)$-gons lie on the vertices of $n(k-1)+2$ polygon.
We show that the Eulerian-Catalan numbers enumerate Dyck permutations. We provide two proofs for this fact, the first using the geometry of alcoved polytopes and the second a direct combinatorial proof via an Eulerian-Catalan analogue of the Chung-Feller theorem.
We provide a context around a conjectured closed form for the Hankel transform of linear combinations of consecutive pairs of Catalan numbers. This generalizes the formula for the Hankel transforms of the shifted Catalan numbers and the known results for linear combinations of pairs of Catalan numbers. Many interesting number triangles emerge, some of which we analyze using the language of Riordan arrays.
In this paper we show that many well-known counting coefficients, including the Catalan numbers, the Motzkin numbers, the central binomial coefficients, the central Delannoy numbers are Hausdorff moment sequences in a unified approach. In particular we answer a conjecture of Liang at al. which such numbers have unique representing measures. The smallest interval including the support of representing measure is explicitly found. Subsequences of Catalan-like numbers are also considered. We provide a necessary and sufficient condition for a pattern of subsequences that if sequences are the Stielt…
In this note we show that various natural q-analogues of the Catalan numbers can be obtained in a uniform way. Furthermore we compute their Hankel determinants.
We show that the super Catalan numbers are special values of the Krawtchouk polynomials by deriving an expression for the super Catalan numbers in terms of a signed set.
We provide sufficient conditions under which the Catalan-like numbers are Stieltjes moment sequences. As applications, we show that many well-known counting coefficients, including the Bell numbers, the Catalan numbers, the central binomial coefficients, the central Delannoy numbers, the factorial numbers, the large and little Schröder numbers, are Stieltjes moment sequences in a unified approach.
We give a combinatorial interpretation using lattice paths for the super Catalan number $S(m, m+s)$ for $s \leq 3$ and a separate interpretation for $s = 4$.
We summarize some combinatoric problems solved by the higher Catalan numbers. These problems are generalizations of the combinatoric problems solved by the Catalan numbers. The generating function of the higher Catalan numbers appeared recently as an auxiliary function in enumerating maps and explicit computations of the asymptotic expansion of the partition function of random matrices in the unitary ensemble case. We give combinatoric proofs of the formulas for the number of genus 0 and genus 1 maps.
The Super-Catalan numbers are a generalization of the Catalan numbers defined as $T(m,n) = \frac{(2m)!(2n)!}{2m!n!(m+n)!}$. It is an open problem to find a combinatorial interpretation for $T(m,n)$. We resolve this for $m=3,4$ using a common form; no such solution exists for $m=5$.
In this note, we present some basic properties of $q$-Fibonacci numbers and their relationship to the $q$-golden ratio and Catalan numbers. We then use this relationship to give a short proof of a combinatorial identity.
We introduce a combinatorial enumeration problem that is solved using generalized Catalan numbers. We also study generalizations of the Cycle Lemma beyond the computation of the generalized Catalan numbers.
We provide enumerating results for partial knight's paths of a given size. We prove algebraically that zigzag knight's paths of a given size ending on the $x$-axis are enumerated by the generalized Catalan numbers, and we give a constructive bijection with peakless Motzkin paths of a given length. After enumerating partial knight's paths of a given length, we prove that zigzag knight's paths of a given length ending on the $x$-axis are counted by the Catalan numbers. Finally, we give a constructive bijection with Dyck paths of a given length.
The q-Catalan numbers studied by Carlitz and Riordan are polynomials in q with nonnegative coefficients. They evaluate, at q=1, to the Catalan numbers: 1, 1, 2, 5, 14,..., a log-convex sequence. We use a combinatorial interpretation of these polynomials to prove a q-log-convexity result. The sequence of q-Catalan numbers is not q-log-convex in the narrow sense used by other authors, so our work suggests a more flexible definition of q-log convex be adopted.
Disanto, Ferrari, Pinzani and Rinaldi have introduced the concept of 'Catalan pair', which is a pair of partial orders (S,R) satisfying certain axioms. They have shown that Catalan pairs provide a natural description of objects belonging to several classes enumerated by Catalan numbers. In this paper, we first introduce another axiomatic structure (T,R), which we call the 'Catalan pair of type 2', which describes certain Catalan objects that do not seem to have an easy interpretation in terms of the original Catalan pairs. We then introduce 'Fishburn triples', which are relational structures o…
The Catalan number $C_n$ enumerates parenthesizations of $x_0*\dotsb*x_n$ where $*$ is a binary operation. We introduce the modular Catalan number $C_{k,n}$ to count equivalence classes of parenthesizations of $x_0*\dotsb*x_n$ when $*$ satisfies a $k$-associative law generalizing the usual associativity. This leads to a study of restricted families of Catalan objects enumerated by $C_{k,n}$ with emphasis on binary trees, plane trees, and Dyck paths, each avoiding certain patterns. We give closed formulas for $C_{k,n}$ with two different proofs. For each $n\ge0$ we compute the largest size of $…
In this (partly expository) paper we give a short overview about the close relationship between the sequence of Catalan numbers and Hankel determinants from the point of view of orthogonal polynomials and show that an analogous situation exists for more general sequences.
The super Catalan numbers $T(m,n)=(2m)!(2n)!/2m!n!(m+n)!$ are integers which generalize the Catalan numbers. With the exception of a few values of $m$, no combinatorial interpretation in known for $T(m,n)$. We give a weighted interpretation for $T(m,n)$ and develop a technique that converts this weighted interpretation into a conventional combinatorial interpretation in the case $m=2$.
We define the notion of a Catalan pair (which is a pair of binary relations (S,R) satisfying certain axioms) with the aim of giving a common language to most of the combinatorial interpretations of Catalan numbers. We show, in particular, that the second component R uniquely determines the pair, and we give a characterization of R in terms of forbidden configurations. We also propose some generalizations of Catalan pairs arising from some slight modifications of (some of the) axioms.
Based on Bona's condition for the balanced property of the number of cycles of permutations, we give a general criterion for the balanced property in terms of the generating function of a statistic. We show that the q-derangement numbers and the q-Catalan numbers satisfy the balanced property.
We give conjectures on the form of families of integer sequences whose Hankel transforms are, respectively, $(α, β)$ Somos $4$ sequences, $(α, 0, γ)$ Somos $6$ sequences, and $(α, β, γ, δ)$ Somos $8$ sequences, for particular values of $α$, $β$, $γ$, $δ$ which we describe. The sequences involved can be described in terms of the application of certain stretched Riordan arrays to the Catalan numbers, accompanied by a (sequence) Hankel transform. The combination of Riordan array and the Catalan numbers results from the study of certain generalized Jacobi continued fractions, based on the Counting…
In this (mostly expository) paper I want to share some observations prompted by a class of matrices whose determinants are Catalan numbers. Considering different methods of proof we obtain some generalizations and q-analogues and connections with Hankel determinants. Finally we state some conjectures.
We present an algorithmic mapping from permutations of length dn to labeled n-node d-ary trees and back again. Given such a bijection, one can interpret each of the factorials in the formula for the Catalan numbers as a count of permutations.
The Catalan number sequence is one of the most famous number sequences in combinatorics and is well studied in the literature. In this paper we further investigate its fundamental properties related to the moment problem and prove for the first time that it is an infinitely divisible Stieltjes moment sequence in the sense of S.-G. Tyan. Besides, any positive real power of the sequence is still a Stieltjes determinate sequence. Some more cases including (a) the central binomial coefficient sequence (related to the Catalan sequence), (b) a double factorial number sequence and (c) the generalized…
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 investigate certain nonassociative binary operations that satisfy a four-parameter generalization of the associative law. From this we obtain variations of the ubiquitous Catalan numbers and connections to many interesting combinatorial objects such as binary trees, plane trees, lattice paths, and permutations.