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 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…
The number of flats of a hyperplane arrangement is considered as a generalization of the Bell number and the Stirling number of the second kind. Robert Gill gave the exponential generating function of the number of flats of the extended Catalan arrangements, using species. In this article, we introduce the species of flats of the extended Catalan and Shi arrangements and they are given by iterated substitution of species of sets and lists. Moreover, we enumerate the flats of these arrangements in terms of infinite matrices.
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…
Noncrossing set partitions, nonnesting set partitions, Dyck paths, and rooted plane trees are four classes of Catalan objects which carry a notion of type. There exists a product formula which enumerates these objects according to type. We define a notion of `connectivity' for these objects and prove an analogous product formula which counts connected objects by type. Our proof of this product formula is combinatorial and bijective. We extend this to a product formula which counts objects with a fixed type and number of connected components. We relate our product formulas to symmetric function…
We solve two open problems in Coxeter-Catalan combinatorics. First, we introduce a family of rational noncrossing objects for any finite Coxeter group, using the combinatorics of distinguished subwords. Second, we give a type-uniform proof that these noncrossing Catalan objects are counted by the rational Coxeter-Catalan number, using the character theory of the associated Hecke algebra and the properties of Lusztig's exotic Fourier transform. We solve the same problems for rational noncrossing parking objects.
In this paper, we construct bijections between Dyck paths, noncrossing partitions, and 231-avoiding permutations, which send the area statistic on Dyck paths to the inversion number on noncrossing partitions and on 231-avoiding permutations. This bijection has the additional property that it simultaneously sends the major index on Dyck paths to the sum of the major index and the inverse major index on noncrossing partitions and on 231-avoiding permutations, respectively. Moreover, we provide generalizations of these constructions to the group of signed permutations.
The paper counts the number of reduced quasigroup words of a particular length in a certain number of generators. Taking account of the relationship with the Catalan numbers, counting words in a free magma, we introduce the term peri-Catalan number for the free quasigroup word counts. The main result of the paper is an exact recursive formula for the peri-Catalan numbers, structured by the Euclidean Algorithm. The Euclidean Algorithm structure does not readily lend itself to standard techniques of asymptotic analysis. However, conjectures for the asymptotic behavior of the peri-Catalan numbers…
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 recent pair of papers of Armstrong, Loehr, and Warrington and Armstrong, Williams, and the author initiated the systematic study of {\em rational Catalan combinatorics} which is a generalization of Fuss-Catalan combinatorics (which is in turn a generalization of classical Catalan combinatorics). The latter paper gave two possible models for a rational analog of the associahedron which attach simplicial complexes to any pair of coprime positive integers a < b. These complexes coincide up to the Fuss-Catalan level of generality, but in general one may be a strict subcomplex of the other. Verif…
A non-crossing pairing on a bitstring matches 1s and 0s in a manner such that the pairing diagram is nonintersecting. By considering such pairings on arbitrary bitstrings $1^{n_1} 0^{m_1} ... 1^{n_r} 0^{m_r}$, we generalize classical problems from the theory of Catalan structures. In particular, it is very difficult to find useful explicit formulas for the enumeration function $ϕ(n_1, m_1, ..., n_r, m_r)$, which counts the number of pairings as a function of the underlying bitstring. We determine explicit formulas for $ϕ$, and also prove general upper bounds in terms of Fuss-Catalan numbers by…
While there has been some progress on the decomposition of Kronecker products of characters of the symmetric groups in recent times, results on the symmetric and alternating part of Kronecker squares are still scarce. Here, new results (and conjectures) are presented on this splitting of the squares that contribute to a refined understanding of the Kronecker squares. Furthermore, connections to 2-modular decomposition numbers, Catalan combinatorics, and to the Saxl conjecture are discussed which further motivate the study of these splittings.
Our main aim with these notes is to introduce the combinatorial and symmetric function tools that relate to the description of the Poincare polynomial of the triply graded Khovanov-Rozansky homology of torus links, a.k.a. the (reduced) superpolynomial of these links.
We formulate many open questions regarding the Schur positivity of the effect of interesting operators on symmetric functions, and give supporting evidence for why one should expect such behavior.
We study some combinatorial and algebraic properties of certain quadratic algebras related with dynamical classical and classical Yang-Baxter equations. One can find more details about the content of present paper in Extended Abstract.
The higher $q,t$-Catalan polynomial $C^{(m)}_n(q,t)$ can be defined combinatorially as a weighted sum of lattice paths contained in certain triangles, or algebraically as a complicated sum of rational functions indexed by partitions of $n$. This paper proves the equivalence of the two definitions for all $m\geq 1$ and all $n\leq 4$. We also give a bijective proof of the joint symmetry property $C^{(m)}_n(q,t)=C^{(m)}_n(t,q)$ for all $m\geq 1$ and all $n\leq 4$. The proof is based on a general approach for proving joint symmetry that dissects a collection of objects into chains, and then passes…
Symmetric functions provide one of the most efficient tools for combinatorial enumeration, in the context of objects that may be acted upon by permutations. Only assuming a basic knowledge of linear algebra, we introduce and describe the classical toolbox of symmetric functions, and give many examples of their uses. In particular, we present how classical formulas of enumerative combinatorics afford a natural generalization in terms of symmetric functions. We then rapidly present Macdonald symmetric functions and associated operators, to go on with the description of their relations to rectang…
This article introduces and investigates a refinement of alternating sign trapezoids by means of Catalan objects and Motzkin paths. Alternating sign trapezoids are a generalisation of alternating sign triangles, which were recently introduced by Ayyer, Behrend and Fischer. We show that the number of alternating sign trapezoids associated with a Catalan object (resp. Motzkin path) is a polynomial function in the length of the shorter base of the trapezoid. We also study the rational roots of the polynomials and formulate several conjectures and derive some partial results. Lastly, we deduce a c…
We introduce a large family of combinatorial objects, called standard puzzles, defined by very simple rules. We focus on the standard puzzles for which the enumeration problems can be solved by explicit formulas or by classical numbers, such as binomial coefficients, Fibonacci numbers, tangent numbers, Catalan numbers, $\ldots$
We study some algebraic and combinatorial features of two algebras that arise as quotients of Temperley-Lieb algebras of type $\tilde{C}$, namely, the two-boundary Temperley-Lieb algebra and the symplectic blob algebra. We provide a monomial basis for both algebras. The elements of these bases are parameterized by certain subsets of fully commutative elements. We enumerate these elements according to their affine length.
In this paper we determine the parity of some sequences which are related to Catalan numbers. Also we introduce a combinatorical object called, \Catalan tree", and discuss its properties.
We consider planar cubic maps, i.e. connected cubic graphs imbedded into plane, with marked spanning tree and marked directed edge (not in this tree). The number of such objects with $2n$ vertices is $C_{2n}\cdot C_{n+1}$, where $C_k$ is $k$-th Catalan number.
We find a generating function expressed as a continued fraction that enumerates ordered trees by the number of vertices at different levels. Several Catalan problems are mapped to an ordered-tree problem and their generating functions also expressed as a continued fraction. Among these problems is the enumeration of (132)-pattern avoiding permutations that have a given number of increasing patterns of length k. This extends and illuminates a result of Robertson, Wilf and Zeilberger for the case k=3.
The set of dominant regions of the $k$-Catalan arrangement of a crystallographic root system $Φ$ is a well-studied object enumerated by the Fuß-Catalan number $Cat^{(k)}(Φ)$. It is natural to refine this enumeration by considering floors and ceilings of dominant regions. A conjecture of Armstrong states that counting dominant regions by their number of floors of a certain height gives the same distribution as counting dominant regions by their number of ceilings of the same height. We prove this conjecture using a bijection that provides even more refined enumerative information.
The three main objects in noncrossing Catalan combinatorics associated to a finite Coxeter system are noncrossing partitions, clusters, and sortable elements. The first two of these have known Fuss-Catalan generalizations. We provide new viewpoints for both and introduce the missing generalization of sortable elements by lifting the theory from the Coxeter system to the associated positive Artin monoid. We show how this new perspective ties together all three generalizations, providing a uniform framework for noncrossing Fuss-Catalan combinatorics. Having developed the combinatorial theory, we…
In this paper we define and study what we call the double Catalan monoid. This monoid is the image of a natural map from the 0-Hecke monoid to the monoid of binary relations. We show that the double Catalan monoid provides an algebraization of the (combinatorial) set of 4321-avoiding permutations and relate its combinatorics to various off-shoots of both the combinatorics of Catalan numbers and the combinatorics of permutations. In particular, we give an algebraic interpretation of the first derivative of the Kreweras involution on Dyck paths, of 4321-avoiding involutions and of recent results…
A redundant generating function is a generating function having terms which are not part of the solution of the original problem. We use redundant generating functions to study two path problems. In the first application we explain a surprising occurrence of Catalan numbers in counting paths that stay below the line y = 2x. In the second application we prove a conjecture of Niederhausen and Sullivan.
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 introduce bijections between generalized type $A_n$ noncrossing partitions (that is, associated to arbitrary standard Coxeter elements) and fully commutative elements of the same type. The latter index the diagram basis of the classical Temperley-Lieb algebra, while for each choice of standard Coxeter element the corresponding noncrossing partitions also index a basis, given by the images in the Temperley-Lieb algebra of the simple elements of the dual Garside structure (associated to this choice of standard Coxeter element) of the Artin braid group on $n+1$ strands. We then show that our b…
Let $Φ$ be an irreducible crystallographic root system with Weyl group $W$ and coroot lattice $\check{Q}$, spanning a Euclidean space $V$. Let $m$ be a positive integer and $\aA^m_Φ$ be the arrangement of hyperplanes in $V$ of the form $(α, x) = k$ for $α\in Φ$ and $k = 0, 1,...,m$. It is known that the number $N^+ (Φ, m)$ of bounded dominant regions of $\aA^m_Φ$ is equal to the number of facets of the positive part $Δ^m_+ (Φ)$ of the generalized cluster complex associated to the pair $(Φ, m)$ by S. Fomin and N. Reading. We define a statistic on the set of bounded dominant regions of $\aA^m_Φ$…
In the work [4] tree-rooted planar cubic maps with marked directed edge (not in this tree) were enumerated. The number of such objects with $2n$ vertices is $C_{2n}\cdot C_{n+1}$, where $C_k$ is Catalan number. In this work a marked directed edge is not demanded, i.e. we enumerate tree-rooted planar cubic maps. Formulas are more complex, of course, but not significantly.
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…
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)…
We continue to investigate the properties of the earlier defined functions fm and gm, which depend on an initial arithmetic function f0. In this papers values of f0 are the Fine numbers. We investigate functions fi; gi; (i = 1; 2; 3; 4). For each function, we derive an explicit formula and give a combinatorial interpretation. It appears that g2 and g3 are well-known combinatoric object called the Catalan triangles. We finish with an identity consisting of ten items.
Introducing irrational enumeration: analytic combinatorics for objects of irrational size
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Strathclyde（斯特拉斯克莱德大学数学与统计系）；Institut Denis Poisson, L’Université d’Orléans（奥尔良大学丹尼斯·普瓦松研究所）
We explain how the moments of the (weight function of the) Askey Wilson polynomials are related to the enumeration of the staircase tableaux introduced by the first and fourth authors. This gives us a direct combinatorial formula for these moments. Then we use techniques developed by Ismail and the third author to give explicit formulae for these moments and for the enumeration of staircase tableaux. Finally we study the enumeration of staircase tableaux at various specializations of the parameterizations; for example, we obtain the Catalan numbers, Fibonacci numbers, Eulerian numbers, the num…
Additive combinatorics is built around the famous theorem by Szemerédi which asserts existence of arithmetic progressions of any length among the integers. There exist several different proofs of the theorem based on very different techniques. Szemerédi's theorem is an existence statement, whereas the ultimate goal in combinatorics is always to make enumeration statements. In this article we develop new methods based on real algebraic geometry to obtain several quantitative statements on the number of arithmetic progressions in fixed density sets. We further discuss the possibility of a genera…
This is a survey on the categorification of the poset of generalized non-crossing partitions, using the representation theory of a hereditary artin algebra H, looking at the set P of exceptional subcategories in mod H. This categorification is due to Ingalls and Thomas, and a subsequent paper by Igusa and Schiffler. Starting point is a refinement of the classical tilting theory for mod H, replacing torsion pairs by torsion triples, thus putting it into the realm of the stability theory of King. The torsion pairs in mod H correspond nicely to the perpendicular pairs of exceptional subcategories…
Lattice paths effectively model phenomena in chemistry, physics and probability theory. Asymptotic enumeration of lattice paths is linked with entropy in the physical systems being modeled. Lattice paths restricted to different regions of the plane are well suited to a functional equation approach for exact and asymptotic enumeration. This thesis surveys results on lattice paths under various restrictions, with an emphasis on lattice paths in the quarter plane. For these paths, we develop an original systematic combinatorial approach providing direct access to the exponential growth factors of…
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…
Enumeration of tilings is the mathematical study concerning the total number of coverings of regions by similar pieces without gaps or overlaps. Enumeration of tilings has become a vibrant subfield of combinatorics with connections and applications to diverse mathematical areas. In 1999, James Propp published his well-known list of 32 open problems in the field. The list has got much attention from experts around the world. After two decades, most of the problems on the list have been solved and generalized. In this paper, we propose a set of new tiling problems. This survey paper contributes …
We continue the study of the nonkissing complex that was introduced by Petersen, Pylyavskyy, and Speyer and was studied lattice-theoretically by the second author. We introduce a theory of Grid-Catalan combinatorics, given the initial data of a nonkissing complex, and show how this theory parallels the well-known Coxeter-Catalan combinatorics. In particular, we present analogues of Chapoton's F-triangle, H-triangle, and M-triangle and give combinatorial, lattice-theoretic, and geometric interpretations of the objects defining these. In our Grid-Catalan setting, we prove that Chapoton's F-trian…
We obtain explicit formulas for the enumeration of labelled parallelogram polyominoes. These are the polyominoes that are bounded, above and below, by north-east lattice paths going from the origin to a point (k,n). The numbers from 1 and n (the labels) are bijectively attached to the $n$ north steps of the above-bounding path, with the condition that they appear in increasing values along consecutive north steps. We calculate the Frobenius characteristic of the action of the symmetric group S_n on these labels. All these enumeration results are refined to take into account the area of these p…
The first problem addressed by this article is the enumeration of some families of pattern-avoiding inversion sequences. We solve some enumerative conjectures left open by the foundational work on the topics by Corteel et al., some of these being also solved independently by Lin, and Kim and Lin. The strength of our approach is its robustness: we enumerate four families $F_1 \subset F_2 \subset F_3 \subset F_4$ of pattern-avoiding inversion sequences ordered by inclusion using the same approach. More precisely, we provide a generating tree (with associated succession rule) for each family $F_i…
The field of analytic combinatorics, which studies the asymptotic behaviour of sequences through analytic properties of their generating functions, has led to the development of deep and powerful tools with applications across mathematics and the natural sciences. In addition to the now classical univariate theory, recent work in the study of analytic combinatorics in several variables (ACSV) has shown how to derive asymptotics for the coefficients of certain D-finite functions represented by diagonals of multivariate rational functions. We give a pedagogical introduction to the methods of ACS…
The aim of this paper is to develop the combinatorics of constructions associated to what we call \emph{triangular partitions}. As introduced in arXiv:2102.07931, these are the partitions whose cells are those lying below the line joining points $(r,0)$ and $(0,s)$, for any given positive reals $r$ and $s$. Classical notions such as Dyck paths and parking functions are naturally generalized by considering the set of partitions included in a given triangular partition. One of our striking results is that the restriction of the Young lattice to triangular partition has a planar Hasse diagram, wi…
We study the combinatorics of ad-nilpotent ideals of a Borel subalgebra of $sl(n+1,\Bbb C)$. We provide an inductive method for calculating the class of nilpotence of these ideals and formulas for the number of ideals having a given class of nilpotence. We study the relationships between these results and the combinatorics of Dyck paths, based upon a remarkable bijection between ad-nilpotent ideals and Dyck paths. Finally, we propose a (q,t)-analogue of the Catalan number $C_n$. These (q,t)-Catalan numbers count on the one hand ad-nilpotent ideals with respect to dimension and class of nilpote…
