Fakultät für Mathematik, Universität Wien, Nordbergstraße 15, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
Abstract:
We enumerate lattice paths in the planar integer lattice consisting of positively directed unit vertical and horizontal steps with respect to a specific elliptic weight function. The elliptic generating function of paths from a given starting point to a given end point evaluates to an elliptic generalization of the binomial coefficient. Convolution gives an identity equivalent to Frenkel and Turaev's summation. This appears to be the first combinatorial proof of the latter, and at the same time of some important degenerate cases including Jackson's and Dougall's summation. By considering nonintersecting lattice paths we are led to a multivariate extension of the summation which turns out to be a special case of an identity originally conjectured by Warnaar, later proved by Rosengren. We conclude with discussing some future perspectives.