Enumeration of polyominoes inscribed in a rectangle

We develop a number of formulas and generating functions for the enumeration of general polyominoes inscribed in a rectangle of given size according to their area. These formulae are then used for the enumeration of lattice trees inscribed in a rectangle with minimum area plus one.     

A new way of counting the column-convex polyominoes by perimeter

We introduce a new class of plane figures: the sequences of tailed column-convex polyominoes (for short: stapoes). Let G(x, y) and I(x, y) denote the perimeter generating functions for column-convex polyominoes and stapoes, respectively. It will be clear from the definitions that G(x, y) is a simple fraction of I(x, y). But this latter function can be DSV-computed by solving just one quadratic equation (and not a system of quadratic equations). Thus the formula for G(x, y) can be obtained with ease.     

Hyperbolic polygons of minimal perimeter with given angles

We prove that, among all convex hyperbolic polygons with given angles, the perimeter is minimized by the unique polygon with an inscribed circle. The proof relies on work of Schlenker (Trans Am Math Soc 359(5): 2155–2189, 2007).     

Enumeration of matrices of given rank with submatrices of given rank

The authors determine the number of (n+m)×t matrices A¹ of rank r+v, over a finite field GF(q), whose last m rows are those of a given matrix A of rank r+v over GF(q) and whose first n rows have a given rank u.     

Enumeration of labeled connected graphs with given order and size

We deduce a new formula for the number of labeled connected graphs with given order and number of edges in terms of the block generating function. Applying this formula, we exactly and asymptotically enumerate cacti with given order and cyclomatic number.     

Enumeration of arrays of a given size

Enumeration of arrays whose row and column sums are specified have been studied by a number of people. It has been determined that the function that enumerates square arrays of dimension n, whose rows and columns sum to a fixed non-negative integer r, is a polynomial in r of degree (n ? 1)².In this paper we consider rectangular arrays whose rows sum to a fixed non-negative integer r and whose columns sum to a fixed non-negative integer s, determined by ns = mr. in particular, we show that the functions which enumerate 2 × n and 3 × n arrays with fixed row sums $\text{nr}\text{(2, n)}$ and $\text{nr}\text{(3, n)}$, where the symbol (a, b) denotes the greatest common divisor of a and b, and fixed column sums, are polynomials in r of degrees (n ? 1) and 2(n ? 1) respectively. We have found simple formulas to evaluate these polynomials for negative values, - r, and we show that for certain small negative integers our polynomials will always be zero. We also considered the generating functions of these polynomials and show that they are rational functions of degrees less than zero, whose denominators are of the forms (1 ? y)ⁿ and (1 ? y)²ⁿ?1 respectively and whose numerators are polynomials in y whose coefficients satisfy certain properties. In the last section we list the actual polynomials and generating functions in the 2 × n and 3 × n cases for small specific values of n.     

Enumeration of coloured plane trees with a given type partition

Tutte's result for the number of planted plane trees with a given degree partition is rederived by a variety of methods and in particular by a simple piecewise construction technique. A theorem of Gordon and Temple is applied in order to give a general relationship between the number of planted plane trees and the number of rooted plane trees and the degree partition restriction is generalised to type partition. The piecewise construction method is successfully used to derive the number of planted plane trees with a given 2-colour degree partition, also derived by Tutte, and an algorithm for the k-coloured case is developed. This algorithm may be used to obtain more specific results. These models are relevant to the statistical mechanics of polymers and this is discussed briefly.     

Enumeration of unrooted hypermaps of a given genus

In this paper we derive an enumeration formula for the number of hypermaps of a given genus g and given number of darts n in terms of the numbers of rooted hypermaps of genus γ≤g with m darts, where m|n. Explicit expressions for the number of rooted hypermaps of genus g with n darts were derived by Walsh [T.R.S. Walsh, Hypermaps versus bipartite maps, J. Combin. Theory B 18 (2) (1975) 155-163] for g=0, and by Arquès [D. Arquès, Hypercartes pointées sur le tore: Décompositions et dénombrements, J. Combin. Theory B 43 (1987) 275-286] for g=1. We apply our general counting formula to derive explicit expressions for the number of unrooted spherical hypermaps and for the number of unrooted toroidal hypermaps with given number of darts. We note that in this paper isomorphism classes of hypermaps of genus g≥0 are distinguished up to the action of orientation-preserving hypermap isomorphisms. The enumeration results can be expressed in terms of Fuchsian groups.     

Klarner systems and tiling boxes with polyominoes

Let T be a protoset of d-dimensional polyominoes. Which boxes (rectangular parallelepipeds) can be tiled by T? A nice result of Klarner and Göbel asserts that the answer to this question can always be given in a particularly simple form, namely, by giving a finite list of “prime” boxes. All other boxes that can be tiled can be deduced from these prime boxes. We give a new, simpler proof of this fundamental result. We also show that there is no upper bound to the number of prime boxes, even when restricting attention to singleton protosets. In the last section, we determine the set of prime rectangles for several small polyominoes.     

Enumeration of sequences of given specification according to rises,falls and maxima

Letn = (a₁.a₂ … a_N) denote a sequence of integers a_i={1.2.…n}. A rise is a part a_i.a_i+1 with a_i <a_i+1: a fall is a pair with a_ia_i+1: a level is a pair with a_i = a_i+1. A maximum is a triple a_i-1.a_ia_i+1 with a_i-1?a_i.a_i?a_i+1. If e_i is the number of a_j?n witha_j = i, then [e₁…e_n] is called the specification of n. In addition, a conventional rise is counted to the left of a₁ and a conventional fall to the right of a_N: ifa₁?a₂, then a₁ is counted as a conventional maximum, similarly if a_N-1 ? a_N thena_N is a conventional maximum. Simon Newcomb's problem is to find the number of sequences n with given specification and r rises; the refined problem of determining the number of sequences of given specification with r rises and s falls has also been solved recently. The present paper is concerned with the problem of finding the number of sequences of given specification with r rises, s falls. λ levels and λ maxima. A generating function for this enumerant is obtained as the quotient of two continuants. In certain special cases this result simplifies considerably.     

Average site perimeter of directed animals on the two-dimensional lattices

We introduce new combinatorial (bijective) methods that enable us to compute the average value of three parameters of directed animals of a given area, including the site perimeter. Our results cover directed animals of any one-line source on the square lattice and its bounded variants, and we give counterparts for most of them in the triangular lattices. We thus prove conjectures by Conway and Le Borgne. The techniques used are based on Viennot’s correspondence between directed animals and heaps of pieces (or elements of a partially commutative monoid).     

Hinged dissection of polyominoes and polyforms

A hinged dissection of a set of polygons S is a collection of polygonal pieces hinged together at vertices that can be rotated into any member of S. We present a hinged dissection of all edge-to-edge gluings of n congruent copies of a polygon P that join corresponding edges of P. This construction uses kn pieces, where k is the number of vertices of P. When P is a regular polygon, we show how to reduce the number of pieces to k/2(n−1). In particular, we consider polyominoes (made up of unit squares), polyiamonds (made up of equilateral triangles), and polyhexes (made up of regular hexagons). We also give a hinged dissection of all polyabolos (made up of right isosceles triangles), which do not fall under the general result mentioned above. Finally, we show that if P can be hinged into Q, then any edge-to-edge gluing of n congruent copies of P can be hinged into any edge-to-edge gluing of n congruent copies of Q.     

Generalized triangulations and diagonal-free subsets of stack polyominoes

For n?3, let Ω_n be the set of line segments between vertices in a convex n-gon. For j?1, a j-crossing is a set of j distinct and mutually intersecting line segments from Ω_n such that all 2j endpoints are distinct. For k?1, let Δ_n,k be the simplicial complex of subsets of Ω_n not containing any (k+1)-crossing. For example, Δ_n,1 has one maximal set for each triangulation of the n-gon. Dress, Koolen, and Moulton were able to prove that all maximal sets in Δ_n,k have the same number k(2n-2k-1) of line segments. We demonstrate that the number of such maximal sets is counted by a k×k determinant of Catalan numbers. By the work of Desainte-Catherine and Viennot, this determinant is known to count quite a few other objects including fans of non-crossing Dyck paths. We generalize our result to a larger class of simplicial complexes including some of the complexes appearing in the work of Herzog and Trung on determinantal ideals.     

Graphs with given group and given constant link

A graph L is called a link graph if there is a graph G such that for each vertex of G its neighbors induce a subgraph isomorphic to L. Such a G is said to have constant link .L Sabidussi proved that for any finite group F and any n ? 3 there are infinitely many n-regular connected graphs G with AutG ? Γ. We will prove a stronger result: For any finite group Γ and any link graph L with at least one isolated vertex and at least three vertices there are infinitely many connected graphs G with constant link L and AutG ? Γ.     

Ascents and descents in 01-fillings of moon polyominoes

We put recent results on the symmetry of the joint distribution of the numbers of crossings and nestings of two edges over matchings, set partitions and linked partitions in the larger context of enumeration of increasing and decreasing sequences of length 2 in fillings of moon polyominoes.