Counting Dyck Paths by Area and Rank

The set of Dyck paths of length 2n inherits a lattice structure from a bijection with the set of noncrossing partitions with the usual partial order. In this paper, we study the joint distribution of two statistics for Dyck paths: area (the area under the path) and rank (the rank in the lattice). While area for Dyck paths has been studied, pairing it with this rank function seems new, and we get an interesting (q, t)-refinement of the Catalan numbers. We present two decompositions of the corresponding generating function: One refines an identity of Carlitz and Riordan; the other refines the notion of γ-nonnegativity, and is based on a decomposition of the lattice of noncrossing partitions due to Simion and Ullman. Further, Biane’s correspondence and a result of Stump allow us to conclude that the joint distribution of area and rank for Dyck paths equals the joint distribution of length and reflection length for the permutations lying below the n-cycle (12· · ·n) in the absolute order on the symmetric group.     

Refined Chung-Feller theorems for lattice paths

In this paper we prove a strengthening of the classical Chung-Feller theorem and a weighted version for Schröder paths. Both results are proved by refined bijections which are developed from the study of Taylor expansions of generating functions. By the same technique, we establish variants of the bijections for Catalan paths of order d and certain families of Motzkin paths. Moreover, we obtain a neat formula for enumerating Schröder paths with flaws.     

Reduced word manipulation: patterns and enumeration

We develop the technique of reduced word manipulation to give a range of results concerning reduced words and permutations more generally. We prove a broad connection between pattern containment and reduced words, which specializes to our previous work for vexillary permutations. We also analyze general tilings of Elnitsky’s polygon and demonstrate that these are closely related to the patterns in a permutation. Building on previous work for commutation classes, we show that reduced word enumeration is monotonically increasing with respect to pattern containment. Finally, we give several applications of this work. We show that a permutation and a pattern have equally many reduced words if and only if they have the same length (equivalently, the same number of 21-patterns) and that they have equally many commutation classes if and only if they have the same number of 321-patterns. We also apply our techniques to enumeration problems of pattern avoidance and give a bijection between 132-avoiding permutations of a given length and partitions of that same size, as well as refinements of these data and a connection to the Catalan numbers.     

Pattern avoiding partitions and Motzkin left factors

Let L _n , n ≥ 1, denote the sequence which counts the number of paths from the origin to the line x = n ? 1 using (1, 1), (1, ?1), and (1, 0) steps that never dip below the x-axis (called Motzkin left factors). The numbers L _n count, among other things, certain restricted subsets of permutations and Catalan paths. In this paper, we provide new combinatorial interpretations for these numbers in terms of finite set partitions. In particular, we identify four classes of the partitions of size n, all of which have cardinality L _n and each avoiding a set of two classical patterns of length four. We obtain a further generalization in one of the cases by considering a pair of statistics on the partition class. In a couple of cases, to show the result, we make use of the kernel method to solve a functional equation arising after a certain parameter has been introduced.     

Analysis of Bidirectional Ballot Sequences and Random Walks Ending in Their Maximum

Consider non-negative lattice paths ending at their maximum height, which will be called admissible paths. We show that the probability for a lattice path to be admissible is related to the Chebyshev polynomials of the first or second kind, depending on whether the lattice path is defined with a reflective barrier or not. Parameters like the number of admissible paths with given length or the expected height are analyzed asymptotically. Additionally, we use a bijection between admissible random walks and special binary sequences to prove a recent conjecture by Zhao on ballot sequences.     

Identities from weighted Motzkin paths

Based on a weighted version of the bijection between Dyck paths and 2-Motzkin paths, we find combinatorial interpretations of two identities related to the Narayana polynomials and the Catalan numbers. These interpretations answer two questions posed recently by Coker.     

Dyck paths with a first return decomposition constrained by height

We study the enumeration of Dyck paths having a first return decomposition with special properties based on a height constraint. We exhibit new restricted sets of Dyck paths counted by the Motzkin numbers, and we give a constructive bijection between these objects and Motzkin paths. As a byproduct, we provide a generating function for the number of Motzkin paths of height $k$ with a flat (resp. with no flats) at the maximal height.     

Functions on tableau frames

In a previous paper the authors used an algorithm for a bijection from the set F of all functions with nonnegative integral values defined on a Young tableau frame Φ onto the set E of all reverse plane partitions (rpp) on Φ in their new proof of R.P. Stanley's generating function for rpp. The algorithm gave new and clear combinatorial significance to the hook numbers of Φ as lengths of zigzag paths but left open the question of invariance of the bijection under interchange of the roles of rows and columns.Here this invariance is proved and the bijection is generalized to allow the entries to be in any linearly ordered additive group. The new algorithms involve n-tuples of paths and use the discreteness of the frame to introduce quantum falls or rises in the entries. New light is shed by considering a tableau frame to be a union of certain rectangles and the hook number of a node to be the number of these rectangles containing the node.     

Raney and Catalan

Raney’s lemma is often used in a counting argument to prove the formula for (generalized) Catalan numbers. It ensures the existence of “good” cyclic shifts of certain sequences, i.e. cyclic shifts for which all partial sums are positive.We introduce a simple algorithm that finds these cyclic shifts and also those with a slightly weaker property. Moreover it provides simple proofs of lemma’s of Raney type.A similar clustering procedure is also used in a simple proof of a theorem on probabilities of which many well-known results (e.g. on lattice paths and on generalized Catalan numbers) can be derived as corollaries. The theorem generalizes generalized Catalan numbers. In the end it turns out to be equivalent to a formula of Raney.     

Enumeration of Łukasiewicz paths modulo some patterns

For any pattern $\alpha$ of length at most two, we enumerate equivalence classes of ?ukasiewicz paths of length $n\ge 0$ where two paths are equivalent whenever the occurrence positions of $\alpha$ are identical on these paths. As a byproduct, we give a constructive bijection between Motzkin paths and some equivalence classes of ?ukasiewicz paths.     

The butterfly decomposition of plane trees

We introduce the notion of doubly rooted plane trees and give a decomposition of these trees, called the butterfly decomposition, which turns out to have many applications. From the butterfly decomposition we obtain a one-to-one correspondence between doubly rooted plane trees and free Dyck paths, which implies a simple derivation of a relation between the Catalan numbers and the central binomial coefficients. We also establish a one-to-one correspondence between leaf-colored doubly rooted plane trees and free Schröder paths. The classical Chung-Feller theorem as well as some generalizations and variations follow quickly from the butterfly decomposition. We next obtain two involutions on free Dyck paths and free Schröder paths, leading to parity results and combinatorial identities. We also use the butterfly decomposition to give a combinatorial treatment of Klazar's generating function for the number of chains in plane trees. Finally we study the total size of chains in plane trees with n edges and show that the average size of such chains tends asymptotically to (n+9)/6.     

A new statistic on Dyck paths for counting 3-dimensional Catalan words

A 3-dimensional Catalan word is a word on three letters so that the subword on any two letters is a Dyck path. For a given Dyck path D, a recently defined statistic counts the number of Catalan words with the property that any subword on two letters is exactly D. In this paper, we enumerate Dyck paths with this statistic equal to certain values, including all primes. The formulas obtained are in terms of Motzkin numbers and Motzkin ballot numbers.     

Analysis of the Bernstein basis functions: an approach to combinatorial sums involving binomial coefficients and Catalan numbers

We give some alternative forms of the generating functions for the Bernstein basis functions. Using these forms,we derive a collection of functional equations for the generating functions. By applying these equations, we prove some identities for the Bernstein basis functions. Integrating these identities, we derive a variety of identities and formulas, some old and some new, for combinatorial sums involving binomial coefficients, Pascal's rule, Vandermonde's type of convolution, the Bernoulli polynomials, and the Catalan numbers. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dynamics of a new family of iterative processes for quadratic polynomials

In this work we show the presence of the well-known Catalan numbers in the study of the convergence and the dynamical behavior of a family of iterative methods for solving nonlinear equations. In fact, we introduce a family of methods, depending on a parameter m∈N∪{0}. These methods reach the order of convergence m+2 when they are applied to quadratic polynomials with different roots. Newton’s and Chebyshev’s methods appear as particular choices of the family appear for m=0 and m=1, respectively. We make both analytical and graphical studies of these methods, which give rise to rational functions defined in the extended complex plane. Firstly, we prove that the coefficients of the aforementioned family of iterative processes can be written in terms of the Catalan numbers. Secondly, we make an incursion into its dynamical behavior. In fact, we show that the rational maps related to these methods can be written in terms of the entries of the Catalan triangle. Next we analyze its general convergence, by including some computer plots showing the intricate structure of the Universal Julia sets associated with the methods.     

Increasing Tableaux,Narayana Numbers and an Instance of the Cyclic Sieving Phenomenon

We give a counting formula for the set of rectangular increasing tableaux in terms of generalized Narayana numbers. We define small m–Schröder paths and give a bijection between the set of increasing rectangular tableaux and small m–Schröder paths, generalizing a result of Pechenik [4]. Using K–jeu de taquin promotion, we give a cyclic sieving phenomenon for the set of increasing hook tableaux.     

Enumerating several aspects of non-decreasing Dyck paths

A Dyck path is non-decreasing if the $y$-coordinates of its valleys form a non-decreasing sequence. In this paper we give enumerative results and some statistics of several aspects of non-decreasing Dyck paths. We give the number of pyramids at a fixed level that the paths of a given length have, count the number of primitive paths, count how many of the non-primitive paths can be expressed as a product of primitive paths, and count the number of paths of a given height and a given length. We present and prove our results using combinatorial arguments, generating functions (using the symbolic method) and parameterize the results studied here using the Riordan arrays. We use known bijections to connect direct column-convex polyominoes, Elena trees, and non-decreasing Dyck paths.     

On cographic regular matroids

The presentation of alternating permutatioas via labelled binary trees is used to define polynomials H_2n?1(x) as enumerating polynomials for the height of peaks in alternating permutations of length 2n?1. A divisibility property of the coefficients of these polynomials is proved, which generalizes and explains combinatirially a well-known property of the tangent numbers. Furthermore, a version of the exponential generating function for the H_2n?1(x) is given, leading to a new combinatorial interpretation of Dumont's modified Ghandi-polynomials.