English

Boolean--Eulerian numbers

Combinatorics 2026-05-18 v1

Abstract

We study decreasing binary trees in which every vertex with two children is colored red or blue. We construct two bijections. The first, to ordered set partitions into odd-sized blocks each arranged as an alternating permutation, shows that the exponential generating function of these trees is 1/(1tanz)1/(1-\tan z). The second, to nonplane decreasing 1-2 trees paired with a binary label on each non-root vertex, proves combinatorially that the count equals 2n12^{n-1} times the~nnth Euler number. Refining by the number of right edges yields the Boolean--Eulerian polynomials, which are an explicit algebraic transform of the classical Eulerian polynomials. The Foata--Strehl orbit decomposition, recast in the decreasing-binary-tree model, gives a direct combinatorial proof of gamma-positivity, and the algebraic transform carries real-rootedness and interlacing of zeros from the Eulerian polynomials to the Boolean--Eulerian polynomials.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2605.15415,
  title  = {Boolean--Eulerian numbers},
  author = {Miklós Bóna and Vincent Vatter},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2605.15415},
  year   = {2026}
}

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12 pages 2 figures