English

Exact generating function for 2-convex polygons

Combinatorics 2015-05-13 v1

Abstract

Polygons are described as almost-convex if their perimeter differs from the perimeter of their minimum bounding rectangle by twice their `concavity index', mm. Such polygons are called \emph{mm-convex} polygons and are characterised by having up to mm indentations in their perimeter. We first describe how we conjectured the (isotropic) generating function for the case m=2m=2 using a numerical procedure based on series expansions. We then proceed to prove this result for the more general case of the full anisotropic generating function, in which steps in the xx and yy direction are distinguished. In so doing, we develop tools that would allow for the case m>2m > 2 to be studied. %In our proof we use a `divide and conquer' approach, factorising 2-convex %polygons by extending a line along the base of its indents. We then use %the inclusion-exclusion principle, the Hadamard product and extensions to %known methods to derive the generating functions for each case.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.0805.1259,
  title  = {Exact generating function for 2-convex polygons},
  author = {W. R. G. James and I. Jensen and A. J. Guttmann},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0805.1259},
  year   = {2015}
}

Comments

28 pages, 15 figures, IoP style

R2 v1 2026-06-21T10:38:47.494Z