English

On a New Congruence in the Catalan Triangle

Combinatorics 2025-03-10 v1

Abstract

For 0kn0\leq k \leq n, the number C(n,k)C(n,k) represents the number of all lattice paths in the plane from the point (0,0)(0,0) to the point (n,k)(n,k), using steps (1,0)(1,0) and (0,1)(0,1), that never rise above the main diagonal y=xy=x. The Fuss-Catalan number of order three Cn(3)C^{(3)}_n represents the number of all lattice paths in the plane from the point (0,0)(0,0) to the point (2n,n)(2n,n), using steps (1,0)(1,0) and (0,1)(0,1), that do not rise above the line y=x2y=\frac{x}{2}. We present a new alternating convolution formula for the numbers C(2n,k)C(2n,k). By using a new class of binomial sums that we call MM sums, we prove that this sum is divisible by Cn(3)C^{(3)}_n and by the central binomial coefficient (2nn)\binom{2n}{n}. We do this by examining the numbers T(n,j)=12n+1(2n+jj)(2n+1n+j+1)T(n,j)=\frac{1}{2n+1}\binom{2n+j}{j}\binom{2n+1}{n+j+1}, for which we present a new combinatorial interpretation, connecting them to the generalized Schr\"{o}der numbers of order two.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2503.05013,
  title  = {On a New Congruence in the Catalan Triangle},
  author = {Jovan Mikić},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2503.05013},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

17 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-28T22:10:06.427Z