Related papers: A Combinatorial Interpretation of j/n {kn}\choose{…
For each pair of coprime integers $a$ and $b$ we have a rational $q$-Catalan number $\operatorname{Cat}(a,b)_q=\binom{a+b}{a}_q/[a+b]_q$. It is known that this is a polynomial in $q$ with nonnegative integer coefficients, but the nature of…
In this paper, we study the combinatorial structures of straight and ordinary m\'enage permutations. Based on these structures, we prove four formulas. The first two formulas define a relationship between the m\'enage numbers and the…
Since 1950s, mathematicians have successfully interpreted the traditional Eulerian numbers and $q-$Eulerian numbers combinatorially. In this paper, the authors give a combinatorial interpretation to the general Eulerian numbers defined on…
In this paper, we explore some interesting applications of the matrix tree theorem. In particular, we present a combinatorial interpretation of a distribution of $(n-1)^{n-1}$, in the context of uprooted spanning trees of the complete graph…
The union of a collection of $n$ sets is generally expressed in terms of a characteristic (indicator) function that contains $2^{n}-1$ terms. In this article, a much simpler expression is found that requires the evaluation of $n$ terms…
We explain how the identity $$\sum_{i+j=n}\binom{2i}{i}\binom{2j}{j}\;=\;\displaystyle4^n$$ is an easy consequence of the inclusion-exclusion principle.
The Gessel number $P(n,r)$ represents the number of lattice paths in a plane with unit horizontal and vertical steps from $(0,0)$ to $(n+r,n+r-1)$ that never touch any of the points from the set $\{(x,x)\in \mathbb{Z}^2: x \geq r\}$. In…
The binomial coefficients and Catalan triangle numbers appear as weight multiplicities of the finite-dimensional simple Lie algebras and affine Kac--Moody algebras. We prove that any binomial coefficient can be written as weighted sums…
We give bijective results between several variants of lattice paths of length $2n$ (or $2n-2$) and integer compositions of n, all enumerated by the seemingly innocuous formula $4^{n-1}$. These associations lead us to make new connections…
Let M(n,k,r,s) be the number of ordered paths in the plane, with unit steps E or N, that intersect k times in which the first path ends at the point (r,n-r) and the second path ends at the point (s,n-s). Our main object of study in this…
We give a new proof of the following statement: the Catalan number $C_n$ is divisible by $n+2$, if $n$ is odd and $n\not\equiv 1\text{ mod }3$.
We find the joint distribution of three simple statistics on lattice paths of n upsteps and n downsteps leading to a triple sum identity for the central binomial coefficient {2n}-choose-{n}. We explain why one of the constituent double sums…
We study the average number of representations of an integer $n$ as $n = \phi(n_{1}) + \dots + \phi(n_{j})$, for polynomials $\phi \in \mathbb{Z}[n]$ with $\partial\phi = k\ge 1$, $\operatorname{lead}(\phi) = 1$, $j \ge k$, where $n_{i}$ is…
The $q$-analogue of an integer $m$ is given by $[m]_q=(1-q^m)/(1-q)$. Let $a$ be an integer, and let $n$ be a positive odd integer. Via discrete Fourier transforms, we establish the following two identities:…
We provide a unified combinatorial framework connecting Entringer numbers, Dumont-Viennot snakes, and elliptically weighted continued fractions, which gives a structural interpretation of the Jacobi elliptic identity \begin{equation}…
An and/or tree is usually a binary plane tree, with internal nodes labelled by logical connectives, and with leaves labelled by literals chosen in a fixed set of k variables and their negations. In the present paper, we introduce the first…
We describe arithmetic algorithms on a canonical number representation based on the Catalan family of combinatorial objects specified as a Haskell type class. Our algorithms work on a {\em generic} representation that we illustrate on…
This paper investigates the impossibility of certain $({n^2+n+k}_{n+1})$ configurations. Firstly, for $k=2$, the result of \cite{gropp1992non} that $\frac{n^2+n}{2}$ is even and $n+1$ is a perfect square or $\frac{n^2+n}{2}$ is odd and…
The Catalan number $C_n$ enumerates parenthesizations of $x_0*\dotsb*x_n$ where $*$ is a binary operation. We introduce the modular Catalan number $C_{k,n}$ to count equivalence classes of parenthesizations of $x_0*\dotsb*x_n$ when $*$…
In this paper we use a formula for the $n$-th power of a $2\times2$ matrix $A$ (in terms of the entries in $A$) to derive various combinatorial identities. Three examples of our results follow. 1) We show that if $m$ and $n$ are positive…