Catalan Numbers Research Articles

Some arithmetic functions of factorials in Lucas sequences

We prove that if {un}n≥ 0 is a nondegenerate Lucas sequence, then there are only finitely many effectively computable positive integers n such that |un|=f(m!), where f is either the sum-of-divisors function, or the sum-of-proper-divisors function, or the Euler phi function. We also give a theorem that holds for a more general class of integer sequences and illustrate our results through a few specific examples. This paper is motivated by a previous work of Iannucci and Luca who addressed the above problem with Catalan numbers and the sum-of-proper-divisors function.

Alternating Catalan numbers and curves with triple ramification

We determine the number of minimal degree covers of odd ramifica- tion for a general curve.

HANKEL DETERMINANTS OF FACTORIAL FRACTIONS

AbstractBy making use of the Cauchy double alternant and the Laplace expansion formula, we establish two closed formulae for the determinants of factorial fractions that are then utilised to evaluate several determinants of binomial coefficients and Catalan numbers, including those obtained recently by Chammam [‘Generalized harmonic numbers, Jacobi numbers and a Hankel determinant evaluation’, Integral Transforms Spec. Funct.30(7) (2019), 581–593].

A transitivity result for ad-nilpotent ideals in type [formula omitted

The paper considers subspaces of the strictly upper triangular matrices, which are stable under Lie bracket with any upper triangular matrix. These subspaces are called ad-nilpotent ideals and there are Catalan number of such subspaces. Each ad-nilpotent ideal I meets a unique largest nilpotent orbit OI in the Lie algebra of all matrices. The main result of the paper is that under an equivalence relation on ad-nilpotent ideals studied by Mizuno and others, the equivalence classes are the ad-nilpotent ideals I such that OI=O for a fixed nilpotent orbit O. We include two applications of the result, one to the higher vanishing of cohomology groups of vector bundles on the flag variety and another to the Kazhdan–Lusztig cells in the affine Weyl group of the symmetric group. Finally, some combinatorial results are discussed.

Coxeter’s Frieze Patterns Arising from Dyck Paths

Frieze patterns are defined by objects of a category of Dyck paths, to do that, it is introduced the notion of diamond of Dynkin type $${\mathbb {A}}_{n}$$ . Such diamonds constitute a tool to build integral frieze patterns.

On Stanley-Wilf limit of the pattern 1324

We use the Mansour-Vainshtein theory of kernel shapes [14] to decompose the set Sn(1324) of 1324-avoiding permutations of length n into small pieces that are governed by some kernel shape λ. An enumeration of the set Km,c of all kernel shapes with length m and capacity c allows to express the generating function for the number of 1324-avoiding permutations of length n in terms of the Pm(C(x))=∑c|Km,c+1|Cc(x) where Pm(x) is a polynomial and C(x) is the generating function for the Catalan numbers. This allows us to write down a systematic procedure for finding a lower bound for approximating the Stanley-Wilf limit of the pattern 1324. We use an implementation of this method in the OpenCL framework to compute such a bound explicitly.

Catalan and Schröder permutations sortable by two restricted stacks

Pattern avoiding machines were introduced recently by Claesson, Cerbai and Ferrari as a particular case of the two-stacks in series sorting device. They consist of two restricted stacks in series, ruled by a right-greedy procedure and the stacks avoid some specified patterns. Some of the obtained results have been further generalized to Cayley permutations by Cerbai, specialized to particular patterns by Defant and Zheng, or considered in the context of functions over the symmetric group by Berlow. In this work we study pattern avoiding machines where the first stack avoids a pair of patterns of length 3 and investigate those pairs for which sortable permutations are counted by the (binomial transform of the) Catalan numbers and the Schröder numbers.

The Sock Problem Revisited

When matching n pairs of socks, drawn randomly one at a time, there is a question of how big the pile of unmatched socks is expected to get. Each permutation of socks drawn has a corresponding Dyck path, with the total number of Dyck paths equaling the n-th Catalan number. However, some discussions failed to take into account that not every Dyck path is equally likely in the process of sorting socks. In this paper we will take the probabilities of the Dyck paths into account, and find a method of finding the expected maximum size of the unmatched sock pile. We also find the first two terms of the asymptotic series for this maximum, and give a conjecture on the third term.

Pattern statistics in faro words and permutations

We study the distribution and the popularity of some patterns in k-ary faro words, i.e. words over the alphabet {1,2,…,k} obtained by interlacing the letters of two nondecreasing words of lengths differing by at most one. We present a bijection between these words and dispersed Dyck paths (i.e. Motzkin paths with all level steps on the x-axis) with a given number of peaks. We show how the bijection maps statistics of consecutive patterns of faro words into linear combinations of other pattern statistics on paths. Then, we deduce enumerative results by providing multivariate generating functions for the distribution and the popularity of patterns of length at most three. Finally, we consider some interesting subclasses of faro words that are permutations, involutions, derangements, or subexcedent words.

Higher genera Catalan numbers and Hirota equations for extended nonlinear Schr\xf6dinger hierarchy

We consider the Dubrovin–Frobenius manifold of rank 2 whose genus expansion at a special point controls the enumeration of a higher genera generalization of the Catalan numbers, or, equivalently, the enumeration of maps on surfaces, ribbon graphs, Grothendieck’s dessins d’enfants, strictly monotone Hurwitz numbers, or lattice points in the moduli spaces of curves. Liu, Zhang, and Zhou conjectured that the full partition function of this Dubrovin–Frobenius manifold is a tau-function of the extended nonlinear Schrödinger hierarchy, an extension of a particular rational reduction of the Kadomtsev–Petviashvili hierarchy. We prove a version of their conjecture specializing the Givental–Milanov method that allows to construct the Hirota quadratic equations for the partition function, and then deriving from them the Lax representation.

On Some Properties of Leibniz's Triangle

One of the Greatest mathematicians of all time, Gotfried Leibniz, introduced amusing triangular array of numbers called Leibniz's Harmonic triangle similar to that of Pascal's triangle but with different properties. I had introduced entries of Leibniz's triangle through Beta Integrals. In this paper, I have proved that the Beta Integral assumption is exactly same as that of entries obtained through Pascal's triangle. The Beta Integral formulation leads us to establish several significant properties related to Leibniz's triangle in quite elegant way. I have shown that the sum of alternating terms in any row of Leibniz's triangle is either zero or a Harmonic number. A separate section is devoted in this paper to prove interesting results regarding centralized Leibniz's triangle numbers including obtaining a closed expression, the asymptotic behavior of successive centralized Leibniz's triangle numbers, connection between centralized Leibniz's triangle numbers and Catalan numbers as well as centralized binomial coefficients, convergence of series whose terms are centralized Leibniz's triangle numbers. All the results discussed in this section are new and proved for the first time. Finally, I have proved two exceedingly important theorems namely Infinite Hockey Stick theorem and Infinite Triangle Sum theorem. Though these two theorems were known in literature, the way of proving them using Beta Integral formulation is quite new and makes the proof short and elegant. Thus, by simple re-formulation of entries of Leibniz's triangle through Beta Integrals, I have proved existing as well as new theorems in much compact way. These ideas will throw a new light upon understanding the fabulous Leibniz's number triangle.

Associative spectra of graph algebras I

Associative spectra of graph algebras are examined with the help of homomorphisms of DFS trees. Undirected graphs are classified according to the associative spectra of their graph algebras; there are only three distinct possibilities: constant 1, powers of 2, and Catalan numbers. Associative and antiassociative digraphs are described, and associative spectra are determined for certain families of digraphs, such as paths, cycles, and graphs on two vertices.

The Cyclic Groups Generated by Catalan Matrices

Let $n$ a be positive integer. The Catalan matrix of order $n$, denoted by $\mathscr{C}_n[x]$, is a lower triangular Toeplitz matrix whose nonzero elements are expressions containing Catalan numbers and a real parameter $x$. In this paper, we investigate the multiplicative order of the cyclic group generated by $\mathscr{C}_n[x]$ (for $x\in\mathbb{N}$) modulo a positive integer $m$.

Combinatorics of faithfully balanced modules

We study and classify faithfully balanced modules for the algebra of triangular n by n matrices and more generally for Nakayama algebras. The theory extends known results about tilting modules, which are classified by binary trees, and counted with the Catalan numbers. The number of faithfully balanced modules is a 2-factorial number. Among them are n! modules with n indecomposable summands, which can be classified by interleaved binary trees or by increasing binary trees.

Bijections from Dyck and Motzkin meanders with catastrophes to pattern avoiding Dyck paths

In this note, we present constructive bijections from Dyck and Motzkin meanders with catastrophes to Dyck paths avoiding some patterns. As a byproduct, we deduce correspondences from Dyck and Motzkin excursions to restricted Dyck paths.

Row bounds needed to justifiably express flagged Schur functions with Gessel-Viennot determinants

Let $\lambda$ be a partition with no more than $n$ parts. Let $\beta$ be a weakly increasing $n$-tuple with entries from $\{ 1, ... , n \}$. The flagged Schur function in the variables $x_1, ... , x_n$ that is indexed by $\lambda$ and $\beta$ has been defined to be the sum of the content weight monomials for the semistandard Young tableaux of shape $\lambda$ whose values are row-wise bounded by the entries of $\beta$. Gessel and Viennot gave a determinant expression for the flagged Schur function indexed by $\lambda$ and $\beta$; this could be done since the pair $(\lambda, \beta)$ satisfied their "nonpermutable" condition for the sequence of terminals of an $n$-tuple of lattice paths that they used to model the tableaux. We generalize flagged Schur functions by dropping the requirement that $\beta$ be weakly increasing. Then for each $\lambda$ we give a condition on the entries of $\beta$ for the pair $(\lambda, \beta)$ to be nonpermutable that is both necessary and sufficient. When the parts of $\lambda$ are not distinct there will be multiple row bound $n$-tuples $\beta$ that will produce the same set of tableaux. We accordingly group the bounding $\beta$ into equivalence classes and identify the most efficient $\beta$ in each class for the determinant computation. We recently showed that many other sets of objects that are indexed by $n$ and $\lambda$ are enumerated by the number of these efficient $n$-tuples. We called these counts "parabolic Catalan numbers". It is noted that the $GL(n)$ Demazure characters (key polynomials) indexed by 312-avoiding permutations can also be expressed with these determinants.

The inverse versine function and sums containing reciprocal central binomial coefficients and reciprocal Catalan numbers

Using the inverse of the once common but now largely forgotten versine function, series containing reciprocals of the central binomial coefficients and series containing reciprocals of the Catalan numbers are explored. In doing so we show how an alternative pathway to advanced problem solving can be achieved for a class of problems typical of those arising in classical analysis.

Arithmetic of weighted Catalan numbers

In this paper, we study arithmetic properties of weighted Catalan numbers. Previously, Postnikov and Sagan found conditions under which the 2-adic valuations of the weighted Catalan numbers are equal to the 2-adic valuations of the Catalan numbers. We obtain the same result under weaker conditions by considering a map from a class of functions to 2-adic integers. These methods are also extended to q-weighted Catalan numbers, strengthening a previous result by Konvalinka. Finally, we prove some results on the periodicity of weighted Catalan numbers modulo an integer and apply them to the specific case of the number of combinatorial types of Morse links. Many open questions are mentioned.

On members of Lucas sequences which are either products of factorials or product of middle binomial coefficients and Catalan numbers

Let $\{U_n\}_{n\geq 0}$ be a Lucas sequence. Then the equation $$|U_n|=m_1!m_2!\cdots m_k!$$ with $1<m_1\leq m_2\leq \cdots\leq m_k$ implies $n\in \{1,2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12\}$. Further the equation $$|U_n|=D_{m_1}D_{m_2}\cdots D_{m_k}, \qquad D_{m_i}\in \{B_{m_i}, C_{m_i}\}$$ with $1<m_1\leq m_2\leq \cdots\leq m_k$ implies $n\in \{1,2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16\}$. Here $B_m$ is the middle binomial coefficient $\binom{2m}{m}$ and $C_m$ is the Catalan number $\frac{1}{m+1}\binom{2m}{m}$.

Enumeration of Stack-Sorting Preimages via a Decomposition Lemma

We give three applications of a recently-proven "Decomposition Lemma," which allows one to count preimages of certain sets of permutations under West's stack-sorting map $s$. We first enumerate the permutation class $s^{-1}(\text{Av}(231,321))=\text{Av}(2341,3241,45231)$, finding a new example of an unbalanced Wilf equivalence. This result is equivalent to the enumeration of permutations sortable by ${\bf B}\circ s$, where ${\bf B}$ is the bubble sort map. We then prove that the sets $s^{-1}(\text{Av}(231,312))$, $s^{-1}(\text{Av}(132,231))=\text{Av}(2341,1342,\underline{32}41,\underline{31}42)$, and $s^{-1}(\text{Av}(132,312))=\text{Av}(1342,3142,3412,34\underline{21})$ are counted by the so-called "Boolean-Catalan numbers," settling a conjecture of the current author and another conjecture of Hossain. This completes the enumerations of all sets of the form $s^{-1}(\text{Av}(\tau^{(1)},\ldots,\tau^{(r)}))$ for $\{\tau^{(1)},\ldots,\tau^{(r)}\}\subseteq S_3$ with the exception of the set $\{321\}$. We also find an explicit formula for $|s^{-1}(\text{Av}_{n,k}(231,312,321))|$, where $\text{Av}_{n,k}(231,312,321)$ is the set of permutations in $\text{Av}_n(231,312,321)$ with $k$ descents. This allows us to prove a conjectured identity involving Catalan numbers and order ideals in Young's lattice.