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Polynomials, meanders, and paths in the lattice of noncrossing partitions

David Savitt
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Abstract

For every polynomial f of degree n with no double roots, there is an associated family C(f) of harmonic algebraic curves, fibred over the circle, with at most n-1 singular fibres. We study the combinatorial topology of C(f) in the generic case when there are exactly n-1 singular fibres. In this case, the topology of C(f) is determined by the data of an n-tuple of noncrossing matchings on the set {0,1,...,2n-1} with certain extra properties. We prove that there are 2(2n)^{n-2} such n-tuples, and that all of them arise from the topology of C(f) for some polynomial f.

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David Savitt. 2007-09-27. Polynomials, meanders, and paths in the lattice of noncrossing partitions. https://arxiv.org/abs/math/0606169

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