arXiv subjects

Mireille Bousquet-Mélou

Publications and source records attributed to Mireille Bousquet-Mélou.

51 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2009

Perfect matchings for the three-term Gale-Robinson sequences

In 1991, David Gale and Raphael Robinson, building on explorations carried out by Michael Somos in the 1980s, introduced a three-parameter family of rational recurrence relations, each of which (with suitable initial conditions) appeared to give rise to a sequence of integers, even though a priori the recurrence might produce non-integral rational numbers. Throughout the '90s, proofs of integrality were known only for individual special cases. In the early '00s, Sergey Fomin and Andrei Zelevinsky proved Gale and Robinson's integrality conjecture. They actually proved much more, and in particular, that certain bivariate rational functions that generalize Gale-Robinson numbers are actually polynomials with integer coefficients. However, their proof did not offer any enumerative interpretation of the Gale-Robinson numbers/polynomials. Here we provide such an interpretation in the setting of perfect matchings of graphs, which makes integrality/polynomiality obvious. Moreover, this interpretation implies that the coefficients of the Gale-Robinson polynomials are positive, as Fomin and Zelevinsky conjectured.

math.CO↗

arXiv2008

Exactly solved models of polyominoes and polygons

This chapter deals with the exact enumeration of certain classes of self-avoiding polygons and polyominoes on the square lattice. We present three general approaches that apply to many classes of polyominoes. The common principle to all of them is a recursive description of the polyominoes which then translates into a functional equation satisfied by the generating function. The first approach applies to classes of polyominoes having a linear recursive structure and results in a rational generating function. The second approach applies to classes of polyominoes having an algebraic recursive structure and results in an algebraic generating function. The third approach, commonly called the Temperley method, is based on the action of adding a new column to the polyominoes. We conclude by discussing some open questions.

math.CO↗

arXiv2008

Baxter permutations and plane bipolar orientations

We present a simple bijection between Baxter permutations of size $n$ and plane bipolar orientations with n edges. This bijection translates several classical parameters of permutations (number of ascents, right-to-left maxima, left-to-right minima...) into natural parameters of plane bipolar orientations (number of vertices, degree of the sink, degree of the source...), and has remarkable symmetry properties. By specializing it to Baxter permutations avoiding the pattern 2413, we obtain a bijection with non-separable planar maps. A further specialization yields a bijection between permutations avoiding 2413 and 3142 and series-parallel maps.

math.CO↗

arXiv2008

Rational and algebraic series in combinatorial enumeration

Let A be a class of objects, equipped with an integer size such that for all n the number a(n) of objects of size n is finite. We are interested in the case where the generating fucntion sum_n a(n) t^n is rational, or more generally algebraic. This property has a practical interest, since one can usually say a lot on the numbers a(n), but also a combinatorial one: the rational or algebraic nature of the generating function suggests that the objects have a (possibly hidden) structure, similar to the linear structure of words in the rational case, and to the branching structure of trees in the algebraic case. We describe and illustrate this combinatorial intuition, and discuss its validity. While it seems to be satisfactory in the rational case, it is probably incomplete in the algebraic one. We conclude with open questions.

math.CO↗

arXiv2008

Culminating paths

Let a and b be two positive integers. A culminating path is a path of Z^2 that starts from (0,0), consists of steps (1,a) and (1,-b), stays above the x-axis and ends at the highest ordinate it ever reaches. These paths were first encountered in bioinformatics, in the analysis of similarity search algorithms. They are also related to certain models of Lorentzian gravity in theoretical physics. We first show that the language on a two letter alphabet that naturally encodes culminating paths is not context-free. Then, we focus on the enumeration of culminating paths. A step by step approach, combined with the kernel method, provides a closed form expression for the generating fucntion of culminating paths ending at a (generic) height k. In the case a=b, we derive from this expression the asymptotic behaviour of the number of culminating paths of length n. When a>b, we obtain the asymptotic behaviour by a simpler argument. When a = b, with no precomputation stage nor non-linear storage required. The choice of the best algorithm is not as clear when a<b. An elementary recursive approach yields a linear algorithm after a precomputation stage involving O(n^3) arithmetic operations, but we also present some alternatives that may be more efficient in practise.

math.CO↗

arXiv2008

A property of dominance of partitions

Given an integer partition $\la=(\la_1, ..., \la_\ell)$ and an integer k, denote by $\la^{(k)}$ the sequence of length $\ell$ obtained by reordering the values $|\la_i-k|$ in non-increasing order. If $\la$ dominates $μ$ and has the same weight, then $\la^{(k)}$ dominates $μ^{(k)}$.

math.CO↗

arXiv2007

On the independence complex of square grids

The enumeration of independent sets of regular graphs is of interest in statistical mechanics, as it corresponds to the solution of hard-particle models. In 2004, it was conjectured by Fendleyet al. that for some rectangular grids, with toric boundary conditions, the alternating number of independent sets is extremely simple. More precisely, under a coprimality condition on the sides of the rectangle, the number of independent sets of even and odd cardinality always differ by 1. In physics terms, this means looking at the hard-particle model on these grids at activity -1. This conjecture was recently proved by Jonsson. Here we produce other families of grid graphs, with open or cylindric boundary conditions, for which similar properties hold without any size restriction: the number of independent sets of even and odd cardinality always differ by 0, 1,-1, or, in the cylindric case, by some power of 2. We show that these results reflect a stronger property of the independence complexes of our graphs. We determine the homotopy type of these complexes using Forman's discrete Morse theory. We find that these complexes are either contractible, or homotopic to a sphere, or, in the cylindric case, to a wedge of spheres. Finally, we use our enumerative results to determine the spectra of certain transfer matrices describing the hard-particle model on our graphs at activity -1. These results parallel certain conjectures of Fendley et al., proved by Jonsson in the toric case.

math.CO↗

arXiv2007

Discrete excursions

It is well-known that the length generating function E(t) of Dyck paths (excursions with steps +1 and -1) satisfies 1-E+t^2E^2=0. The generating function E^(k)(t) of Dyck paths of height at most k is E^(k)=F_k/F_{k+1}, where the F_k are polynomials in t given by F_0=F_1=1 and F_{k+1}= F_k-t^2F_{k-1}. This means that the generating function of these polynomials is \sum_{k\ge 0} F_k z^k= 1/(1-z+t^2z^2). We note that the denominator of this fraction is the minimal polynomial of the algebraic series E(t). This pattern persists for walks with more general steps. For any finite set of steps S, the generating function E^(k)(t) of excursions (generalized Dyck paths) taking their steps in S and of height at most k is the ratio F_k/F_{k+1} of two polynomials. These polynomials satisfy a linear recurrence relation with coefficients in Q[t]. Their (rational) generating function can be written \sum_{k\ge 0} F_k z^k= N(t,z)/D(t,z). The excursion generating function E(t) is algebraic and satisfies D(t,E(t))=0 (while N(t,E(t))\not = 0). If max S=a and min S=b, the polynomials D(t,z) and N(t,z) can be taken to be respectively of degree d_{a,b}=binomial(a+b,a) and d_{a,b}-a-b in z. These degrees are in general optimal: for instance, when S={a,-b} with a and b coprime, D(t,z) is irreducible, and is thus the minimal polynomial of the excursion generating function E(t). The proofs of these results involve a slightly unusual mixture of combinatorial and algebraic tools, among which the kernel method (which solves certain functional equations), symmetric functions, and a pinch of Galois theory.

math.CO↗

arXiv2006

Forest-like permutations

Given a permutation $π\in \Sn\_n$, construct a graph $G\_π$ on the vertex set $\{1,2, ..., n\}$ by joining $i$ to $j$ if (i) $i<j$ and $π(i)<π(j)$ and (ii) there is no $k$ such that $i < k < j$ and $π(i)<π(k)<π(j)$. We say that $π$ is forest-like if $G\_π$ is a forest. We first characterize forest-like permutations in terms of pattern avoidance, and then by a certain linear map being onto. Thanks to recent results of Woo and Yong, this shows that forest-like permutations characterize Schubert varieties which are locally factorial. Thus forest-like permutations generalize smooth permutations (corresponding to smooth Schubert varieties). We compute the generating function of forest-like permutations. As in the smooth case, it turns out to be algebraic. We then adapt our method to count permutations for which $G\_π$ is a tree, or a path, and recover the known generating function of smooth permutations.

math.CO↗

arXiv2006

The density of the ISE and local limit laws for embedded trees

It has been known for a few years that the occupation measure of several models of embedded trees converges, after a suitable normalization, to the random measure called ISE (Integrated SuperBrownian Excursion). Here, we prove a local version of this result: ISE has a (random) Hölder continuous density, and the vertical profile of embedded trees converges to this density, at least for some such trees. As a consequence, we derive a formula for the distribution of the density of ISE at a given point. This follows from earlier results by Bousquet-Mélou on convergence of the vertical profile at a fixed point. We also provide a recurrence relation defining the moments of the (random) moments of ISE.

math.PR↗

arXiv2006

Walks in the quarter plane: Kreweras' algebraic model

We consider planar lattice walks that start from (0,0), remain inthe first quadrant i, j >= 0, and are made of three types of steps: North-East, West and South. These walks are known to have remarkable enumerative and probabilistic properties: -- they are counted by nice numbers (Kreweras 1965), -- the generating function of these numbers is algebraic (Gessel 1986), -- the stationary distribution of the corresponding Markov chain in the quadrant has an algebraic probability generating function (Flatto and Hahn 1984). These results are not well understood, and have been established via complicated proofs. Here we give a uniform derivation of all of them, whichis more elementary that those previously published.We then go further by computing the full law of the Markov chain. This helps to delimit the border of algebraicity: the associated probability generating function is no longer algebraic, unless a diagonal symmetry holds. Our proofs are based on the solution of certain functional equations,which are very simple to establish. Finding purely combinatorial proofs remains an open problem.

math.CO↗

arXiv2006

On partitions avoiding 3-crossings

A partition on $[n]$ has a crossing if there exists $i\_1<i\_2<j\_1<j\_2$ such that $i\_1$ and $j\_1$ are in the same block, $i\_2$ and $j\_2$ are in the same block, but $i\_1$ and $i\_2$ are not in the same block. Recently, Chen et al. refined this classical notion by introducing $k$-crossings, for any integer $k$. In this new terminology, a classical crossing is a 2-crossing. The number of partitions of $[n]$ avoiding 2-crossings is well-known to be the $n$th Catalan number $C\_n={{2n}\choose n}/(n+1)$. This raises the question of counting $k$-noncrossing partitions for $k\ge 3$. We prove that the sequence counting 3-noncrossing partitions is P-recursive, that is, satisfies a linear recurrence relation with polynomial coefficients. We give explicitly such a recursion. However, we conjecture that $k$-noncrossing partitions are not P-recursive, for $k\ge 4$.

math.CO↗

arXiv2005

Three osculating walkers

We consider three directed walkers on the square lattice, which move simultaneously at each tick of a clock and never cross. Their trajectories form a non-crossing configuration of walks. This configuration is said to be osculating if the walkers never share an edge, and vicious (or: non-intersecting) if they never meet. We give a closed form expression for the generating function of osculating configurations starting from prescribed points. This generating function turns out to be algebraic. We also relate the enumeration of osculating configurations with prescribed starting and ending points to the (better understood) enumeration of non-intersecting configurations. Our method is based on a step by step decomposition of osculating configurations, and on the solution of the functional equation provided by this decomposition.

math.CO↗

arXiv2005

Polynomial equations with one catalytic variable, algebraic series, and map enumeration

Let $F(t,u)\equiv F(u)$ be a formal power series in $t$ with polynomial coefficients in $u$. Let $F\_1, ..., F\_k$ be $k$ formal power series in $t$, independent of $u$. Assume all these series are characterized by a polynomial equation $$ P(F(u), F\_1, ..., F\_k, t, u)=0. $$ We prove that, under a mild hypothesis on the form of this equation, these $(k+1)$ series are algebraic, and we give a strategy to compute a polynomial equation for each of them. This strategy generalizes the so-called kernel method, and quadratic method, which apply respectively to equations that are linear and quadratic in $F(u)$. Applications include the solution of numerous map enumeration problems, among which the hard-particle model on general planar maps.

math.CO↗

arXiv2005

Limit laws for embedded trees. Applications to the integrated superBrownian excursion

We study three families of labelled plane trees. In all these trees, the root is labelled 0, and the labels of two adjacent nodes differ by $0, 1$ or -1. One part of the paper is devoted to enumerative results. For each family, and for all $j\in \ns$, we obtain closed form expressions for the following three generating functions: the generating function of trees having no label larger than $j$; the (bivariate) generating function of trees, counted by the number of edges and the number of nodes labelled $j$; and finally the (bivariate) generating function of trees, counted by the number of edges and the number of nodes labelled at least $j$. Strangely enough, all these series turn out to be algebraic, but we have no combinatorial intuition for this algebraicity. The other part of the paper is devoted to deriving limit laws from these enumerative results. In each of our families of trees, we endow the trees of size $n$ with the uniform distribution, and study the following random variables: $M\_n$, the largest label occurring in a (random) tree; $X\_n(j)$, the number of nodes labelled $j$; and $X\_n^+(j)$, the number of nodes labelled $j$ or more. We obtain limit laws for scaled versions of these random variables. Finally, we translate the above limit results into statements dealing with the integrated superBrownian excursion (ISE). In particular, we describe the law of the supremum of its support (thus recovering some earlier results obtained by Delmas), and the law of its distribution function at a given point. We also conjecture the law of its density (at a given point).

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