Rational Catalan Combinatorics: The Associahedron

Armstrong, Drew ; Rhoades, Brendon ; Williams, Nathan

Discrete mathematics & theoretical computer science, DMTCS Proceedings vol. AS, 25th International Conference on Formal Power Series and Algebraic Combinatorics (FPSAC 2013), DMTCS Proceedings vol. AS, 25th International Conference on Formal Power Series and Algebraic Combinatorics (FPSAC 2013) (2013).

Résumé

Each positive rational number $x>0$ can be written $\textbf{uniquely}$ as $x=a/(b-a)$ for coprime positive integers 0<$a$<$b$. We will identify $x$ with the pair $(a,b)$. In this extended abstract we use $\textit{rational Dyck paths}$ to define for each positive rational $x>0$ a simplicial complex $\mathsf{Ass} (x)=\mathsf{Ass} (a,b)$ called the $\textit{rational associahedron}$. It is a pure simplicial complex of dimension $a-2$, and its maximal faces are counted by the $\textit{rational Catalan number}$ $\mathsf{Cat} (x)=\mathsf{Cat}(a,b):=\frac{(a+b-1)! }{ a! b!}.$ The cases $(a,b)=(n,n+1)$ and $(a,b)=(n,kn+1)$ recover the classical associahedron and its Fuss-Catalan generalization studied by Athanasiadis-Tzanaki and Fomin-Reading. We prove that $\mathsf{Ass} (a,b)$ is shellable and give nice product formulas for its $h$-vector (the $\textit{rational Narayana numbers}$) and $f$-vector (the $\textit{rational Kirkman numbers}$). We define $\mathsf{Ass} (a,b)$ .

Détail

DOI : 10.46298/dmtcs.2355