Lattice paths not touching a given boundary (Q1611829)

Several methods for the enumeration of lattice paths are discussed in the books by \textit{S. G. Mohanty} [Lattice path counting and applications (Academic Press, New York) (1979; Zbl 0455.60013)] and \textit{T. V. Narayana} [Lattice path combinatorics with statistical applications (Mathematical Expositions 23, University of Toronto Press, Toronto) (1979; Zbl 0437.05001)]. Presently, lattice paths are enumerated which first touch a periodic boundary at time \(n\). Following a probabilistic method introduced by \textit{I. M. Gessel} [J. Stat. Plann. Inference 14, 49-58 (1986; Zbl 0602.05006)], the author derives the generating function for paths not crossing or touching the diagonal \(cx= 2y\) for odd \(c\), and he obtains a closed formula, which is similar to the ballot numbers, for the sum of the entries of the two-dimensional arrays related to these boundaries.