Canonical characters on quasi-symmetric functions and bivariate Catalan numbers (Q1773146)

Every character on a graded Hopf algebra decomposes uniquely as a product of an even and an odd character. The paper obtains formulae for the even and odd parts of the universal character on the Hopf algebra of quasi-symmetric functions. Those formulae are expressed in terms of the bivariate Catalan number \(C(m,n)={(2m)!(2n)!\over m!(m+n)!n!}\). Properties of characters and quasi-symmetric functions imply a number of new identities about bivariate Catalan numbers, and in particular about Catalan numbers and central binomial coefficients.