Conjectures on the ternary symmetries connected to the Genocchi numbers (Q1894004)

The Dumont-Foata polynomials are given by the recursion formula \[ F_ n(x, y, z)= (x+ y) (x+ z) F_{n- 1}(x+ 1, y, z)- x^ 2 F_{n- 1} (x, y, z);\;F_ 1= 1. \] Their values at \((1,1,1)\) are the Genocchi numbers. These polynomials are symmetric in the three variables, but this symmetry relation does not seem to have a direct combinatorial explanation. The author proposes a combinatorial interpretation of these polynomials as generating series of some statistics on ``staircases'', and states three conjectures on the value of the continued fraction expansion of the generating series of these polynomials, and of two other related families of polynomials. Since the author submitted the paper, these conjectures have been proved by A. Randrianarivony and J. Zeng.