Gröbner bases associated with positive roots and Catalan numbers (Q2388299)

Consider the configuration \(\mathbf A^+_{n-1}=\{\mathbf e_j-\mathbf e_i:1\leq i<j\leq n\}\subset\mathbb Z^n\), where \(\mathbf e_i\) denotes the \(i\)-th unit coordinate vector of \(\mathbb R^n\), and \(I_{\mathbf A^+_{n-1}}\) its toric ideal. The purpose of the paper is to study combinatorics and algebra on \(\mathbf A^+_{n-1}\) and \(I_{\mathbf A^+_{n-1}}\). First, it is proved that \(I_{\mathbf A^+_{n-1}}\) induces an initial ideal \(\text{in}_<\left(I_{\mathbf A^+_{n-1}}\right)\) which is generated by quadratic squarefree monomials together with cubic squarefree monomials. Secondly, it is associated each maximal face \(\sigma\) of the unimodular triangulation \(\Delta\) arising from \(\text{in}_<\left(I_{\mathbf A^+_{n-1}}\right)\) with a certain subgraph \(G_\sigma\) on \([n] =\{1,\dots,n\}\). On the other hand, it is easy to see that the normalized volume of the convex hull conv\((\mathbf A^+_{n-1})\) is equal to \(C_{n-1}-1\), where \(C_{n-1}\) is the famous Catalan number \( \frac{1}{n}\binom{2(n-1)}{n-1}\). For the sake of the completeness, two proofs of this simple fact is given. Since \(\Delta\) is unimodular triangulation, the author obtaims the following corollary: The number of graphs belonging to the set \(\mathcal M=\{G_\sigma: \sigma\,\, \text{is a maximal face of}\,\,\Delta\}\) is equal to \(C_{n-1}-1\). In particular, a new combinatorial expression of Catalan numbers arises. Thirdly, noting that the number of maximal faces of \(\Delta\) is equal to that of anti-standard trees \(T\) on \([n]\) with \(T\neq\{(1, 2), (1, 3),\dots, (1, n)\}\), an explicit bijection between \(\mathcal M\) and that of anti-standard trees \(T\) on \([n]\) with \(T\neq \{(1,2), (1, 3),\dots, (1, n)\}\) is constructed.