Generalized triangulations and diagonal-free subsets of stack polyominoes (Q2568972)

For \(n\geq 3\), let \(\Omega_n\) be the set of line segments between vertices in a convex \(n\)-gon. For \(j\geq 1\), a \(j\)-crossing is set of \(j\) distinct and mutually intersecting line segments from \(\Omega_n\) such that all \(2j\) endpoints are distinct. For \(k\geq 1\), let \(\Delta_{n,k}\) be the simplical complex of subsets of \(\Omega_n\) not containing any \((k + 1)\)-crossing. For example, \(\Delta_{n,1}\) has one set for each triangulation of the \(n\)-gon. Dress, Koolen, and Mouton were able to prove that all maximal sets in \(\Delta_{n,k}\) have the same number \(k(2n- 2k- 1)\) of line segments. In this paper the author demonstrates that the number of such maximal sets is counted by a \(k\times k\) determinant of Catalan numbers. In fact by the work of de Sainte-Catherine and Viennot, this determinant is known to count quite a few other objects including fans of non-crossing Dyck paths. This result has been further generalized by the author to a larger class of simplical complexes including some of the complexes appearing in the work of Herzog and Trung on determinantal ideals.