Seventeen Catalan identities (Q2706950)

This paper looks at three combinatorial generating functions: \(C=(1-\sqrt{1-4z})/(2z)\) which generates the Catalan numbers, \(B=1/\sqrt{1-4z}\) which generates the central binomial coefficients and \(F=(1-\sqrt{1-4z})/(3z-z\sqrt{1-4z})\) which generates the Fine numbers. Primarily it is a collation of many identities which relate \(B\), \(C\) and \(F\). The identities are stated without proofs, which in each case could be easily found. Three examples are supplied to show how the identities can be useful for solving combinatorial problems. The first involves Fibonacci polynomials, the second noncrossing partitions and the third Fine paths. The paper does not claim to be a great original contribution but might prove a handy reference to people interested in Catalan numbers and related identities.