Square-bounded partitions and Catalan numbers (Q639917)

For each positive integer \(k\), the authors describe an algorithm which associates a partition whose maximal value is at most \(k\) with a certain subset of all partitions. If one begins with a partition \(\lambda=(\lambda_1=k\geq\cdots\geq\lambda_k=1)\), then applying the algorithm \(l\geq k\) times yields a set of cardinality \(C_{l-k+1}\) or \(2C_{l-k+1}\), where \(C_n\) denotes the Catalan number \(\binom{2n}n/(n+1)\). The authors also modify the algorithm to produce a two-parameter family of sets whose cardinalities are ballot numbers of the form \(b_{l,m} = \binom{2l+m}{l} - \binom{2l+m}{l-1}\).