Rational associahedra and noncrossing partitions

Authors Drew Armstrong, Brendon Rhoades, Nathan Williams

Publication date 14 August 2014

Published in The Electronic Journal of Combinatorics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1305.7286, http://www.combinatorics.org/ojs/index.php/eljc/article/view/v20i3p54

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zbMATH Keywords

associahedron Catalan number lattice path noncrossing partition

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Combinatorial identities, bijective combinatorics (05A19) Combinatorial aspects of simplicial complexes (05E45) Computational aspects related to convexity (52B55)

Abstract: Each positive rational number x>0 can be written uniquely as x=a/(b-a) for coprime positive integers 0<a<b. We will identify x with the pair (a,b). In this paper we define for each positive rational x>0 a simplicial complex Ass(x)=Ass(a,b) called the {sf rational associahedron}. It is a pure simplicial complex of dimension a-2, and its maximal faces are counted by the {sf rational Catalan number} Cat(x)=Cat(a,b):=frac{(a+b-1)!}{a!,b!}. The cases (a,b)=(n,n+1) and (a,b)=(n,kn+1) recover the classical associahedron and its "Fuss-Catalan" generalization studied by Athanasiadis-Tzanaki and Fomin-Reading. We prove that Ass(a,b) is shellable and give nice product formulas for its h-vector (the {sf rational Narayana numbers}) and f-vector (the {sf rational Kirkman numbers}). We define Ass(a,b) via {sf rational Dyck paths}: lattice paths from (0,0) to (b,a) staying above the line y = frac{a}{b}x. We also use rational Dyck paths to define a rational generalization of noncrossing perfect matchings of [2n]. In the case (a,b) = (n, mn+1), our construction produces the noncrossing partitions of [(m+1)n] in which each block has size m+1.

Review text

Summary: Each positive rational number \(x>0\) can be written uniquely as \(x=a/(b-a)\) for coprime positive integers \(0<a<b\). We will identify \(x\) with the pair \((a,b)\). In this paper we define for each positive rational \(x>0\) a simplicial complex \(\mathsf{Ass}(x)=\mathsf{Ass}(a,b)\) called the rational associahedron. It is a pure simplicial complex of dimension \(a-2\), and its maximal faces are counted by the rational Catalan number \[ \mathsf{Cat}(x)=\mathsf{Cat}(a,b):=\frac{(a+b-1)!}{a!\,b!}. \] The cases \((a,b)=(n,n+1)\) and \((a,b)=(n,kn+1)\) recover the classical associahedron and its ``Fuss-Catalan generalization studied by \textit{C. A. Athanasiadis} and \textit{E. Tzanaki} [Isr. J. Math. 167, 177--191 (2008; Zbl 1200.05252)] and \textit{S. Fomin} and \textit{N. Reading} [Int. Math. Res. Not. 2005, No. 44, 2709--2757 (2005; Zbl 1117.52017)]. We prove that \(\mathsf{Ass}(a,b)\) is shellable and give nice product formulas for its \(h\)-vector (the rational Narayana numbers) and \(f\)-vector (the rational Kirkman numbers). We define \(\mathsf{Ass}(a,b)\) via rational Dyck paths: lattice paths from \((0,0)\) to \((b,a)\) staying above the line \(y = \frac{a}{b}x\). We also use rational Dyck paths to define a rational generalization of noncrossing perfect matchings of \([2n]\). In the case \((a,b) = (n, mn+1)\), our construction produces the noncrossing partitions of \([(m+1)n]\) in which each block has size \(m+1\).

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