[Math] Combinatorial sequences whose ratios $a_{n+1}/a_{n}$ are integers

big-listco.combinatorics

I have a proof technique in search of examples. I'm looking for combinatorially meaningful sequences $\{a_n\}$ so that $a_{n+1}/a_n$ is known or conjectured to be an integer, such that there is a relation between the $n$th case and $n+1$st, but not an obvious $a_{n+1}/a_n\to 1$ map. This means $a_n$ is the $n$th partial product of an infinite sequence of integers, but there isn't an obvious product structure.

  • The prototype was an enumeration of
    domino tilings of an Aztec
    diamond
    of order $n$, $a_n =
    2^{n(n+1)/2}$, so $a_{n+1}/a_n =
    2^{n+1}$. (There is a nice $2^{n+1}$
    to 1 map unrelated to my technique,
    but it isn't obvious.)

  • Another application was a proof that
    $\det \{B_{i+j}\}_{i,j=0}^n =
    \prod_{i=1}^n i! $ where $B_n$ is
    the $n$th Bell number, equation
    25 in the linked page.

  • The counts of alternating sign matrices 1, 2, 7, 42, … are not an example, since
    $ASM(n+1)/ASM(n) = \frac{ (3n+1)!n!}{2n! (2n+1)!}$ which is not always an integer, e.g, 7/2 is not.

What are some other interesting combinatorial families whose ratios $a_{n+1}/a_n$ are known or (preferably) conjectured to be integers?

Thanks.

Best Answer

The number of pairs $(P,Q)$ of standard Young tableaux of the same shape and with $n$ squares is $n!$.

The number of oscillating tableaux of length $2n$ and empty shape is $1\cdot 3\cdot 5\cdots (2n-1)$.

The number of leaf-labeled complete (unordered) binary trees with $n$ leaves is $1\cdot 3\cdot 5\cdots (2n-3)$ (Schröder's third problem).

The number of compact-rooted directed animals of size $n$ is $3^n$. See MathSciNet MR0956559 (90c:05009).

Let $f(n)$ be the number of $n\times n$ matrices $M=(m_{ij})$ of nonnegative integers with row and column sum vector $(1,3,6,\dots,{n+1\choose 2})$ such that $m_{ij}=0$ if $j>i+1$. Then $f(n)=C_1C_2\cdots C_n$, where $C_i$ is a Catalan number. No combinatorial proof of this result is known. See Exercise 6.C12 on page 38 (solution on page 84) of http://math.mit.edu/~rstan/ec/catadd.pdf

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