The classification of 231-avoiding permutations by descents and maximum drop

Abstract

We study the number of 231-avoiding permutations with $j$-descents and maximum drop is less than or equal to $k$ which we denote by $a_{n,231,j}^{(k)}$. We show that $a_{n,231,j}^{(k)}$ also counts the number of Dyck paths of length $2n$ with $n-j$ peaks and height $\le k+1$, and the number of ordered trees with $n$ edges, $j+1$ internal nodes, and of height $\le k+1$. We show that the generating functions for the $a_{n,231,j}^{(k)}$s with $k$ fixed satisfy a simple recursion. We also use the combinatorics of ordered trees to prove new explicit formulas for $a_{n,231,j}^{(k)}$ as a function of $n$ in a number of special values of $j$ and $k$ and prove a simple recursion for the $a_{n,231,j}^{(k)}$s.