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We give a continued-fraction characterization of Stieltjes moment sequences for which there exists a representing measure with support in $[\xi, \infty)$. The proof is elementary., Comment: LaTeX2e, 10 pages. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1903.12455

We introduce a triangular array $\widehat{\sf L}^{(\alpha)}$ of 5-variable homogeneous polynomials that enumerate Laguerre digraphs (digraphs in which each vertex has out-degree 0 or 1 and in-degree 0 or 1) with separate weights for peaks, valleys, double ascents, double descents, and loops. These polynomials generalize the classical Laguerre polynomials as well as the rook and Lah polynomials. We show that this triangular array is totally positive and that the sequence of its row-generating polynomials is Hankel-totally positive, under suitable restrictions on the values given to the indeterminates. This implies, in particular, the coefficientwise Hankel-total positivity of the monic unsigned univariate Laguerre polyomials. Our proof uses the method of production matrices as applied to exponential Riordan arrays. Our main technical lemma concerns the total positivity of a large class of quadridiagonal production matrices; it generalizes the tridiagonal comparison theorem. In some cases these polynomials are given by a branched continued fraction. Our constructions are motivated in part by recurrences for the multiple orthogonal polynomials associated to weights based on modified Bessel functions of the first kind $I_\alpha$., Comment: 86 pages, LaTeX2e

We prove the coefficientwise Hankel-total positivity of the even and odd subsequences of Schett polynomials $X_n(x,y,z)$., Comment: LaTeX2e, 12 pages, extended abstract submitted to FPSAC 2024

We show that very simple continued fractions can be obtained for the ordinary generating functions enumerating permutations or D-permutations with a large number of independent statistics, when each cycle is given a weight $-1$. The proof is based on a simple lemma relating the number of cycles modulo 2 to the numbers of fixed points, cycle peaks (or cycle valleys), and crossings., Comment: LaTeX2e, 25 pages, includes 4 figures. Version 2 (34 pages, 6 figures) contains a slightly expanded introduction and a pair of running examples; to appear in the Electronic Journal of Combinatorics. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2304.06545, arXiv:2212.07232, arXiv:2003.08192

A permutation is said to be cycle-alternating if it has no cycle double rises, cycle double falls or fixed points; thus each index $i$ is either a cycle valley ($\sigma^{-1}(i)>i<\sigma(i)$) or a cycle peak ($\sigma^{-1}(i)\sigma(i)$). We find Stieltjes-type continued fractions for some multivariate polynomials that enumerate cycle-alternating permutations with respect to a large (sometimes infinite) number of simultaneous statistics that measure cycle status, record status, crossings and nestings along with the parity of the indices. Our continued fractions are specializations of more general continued fractions of Sokal and Zeng. We then introduce alternating Laguerre digraphs, which are generalization of cycle-alternating permutations, and find exponential generating functions for some polynomials enumerating them. We interpret the Stieltjes--Rogers and Jacobi--Rogers matrices associated to some of our continued fractions in terms of alternating Laguerre digraphs., Comment: LaTeX2e, 47 pages, includes 3 figures. Version 2 corrects some minor errors. To appear in the Ramanujan Journal

We study three combinatorial models for the lower-triangular matrix with entries $t_{n,k} = \binom{n}{k} n^{n-k}$: two involving rooted trees on the vertex set $[n+1]$, and one involving partial functional digraphs on the vertex set $[n]$. We show that this matrix is totally positive and that the sequence of its row-generating polynomials is coefficientwise Hankel-totally positive. We then generalize to polynomials $t_{n,k}(y,z)$ that count improper and proper edges, and further to polynomials $t_{n,k}(y,\mathbf{\phi})$ in infinitely many indeterminates that give a weight $y$ to each improper edge and a weight $m! \, \phi_m$ for each vertex with $m$ proper children. We show that if the weight sequence $\mathbf{\phi}$ is Toeplitz-totally positive, then the two foregoing total-positivity results continue to hold. Our proofs use production matrices and exponential Riordan arrays., Comment: LaTeX2e, 75 pages, includes 16 figures. Version 2 (37 pages, 2 figures) is the abridged version published in Advances in Applied Mathematics. Version 3 (the default) is identical to Version 1

A D-permutation is a permutation of $[2n]$ satisfying $2k-1 \le \sigma(2k-1)$ and $2k \ge \sigma(2k)$ for all $k$; they provide a combinatorial model for the Genocchi and median Genocchi numbers. We find Stieltjes-type and Thron-type continued fractions for some multivariate polynomials that enumerate D-permutations with respect to a very large (sometimes infinite) number of simultaneous statistics that measure cycle status, record status, crossings and nestings., Comment: LaTeX2e, 92 pages including 11 figures

I present and discuss an extremely simple algorithm for expanding a formal power series as a continued fraction. This algorithm, which goes back to Euler (1746) and Viscovatov (1805), deserves to be better known. I also discuss the connection of this algorithm with the work of Gauss (1812), Stieltjes (1889), Rogers (1907) and Ramanujan, and a combinatorial interpretation based on the work of Flajolet (1980)., Comment: LaTeX2e, 48 pages. Version 2 contains a few additional historical remarks, and adds a new Remark 4 at the end of Section 10. To be published in Expositiones Mathematicae

We prove the ergodicity of the Wang--Swendsen--Koteck\'y (WSK) algorithm for the zero-temperature $q$-state Potts antiferromagnet on several classes of lattices on the torus. In particular, the WSK algorithm is ergodic for $q\ge 4$ on any quadrangulation of the torus of girth $\ge 4$. It is also ergodic for $q \ge 5$ (resp. $q \ge 3$) on any Eulerian triangulation of the torus such that one sublattice consists of degree-4 vertices while the other two sublattices induce a quadrangulation of girth $\ge 4$ (resp.~a bipartite quadrangulation) of the torus. These classes include many lattices of interest in statistical mechanics., Comment: 27 pages, pdflatex, and 22 pdf figures. Corrected an error in Remark 4 after Theorem 4.4. Final version

I analyze an unexpected connection between multiple orthogonal polynomials, $d$-orthogonal polynomials, production matrices and branched continued fractions. This work can be viewed as a partial extension of Viennot's combinatorial theory of orthogonal polynomials to the case where the production matrix is lower-Hessenberg but is not necessarily tridiagonal., Comment: 41 pages, LaTeX2e. Version 2 corrects a few small typos, uses the term "coefficient matrix" instead of "representing matrix" for a sequence of monic polynomials, and adds two references. To be published in the Transactions of the AMS

I show that a hypergeometric function ${}_{p}F_q(a_1,\ldots,a_p;b_1,\ldots,b_q;\,\cdot\,)$ with $p \le q$ belongs to the Laguerre--P\'olya class $LP^+$ for arbitrarily large $b_{p+1},\ldots,b_q > 0$ if and only if, after a possible reordering, the differences $a_i - b_i$ are nonnegative integers. This result arises as an easy corollary of the case $p=q$ proven two decades ago by Ki and Kim. I also give explicit examples for the case ${}_{1}F_2$., Comment: 10 pages, LaTeX2e

I give a short and completely elementary proof of Takagi's 1921 theorem on the zeros of a composite polynomial $f(d/dz) \, g(z)$., Comment: LaTeX2e, 4 pages. Accepted for publication in the American Mathematical Monthly

We consider the lower-triangular matrix of generating polynomials that enumerate $k$-component forests of rooted trees on the vertex set $[n]$ according to the number of improper edges (generalizations of the Ramanujan polynomials). We show that this matrix is coefficientwise totally positive and that the sequence of its row-generating polynomials is coefficientwise Hankel-totally positive. More generally, we define the generic rooted-forest polynomials by introducing also a weight $m! \, \phi_m$ for each vertex with $m$ proper children. We show that if the weight sequence $\phi$ is Toeplitz-totally positive, then the two foregoing total-positivity results continue to hold. Our proofs use production matrices and exponential Riordan arrays., Comment: LaTex2e, 65 pages. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1907.02645. Version 2 makes some minor changes. To be published in Monatshefte f\"ur Mathematik

I give a combinatorial interpretation of the multiple Laguerre polynomials of the first kind of type II, generalizing the digraph model found by Foata and Strehl for the ordinary Laguerre polynomials. I also give an explicit integral representation for these polynomials, which shows that they form a multidimensional Stieltjes moment sequence whenever $x \le 0$., Comment: LaTeX2e, 11 pages. Version 2 fixes Remark 2 on page 5. To be published in Proceedings of the AMS

We exhibit a lower-triangular matrix of polynomials $T(a,c,d,e,f,g)$ in six indeterminates that appears empirically to be coefficientwise totally positive, and which includes as a special case the Eulerian triangle. We prove the coefficientwise total positivity of $T(a,c,0,e,0,0)$, which includes the reversed Stirling subset triangle., Comment: LaTeX2e, 12 pages with 2 figures: extended abstract submitted to FPSAC 2021

We study the triangular array defined by the Graham--Knuth--Patashnik recurrence $T(n,k) = (\alpha n + \beta k + \gamma)\, T(n-1,k)+(\alpha' n + \beta' k + \gamma') \, T(n-1,k-1)$ with initial condition $T(0,k) = \delta_{k0}$ and parameters $\mathbf{\mu} = (\alpha,\beta,\gamma, \alpha',\beta',\gamma')$. We show that the family of arrays $T(\mathbf{\mu})$ is invariant under a 48-element discrete group isomorphic to $S_3 \times D_4$. Our main result is to determine all parameter sets $\mathbf{\mu} \in \mathbb{C}^6$ for which the ordinary generating function $f(x,t) = \sum_{n,k=0}^\infty T(n,k) \, x^k t^n$ is given by a Stieltjes-type continued fraction in $t$ with coefficients that are polynomials in $x$. We also exhibit some special cases in which $f(x,t)$ is given by a Thron-type or Jacobi-type continued fraction in $t$ with coefficients that are polynomials in $x$., Comment: The document contains the main paper (pdflatex, 72 pages), a Supplementary Material file (pdflatex, 31 pages, 1 pdf figure) with the detailed proof of Theorem 3.1 of the main paper, and the e-jc.sty file. Version published in journal

We find Stieltjes-type and Jacobi-type continued fractions for some "master polynomials" that enumerate permutations, set partitions or perfect matchings with a large (sometimes infinite) number of simultaneous statistics. Our results contain many previously obtained identities as special cases, providing a common refinement of all of them., Comment: LaTeX2e, 122 pages, includes 9 tikz figures. Version 2 includes a new footnote 27 on page 81. To be published in Advances in Applied Mathematics

We solve analytically the differential equations for a skier on a circular hill and for a particle on a loop-the-loop track when the hill or track is endowed with a coefficient of kinetic friction $\mu$. For each problem, we determine the exact "phase diagram" in the two-dimensional parameter plane., Comment: LaTeX2e, 22 pages (main text plus two appendices) including 10 figures. Version 2 is much revised, thanks to helpful comments by referees. To be published in the American Journal of Physics

We find a Thron-type continued fraction (T-fraction) for the ordinary generating function of the Ward polynomials, as well as for some generalizations employing a large (indeed infinite) family of independent indeterminates. Our proof is based on a bijection between super-augmented perfect matchings and labeled Schr\"oder paths, which generalizes Flajolet's bijection between perfect matchings and labeled Dyck paths., Comment: LaTeX2e, 36 pages (includes 4 figures). Version 2 corrects a small error in the definition of crossing number (p. 6) and includes a proof of the previously conjectured (1.25)/(1.26)

Two decades ago, Chauve, Dulucq and Guibert showed that the number of rooted trees on the vertex set $[n+1]$ in which exactly $k$ children of the root are lower-numbered than the root is $\binom{n}{k} \, n^{n-k}$. Here I give a simpler proof of this result., Comment: LaTex2e, 9 pages. Version 2 contains a Note Added with a quick and elegant proof due to Jiang Zeng. To be published in Discrete Mathematics

We introduce the generic Lah polynomials $L_{n,k}(\phi)$, which enumerate unordered forests of increasing ordered trees with a weight $\phi_i$ for each vertex with $i$ children. We show that, if the weight sequence $\phi$ is Toeplitz-totally positive, then the triangular array of generic Lah polynomials is totally positive and the sequence of row-generating polynomials $L_n(\phi,y)$ is coefficientwise Hankel-totally positive. Upon specialization we obtain results for the Lah symmetric functions and multivariate Lah polynomials of positive and negative type. The multivariate Lah polynomials of positive type are also given by a branched continued fraction. Our proofs use mainly the method of production matrices; the production matrix is obtained by a bijection from ordered forests of increasing ordered trees to labeled partial Lukasiewicz paths. We also give a second proof of the continued fraction using the Euler--Gauss recurrence method., Comment: 51 pages, 1 figure. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1807.03271. Version 2 adds a new Section 8, using exponential Riordan arrays to give a quick alternate proof of Proposition 1.4(a); plus a few other minor changes. To be published in the European Journal of Combinatorics

I give an elementary proof of Wall's continued-fraction characterization of Hausdorff moment sequences., Comment: LaTex2e, 7 pages. Version 2 makes very slight revisions suggested by a referee. To appear in the Proceedings of the AMS

We define an infinite sequence of generalizations, parametrized by an integer $m \ge 1$, of the Stieltjes--Rogers and Thron--Rogers polynomials; they arise as the power-series expansions of some branched continued fractions, and as the generating polynomials for $m$-Dyck and $m$-Schr\"oder paths with height-dependent weights. We prove that all of these sequences of polynomials are coefficientwise Hankel-totally positive, jointly in all the (infinitely many) indeterminates. We then apply this theory to prove the coefficientwise Hankel-total positivity for combinatorially interesting sequences of polynomials. Enumeration of unlabeled ordered trees and forests gives rise to multivariate Fuss--Narayana polynomials and Fuss--Narayana symmetric functions. Enumeration of increasing (labeled) ordered trees and forests gives rise to multivariate Eulerian polynomials and Eulerian symmetric functions, which include the univariate $m$th-order Eulerian polynomials as specializations. We also find branched continued fractions for ratios of contiguous hypergeometric series ${}_r \! F_s$ for arbitrary $r$ and $s$, which generalize Gauss' continued fraction for ratios of contiguous ${}_2 \! F_1$; and for $s=0$ we prove the coefficientwise Hankel-total positivity. Finally, we extend the branched continued fractions to ratios of contiguous basic hypergeometric series ${}_r \! \phi_s$., Comment: 151 pages, including 20 figures; version 2 contains some minor improvements to the exposition, and a new Proposition 14.10. To appear in the Memoirs of the American Mathematical Society

We consider two different interpretations of the Chu--Vandermonde identity: as an identity for polynomials, and as an identity for infinite matrices. Each interpretation leads to a class of possible generalizations, and in both cases we obtain a complete characterization of the solutions., Comment: LaTeX2e, 12 pages. To appear in the American Mathematical Monthly

I study the sequences of Euler and Springer numbers from the point of view of the classical moment problem., Comment: LaTeX2e, 30 pages. Version 2 contains some small clarifications suggested by a referee. Version 3 contains new footnotes 9 and 10. To appear in Expositiones Mathematicae

We provide a new criterion based on graph duality to predict whether the 3-state Potts antiferromagnet on a plane quadrangulation has a zero- or finite-temperature critical point, and its universality class. The former case occurs for quadrangulations of self-dual type, and the zero-temperature critical point has central charge $c=1$. The latter case occurs for quadrangulations of non-self-dual type, and the critical point belongs to the universality class of the 3-state Potts ferromagnet. We have tested this criterion against high-precision computations on four lattices of each type, with very good agreement. We have also found that the Wang-Swendsen-Koteck\'y algorithm has no critical slowing-down in the former case, and critical slowing-down in the latter., Comment: 6 pages, LaTeX2e. Contains 4 postscript figures. Uses revtex4-1. Final journal version

We show that, for Hankel matrices, total nonnegativity (resp. total positivity) of order r is preserved by sum, Hadamard product, and Hadamard power with real exponent t \ge r-2. We give examples to show that our results are sharp relative to matrix size and structure (general, symmetric or Hankel). Some of these examples also resolve the Hadamard critical-exponent problem for totally positive and totally nonnegative matrices., Comment: LaTex2e, 18 pages; Version 2 incorporates Corrigendum giving a corrected proof of Theorem 3.2

This is a response to five comments [American Psychologist 69, 626-629 and 632-635 (2014)] on our article arXiv:1307.7006., Comment: PDF, 9 pages

This is a response to Barbara Fredrickson's comment [American Psychologist 68, 814-822 (2013)] on our article arXiv:1307.7006. We analyze critically the renewed claims made by Fredrickson (2013) concerning positivity ratios and "flourishing", and attempt to disentangle some conceptual confusions; we also address the alleged empirical evidence for nonlinear effects. We conclude that there is no evidence whatsoever for the existence of any "tipping points", and only weak evidence for the existence of any nonlinearity of any kind. Our original concern, that the application of advanced mathematical techniques in psychology and related disciplines may not always be appropriate, remains undiminished., Comment: LaTeX2e, 10 pages including 6 Postscript figures

We examine critically the claims made by Fredrickson and Losada (2005) concerning the construct known as the "positivity ratio". We find no theoretical or empirical justification for the use of differential equations drawn from fluid dynamics, a subfield of physics, to describe changes in human emotions over time; furthermore, we demonstrate that the purported application of these equations contains numerous fundamental conceptual and mathematical errors. The lack of relevance of these equations and their incorrect application lead us to conclude that Fredrickson and Losada's claim to have demonstrated the existence of a critical minimum positivity ratio of 2.9013 is entirely unfounded. More generally, we urge future researchers to exercise caution in the use of advanced mathematical tools such as nonlinear dynamics and in particular to verify that the elementary conditions for their valid application have been met., Comment: LaTeX2e, 35 pages. American Psychologist (in press); published Online First on July 15, 2013

We prove that the (real or complex) chromatic roots of a series-parallel graph with maxmaxflow Lambda lie in the disc |q-1| < (Lambda-1)/log 2. More generally, the same bound holds for the (real or complex) roots of the multivariate Tutte polynomial when the edge weights lie in the "real antiferromagnetic regime" -1 \le v_e \le 0. This result is within a factor 1/log 2 \approx 1.442695 of being sharp

We prove the complete monotonicity on $(0,\infty)^n$ for suitable inverse powers of the spanning-tree polynomials of graphs and, more generally, of the basis generating polynomials of certain classes of matroids. This generalizes a result of Szego and answers, among other things, a long-standing question of Lewy and Askey concerning the positivity of Taylor coefficients for certain rational functions. Our proofs are based on two_ab initio_ methods for proving that $P^{-\beta}$ is completely monotone on a convex cone $C$: the determinantal method and the quadratic-form method. These methods are closely connected with harmonic analysis on Euclidean Jordan algebras (or equivalently on symmetric cones). We furthermore have a variety of constructions that, given such polynomials, can create other ones with the same property: among these are algebraic analogues of the matroid operations of deletion, contraction, direct sum, parallel connection, series connection and 2-sum. The complete monotonicity of $P^{-\beta}$ for some $\beta > 0$ can be viewed as a strong quantitative version of the half-plane property (Hurwitz stability) for $P$, and is also related to the Rayleigh property for matroids., Comment: LaTeX2e, 70 pages (v2) or 82 pages (v3). Version 2 (accepted for publication in Acta Mathematica) is significantly reorganized at the suggestion of a referee; also, Appendix A is deleted to save space. Version 3 is the expanded version for the arXiv: it contains Appendices A and B that are not included, due to space constraints, tn the version (v2) that will be published in Acta Mathematica

We exhibit infinite families of two-dimensional lattices (some of which are triangulations or quadrangulations of the plane) on which the q-state Potts antiferromagnet has a finite-temperature phase transition at arbitrarily large values of q. This unexpected result is proven rigorously by using a Peierls argument to measure the entropic advantage of sublattice long-range order. Additional numerical data are obtained using transfer matrices, Monte Carlo simulation, and a high-precision graph-theoretic method., Comment: RevTeX, 5 pages, includes 10 Postscript figures

We prove the existence of long-range order at sufficiently low temperatures, including zero temperature, for the three-state Potts antiferromagnet on a class of quasi-transitive plane quadrangulations, including the diced lattice. More precisely, we show the existence of (at least) three infinite-volume Gibbs measures, which exhibit spontaneous magnetization in the sense that vertices in one sublattice have a higher probability to be in one state than in either of the other two states. For the special case of the diced lattice, we give a good rigorous lower bound on this probability, based on computer-assisted calculations that are not available for the other lattices., Comment: LaTeX2e, 67 pages. Version 3 is the final version, accepted for publication in Communications in Mathematical Physics

We argue that the 4-state Potts antiferromagnet has a finite-temperature phase transition on any Eulerian plane triangulation in which one sublattice consists of vertices of degree 4. We furthermore predict the universality class of this transition. We then present transfer-matrix and Monte Carlo data confirming these predictions for the cases of the union-jack and bisected hexagonal lattices., Comment: LaTeX2e/Revtex4, 5 pages

I study the leading root x_0(y) of the partial theta function \Theta_0(x,y) = \sum_{n=0}^\infty x^n y^{n(n-1)/2}, considered as a formal power series. I prove that all the coefficients of -x_0(y) are strictly positive. Indeed, I prove the stronger results that all the coefficients of -1/x_0(y) after the constant term 1 are strictly negative, and all the coefficients of 1/x_0(y)^2 after the constant term 1 are strictly negative except for the vanishing coefficient of y^3., Comment: LaTeX2e, 22 pages including one Postscript figure. Version 2 includes a few new brief remarks; published in Advances in Mathematics