Counting coloured planar maps: differential equations

We address the enumeration of q-coloured planar maps counted bythe number of edges and the number of monochromatic edges. We prove that the associated generating function is differentially algebraic,that is, satisfies a non-trivial polynomial differential equation withrespect to the edge variable. We give explicitly a differential systemthat characterizes this series. We then prove a similar result for planar triangulations, thus generalizing a result of Tutte dealing with their proper q-colourings. Instatistical physics terms, we solvethe q-state Potts model on random planar lattices. This work follows a first paper by the same authors, where the generating functionwas proved to be algebraic for certain values of q,including q=1, 2 and 3. It isknown to be transcendental in general. In contrast, our differential system holds for an indeterminate q.For certain special cases of combinatorial interest (four colours; properq-colourings; maps equipped with a spanning forest), we derive from this system, in the case of triangulations, an explicit differential equation of order 2 defining the generating function. For general planar maps, we also obtain a differential equation of order 3 for the four-colour case and for the self-dual Potts model.Comment: 43 p

Bijective counting of Kreweras walks and loopless triangulations

We consider lattice walks in the plane starting at the origin, remaining in the first quadrant and made of West, South and North-East steps. In 1965, Germain Kreweras discovered a remarkably simple formula giving the number of these walks (with prescribed length and endpoint). Kreweras' proof was very involved and several alternative derivations have been proposed since then. But the elegant simplicity of the counting formula remained unexplained. We give the first purely combinatorial explanation of this formula. Our approach is based on a bijection between Kreweras walks and triangulations with a distinguished spanning tree. We obtain simultaneously a bijective way of counting loopless triangulations.Comment: 25 page

Solution to a combinatorial puzzle arising from Mayer's theory of cluster integrals

Mayer's theory of cluster integrals allows one to write the partition function of a gas model as a generating function of weighted graphs. Recently, Labelle, Leroux and Ducharme have studied the graph weights arising from the one-dimensional hard-core gas model and noticed that the sum of the weights over all connected graphs with $n$ vertices is $(-n)^{n-1}$. This is, up to sign, the number of rooted Cayley trees on $n$ vertices and the authors asked for a combinatorial explanation. The main goal of this article is to provide such an explanation.Comment: 9 page