Postorder Preimages

Abstract

Given a set $Y$ of decreasing plane trees and a permutation $\pi$, how many trees in $Y$ have $\pi$ as their postorder? Using combinatorial and geometric constructions, we provide a method for answering this question for certain sets $Y$ and all permutations $\pi$. We then provide applications of our results to the study of the deterministic stack-sorting algorithm.

Keywords

• mathematics - combinatorics
• 05a19, 05c05