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TheoremStatement: Literature-sourcedProof: AI-adaptedprecheck passaudited 2026-08-26
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There is a bijection Tn→Pn+2 for every n∈N

Statement

For every natural number n there is a bijection

Ψn:Tn⟶Pn+2

from the binary trees of size n to the triangulations of the labelled (n+2)-gon.

Facts & Assumptions

Given: a natural number n.

[L1]

A triangulation of the (n+3)-gon has a unique split index k on the closing side, and splitting there produces triangulations of the k-gon and the (n−k+4)-gon (For m≥3 and a triangulation T of the m-gon there is a unique k with 1<k<m such that {1,k} and {k,m} are both chords of T or sides, and T splits along k).

[F1]

Every tree in Tn+1 is determined by an index i≤n, a left subtree in Ti and a right subtree in Tn−i (Binary trees, defined recursively, and their size).

Proof

technique · induction
1.1given

[base] The set T0 has the single tree {ε} and the set P2 has the single empty triangulation, so there is a unique bijection Ψ0:T0→P2.

1.2given

[ih] Assume that for every index j≤n a bijection Ψj:Tj→Pj+2 has already been constructed.

2.1F1step 1.2

For a tree T∈Tn+1 write its recursive data as (i,L,R) as in [F1]. Let Ψn+1(T) be the triangulation of the (n+3)-gon obtained by taking the triangle on the closing side with third vertex k:=i+2, filling the left k-gon by Ψi(L), and filling the right (n−i+2)-gon by the order-preserving relabelling of Ψn−i(R) onto the vertices {k,k+1,…,n+3}.

2.2L1F1step 1.2

For a triangulation U∈Pn+3, [L1] supplies a unique split index k and therefore a unique index i:=k−2≤n, together with triangulations of the left k-gon and the right (n−i+2)-gon. Relabel those two sub-polygons back to {1,…,i+2} and {1,…,n−i+2}, apply the inverse bijections Ψi−1 and Ψn−i−1 from the induction hypothesis, and rebuild a tree in Tn+1 from the recursive data (i,L,R). Define that tree to be Ωn+1(U).

3.1L2step 2.1step 2.2discharge-induction∎

The constructions in steps 2.1 and 2.2 undo one another because both are governed by the same split index: the root split of the tree becomes the closing-side triangle of the triangulation, and the closing-side triangle of the triangulation becomes the root split of the tree. Hence Ωn+1∘Ψn+1=ΔTn+1 and Ψn+1∘Ωn+1=ΔPn+3, so Ψn+1 is a bijection by [L2].

Remarks

  • The boundary case is the digon, not the triangle. That is why the statement is Tn→Pn+2 rather than Pn+1, and it is why the base case carries the empty triangulation of the two-gon explicitly.

Depends on

Used by

Dependency tree · two levels

20 results within two dependency steps of this one, each drawn at its shortest distance from it. An arrow runs from a result to what uses it, so the chart reads left to right and ends at this result, which carries a heavier outline. Every node is a link to that result. Click elsewhere on the chart to enlarge it.

Sources