The fine structure of the sets of involutions avoiding 4321 or 3412

Abstract

We study the fine structure of the sets of involutions avoiding either 4312 (I(4321)) or 3412 (I(3412)), connecting the point of view of the decomposition theorems with the one of the associated labelled Motzkin paths. The algebraic generating function of the simple involutions in I(4321) is given, together with other generating functions, while the set I(3412) is shown containing no simple involutions of length n>2. The reverse-complement bijection maintains the fine structures of I(4321) and trivially of I(3412).