The Amazing 3n Theorem and its even more Amazing Proof [Discovered by Xavier G. Viennot and his \'Ecole Bordelaise gang]
Abstract
The most amazing (at least to me) result in Enumerative Combinatorics is Dominique Gouyou-Beauchamps and Xavier Viennot's theorem that states that the number of so-called directed animals with compact source (that are equivalent, via Viennot's beautiful concept of heaps, to towers of dominoes, that I take the liberty of renaming xaviers) with n+1 points equals 3n. This amazing result received an even more amazing proof by Jean B\'etrema and Jean-Guy Penaud. Both theorem and proof deserve to be better known! Hence this article, that is also accompanied by a comprehensive Maple package http://www.math.rutgers.edu/~zeilberg/tokhniot/BORDELAISE that implements everything (and much more)
Turn this paper into a lesson
ArcXiv compiles a structured reading guide from this paper's metadata: plain-English importance, contributions, prerequisite concepts, which sections to read first, flashcards, and a quiz. Grounded in the abstract, never invented.