Brick-wall lattice paths and applications

Abstract

We introduce a new type of lattice path, called brick-wall lattice path, and we derive a formula which counts the number of paths on these lattices imposing certain restrictions on the Cartesian plane. Connections to the Fibonacci sequence, as well as to other sequences of numbers, are given. Finally, we use these brick-wall lattice paths to determine the first two non-zero coefficients of the reliability polynomials associated with particular two-terminal networks known as hammocks.