RESEARCH / Focused target
Parity of the Catalan-composition series A374570
RELEASED FOUNDATIONS / PROPOSED CONNECTION
Research connections
All source anchors (1)
- Catalan Composition and Hanna's Parity ConjectureReleased anchor
Problem
The question
OEIS A374570 (Paul D. Hanna, Jul 11 2024), quoted verbatim from
Library/Arith/hanna2024a374570.md:
NAME:
Expansion of g.f. A(x) satisfying A(x)^2 = A( A(x)*C(x) ), where C(x) = x + C(x)^2 is the Catalan function (A000108).
COMMENT:
Conjecture: for n > 1, a(n) is odd iff n = 2^k + 1 for k >= 0.
The normalization is A(0) = 0, a(1) = 1, and C(0) = 0.
Motivation
Our foothold
This is a first-tier recent OEIS conjecture. The KPI is open problems resolved,
not modules, seats, or finite checks. The target is the assertion for every
natural index n > 1.
Gap
Missing bridges
The supplied search reports no proof found: the search seat read the OEIS entry and revision history on 2026-09-08 and searched the identifier on arXiv, MathOverflow, and GitHub. This Stage-B seat had no network and did not repeat those searches. This bounded search is not an exhaustive literature census.
Route
Proposed approach
Set C = X * catalanUnit, using Mathlib's PowerSeries.Catalan;
catalan_equation and catalan_unique identify the normalized Catalan function.
Construct the integer solution A = X * B by degree-contracting stabilization
of B -> catalanUnit * B(X^2 * B * catalanUnit). The results
generating_equation and generating_unique establish existence and uniqueness
of the normalized solution to the exact functional equation.
Over ZMod 2, the live cancellation chain is
A(X^2) = A(A*C) implies A*C = X^2 implies A = X*(1+C).
Outer cancellation uses Mathlib's compositional-inverse API. The Catalan
identity gives C*(1+C) = X; writing C as X times a unit justifies the
remaining cancellation. Strong induction on the characteristic-two
coefficient contraction gives binary_catalan: the support of C consists
exactly of powers of two. Hence, for n > 1, a(n) is odd if and only if
n - 1 = 2^k, equivalently n = 2^k + 1, as stated by hanna_conjecture.
The module has no D5 import and has generality G.
Falsifier
What would falsify this route
A counterexample index n > 1 at which Odd (a n) disagrees with
exists k : Nat, n = 2^k + 1 would contradict the assertion. The orchestrator's
exact numerical check is supporting evidence only; no finite bound proves
this universally quantified statement.
Evidence
Evidence to collect
- Lean module:
D5/S1/Recurrence/Invariants/CatalanCompositionSquareParity.lean. - Main theorem:
hanna_conjecture. - Companions:
catalan_equation,catalan_unique,generating_equation,generating_unique, andbinary_catalan. - Axioms:
std3(propext,Classical.choice,Quot.sound), as reported for each public theorem by the implementation seat.
Triage
Scope assessment
theorem. The formal proof closes the universal assertion recorded by OEIS
for the normalized integer generating series.
ASSUMED-UNVERIFIED
Unverified assumptions
The OEIS quotations and attribution were supplied by the orchestrator and copied from the Library note. The OEIS revision history was read by the search seat, not this seat. The literature scope was the OEIS entry and history plus identifier searches on arXiv, MathOverflow, and GitHub, as reported above; this seat had no network. First-publication priority and the source-to-Lean identification are not kernel-checked facts. The std3 report and numerical check were supplied evidence, not checks rerun by Stage B.