Catalan pairs: A relational-theoretic approach to Catalan numbers

We define the notion of a Catalan pair (which is a pair of binary relations (S,R) satisfying certain axioms) with the aim of giving a common language to several combinatorial interpretations of Catalan numbers. We show, in particular, that the second component R uniquely determines the pair, and we give a characterization of R in terms of forbidden configurations. We also propose some generalizations of Catalan pairs arising from some slight modifications of (some of the) axioms.