Arrangements and Combinations · Catalan Numbers: Introduction

Lesson 5

Nikolai Chukhin · Alexander S. Kulikov

Problem. \(2n\) people are seated around a circular table. Let \(S(n)\) be the number of ways to pair them such that each person shakes hands with exactly one other person, and no handshakes cross. For example, \(S(3)=5\):

What is \(S(5)\)?

4 points