Analytic combinatorics of non-crossing configurations

This paper describes a systematic approach to the enumeration of 'non-crossing' geometric configurations built an vertices of a convex n-gon in the plane. It relies on generating functions, symbolic methods, singularity analysis, and singularity perturbation. Consequences are both exact and asymptotic counting results for trees, forests, graphs, connected graphs, dissections, and partitions. Limit laws of the Gaussian type are also established in this framework; they concern a variety of parameters like number of leaves in trees, number of components or edges in graphs, etc. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.