Amazing Mazes!
Problem 380
An m×n maze is an m×n rectangular grid with walls placed between grid cells such that there is exactly one path from the top-left square to any other square.
The following are examples of a 9×12 maze and a 15×20 maze:
Let C(m,n) be the number of distinct m×n mazes. Mazes which can be formed by rotation and reflection from another maze are considered distinct.
It can be verified that C(1,1) = 1, C(2,2) = 4, C(3,4) = 2415, and C(9,12) = 2.5720e46 (in scientific notation rounded to 5 significant digits).
Find C(100,500) and write your answer in scientific notation rounded to 5 significant digits.
When giving your answer, use a lowercase e to separate mantissa and exponent. E.g. if the answer is 1234567891011 then the answer format would be 1.2346e12.