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Sun's Curious Identity
In combinatorics, Sun's curious identity is the following identity involving binomial coefficients, first established by Zhi-Wei Sun in 2002: : (x+m+1)\sum_^m(-1)^i\dbinom\dbinom -\sum_^\dbinom(-4)^i=(x-m)\dbinom. Proofs After Sun's publication of this identity in 2002, five other proofs were obtained by various mathematicians: * Panholzer and Prodinger's proof via generating functions; * Merlini and Sprugnoli's proof using Riordan arrays; * Ekhad and Mohammed's proof by the WZ method; * Chu and Claudio's proof with the help of Jensen's formula; * Callan's combinatorial proof involving dominos and colorings. References *. *. *. *. *. *. *{{citation , last = Sun , first = Zhi-Wei , doi = 10.1016/j.disc.2007.08.046 , arxiv = math.NT/0404385 , issue = 18 , journal = Discrete Mathematics Discrete mathematics is the study of mathematical structures that can be considered "discrete" (in a way analogous to discrete variables, having a bijection with th ...
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Combinatorics
Combinatorics is an area of mathematics primarily concerned with counting, both as a means and an end in obtaining results, and certain properties of finite structures. It is closely related to many other areas of mathematics and has many applications ranging from logic to statistical physics and from evolutionary biology to computer science. Combinatorics is well known for the breadth of the problems it tackles. Combinatorial problems arise in many areas of pure mathematics, notably in algebra, probability theory, topology, and geometry, as well as in its many application areas. Many combinatorial questions have historically been considered in isolation, giving an ''ad hoc'' solution to a problem arising in some mathematical context. In the later twentieth century, however, powerful and general theoretical methods were developed, making combinatorics into an independent branch of mathematics in its own right. One of the oldest and most accessible parts of combinatorics is gra ...
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Identity (mathematics)
In mathematics, an identity is an equality relating one mathematical expression ''A'' to another mathematical expression ''B'', such that ''A'' and ''B'' (which might contain some variables) produce the same value for all values of the variables within a certain range of validity. In other words, ''A'' = ''B'' is an identity if ''A'' and ''B'' define the same functions, and an identity is an equality between functions that are differently defined. For example, (a+b)^2 = a^2 + 2ab + b^2 and \cos^2\theta + \sin^2\theta =1 are identities. Identities are sometimes indicated by the triple bar symbol instead of , the equals sign. Common identities Algebraic identities Certain identities, such as a+0=a and a+(-a)=0, form the basis of algebra, while other identities, such as (a+b)^2 = a^2 + 2ab +b^2 and a^2 - b^2 = (a+b)(a-b), can be useful in simplifying algebraic expressions and expanding them. Trigonometric identities Geometrically, trigonometric ide ...
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Binomial Coefficient
In mathematics, the binomial coefficients are the positive integers that occur as coefficients in the binomial theorem. Commonly, a binomial coefficient is indexed by a pair of integers and is written \tbinom. It is the coefficient of the term in the polynomial expansion of the binomial power ; this coefficient can be computed by the multiplicative formula :\binom nk = \frac, which using factorial notation can be compactly expressed as :\binom = \frac. For example, the fourth power of is :\begin (1 + x)^4 &= \tbinom x^0 + \tbinom x^1 + \tbinom x^2 + \tbinom x^3 + \tbinom x^4 \\ &= 1 + 4x + 6 x^2 + 4x^3 + x^4, \end and the binomial coefficient \tbinom =\tfrac = \tfrac = 6 is the coefficient of the term. Arranging the numbers \tbinom, \tbinom, \ldots, \tbinom in successive rows for n=0,1,2,\ldots gives a triangular array called Pascal's triangle, satisfying the recurrence relation :\binom = \binom + \binom. The binomial coefficients occur in many areas of mathematics, a ...
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Zhi-Wei Sun
Sun Zhiwei (, born October 16, 1965) is a Chinese mathematician, working primarily in number theory, combinatorics, and group theory. He is a professor at Nanjing University. Biography Sun Zhiwei was born in Huai'an, Jiangsu. Sun and his twin brother Sun Zhihong proved a theorem about what are now known as the Wall–Sun–Sun primes. Sun proved Sun's curious identity in 2002. In 2003, he presented a unified approach to three topics of Paul Erdős in combinatorial number theory: covering systems, restricted sumsets, and zero-sum problem In number theory, zero-sum problems are certain kinds of combinatorial problems about the structure of a finite abelian group. Concretely, given a finite abelian group ''G'' and a positive integer ''n'', one asks for the smallest value of ''k'' suc ...s or EGZ Theorem. With Stephen Redmond, he posed the Redmond–Sun conjecture in 2006. In 2013, he published a paper containing many conjectures on primes, one of which states that for any ...
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Generating Functions
In mathematics, a generating function is a way of encoding an infinite sequence of numbers () by treating them as the coefficients of a formal power series. This series is called the generating function of the sequence. Unlike an ordinary series, the ''formal'' power series is not required to converge: in fact, the generating function is not actually regarded as a function, and the "variable" remains an indeterminate. Generating functions were first introduced by Abraham de Moivre in 1730, in order to solve the general linear recurrence problem. One can generalize to formal power series in more than one indeterminate, to encode information about infinite multi-dimensional arrays of numbers. There are various types of generating functions, including ordinary generating functions, exponential generating functions, Lambert series, Bell series, and Dirichlet series; definitions and examples are given below. Every sequence in principle has a generating function of each type (except ...
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Riordan Arrays
A Riordan array is an infinite lower triangular matrix, D, constructed out of two formal power series, d(t) of order 0 and h(t) of order 1, in such a way that d_ = ^n(t) h(t)^k. A Riordan array is an element of the Riordan group. It was defined by mathematician Louis W. Shapiro and named after mathematician John Riordan. The study of Riordan arrays is a growing field that is both being influenced by, and continuing its contributions to, other fields such as combinatorics, group theory, matrix theory, number theory, probability, sequences and series, Lie groups and Lie algebras, orthogonal polynomials, graph theory, networks, unimodal sequences, combinatorial identities, elliptic curves, numerical approximation, asymptotics, and data analysis. Riordan arrays are also a unifying concept, binding together important tools: generating functions, computer algebra systems, formal languages, path model, and so on. Books on the subject, such as have been published. Formal definit ...
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WZ Theory
WZ may refer to: * WZ sex-determination system, also known as the ZW sex-determination system * WZ theory, a technique for simplifying certain combinatorial summations in mathematics * Eswatini (FIPS 10-4 country code WZ) * ''Westdeutsche Zeitung'', a German newspaper * Wetzlar, Germany * WinZip, a computer file compression software * Wizet, a Korean online gaming developer, which uses the file extension * W and Z bosons In particle physics, the W and Z bosons are vector bosons that are together known as the weak bosons or more generally as the intermediate vector bosons. These elementary particles mediate the weak interaction; the respective symbols are , , and ...
in particle physics {{disambiguation ...
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Johan Jensen (mathematician)
Johan Ludwig William Valdemar Jensen, mostly known as Johan Jensen (8 May 1859 – 5 March 1925), was a Denmark, Danish mathematician and engineer. He was the president of the Danish Mathematical Society from 1892 to 1903. Biography Jensen was born in Nakskov, Denmark, but spent much of his childhood in northern Sweden, because his father obtained a job there as the manager of an estate. Their family returned to Denmark before 1876, when Jensen enrolled to the Technical University of Denmark, College of Advanced Technology. Although he studied mathematics among various subjects at college, and even published a research paper in mathematics, he learned advanced math topics later by himself and never held any academic position. Instead, he was a successful engineer for the Copenhagen Telephone Company between 1881 and 1924, and became head of the technical department in 1890. All his mathematics research was carried out in his spare time. Jensen is mostly renowned for his famous ine ...
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Combinatorial Proof
In mathematics, the term ''combinatorial proof'' is often used to mean either of two types of mathematical proof: * A proof by double counting. A combinatorial identity is proven by counting the number of elements of some carefully chosen set in two different ways to obtain the different expressions in the identity. Since those expressions count the same objects, they must be equal to each other and thus the identity is established. * A bijective proof. Two sets are shown to have the same number of members by exhibiting a bijection, i.e. a one-to-one correspondence, between them. The term "combinatorial proof" may also be used more broadly to refer to any kind of elementary proof in combinatorics. However, as writes in his review of (a book about combinatorial proofs), these two simple techniques are enough to prove many theorems in combinatorics and number theory. Example An archetypal double counting proof is for the well known formula for the number \tbinom nk of ''k''-combi ...
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Dominos
Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces, commonly known as dominoes. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also called '' pips'' or ''dots'') or is blank. The backs of the tiles in a set are indistinguishable, either blank or having some common design. The gaming pieces make up a domino set, sometimes called a ''deck'' or ''pack''. The traditional European domino set consists of 28 tiles, also known as pieces, bones, rocks, stones, men, cards or just dominoes, featuring all combinations of spot counts between zero and six. A domino set is a generic gaming device, similar to playing cards or dice, in that a variety of games can be played with a set. Another form of entertainment using domino pieces is the practice of domino toppling. The earliest mention of dominoes is from Song dynasty China found in the text ''Former Events in Wulin'' by Zhou Mi (1 ...
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Discrete Mathematics (journal)
''Discrete Mathematics'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal in the broad area of discrete mathematics, combinatorics, graph theory, and their applications. It was established in 1971 and is published by North-Holland Publishing Company. It publishes both short notes, full length contributions, as well as survey articles. In addition, the journal publishes a number of special issues each year dedicated to a particular topic. Although originally it published articles in French and German, it now allows only English language articles. The editor-in-chief is Douglas West ( University of Illinois, Urbana). History The journal was established in 1971. The very first article it published was written by Paul Erdős, who went on to publish a total of 84 papers in the journal. Abstracting and indexing The journal is abstracted and indexed in: According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the journal has a 2020 impact factor of 0.87. Notable publications * The 1972 ...
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Factorial And Binomial Topics
In mathematics, the factorial of a non-negative denoted is the product of all positive integers less than or equal The factorial also equals the product of n with the next smaller factorial: \begin n! &= n \times (n-1) \times (n-2) \times (n-3) \times \cdots \times 3 \times 2 \times 1 \\ &= n\times(n-1)!\\ \end For example, 5! = 5\times 4! = 5 \times 4 \times 3 \times 2 \times 1 = 120. The value of 0! is 1, according to the convention for an empty product. Factorials have been discovered in several ancient cultures, notably in Indian mathematics in the canonical works of Jain literature, and by Jewish mystics in the Talmudic book '' Sefer Yetzirah''. The factorial operation is encountered in many areas of mathematics, notably in combinatorics, where its most basic use counts the possible distinct sequences – the permutations – of n distinct objects: there In mathematical analysis, factorials are used in power series for the exponential function ...
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