Related papers: Creative proofs in combinations

This note presents a unified theorem of the alternative that explicitly allows for any combination of equality, componentwise inequality, weak dominance, strict dominance, and nonnegativity relations. The theorem nests 60 special cases,…

For $n=0,1,2,\ldots$ let $W_n=\sum_{k=0}^{[n/3]}\binom{2k}k \binom{3k}k\binom n{3k}(-3)^{n-3k}$, where $[x]$ is the greatest integer not exceeding $x$. Then $\{W_n\}$ is an Ap\'ery-like sequence. In this paper we deduce many congruences…

An alternating permutation of length $n$ is a permutation $\pi=\pi_1 \pi_2 ... \pi_n$ such that $\pi_1 < \pi_2 > \pi_3 < \pi_4 > ...$. Let $A_n$ denote set of alternating permutations of ${1,2,..., n}$, and let $A_n(\sigma)$ be set of…

We show that double sums of the form $$ \sum_{i,j=-n} ^{n} |i^sj^t(i^k-j^k)^\beta| \binom {2n} {n+i} \binom {2n} {n+j} $$ can always be expressed in terms of a linear combination of just four functions, namely $\binom {4n}{2n}$, ${\binom…

Our main result is that every n-dimensional polytope can be described by at most (2n-1) polynomial inequalities and, moreover, these polynomials can explicitly be constructed. For an n-dimensional pointed polyhedral cone we prove the bound…

In this short note we prove two elegant generalized continued fraction formulae $$e= 2+\cfrac{1}{1+\cfrac{1}{2+\cfrac{2}{3+\cfrac{3}{4+\ddots}}}}$$ and $$e= 3+\cfrac{-1}{4+\cfrac{-2}{5+\cfrac{-3}{6+\cfrac{-4}{7+\ddots}}}}$$ using elementary…

It is significant to study congruences involving multiple harmonic sums. Let $p$ be an odd prime, in recent years, the following curious congruence $$\sum_{\substack{i+j+k=p \\ i, j, k>0}} \frac{1}{i j k} \equiv-2 B_{p-3}\pmod p$$ has been…

In this paper, we pose many challenging conjectures on congruences involving binomial coefficients and Ap\'ery-like numbers.

Can you decide if there is a coincidence in the numbers counting two different combinatorial objects? For example, can you decide if two regions in $\mathbb{R}^3$ have the same number of domino tilings? There are two versions of the…

It is well-known that the congruence $\sum_{i=1}^{ n} i^{ n} \equiv 1 \pmod{n}$ has exactly five solutions: $\{1,2,6,42,1806\}$. In this work, we characterize the solutions to the congruence $1^n + 2^n + \dotsb + n^n\equiv p \pmod{n}$ for…

In this paper, we solve a classical counting problem for non-degenerate quadratic forms defined on a vector space in odd characteristic; given a subspace $\pi$, we determine the number of non-singular subspaces that are trivially…

We will prove several congruences modulo a power of a prime such as $$ \sum_{0<k_1<...<k_{n}<p}\leg{p-k_{n}}{3} {(-1)^{k_{n}}\over k_1... k_{n}}\equiv {lll} -{2^{n+1}+2\over 6^{n+1}} p B_{p-n-1}({1\over 3}) &\pmod{p^2} &{if $n$ is odd}…

We show that any finite family of pairwise intersecting balls in $\mathbb{E}^n$ can be pierced by $(\sqrt{3/2}+o(1))^n$ points improving the previously known estimate of $(2+o(1))^n$. As a corollary, this implies that any $2$-illuminable…

In this paper we study combinatorial aspects of permutations of $\{1,\ldots,n\}$ and related topics. In particular, we prove that there is a unique permutation $\pi$ of $\{1,\ldots,n\}$ such that all the numbers $k+\pi(k)$ ($k=1,\ldots,n$)…

By employing certain extended classical summation theorems, several surprising \pi and other formulae are displayed.

We posit that $d_n^2 < 2p_{n+1}$ holds for all $n\geq 1$, where $p_n$ represents the $n$th prime and $d_n$ stands for the $n$th prime gap i.e. $d_n := p_{n+1} - p_n$. Then, the presence of a prime between successive perfect squares, as well…

We give a direct combinatorial proof of a famous identity, $$ \sum_{i+j=n} m{2i}{i} \binom{2j}{j} = 4^n $$ by actually counting pairs of $k$-subsets of $2k$-sets. Then we discuss two different generalizations of the identity, and end the…

In a typical two-slits experiments we face the question whether it is possible or not to attain knowledge about properties incompatible with Which-Slit property together with the measurement of the final impact point. A wide family of…

Using properties of Gauss and Jacobi sums, we derive explicit formulas for the number of solutions to a diagonal equation of the form $x_1^{2^m}+\dots+x_n^{2^m}=0$ over a finite field of characteristic $p\equiv\pm 3\pmod{8}$. All of the…

In this paper, we study congruences on sums of products of binomial coefficients that can be proved by using properties of the Jacobi polynomials. We give special attention to polynomial congruences containing Catalan numbers, second-order…