Math 465: Introduction to Combinatorics

Terrence George

Quiz #1 has been graded.

Quiz #2: 30 minutes, open Friday–Saturday.
Homework #2 will be due Monday evening.

I do not monitor the chat during the lecture.

These slides will be posted on Canvas.
Binomial identities (1)

There are many algebraic identities involving binomial coefficients.

Behind each of them, there is a combinatorial correspondence.
To prove an identity, we either (a) “reverse engineer” an enumerative
problem that can be solved in two different ways, or (b) establish a
bijection between two sets, then enumerate each of them.

Proposition
   
n n
=
k n−k

Proof
Set up a bijection between k-element and (n−k)-element subsets.
Binomial identities (2)

Proposition
     
n n n
+ + ··· + = 2n
0 1 n

1
1 1
1 2 1
1 3 3 1
1 4 6 4 1
1 5 10 10 5 1
···································

Proof
Count subsets of an n-element set, according to their size.
Binomial identities (3)

Proposition
     
n n n n
− + · · · + (−1) =0
0 1 n

1
1 1
1 2 1
1 3 3 1
1 4 6 4 1
1 5 10 10 5 1

Proof
Get a bijection between subsets of even and odd size, by matching
each subset containing a fixed element s to a subset not containing s.
Binomial identities (4)

Theorem
X n  m  n + m
=
k
k `−k `

Proof
Consider a disjoint union of two sets of sizes n and m, respectively.
Then count the `-element subsets of this union.

n k `−k m
Binomial identities (5)

Corollary
n  2  
X n 2n
=
k=0
k n

Proof #1
Apply the identity
X n  m  n + m
=
k
k ` − k `
n
= kn .



with ` = m = n, and use that n−k
Binomial identities (6)

Example
8
12 + 42 + 62 + 42 + 12 = 70 =


4

1
1 1
1 2 1
1 3 3 1
1 4 6 4 1
1 5 10 10 5 1
1 6 15 20 15 6 1
1 7 21 35 35 21 7 1
1 8 28 56 70 56 28 8 1
·····························································
Binomial identities (7)
Pn n 2 2n



Proof #2 of the identity k=0 k = n
2n


The number of lattice paths from A = (0, 0) to B = (n, n) equals n
.
For each of these paths, look where it crosses the diagonal.

A
Binomial identities (8)

Theorem
X n 
k = n 2n−1
k
k

Example: n = 5
0 · 1 + 1 · 5 + 2 · 10 + 3 · 10 + 4 · 5 + 5 · 1 = 80 = 5 · 24 .

Proof
Suppose we need to choose a subset of an n-element set, then pick
an element of this subset (e.g., a committee and its chairperson).
The number of such choices can be computed in two different ways:
• choose a k-element subset, then pick one its k elements;
• pick one of the n elements, then add a subset of the rest.
Binomial Theorem
Finally, an explanation of the term “binomial coefficients:”
(x + y )0 = 1
(x + y )1 = x +y
(x + y )2 = x 2 + 2xy + y 2
(x + y )3 = x 3 + 3x 2 y + 3xy 2 + y 3
(x + y )4 = x 4 + 4x 3 y + 6x 2 y 2 + 4xy 3 + y 4
(x + y )5 = x 5 + 5x 4 y + 10x 3 y 2 + 10x 2 y 3 + 5xy 4 + y 5
·········· ················································
Binomial theorem
n  
n
X n k n−k
(x + y ) = x y
k=0
k
Proof of the Binomial Theorem

Binomial theorem
n  
n
X n k n−k
(x + y ) = x y
k=0
k

Proof
Expand (x + y )n as the sum of n-letter words in the alphabet {x, y }:
(x + y )3 = (x + y )(x + y )(x + y )
= xxx + xxy + xyx + xyy + yxx + yxy + yyx + yyy .
(Here we view each word as a monomial in x and y .) Collect terms.
The coefficient of x k y n−k is kn [why?].

This identity has an interpretation in probability theory (for x +y = 1).

Binomial identities via the Binomial Theorem (1)
Many binomial identities can be proved using the Binomial Theorem
n  
n
X n k n−k
(x + y ) = x y .
k=0
k

Example
Set x = y = 1 to get
n  
X n
= 2n .
k=0
k

Example
Set x = −1 and y = 1 to get
n  
k n
X
(−1) = 0.
k=0
k
Binomial identities via the Binomial Theorem (2)

Example
Start with
(x + 1)n · (x + 1)m = (x + 1)n+m .
Use the Binomial Theorem to rewrite it as
n   m   n+m  
X n k X m j X n+m `
x · x = x .
k=0
k j=0
j `=0
`
Take the coefficient of x ` on both sides to get
X n  m  n + m
= .
k
k ` − k `
Binomial identities via the Binomial Theorem (3)

Example
Differentiate
n  
n
X n
(x + 1) = xk
k=0
k
to get
n  
n−1
X n
n(x + 1) = kx k−1 .
k=1
k
Now set x = 1 to obtain
X n 
n−1
n2 = k .
k
k
Multinomial theorem
Recall that the multinomial
 coefficient

n def n!
==
n1 · · · nj n1 ! · · · nj !
is the number of words in the alphabet {x1 , . . . , xj } that consist of
n1 copies of letter x1 , . . . , nj copies of letter xj . Here n = n1 +· · ·+nj .

Multinomial theorem
 
X n n
n
(x1 + · · · + xj ) = x1n1 · · · xj j .
n1 +···+nj =n
n1 · · · nj

Proof
Expand (x1 + · · · + xj )n as the sum of all words of length n in the
alphabet {x1 , . . . , xj }, viewing each word as a monomial.
Multinomial theorem: Example

(a + b + c + d)3
= aaa + aab + aac + aad + aba + abb + abc + abd
+aca + acb + acc + acd + ada + adb + adc + add
+baa + bab + bac + bad + bba + bbb + bbc + bbd
+bca + bcb + bcc + bcd + bda + bdb + bdc + bdd
+caa + cab + cac + cad + cba + cbb + cbc + cbd
+cca + ccb + ccc + ccd + cda + cdb + cdc + cdd
+daa + dab + dac + dad + dba + dbb + dbc + dbd
+dca + dcb + dcc + dcd + dda + ddb + ddc + ddd
= a3 + b 3 + c 3 + d 3 + 6abc + 6abd + 6acd + 6bcd
+3a2 b + 3ab 2 + 3a2 c + 3ac 2 + 3a2 d + 3ad 2
+3b 2 c + 3bc 2 + 3b 2 d + 3bd 2 + 3c 2 d + 3cd 2
Multinomial theorem, continued

Problem
What is the largest coefficient of a monomial in the expansion of the
polynomial (x + y + z)6 ?

Solution
For a + b + c = 6, the largest value of
 
6 6!
=
abc a! b! c!
6!
is attained at a = b = c = 2 [why?], so the answer is = 90.
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