The Binomial Coefficient Function

Author(s): David Fowler

Source: The American Mathematical Monthly , Jan., 1996, Vol. 103, No. 1 (Jan., 1996),
pp. 1-17
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of the Mathematical Association of
America

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2975209

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 1 °ec
2 j/ 4 ; -I | r

The Binomial CoefElcient Function

I)avid Fowler
i . . .. .

1* SOME PLOTS The surface defined by the binomial function C(x,y) =

xt/y!(x-y)! with sPascal?s ridge? rising on the right looks like:

i4
1 0 .,.

IX 5

.\ 5-

and an ewlvded view looking into the CAvenues of Manhattan' like:

;/ 3

5\ B

oX

s \ 4

-5

' " ho <-

> { ,/ - 5
o

1996] THE BINOMIAL COEFFICIENT FUNCTION 1

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 These plots cannot however represent the fine detail near to the lines of singulari-
ties x= -1,-2,-3,..., where for the most part the edges of the truncated
surfaces appear misleadingly as ruler-straight. More information can be read off
from the following 'density plot', in which height is represented by a gray scale
from white ( - oo) to black ( + oo):

I 5_
l

:
o -
EE
-1

-2

x
x
3

5
:
-
-
-6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 o 1 2 3 4 5 6

The scale here can be judged by looking at the section along y = 1 where, we shall
see, C(x, 1) = x. The dominant mid-gray denotes numbers close to zero, and the
horizontal and diagonal lines are the zeros of the function.

2. A GENERAL DESCRIPTION. The factorial function can be defined by x!=

r(x + 1) = J0 tx e-t dt for x > -1, extended uniquely to negative non-integral x
by defining x!= (x + n)!/(x + n)(x + n - 1)...(x + 1) for any integer n such
that (x + n) > -1. It is infinitely differentiable except at the negative integers,
and the graphs of it and its reciprocal look like:

x! and 1/(x!)

xl5. 1/ (x! )

/ ^ 4
10 /

. . . , , , , , , 2
-5 -t-3 -2 -1 1 2 3 4

e -5 r \

-10 -5 -: < i 2 3-

-15 J -1

2 THE BINOMIAL COEFFICIENT FUNCTION [January

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 The binomial function C is thus defined and smooth for (x, y) E R2 \ {x =
-1, -2, -3,...}, and the singularities of x! at -1, -2,-3,... give rise to the
very complicated behavior of C for x < -1 + , n > O (hereafter 0 < n < 1, h is
a real number, and n & m are positive integers). These lines of singularities of C
may surprise and shock at first, but they are easy to explain: C inherits most of the
basic identities satisfied by the binomial coefficients ( n ) perhaps all that make
sense in this wider context so C(x - 1, y) = ((x - y)/x)C(x, y), from one of the
most elementary properties of binomial coefficients. Setting x = 0, we see that C
must have a singularity at (-1, y) unless C(0, y) = 0 (so y is a non-zero integer) or
y = 0; and the resulting line of singularities will then propagate backwards to
x = -2,-3, .... By examining sections of this surface, we see further that:

* For 0 < y < x, it is Pascal's triangle interpolated to a steeply rising ridge.

* For {0 < x < y} U {-1 + n < x < 0, y 2 0}, it is gently undulating, zero on the
lines y - x = 1, 2, 3, . . ., and becomes close to zero more than a unit away from
the boundary lines.
* For x < -1, y > 0, away from the boundary, it quickly becomes very large,
alternately positive and negative inside the parallelograms with corners (-n, m +
1), ( - n, m), ( -n - 1, m - 1), ( - n - 1, m), passing steeply through zero on the
lines y - x = 1, 2, 3, ..., and going off to + oo on the lines x = - 1, - 2, - 3, ....
* For y < 0, it is zero on y = -1, -2, -3,...,x ¢ -1, -2, -3,..., and very
close to zero in the quadrant x > -1, y < 0 more than a unit away from the
boundary. In the octant 0 > x > y, its behavior is similar to that on x < 0, y > 0,
but here based on the squares of the integer grid: zero on y = -1, -2, - 3, . . ..
and infinite on x = - 1, - 2, - 3, .... And in the octant - 1 > y > x + 1, away
from the boundary, it becomes close to zero except near to the lines x= -1,
-2, -3,..., where it passes steeply through +oo, always in the same sense: as x
decreases from - n to - (n + 1), it increases very rapidly from - oo to near 0, stays
near 0, and then again increases rapidly to +oo.
* C is very badly behaved near the lines x= -1, -2,-3,..., although direc-
tional limits exist at the integer points on these lines. (Set x = -n + t, y = +m
At in C and manipulate to get a function of t, well-behaved at 0, multiplied by
(-1 + t)!/(- 1 + (1 - A)t)! . Then this latter expression can be written (t!/t)((1 -
A)t/((1- A)t)!), so it tends to (1- A) as t tends to 0.) For example, the direc-
tional limit at (-1, 0) is 1 along the x-axis, 0 along the diagonal y = x + 1, and 2
along the diagonal y = -x - 1. In particular, the horizontal directional limits that
appear in the horizontal sections y = _ m below give the classical binomial
coefficients (xm) fQr x= -1,- 2,- 3,... though, to repeat, C(-n,m) is not

defined The example of (m)= (n nm) but (-mn)¢ (-n nm) is instructive: since
C(x, y) = C(x, x - y), x ¢ - 1, - 2, - 3, . . ., the vertical section C(h, y), h ¢
-1, -2, -3,. . ., is symmetric about Y = 2h because C(h,2h + (k - 2h)) =
C(h, 2h - (k - 2h)). Now take h = nx, k = Jrmx, and look along the lines throu
the origin: the two directional limits limx_l C(nx, + mx) and limx_l C(nx,(n T
m)x) are equal. One could generalise the standard binomial coefficients to include
an extra argument, the slope at which the directional limit is to be taken, and thus
extend such standard identities to negative arguments and perhaps find new ones.

3. SOME SECTIONS OF C. In all formulae in this section, x ¢ -1,-2,-3, . . .

unless these values can be filled in by continuity; 0 < 71 < 1; h denotes a real
number; and n & m are positive integers, though occasionally, as in the expression

1996] THE BINOMIAL COEFFICIENT FUNCTION 3

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+m above, we also silently include m = 0. If any formula contains a term h!
where h is negative, we can replace it with (h + n)!/(h + n)(h + n - 1) . . . (h + 1)
for any n such that (h + n) 2 O. This will give a unique result since (h + n +
1)!= (h + n + l)(h + n)! . One important instance, used repetitively below, is that
1/(-n)!= (-n + 1)...-1.0/0!= 0.
A lot of the detail of the descriptions, and more, is illustrated in the graphs of
sections of the surface, which are arranged as far as possible to correspond to the
ways they cut the surface, even when this means they have to be rotated through
90°. Take careful note of their scales, because they vary from 10-2 to 105 and have
been chosen to give the most detail in each individual case.

Vertical sections. We use the basic and elegant identity 7ry/y!(-y)! = sin sy.

x = 0: C(O,y) = 0!/y!(-y)!= sinry/7ry. In particular, this is 1 when y = 0,

and 0 when y = +m.

n!
x = n: C(n, Y) y!(n-y) !

' the classical binomial coefficient if y = m, 0 < m < n

0 if y = +m outside this range
_ y

n sm Gry

< (n -y)(n - 1 -y).. (1 _y) vy ingeneral

This quickly gets very small for large IYI, because of the polynomial in the
denominator of degree n + 1 in y.
We can fit these special cases within the general context, as follows:

x = -h, h ¢ 1, 2, 3 . . .: Cf-h, y) = (-h)!/y!(-y-h)!.

We rewrite the identity above as sin sy = - 7r/y!(-y - 1)!; then this section is a
generalisation of this, a kind of pseudo-sine. We have decoupled the left- and
right-hand zeros of sine and can now move them independently: this pseudo-sine
has zeros at -1, 2, - 3, . . . and 1 - h, 2 - h, 3 - h, . . ., is bounded for h < 1,
unbounded for h > 1, and the closer h is to 1, the closer is the analogy to sine; see
the sections C(- 2 y) and C(- 32, y) The section C(- 1, y) is indeed a multiple of
sin y, but the multiplier (-1)! is not defined; and the nearby sections C(- 1 +
71, y), n small, are large positive or negative multiples of nearly sine functions.
When h << 1, the zero-less gap in the middle increases, and the oscillations of the
function decrease very rapidly as IYI increases: so, for example, when x = n + 2
the function has zeros at -1, -2, -3,. . . and n + 32,n + 52in + 2 . ., thus
making room for Pascal's ridge in the interval [0, n + 2 ], and it decreases rapidly to
zero outside the interval [-1, n + 32] On the other hand, when x = -n - 2 it
has zeros at-1,- 2,- 3, . . . and -n + 2n- n + 32,- n + 52' . . . which overlap to
give a- cluster of zeros at -n,- n + 2n- n + 1,- n + 32,- n + 2, . .., -1 and
- 2. For n > 1, this corresponds to the very-close-to-zero behaviour in the octant
- 1 > y > x + 1 away from the lines x = - 1, - 2 - 3, ... . Some sections shows
the behavior at other points than -n - 2.

4 THE BINOMIAL COEFFICIENT FUNCTION [January

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 - ocz-s.sgcs. y) n czl-s.l7's, y) c<C-s.s. y) ,<
¢7 c9 - H c9
Vertical sect
(The non-zero bin
C(-2.5, y) >, C(-l.S, y) >
.

_ vD

-
- z to
c(of y)
C (-O . 5, y) <i
- .t
.
Ct
cC .
.
U) o U) E U) o
H H , H

c - C UR

o
.

C
CS
.

- to

z
$ - -

o r CD

l
,
Typical sections for h << O, with different fractional parts.
The sections C(-n+O, S+tl) do not appear to differ greatly from each
other, apart from their vertical scale, and a stretch through h for y > 0:
o 1

1v0 _ v q Q T

- -
C(-5.5, y) X
C (-5 . 999, y) c
c)
> C (-5 .75. y) ?
Q o o

o o o o o o o * o
o o o o o o o o
c <v o o
) o t c9 c9 n N H H
z ¢7 u) l ¢7 n l
. - H

. -

o .F <
z ;s 5

o cxS c
9
u u:

->
l .-

x -

n < However the central, very close-to-zero sections, which come from
- f
;s vC
.. *-
-I > y >
- C
Q O
C;> 9 O ue O O O O
1 H o O O
_ e

U .'
= ._U:

an C=>7 < Obse

sides
By c
u ! _

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 Horizontal sections.

y = 0: C(x, O) = x! /x!-1.

y = m: C(x, m) = x!/m!(x - m)! = x(x - 1) . . . (x - m + 1)/m!, the binomial

coefficient for all real x. These polynomials are zero on the integer lattice in the
octant O < x < y; they behave like xt for large Ixl; and they are symmetric (n
even) or antisymmetric (n odd) about the point x = 2(m - 1).

y = -m: C(x, - m) = x!/( - m)!(x + m)! = O.

y = + :C(x, + 71) = x!/7l!(x + 71)!, the basic functions underlying all other sec-
tions y= +m + 71 The graph for the cases + 2 are given in the collection of
horizontal sections; they have zeros at (- 1),- 32,- 52SS S

y = m + :

x!
C( x, m + 71) = ( 71 + m) !(x-71-m) !

(X - 71)(x - 71 - 1) .. . (x - 71 - m + 1)

(71 + 1)(71 + 2) (71 + m) C(x, 71)

This introduces extra zeros at 71, 71 + 1,..., 71 + m - 1, thus making the function
very close to zero in the interval [71, m + 71 - 1], in fact in [71 - 1, m + 71 - 1],
because C(x, 71) already has a zero at 71 - 1. A range of sections for the case 71 = 2
is given, and also a sequence of sections round y = 3, where we see a complicated
function with infinities is distorted through a simple polynomial into a different
complicated function.

y = -m - :

x!
C(x, -m - 71) = ( - 71 - m) !(x + 71 + m) !

( ) (X + 71 + l)(X + 71 + 2) . (x + 71 + m) ( X 71)

Here the apparent new singularities at -71-1,-71-2, . . .,-71-m in fact

cancel the corresponding zeros of C(x, - 71), generating nearby maxima or minima
in these intervals (-m - 1, -m).

Diagonal sections. First, sections by lines of positive slope:

y = x + h: C(x, x + h) = x!/(x + h)!(-h)! = C(x,-h),

so these correspond to the horizontal sections, described earlier.

Next, lines of negative slope. Here we can appeal to the duplication formula,
(2x)! = (1/ 4)22Xx!(x - 2 )!, for the simplest case:

y = -x: C(x, -x) -x!/(-x)!(2x)!= 4/22X(x - 2)!(-x)!. This is again a

pseudosine (see C(-h, y)), here with zeros at 1,2, 3, ... and - 2S- 2S- 521 ....
multiplied by the negative exponential 2-2X which makes it increase rapidly for

6 THE BINOMIAL COEFFICIENT FUNCTION [January

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 y- - -S \ --4l - B1- - -2 - x
Moving through an integer point
Down through C(x, 3), or up Down through
C(x.-x-3 in detail:
through C(x, x-3), in detail:

C(x, 3.1) C (x, -x-2 .75 ) 20

- x r\ 10
-

_4 _3 -2L5-1

t - 5
x
_ r _ 4S- ( ) 2 -
\ -10

Y -15

X -20 -20

C(x, 3.05) C (x, -x-2 .9 ) 20

1 5

_. _ t ->1
- - -
-x o\ 10
i -5
\ . P._ .
- \ x /

2 - t
_ ; \ vv/ - 3 -
-10

-10

A -15
1 -20 -20

C(x, 3.01) 26
1 5 2.^l0/ C(x,-x-2.99)

-4 - 3 - -5 -4.8 \ r j

'/1 -15 \ / -5

-20 k

C(x,
z_ \ A t J /
3) | -10
C(x, -x-3)
5

_ X
-4 -3

x
5-
-5 1 -4 / -3 -2 -1

-10

-15

-20

-10
C(x, 2,99)
C(x, -x-3 .01) C

x \ rX
1 5
-4 -3 - 2 df

-5 \ -4 Z 3 - 2 - l
> < - 5

2 4 -10

/ -15

/ -20 -10J

C(x, 2.95)
C ( x , -x-3 . 2 5 )

1 1
4 J }2 }-
x

_50.4Ct > t

2 / ( -5

/ / -10

/ ( -20 -1C

1996] THE BINOMIAL COEFFICIENT FUNCTION 7

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 -.-* \ S x
Horizontal sections C(x, }1), or diagonal sections C(x, x-h)
(The non-zelo coefficients in (amb) tt are indicated.)

C(x, 4) or C(x, x-4) C(x, 1.5)

\ . i . \ .t ^ . x

-4 \ -3 \ -2 \-1 1 2
' \

C(x, 3.5) or C(x, x-3.5)

C(, I) = '

C(,Y, 0.5)

* z .\\*
.t-
- . * x

-4 -3 -2 \- 1
1 2 3 A
! / X r .: x
t S

2-
-4/ -3/ -2 / t

C(S;, O) = 1, and C(x, -l) = O tor .111

c (xt , -O .5)
t A

x
- ^ n

-4 %-3 >-2 -1 -2
1 2

(A furlher sequencc of sections

around C(x, 3) is given below.)

x
-4 73 )-2 -1<

{ -2

ff -4

C ( x , -2 . 5 )

J1 4

- x

-4 >3 -2 -1 1 2

/ I
> \ -4

8 THE BINOMIAL COEFFIClENT FUNCTION [Janualy

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 3 -2 \sX 1 2 6 7 X _0,5 5 x
Diagonal sections of negative slope C(x, -x+h)

Typical sections for h >> O, SI non-integral:

C(x, -x+6.5) ,
C ( x . -x + b . b I
\ 0.1 \

1 2 3 4 5 >-7 X -1 9 -l3 x

_ .1

wilh lhe delail of (-1, 3):

2 b .2

-O.3

... and S1 integral:

C ( x , -x+ 6 )

1 20

C ( x , -x+ 6 )

1
wilh lhc eIclail Of (-0.5, 2.5): \

( .og,

- 0 .0 5

... near the origin:

C(x, -x+O . 5) C ( x , -x - O . 5 )

25 25
c ( x # - x )

25
15 15

15
5
* zf>s i - X -4 -nt2- x
-4 -3d-^ A 1 5 1

_4 _3/X

-15 S -15

/ -15
-25 -25

-25

... for h around -3 (see the separate sequence),

... and for h << O, SI integral:

(x, -x-10)

5000

3000 and furiller delail c

of (-9.5, -5.5):
C (x, -x-10 )

1000 C (x, -x-10 )

-it ;F2 -lo -8 -6 -9 -2 x -it o -8 -6 v o x

wilil lilc delail Or (-l i .s, o): |

j -20

-30

1996] THE BINOMIAL COEFFICIENT FUNCTION 9

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x < 0, and decrease rapidly for x > 0. The sections y = -x + n can then be
expressed in terms of this.

y = -x + n + : Although I can see no similar simplifications for these general

cases, there is no difficulty in applying the now familiar manipulations to identify
the singularities and zeros of the functions. A case of particular interest is:

y = -x-n-: C(x,-x-n-r1) = x!/(-x-n-r1)!(2x + n + r)!.

This has singularities at x = -1, -2, -3,.. . and zeros when -x - n - 7} =

-1, -2, -3, . . ., i.e. x = -n + 1 - r1, -n + 2 - 7R, -n + 3 - 7R, . . ., and when
2x + n + r1 = -1,-2,-3,..., i.e. x = 2(-n-1-r1), 2(-n-2-7}), 2(-n
- 3 - h), ... . Consider first the case of y = -x - 2-: zeros at - 14, - 4, 4, 14, ...
and at - 1 7, - 2 8, - 2 78 } - 3 8, ... . Hence in every interval [ - 2, - 1], [ - 3, - 2],
[-4, -3], . . . between the singularities, there are two zeros, an even number, so
the function must tend to infinity in the same direction at each end-point of these
intervals and have an odd total number of maxima and minima between. This
behavior is typical of each section y = -x - h, h < 3 and non-integral. Now
consider y = -x - 34: zeros at -24, -14, -, 14,.. . and at -28, -258, -38,
- 3 58, ... . Here [ - 2, - 1] contains one zero, [ - 3, - 2] three zeros, then the
following intervals contain an even number of zeros. Hence the first two of these
intervals will now contain an even total number of maxima and minima, and the
function will tend to infinity in opposite directions at their end-points. This kind of
transition is illustrated here in a remarkable sequence of sections around y = -x
- 3, and is repeated at each succeeding section y = -x - n, n > 3.

4. A HISTORICAL NOTE. The configuration of values of this function on the

positive integer lattice in the octant 0 < y < x may now be called Pascal's triangle
in the west, but it is well known that it is attested long before Pascal's Traite du
Triangle was compiled and distributed posthumously in 1665 from sheets that had
been printed in 1554. For further details and references concerning most of the
names in the summary below, see the Dictionary of Scientifc Biography (= DSB;
references will be cited by acronym), whose transliterations and spellings I have
adopted, and Edwards, PAT, which also contains some illustrations from original
sources.
Knowledge of the expansions of (a + b)2 and (a + b)3 are very old indeed, but
the first surviving reference to a more general result seems to be in the Arabic
mathematician al:Karajl, sometime around 1100. He described how to evaluate the
terms in the binomialiexpansions up to the fourth degree, with proof, then the fifth
degree, with a statement only, and then 'and so on', all by a process that can be
generalised but which does not quite have the simplicity and transparency of the
arithmetical triangle. Then, in reporting al-Karajl's work, al-Samaw'al (t1175)
described the generating rule (m ) = ( n - 1 ) + (m n l ), together with a table up to
the 12th degree; see Rashed, IMKS. The procedure was perhaps known by
al-Khayyaml, aka Omar Khayyam, (1039-1123); it is found in al-Tusl (13th cen-
tury); and in al-K-ashl (15th century), where, as often elsewhere, it is used in the
calculation not of powers, but of roots; see Berggren, EMMI, 53-63 and Rashed,
ER.
Binomial coefficients are also explicitly attested early in China, again in connec-
tion with finding roots. There are surviving illustrations of it in Chu Shih-chieu's
Precious Mirror of the Four Elements (1303), and in Yang Hui's Detailed Analysis of

THE BINOMIAL COEFFICIENT FUNCTION [January

10

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 the Mathematical Rules in the 'Nine Chapters' (1261); Yang says that Chia Hsien had
given the rule about 1050; and it was probably also described in an earlier now-lost
book by Liu Hui. Reproductions of the surviving illustrations are given in Need-
ham, SCC 133ff and Boyer, HM 228, and further details in L1 & Du, CM.
Needham writes (SCC 137, note a): "A claim for a great antiquity of the Pascal
triangle in India has been made by [A.N.] Singh. But though a similar numerical
pattern (the Meru-prastara) was derived from a passage in Pin. gala's Chandah-sutra,
VIII 23 (c. 200 BC) by the 10th century commentator Halayudha, it concerns
prosodic combinations only and has nothing to do with binomial coefficients"; but
this surely is too restrictive a view. It is true that the Indian interest is mainly in the
patterns that can arise in Sanskrit prosody (though not exclusively; for example
Brahmagupta (AD 629) did consider (a + b)3), but the western studies of figured
numbers, binomial coefficients, and combinations are, ultimately, a search for the
same patterns and yields the same collections of numbers. (For another illustration
involving the Fibonacci numbers, see P. Singh, SCFN.) Here, for example, is
Halayudha's description of how to generate an enumeration of these syllabic
combinations: "Draw a square. Beginning at half the square, draw two other
similar squares below it; below these two, three other squares, and so on. The
marking should be started by putting 1 in the first square. Put 1 in each of the two
squares of the second line. In the third line put 1 in the two squares at the ends
and, in the middle square, the sum of the digits in the two squares lying above it.
In the fourth line put 1 in the two squares at the ends. In the middle ones put the
sum of the digits in the two squares above each. Proceed in this way. Of these
lines, the second gives the combinations with one syllable, the third the combina-
tions with two syllables, etc." or, we would say, they also give the binomial
coefficients. For more details, see Edwards, PAT 27ff, from which this quotation
has been taken.
In the west, the tableau of numbers appeared on the title page of the book
Rechnung (1527) by the German algebrist Apian (for a reproduction, see Boyer,
HM 328). Then there is a table up to 18th order in another German book, Stifel's
Arithmetica Integra (1544), then in his Deutsche Arithmetica (1545) and his new
edition of Rudolff's Coss (1545, originally published in 1525) and, according to the
DSB article by Kurt Vogel, Stifel reports that "he discovered these coefficients
with great difficulty, having found no one to teach them to him nor any written
accounts of them."Thereafter, it seems generally well-known: it or closely related
material is found in Scheubel (1545), Peletier (1549), Tartaglia (1556; the arith-
metical triangle ls sometimes known in Italy as Tartaglia's triangle), Cardan (1570;
see Boyer CPT, the inspiration for this list), Stevin (1585), Faulhaber (1615),
Girard (1629), Oughtred (1631), Briggs (1633), Mersenne (1636), and Fermat
(1636), to bring the list up to Pascal and stop there, but with no claim to
completeness. It was then Montmort (1708) who referred to the "Table de M.
Pascal pour les combinaisons" and De Moivre (1730) to the "Triangulum Arith-
meticum PASCALIANUM," and the name has stuck, a fine example of what
Merton, OTSOG 218, describes as how "in the transmission of ideas each
succeeding repetition tends to erase all but one antecedent version, thus producing
what may be described as the anatopic or palimpsest syndrome."
However we, here, are not really interested in the arithmetical triangle in itself,
but in its interpolations and extrapolations, and it is to these we now turn. But
before that, a brief digression. The origins and first uses of mathematical induction
have been vigorously debated (for my own contribution, see Fowler, GMI), but the
first explicit statement and use of the principle itself was always thought to be in

1996] THE BINOMIAL COEFFICIENT FUNCTION

ll

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Pascal's pamphlet; it has now been proposed in Rashed, IMKS (this article also
gives a survey of the literature on the topic) that al-Samaw'al should also have
some credit for this. And these are two of the texts that have framed our discussion
so far!
Sometime around or after 1600 (the dating is problematic), Harriot wrote a
substantial treatise Magisteria Numerorum Triangularium or De Numeris Triangu-
laribus et inde De progressionibusArithmeticis Magisteria magna on these coefficients,
which he used for interpolation in general. In this, he considered ( h ) with negative
and fractional values of h. This treatise has never been published, but there is a
brief reference to it and some examples from it in Lohne, ETH 293-4; for example,
a table of (m) with -5 < n < 4,0 < m < 5. Also see Knuth, RHBN 241, who

reports that "[Harriot] computed the polynomials (k) for k < 7, writing nnnn-

6nnn + 11nn-6n/24 for (4).a

Even before Pascal's pamphlet was publishod, Wallis, in his Arithmetica Infinito-
rum (1656), was, in effect, interpolating further the integer points to find expres-
sions for some half-integer points. In his search for some expression for 7r or, more
accurately, for the ratio of the unit square to the quarter circle of unit radius, , he
guessed and tabulated expressions for

(P, q) |1(1 l/P)q dt plq! = C( p + q, q) = pqB( p q)

o

for non-negative integral values of p and q. (This is a symmetrical version of our

binomial coefficient function, symmetric around the line p = q, and almost the
reciprocal of the classical beta function.) The value he wanted was W(2, 2) =
C(1,2), but, in deriving this as an infinite product,

W(2' 2) = 8tr = - X 43 X S X 56 X 67 X 7 X ....

he also found and tabulated expressions for all of the other half-integer points in
the positive octant, indeed for - 2 < y < X + 2 < 5,- 1 < X - y < 5, with the
value in its corner, W(- 1, - 2) = C(-1,- 2) that he gave as oo, the symbol
introduced by him and the only previously published hint I know of anywhere of
the line of singularities of C on x = -1; see Plate 1. (He also says, in passing, in
his Proposition 184, that he could easily continue his procedure to find the
interpolations to thirds, quarters, or more points in each interval, and thus he
could have plottcd a dense set of points on our surface!) Wallis also reported
Brouncker's continue,d fraction expression for the same quantity:

4 1
-= 1 + 9
2+ 25
2+ 49
2 +
2 +

and its derivation. Throughout his explorations, Wallis referred to his table as
being made up of figured numbers, and later, in his Treatise of Algebra (1885),
Chapter 85, he explicitly denied any connection with the binomial theorem: "For,
[the expansion] for Cubicks consisting of 4 Members; that for Quadraticks, of 3;
that for Laterals, of 2; and that for Equals, of a Single Unite; and suitably for other
Powers: That for the Quadratick Root of Laterals [i.e. (a + b)1/2 ], should, by this

12 THE BINOMIAL COEFFICIENT FIJNCTION [January

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 itI_-5jC_t*_I3--}I,taI_ttI-at)|,ajX)_"^-t-i¢X$2QiZ,o=wli|91ij2>tf.th.1
i| #t----|vei6'.3t 1Qsxo|i'__
2-^t ^-3;If''}04it laSt.'_^hc) dcquvv;
Eti+: W
-
,^*tv2A>_,2s*t1d46+S
sf*aLso#-6^tAO-,{1Z3V48
-
+>} d'-I /] dt tXSG {

Prcp. l Pp, Attt;gtiCd D7f to.-Zs*Z-A;w.

qU(n1 d(DerminAte nTlmertLm dT 1iRriet ( Ct P; OFterCa nX1}iX F£ldC
CEl [1 dC re1}qtl1S {!IXlNtia;bt}S COnCI{I; Pl f1TC, ) POt 0 Tan)Cn
C}ll4&l A0fTI}aIIter l:{l ;UNZS nUII}Xri 9;C¢S IUS;:-C. N2n] q[}iKtinY
I1[In1Xl {X! PCr CP dXWIICAtlLr)qTlOt;(n((n] dAb! 0* (t CO]5lra PIl[1
0o)l (O . 0) I (X. °t)2( 0.092 (o0, - )3 (0, 0 t 3C - F
Ee I1C dE QUOViS aI;O: Et PrOPtelCX ( CUm D{tJiI§r ;S ,$otien
JJm u5u5 lelLB[Uere dTbCat ntlnerun} DI>Jdral>m ) Cj-£t w X o

nunzerO,
PROP. Ct XXXISJ tboolem#.
Htfcpe?itlfrsqenll Si cJxT:beIlx pr(p, t84. locis
v3cuts vlnus cluilibet numero noto C.ppleatur, c-
runt & xcliqul olules cognltxJ . * .

RJerbi
cognilu
habent
,

oo I l ,^ {:1 ^;; Q 4 * 1 X s a s8 ;ffis a 3 t 4 A

* I I I 1 1 | 1 | I 1 I 1 I

i t $ } s Q ls 6t l:] }&t A x 2 t >-I

_ o | 1 _ _ _ _ | _ t

S l 8 ', 3 1$- j"6 \ - ' ° . ¢ IS

_ . .. ;d
, s Q t S Q 1 i rh a h) 1 , .3 Q s l X X a S * o 9 ^ S 8; } t 1 2 1 ^ _ 7 1 _ g |

X s I + s + | ^ $ * I o | t 2 0 | 2 $ z 4 s 5 l j. + ^ 2 + 9 1 >, 1 t Z 4 t a + st "

s O >. ,* - | S ,-*" , J I 5 | A£.zA j 3 5, 3,.3, is- 1 7 ( . s + 6* 3 - l X i + 6!

_ _ . _ _ , _ _ _

A aa Tw;rl.i

Plate l. The complete interpolated table in Proposition 189 of J. Wallis, Arithmetca Infinitormm (1656).
Reproduced by permission of the Bodleian Library Oxford, from J. Wallis7 Operum Mathematicorum
pars vEterae Savile K 207 p. 1697 Wallis' own copy of the first edition.

1996] THE BINOMIAL COEFFICIENT FUNCTION 13

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 analogy, consist of more Members than one, but fewer than Two." For more
details, see Whiteside, PMT 236ff. and Edwards, PAT 87-95.
The solution of this difficulty, as Harriot already knew and Newton was soon to
exploit, is that the arithmetical triangle should float in a sea of zeros, so that most
coefficients in these expansions are zero. As Newton was to ewlain later (see
Newton, MP; the following quotation comes from p.8, n. 22 and the calculations
on Plate 2 are edited on pp. 122-6): "In the winter between the years 1664 & 1665
upon reading Dr Wallis's Arithmetica Infinitorum & trying to interpole his
progressions for squaring the circle, I found out first an infinite series for squaring
the circle & then another infinite series for squaring the hyperbola & soon after."
This was Newton's discovery of the general binomial theorem and, on the way to it,
he wrote down tables of binomial coefficients (m)>- 4 < n < 7, 0 < m < 7, and
first did a polynomial interpolation of them (or evaluated Wallis' polynomial
ewressions; see Plate 1) at the points (n + 2 m); and since (n + 1/2) is a polyno-
mial of appropriate degree, this gives the precise value at these points. He then
went on to interpolate at the points (n + 3 m) and (n + 3> m), where a similar
thing happens; indeed, for any rational (or even real) r, the root binomial
coefficient (lr) is r, so this procedure will give the precise value for (n+r). (It

should be emphasised that our simple and universally known expressions (n ) =

n(n-1) . . . (n-m + l)/m(m-1) . . . 1 = n/m!(n-m)t were only just emerg-
ing at this time though, as we have seen, particular cases of these formulae are
found in Harriot and Wallis.)
The factorial or gamma function (even today, some mathematicians seem to feel
a frisson on thinking of the factorial as a function of a real or complex variable; see
Fowler, SAFF) was explored by Euler, who called it an 'inexpressible function', a
function whose formula is not immediately obvious; another example he consid-
ered was the series 1 + 2 + 3 +... + 1 interpolated to real variables. Euler's
investigation of the factorial function started from the infinite product

( 1 ) n + 1 ( 2 ) n + 2 ( 3 ) n + 3

m ! (m + 1) 1

meX (n + l)(n + 2) (n + m)

which, he noticed after further manipulation, yielded Wallis' product for n = 2;

and he manipulated it yet further into

n!=|(-logx) dx;
o

and all of these formulae make sense for any positive real n. (The translation of
the Latin title of his first article on the subject was: 'On transcendental progres-
sions whose general term cannot be expressed algebraically'; we can interpolate the
sequence of triangular numbers easily with the function t(x) = 2n(n + 1), but we
cannot find such an algebraic interpolation for the factorials, for example because
2!= 4/2.) Legendre introduced the name 'gamma function', r(x) = (x-1)!;
Gauss referred to 7r(x) = x!; Weierstrauss wrote Fc(x) - (x!)-l, which he called
the factorielle, an important entire function with half of the zeros of the sine, as we
have seen; and other names have been used. There is a nice leisurely account of
this and associated topics in Davis, LEI, to which I commend the reader, and the
rich story of notation and nomenclature can be filled in from Cajori, HMN.

14 THE BINOMIAL COEFFICIENT FUNCTION [January

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 } F*,$\-(et°2SIrFytC-iyYs-LVJ23xt+3+t-X6.
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fl f # *¢ g $ +*Xts-v¢\s -*w2. f; j ^ ^ A>d cOo "

4 ) +' t-' | * I * 1- 1 XX z@;; y ;ttrtYsoVw q %_Es+1X%ze;>c¢+as)(7* *

* -E ° ti + + w 3- ( vow+sEt;>#ssA§s S $}e s t6raer- SX7 M ;> wfitF

* . >B zs , ,@ go> sSt z x+f s +sst X w 16 +t - 94

4 . .., , u E0e; atUS *s ;r,;;;Soa'se tt

Plate 2. A leaf of Newton's Annotations out of Dr. Wallis his Arithmetica infinitorum. Reproduced by

permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University Library from Cambridge University Library Add.
3958.3:72 r.

1996] THE BINOMIAL COEFFICIENT FUNCTION 15

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coefficient can be written (,v ) - lim; z limX, w ; !/Z!(; - )! when z and w are
I finish with a puzzled observation: I know of no evidence that the graph of C
has ever been plotted before, and have some evidence that few think of the
possibility of (yX) being a function of two real variables. For example, very few
people have been able to recognise the surface, even with the inducement of a
substantial prize, though several have come back to me after they have been told
and said that they 'really' knew it all along; some have even sent photocopies of
notes showing that they had previously drawn sections of it, though never any
involving discontinuities. (I have always believed that mathematicians are revision-
ist, but have never seen such a striking example as this.) Further, the Binomial[x, y]
function in the usually very comprehensive Mathematica,8, requires (x - y) to be
an integer, thus leading to the polynomial expressions for the horizontal sections
C(x, + m) above, an eminently practical approach that neatly finesses-the disconti-
nuities of the function, though of course its very closely associated Beta[x, y] is a
pukka function of two real variables with its own complicated set of discontinuities.
The description in Graham, Knuth, and Patashnik, CM 211, that "A binomial

any complex numbers whatever," is a succinct way of expressing the horizontal

directional limits at (-m,+ n), but it fails to make explicit that other directional
limits at these points are different and that the limits at other points (-m, h) will
be the point at infinity on the Riemann sphere, and it gives no idea of the
complexity of the Avenues of Manhattan. (This book contains a stimulating and
comprehensive account of things binomial.) Also, I know of no earlier explanation
of the phenomenon m
(n)= n
( n )-but
m
(-n)+
m
( -n
-n
), However
- m '
I may well be
wrong: Maple,8, does define the binomial function for all real x + - 1, - 2, - 3, . . .
and y; and Anthony Edwards has referred me to statistical investigations by Karl
Pearson of the 'point binomial distribution' which use sections of the surface by
x = h, h > 0 (see Pearson, CMTE).
The idea of this article came to me one day as, on my way into work, I was
wondering about Knuth's elementary and sensible practice of writing the binomial
theorem as (a + b)x = Emiez(m )ambX-m, where either x is a non-negative integer

or la/bl < 1; so what did the graph of (Xy0) look like for different values of xo? Or

(yXo) for different values of y0? Instead of working these out analytically, I asked
Mark Muldoon to get his computer to draw out the whole surface, with the idea at
that stage of submitting a one-page article- this surface and four lines of explana-
tion-on this to the Monthly. But the surface turned out to be so much more
complicated than I had anticipated that I started exploring it, trying to get
colleagues to identify it (with almost no success, even with lots of clues and help)
and interest them in its peculiarities. Tom Whiteside joined in with energy,
enthusiasm, and erudition, rekindling our joint interest in Wallis' explorations and
our exasperation with his expository style; and Anthony Edwards filled in some
details. I then tried to get colleagues, friends, or family to do a lot of plotting of
associated graphs, without any success until Jeff Smith told me that, though he
wouldn't do them for me himself, he would initiate me in Unix and Windows, so
that I could do them for myself-the best bit of instruction I have had in many a
year. Fortunately Mark Muldoon soon went backpacking in the Sierras and lent
me his Macintosh, a much more user-friendly set-up. Stan Wagon gave me some
crucial advice on improving my amateur graphics, later followed up by further help
from Tom Wickham-Jones, John Rawnsley, and Igor Rivin; I can send the code of

16 THE BINOMIAL COEFFICIENT FUNCTION [January

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 the Mathematica plots to anyone who is interested in exploring and improving
them further.

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C. B. Boyer, CPT = Cardan and the Pascal triangle, American Mathematical Monthly 57 (1950) 3
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F. Cajori, HMN = A Histozy of Mathematical Notations, vol 2: N
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P. J. Davis, LEI = Leonhard Euler's Integral: A historical profile of the gamma function, American
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Entre Arithme'tique et Algebre, Recherches sur l 'Histoire des Mathe'matiques Arabes, Les Belles Lettres,
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ica 12 (1985) 229--244.
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Mathematics Institute
University of Warwick
Coventry CV4 7AL
ENGLAND
dhf (Rmaths. warwick. ac. uk

1996] THE BINOMIAL COEFFICIENT FUNCTION 17

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