S = 1 0 1 2 + 1 0 2 2 × 1 2 + 2 2 + 1 0 3 3 × 1 2 + 2 × 2 2 + 3 2 + ⋯
The sum S defined above is an infinite sum whose n th term is 1 0 n n × 1 2 + ( n − 1 ) × 2 2 + ( n − 2 ) × 3 2 + ⋯ + n 2 for n = 1 , 2 , … .
If S can be expressed in the form b a , where a and b are coprime positive integers, find a + b .
This section requires Javascript.
You are seeing this because something didn't load right. We suggest you, (a) try
refreshing the page, (b) enabling javascript if it is disabled on your browser and,
finally, (c)
loading the
non-javascript version of this page
. We're sorry about the hassle.
The ease of summing up ∑ n ( n + 1 ) ( n + 2 ) ( n + 3 ) x n can be seen in many areas of mathematics, and provides a glimpse into the linkages across these different areas:
Nice! What theorem did you use to break down the second line? I've never seen that before and I can't find where you got it from.
Log in to reply
I would have done it this way:
It's easy to see that d x 4 d 4 x n + 3 = n ( n + 1 ) ( n + 2 ) ( n + 3 ) x n − 1 , then
n = 1 ∑ ∞ n ( n + 1 ) ( n + 2 ) ( n + 3 ) x n = = = = = x n = 1 ∑ ∞ n ( n + 1 ) ( n + 2 ) ( n + 3 ) x n − 1 x n = 1 ∑ ∞ d x 4 d 4 x n + 3 x ⋅ [ d x 4 d 4 n = 1 ∑ ∞ x n + 3 ] x ⋅ [ d x 4 d 4 1 − x x 4 ] ( 1 − x ) 5 2 4 x .
Likewise, we can evaulate the other series to get n = 1 ∑ ∞ n ( n + 1 ) ( n + 2 ) x n = ( 1 − x ) 4 6 x .
( 1 − x ) − k x ( 1 − x ) − k = n = 0 ∑ ∞ ( k − 1 n + k − 1 ) x n = n = 1 ∑ ∞ ( k − 1 n + k − 2 ) x n for any k ∈ N . Prove the first by induction on k , differentiating the series term-by-term. The second is a simple rewrite of the first.
Log in to reply
It always strikes me as odd to call it the Negative Binomial Theorem, when the formula involved works for all real indices! OK, the formula is nicely expressible in terms of ordinary Binomial coefficients when the index is a negative integer, but that is just book-keeping.
Although I'm not actually sure if the series telescopes, we can solve this problem fairly easily by iterating through several other progressively simpler series:
Let A = 1 0 1 2 + 1 0 2 1 2 + 2 2 + 1 0 3 1 2 + 2 2 + 3 2 + … .
Then A + 1 0 A + 1 0 2 A + … = S ⇒ ( 9 1 0 ) A = S
Let B = 1 0 1 2 + 1 0 2 2 2 + 1 0 3 3 2 + …
We can see that A − 1 0 A = B ⇒ A = ( 9 1 0 ) B ⇒ ( 9 1 0 ) 2 B = S
Let C = 1 0 1 + 1 0 2 3 + 1 0 3 5 + 1 0 4 7 + …
We can see that B − 1 0 B = C ⇒ B = ( 9 1 0 ) C ⇒ ( 9 1 0 ) 3 C = S
Let D = 1 0 2 2 + 1 0 3 2 + 1 0 4 2 + 1 0 5 2 + … = 9 0 2
We can see that C − 1 0 C = 1 0 1 + D = 9 0 1 1 ⇒ C = 9 2 1 1 ⇒ S = 9 5 1 1 × 1 0 3 = 5 9 0 4 9 1 1 0 0 0
We see from the exponential form of the fraction that 1 1 0 0 0 and 5 9 0 4 9 are co-prime, and so our answer is 1 1 0 0 0 + 5 9 0 4 9 = 7 0 0 4 9
Note that this only holds true if S , A , B , C , D are convergent. Since the system implies that S > A > B > C > D , it will suffice to show that S is convergent.
1 0 n n × 1 2 + ( n − 1 ) × 2 2 + ( n − 2 ) × 3 2 + … + n 2 ≤ 2 × 1 0 n ( n + 1 ) n 3 for all n = 1 , 2 , 3 , …
Since the infinite series corresponding to a n = 2 × 1 0 n ( n + 1 ) n 3 converges by the ratio test, we can conclude that S , A , B , C , D all converge.
For completeness, we should show that A, B, C, D are finite, since A = B = C = D = ∞ also satisfies the system of equations.
Log in to reply
Yes, good point. Would it suffice to show that since;
1 0 n n × 1 2 + ( n − 1 ) × 2 2 + ( n − 2 ) × 3 2 + … + n 2 ≤ 2 × 1 0 n ( n + 1 ) n 3 for all n = 1 , 2 , . . .
whose infinite sum converges by the ratio tests, then S must converge.
We can then work through partial sums and see that S > A > B > C > D and so A , B , C , D must also converge?
Log in to reply
It is sufficient to show that A is finite, from which it follows through this system of equations that the rest are finite.
Log in to reply
@Calvin Lin – I added that to the solution. Why would it not suffice to show that S is finite, since the system shows that S > A > B > C > D ?
Log in to reply
@Brandon Monsen – I misread your comment. I thought you were asking if we also needed to show that S converges, after we've shown that A converges.
I want to thank you for the problem. I spent the better part of two days working through it with little background in infinite sums, recognizing as many underlying trends going from term to term, and organizing them into a neat little self referential equation in terms of S, and I'm very proud to have come to the right answer. This kind of brain stretching is exactly what I want out of a website like this. More please.
Log in to reply
Well done discovering all of these things for yourself, that's no small feat! You must've been so satisfied when it all finally came together :)
First we find the sum n × 1 2 + ( n − 1 ) × 2 2 + ( n − 2 ) × 3 2 + ⋯ + 1 × n 2 = k = 1 ∑ n ( n − k + 1 ) k 2 . To do this, we start with the sum k = 1 ∑ n ( n − k + 1 ) ( ( k + 1 ) 3 − k 3 ) = 1 3 + 2 3 + ⋯ + n 3 + n ( n + 1 ) ( n + 2 ) = 4 1 n ( n + 1 ) ( n 2 + 5 n + 8 ) . On the other hand k = 1 ∑ n ( n − k + 1 ) ( 3 k 2 + 3 k + 1 ) = 3 k = 1 ∑ n ( n − k + 1 ) k 2 + 3 k = 1 ∑ n ( n − k + 1 ) k + k = 1 ∑ n ( n − k + 1 ) . So, we obtain k = 1 ∑ n ( n − k + 1 ) k 2 = 3 1 ( 4 1 n ( n + 1 ) ( n 2 + 5 n + 8 ) − 2 1 n ( n + 1 ) ( n + 2 ) − 2 1 n ( n + 1 ) ) = 1 2 1 n ( n + 1 ) 2 ( n + 2 )
Now, we consider the power series 1 2 1 n = 1 ∑ ∞ n ( n + 1 ) 2 ( n + 2 ) x n . Its radius of convergence is 1 . We use derivative 1 2 1 n = 1 ∑ ∞ n ( n + 1 ) ( x n + 2 ) ′ ′ = 1 2 1 ( n = 1 ∑ ∞ n ( n + 1 ) x n + 2 ) ′ ′ = 1 2 1 ( x 3 n = 1 ∑ ∞ n ( n + 1 ) x n − 1 ) ′ ′ = 1 2 1 ( x 3 n = 1 ∑ ∞ ( x n + 1 ) ′ ′ ) ′ ′ = 1 2 1 ( x 3 ( n = 1 ∑ ∞ x n + 1 ) ′ ′ ) ′ ′ = 1 2 1 ( x 3 ( x 2 n = 1 ∑ ∞ x n − 1 ) ′ ′ ) ′ ′ = 1 2 1 ( x 3 ( 1 − x x 2 ) ′ ′ ) ′ ′ = 1 2 1 ( ( 1 − x ) 3 2 x 3 ) ′ ′ = ( 1 − x ) 5 x ( x + 1 ) . Replacing x = 1 0 1 in the last expression yields result 5 9 0 4 9 1 1 0 0 0 , meaning 1 1 0 0 0 + 5 9 0 4 9 = 7 0 0 4 9 .
With binomial coefficients the formula gets even easier. By induction, show
k = 0 ∑ ∞ ( m k + m ) q k k = 0 ∑ n k 2 k = 0 ∑ n k 3 = ( 1 − q ) m + 1 1 , = 6 n ( n + 1 ) ( 2 n + 1 ) , = 4 n 2 ( n + 1 ) 2 , ∣ q ∣ n n < 1 , m ∈ N ∈ N ∈ N
You can use ∣ ∣ ∣ ( m k + m ) q k ∣ ∣ ∣ < C ∣ ∣ ∣ 2 1 + ∣ q ∣ ∣ ∣ ∣ k = : b k as convergent upper estimate if in doubt of convergence. Now, the last two well known summation formulae yield
S = k = 1 ∑ ∞ a k q k , a k k → k + 1 ⇒ S = i = 1 ∑ k i 2 ( k + 1 − i ) = ( k + 1 ) ⋅ 6 k ( k + 1 ) ( 2 k + 1 ) − 4 k 2 ( k + 1 ) 2 = 1 2 1 k ( k + 1 ) 2 ( k + 2 ) = 1 2 1 ( k ( k + 1 ) ( k + 2 ) ( k + 3 ) − 2 k ( k + 1 ) ( k + 2 ) ) = k = 0 ∑ ∞ a k + 1 q k + 1 = 1 2 q k = 0 ∑ ∞ ( 2 4 ( 4 k + 4 ) − 2 ⋅ 6 ( 3 k + 3 ) ) q k
In the last step, we eliminate the sums over binomials using the first equation with m = 3 ; 4 :
S = q ( ( 1 − q ) 5 2 − ( 1 − q ) 4 1 ) = q ( 1 − q ) 5 2 − ( 1 − q ) = ( 1 − q ) 5 q ( 1 + q ) q = 0 . 1 = 5 9 0 4 9 1 1 0 0 0 q.e.d.
Problem Loading...
Note Loading...
Set Loading...
Note that A ( x ) = n = 1 ∑ ∞ ( j = 1 ∑ n ( n + 1 − j ) j 2 ) x n = 1 2 1 n = 1 ∑ ∞ n ( n + 1 ) 2 ( n + 2 ) x n = 1 2 1 n = 1 ∑ ∞ n ( n + 1 ) ( n + 2 ) ( n + 3 ) x n − 6 1 n = 1 ∑ ∞ n ( n + 1 ) ( n + 2 ) x n = 1 2 1 × 2 4 x ( 1 − x ) − 5 − 6 1 × 6 x ( 1 − x ) − 4 = ( 1 − x ) 5 x ( 1 + x ) for all − 1 < x < 1 , using standard formulae for the Binomial expansions of negative powers of 1 − x . Thus A ( 1 0 1 ) = 5 9 0 4 9 1 1 0 0 0 , making the answer 7 0 0 4 9 .