Let be a randomly selected positive integer between 1 and 1000 inclusive. Find the probability such that the expression above is positive.
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Recall ( 1 + y ) n = k = 0 ∑ n ( k n ) y k .
Then ( 1 − x 2 ) n = k = 0 ∑ n ( k n ) ( − 1 ) k x 2 k . Note x n has positive coefficient exactly when n ≡ 0 ( m o d 4 ) .
Moreover, ( 1 − x 2 ) n = ( 1 + x ) n ( 1 − x ) n = k = 0 ∑ n ( k n ) x k k = 0 ∑ n ( k n ) ( − 1 ) k x k . The coefficient of x n is then
a + b = n ∑ ( − 1 ) b ( a n ) ( b n ) = k = 0 ∑ n ( − 1 ) k ( k n ) 2 .
Thus, k = 0 ∑ n ( − 1 ) k ( k n ) 2 is positive exactly when n is divisible by 4 . Therefore, the answer is 1 0 0 0 2 5 0 = 0 . 2 5 .