What's the name of this triangle?

( n 0 ) 2 ( n 1 ) 2 + ( n 2 ) 2 + ( 1 ) n ( n n ) 2 \large \dbinom n0^2 - \dbinom n1^2 +\dbinom n2^2 - \ldots + (-1)^n \dbinom nn^2

Let n n be a randomly selected positive integer between 1 and 1000 inclusive. Find the probability such that the expression above is positive.


The answer is 0.25.

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1 solution

Maggie Miller
Aug 1, 2015

Recall ( 1 + y ) n = k = 0 n ( n k ) y k . \displaystyle(1+y)^n=\sum_{k=0}^n{n \choose k}y^k.

Then ( 1 x 2 ) n = k = 0 n ( n k ) ( 1 ) k x 2 k \displaystyle(1-x^2)^n=\sum_{k=0}^n{n \choose k}(-1)^kx^{2k} . Note x n x^n has positive coefficient exactly when n 0 ( m o d 4 ) n\equiv 0\pmod{4} .

Moreover, ( 1 x 2 ) n = ( 1 + x ) n ( 1 x ) n = k = 0 n ( n k ) x k k = 0 n ( n k ) ( 1 ) k x k \displaystyle (1-x^2)^n= (1+x)^n(1-x)^n=\sum_{k=0}^n{n \choose k}x^k\sum_{k=0}^n{n \choose k}(-1)^kx^k . The coefficient of x n x^n is then

a + b = n ( 1 ) b ( n a ) ( n b ) = k = 0 n ( 1 ) k ( n k ) 2 \displaystyle\sum_{a+b=n}(-1)^{b}{n \choose a}{n \choose b}=\sum_{k=0}^n(-1)^k{n \choose k}^2 .

Thus, k = 0 n ( 1 ) k ( n k ) 2 \displaystyle \sum_{k=0}^n(-1)^k{n \choose k}^2 is positive exactly when n n is divisible by 4 4 . Therefore, the answer is 250 1000 = 0.25 \frac{250}{1000}=\boxed{0.25} .

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