PROBLEMS ON GENERATING FUNCTIONS

1. Let f (m, 1) = f (1, n) = 1 for m ≥ 1, n ≥ 1, and let

f (m, n) = f (m − 1, n) + f (m, n − 1) + f (m − 1, n − 1) for m > 1 and n > 1.
Also let !
S(n) = f (a, b), a ≥ 1 and b ≥ 1.
a+b=n
Prove that
S(n + 2) = S(n) + 2S(n + 1) for n ≥ 2.

2. Let x(n) = x(x − 1) · · · (x − n + 1) for n a positive integer, and let x(0) = 1. Prove that
!n " #
n (k) (n−k)
(x + y)(n) = x y .
k
k=0

3. For a set with n elements, how many subsets are there whose cardinality (the number of
elements in the subset) is respectively ≡ 0 (mod 3), ≡ 1 (mod 3), ≡ 2 (mod 3)? In other
words, calculate " #
! n
si,n = for i = 0, 1, 2.
k
k≡i (mod 3)

Your result should be strong enough to permit direct evaluation of the numbers si,n and to
show clearly the relationship of s0,n and s1,n and s2,n to each other for all positive integers n.
In particular, show the relationships
$ % among
$ % $these
% three sums for n = 1000. [An illustration
of the definition of si,n is s0,6 = 60 + 63 + 66 = 22.]
4. Given the power series
a0 + a1 x + a2 x2 + · · ·
in which
an = (n2 + 1)3n ,
show that there is a relationship of the form
an + pan+1 + qan+2 + ran+3 = 0,
in which p, q, r are constants independent of n. Find these constants and the sum of the
power series.
5. Show that
2 24 5 246 7 arc sin x
x + x3 + x + x + ··· = √ .
3 35 357 1 − x2
6. Let k be a positive integer and let m = 6k − 1. Let
2k−1
! " #
j+1 m
S(m) = (−1) .
3j − 1
j=1

For example with k = 3,

" # " # " # " # " #
17 17 17 17 17
S(17) = − + − + .
2 5 8 11 14
Prove that S(m) is never zero.

1
 7. For nonnegative integers n and k, define Q(n, k) to be the coefficient of xk in the expansion
of (1 + x + x2 + x3 )n . Prove that
n " #"
! #
n n
Q(n, k) = ,
j k − 2j
j=0
$a%
where b is the standard binomial coefficient.
8. Let am,n denote the coefficient of xn in the expansion of (1 + x + x2 )m . Prove that for all
k ≥ 0,
⌊2k/3⌋
!
0≤ (−1)i ak−i,i ≤ 1.
i=0

9. Consider the power series expansion

! ∞
1
2
= an xn .
1 − 2x − x
n=0

Prove that, for each integer n ≥ 0, there is an integer m such that

a2n + a2n+1 = am .

10. Let A = {(x, y) : 0 ≤ x, y ≤ 1}. For (x, y) ∈ A, let

!
S(x, y) = xm y n ,
1
2
≤m
n
≤2

where the sum ranges over all pairs (m, n) of positive integers satisfying the indicated in-
equalities. Evaluate
lim (1 − xy 2 )(1 − x2 y)S(x, y).
(x,y)→(1,1), (x,y)∈A

11. For a set S of nonnegative integers, let rS (n) denote the number of ordered pairs (s1 , s2 ) such
that s1 ∈ S, s2 ∈ S, s1 ∕= s2 , and s1 + s2 = n. Is it possible to partition the nonnegative
integers into two sets A and B in such a way that rA (n) = rB (n) for all n?
12. For positive integers m and n, let f (m, n) denote the number of n-tuples (x1 , x2 , . . . , xn ) of
integers such that |x1 | + |x2 | + · · · + |xn | ≤ m. Show that f (m, n) = f (n, m).
13. Let Sn denote the set of all permutations of the numbers 1, 2, . . . , n. For π ∈ Sn , let σ(π) = 1
if π is an even permutation and σ(π) = −1 if π is an odd permutation. Also, let ν(π) denote
the number of fixed points of π. Show that
! σ(π) n
= (−1)n+1 .
ν(π) + 1 n+1
π∈Sn

$n % & xn
14. Given a0 = 1 and an+1 = (n + 1)an − 2 an−2 for n ≥ 0, compute y = n≥0 an n! .

15. Solve the recurrence

(n + 1)(n + 2)an+2 − 3(n + 1)an+1 + 2an = 0,

with the initial conditions a0 = 2, a1 = 3.

2
16. Find the coefficients of the power series y = 1 + 3x + 15x2 + 184x3 + 495x4 + · · · satisfying

(27x − 4)y 3 + 3y + 1 = 0.

17. Find the unique power series y = 1 + 12 x + 121 2 1 4

x − 720 1
x + 30240 x6 + · · · such that for all
n
n ≥ 0, the coefficient of x in y n+1 is equal to 1. (Give a simple expression for y, not for the
coefficients of y.)

18. Find the unique power series y = 1 + x − 12 x2 + 23 x3 + · · · such that the constant term is 1, the
coefficient of x is 1, and for all n ≥ 2 the coefficient of xn in y n is 0. (Give a simple formula
for the coefficients of y, not for y itself.)

19. Let f (m, 0) = f (0, n) = 1 and f (m, n) = f (m − 1, n) + f (m, n − 1) + f (m − 1, n − 1) for

m, n > 0. Show that
!∞
1
f (n, n)xn = √ .
n=0
1 − 6x + x2

20. Suppose that Z is written as a disjoint union of n < ∞ arithmetic progressions, with differ-
ences d1 ≥ d2 ≥ · · · ≥ dn ≥ 1. Show that d1 = d2 .
&
21. Solve the following equation for the power series F (x, y) = m,n≥0 amn xm y n , where amn ∈ R:

(xy 2 + x − y)F (x, y) = xF (x, 0) − y.

The point is to make sure that your solution has a power series expansion at (0, 0).

22. Find a simple description of the coefficients an ∈ Z of the power series F (x) = x + a2 x2 +
a3 x3 + · · · satisfying the functional equation
x
F (x) = (1 + x)F (x2 ) + .
1 − x2

23. Let S be the set of sequences of length 2018 whose terms are in the set {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10} and
sum to 3860. Prove that the cardinality of S is at most
" #2018
2018
23860 .
2048