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I asked this question here


When I was in high school, I was fascinated by $$ \sum\limits_{k=1}^n k= \frac{n(n+1)}{2} $$ so I tried to find the general value of the sum $$ \sum\limits_{k=1}^n k^m\;\text{ for all }\; m \in \mathbb{N} $$ I was able to to find the sum up to $m=6$. Here, I tried to search for a pattern to find the general solution of $\sum\limits_{k=1}^n k^m $ s.t $m \in \mathbb{N}$ which I failed to do, but I noticed this pattern:
$$ \begin{align} S_1(n) & :={\sum\limits_{k=1}^n k= \frac{n(n+1)}{2}}\\ S_2(n) & :={\sum\limits_{k=1}^n k^2= \color{blue}{\frac{n(2n+1)(n+1)}{6}}}\\ S_3(n) & :={\sum\limits_{k=1}^n k^3= \color{red}{\frac{\color{red}{n^2(n+1)^2}}{\color{red}{4}}}}\\ S_4(n) & :={\sum\limits_{k=1}^n k^4=\color{blue}{\frac{n(2n+1)(n+1)}{6}} \cdot \frac{3n^2+3n-1}{ 5}}\\ S_5(n) & :={\sum\limits_{k=1}^n k^5= \color{red}{\frac{\color{red}{n^2(n+1)^2}}{\color{red}{4}}} \cdot\frac{2n^2+2n-1}{ 3}}\\ S_6(n) & :={\sum\limits_{k=1}^n k^6= \color{blue}{\frac{n(2n+1)(n+1)}{6}} \cdot \frac{3n^4+6n^3-3n+1}{ 7 }}\\ S_7(n) & :={\sum\limits_{k=1}^n k^7= \color{red}{\frac{\color{red}{n^2(n+1)^2}}{\color{red}{4}} }\cdot\frac{3n^4+6n^3-n^2-4n+2}{ 6}}\\ S_8(n) &:= {\sum\limits_{k=1}^n k^8= \color{blue}{\frac{n(2n+1)(n+1)}{6}} \cdot \frac{5n^6+15n^5+5n^4-15n^3-n^2+9n+3}{ 15}}\\ S_9(n) &:= {\sum\limits_{k=1}^n k^9= \color{red}{\frac{\color{red}{n^2(n+1)^2}}{\color{red}{4}}} \cdot\frac{(n^2+n-1)(2n^4 +4n^3-n^3-3n^2+3)}{ 5}}\\ S_{10}(n) & := {\sum\limits_{k=1}^n k^{10}= \color{blue}{\frac{n(2n+1)(n+1)}{6}} \cdot \frac{ 3 n^8+ 12 n^7+ 8 n^6 - 18 n^5- 10 n^4+ 24 n^3 + 2 n^2 - 15 n +5}{ 11}}\\ S_{11}(n) & :={\sum\limits_{k=1}^n k^{11}= \color{red}{\frac{\color{red}{n^2(n+1)^2}}{\color{red}{4}}} \cdot\frac{2n^8 +8n^7+4n^6-16n^5-5n^4+26n^3-3n^2-20n+10}{ 6}} \end{align} $$ I noticed that:

  • For odd $m>1$, $$ \sum\limits_{k=1}^n k^m= \color{red}{\frac{{n^2(n+1)^2}}{{4}}} \cdot \frac{P_{m-3}(n)}{N_m} $$ s.t $P_{m-3}(n)$ is an $m-3$ polynomial with integer coefficients $ \{a_{m-3},\ldots a_1,a_0 \}$ such that $\gcd \{a_{m-3},\ldots a_1,a_0 \}=1$, $N_m\in \mathbb {N}$.
  • For even $m$, $$ \sum\limits_{k=1}^n k^m= \color{blue}{\frac{n(2n+1)(n+1)}{6}}\cdot \frac{P_{m-2}'(n)}{N_m} $$ s.t $P_{m-2}'(n)$ is an $m-2$ polynomial with integer coefficients $\{ a_{m-2},\dots a_1,a_0 \}$ such that $\gcd \{ a_{m-2},\dots a_1,a_0 \}=1$, $N_m\in \mathbb {N}$.

When I was in high school I couldn't prove this pattern, and I remembered this observation that I had totally forgotten about. Now, after two years from my first attempt, I tried to prove this pattern again, but I couldn't.


This question has been partly answered here (The answer shows that $\displaystyle\sum\limits_{k=1}^n k^m$ is divisible by ${n^2(n+1)^2}$ for odd $m>1$ and $\displaystyle\sum\limits_{k=1}^n k^m$ is divisible by ${n(2n+1)(n+1)}$ for even $m$) the only missing part is to show that the denominator is a multiple of $4$ if $m\in 2\mathbb{N}+1$, and the denominator is a multiple of $6$ if $m \in 2\mathbb{N}$.


Update With the help of the paper that @SamHopkins recommended I posted an answer here

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  • $\begingroup$ @SamHopkins I couldn't prove that pattern from Faulhaber's formula. $\endgroup$
    – pie
    Commented Dec 25, 2023 at 0:51
  • $\begingroup$ @SamHopkins somehow I forgot to write that $gcd \{ a_0 , a_1,\dots, a_i\} =1$ $\endgroup$
    – pie
    Commented Dec 25, 2023 at 1:00
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    $\begingroup$ Denominators of Faulhaber polynomials are studied in the paper: arxiv.org/abs/1705.03857. It should contain an answer to your question. $\endgroup$ Commented Dec 25, 2023 at 1:10
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    $\begingroup$ @pie the paper in question answers completely your question. It gives you that $d_n=(n+1)q_n$ and theorem 3 shows you the exact factorization of $q_n$. It suffices to notice that $\epsilon_2=1$ when $n$ is odd $\geq 3$ which is the case, and compute $\epsilon_3$ for $n$ even for which the formula is given, it actually equals $1$ most of the time $\endgroup$
    – Elaqqad
    Commented Dec 26, 2023 at 0:04
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    $\begingroup$ I googled “denominators of Faulhaber polynomials.” Anyways I think the question is better for MSE. You should post the answer there. $\endgroup$ Commented Dec 26, 2023 at 8:30

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