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8 votes
3 answers
921 views

Alternating Sum Involving Catalan Numbers

I was wondering if anyone knew how to obtain a simpler closed form of the following sum(or had any other insights regarding it): $$\sum_{k=0}^n (-1)^k{n \choose k} C_{2n-2-k} $$ Here $C_n = \frac{1}{n+...
interstice's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
92 views

Solving a Catalan-like recursion of polynomials, related to the KdV energies

I am working on a PDE problem. The goal is to connect the higher order energies of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation to those of the Korteweg-de-Vries equation. As these higher order energies are ...
Robert Wegner's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
131 views

Why is this alternating sum involving Catalan numbers $\sum_{i=0}^{\lfloor t/2 \rfloor} (-1)^{i+1} \binom{t-i}{i} C_{t-i-1} = 0$ for all $t$?

I need the result that for all $t$, $$\sum_{i=0}^{\lfloor t/2 \rfloor} (-1)^{i+1} \binom{t-i}{i} C_{t-i-1} = 0,$$ where $C_{t-i-1}$ is the $(t-i-1)$-th Catalan number. I've checked for $t$ up to ...
Aaron Li's user avatar
6 votes
0 answers
214 views

Looking for a combinatorial proof for an identity involving $q$-Catalan triangles

Let $C_n=\frac1{n+1}\binom{2n}n$ be the Catalan numbers. Following my earlier post on MO, one fine colleague asked me if there is a $q$-analogue of the identity formed by the so-called Shapiro's ...
T. Amdeberhan's user avatar
13 votes
5 answers
2k views

Looking for a combinatorial proof for a Catalan identity

Let $C_n=\frac1{n+1}\binom{2n}n$ be the familiar Catalan numbers. QUESTION. Is there a combinatorial or conceptual justification for this identity? $$\sum_{k=1}^n\left[\frac{k}n\binom{2n}{n-k}\right]^...
T. Amdeberhan's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
235 views

Reference request for some determinants of binomial coefficients

Let $C_{n}=\binom{2n}{n}\frac{1}{n+1}$ be a Catalan number. I am interested in books or papers where the following identities occur: $$\det\left(\binom{i+j+1}{i-j+1}\right)_{0 \leq i,j\leq {n-1}}=C_{n}...
Johann Cigler's user avatar
12 votes
1 answer
553 views

A matrix identity related to Catalan numbers

Let $$C_n=\frac{1}{2n+1}\binom{2n+1}{n}$$ be a Catalan number. It is well-known that $$(\sum_{n\ge{0}}C_n x^n)^k=\sum_{n\ge{0}}C(n,k)x^n$$ with $$C(n,k)=\frac{k}{2n+k}\binom{2n+k}{n}.$$ It is also ...
Johann Cigler's user avatar
9 votes
0 answers
213 views

Some quotients of Hankel determinants

This question has been inspired by Hankel determinants of binomial coefficients. For a sequence $\{h_{n}\}_{n=0}^{\infty}$ denote by $H_n$ the Hankel matrix $$H_{n}:=\begin{pmatrix} h_{0} & h_{...
Johann Cigler's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
9k views

Combinatorial proof of a recurrence for the Catalan numbers

I would like to ask whether there is a combinatorial proof of the following recurrence relation for Catalan numbers: $$ C_{n+1}=\frac{4n+2}{n+2} C_n. $$ Thanks!~
Thomas Li's user avatar
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