Re: Need help conceptualizing the constant \"e\"
[ QUOTE ]
I don't want to spoil it
[/ QUOTE ]
Then why did you post the answer? [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
Say \sigma is a permutation of n letters, and V is a vector space of dimension n, with basis e_i. Define a linear map e_i \mapsto e_{\sigma(i)}. The trace of this linear map is equal to the number of fixed points of \sigma. This observation, together with the fact that trace is linear, is basically your argument.
|