Thread: Maths problem
View Single Post
  #7  
Old 11-26-2007, 08:22 PM
borisp borisp is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 201
Default Re: Maths problem

Is the answer 2n choose n? That's the pattern I found after a few minutes of doodling. I assume that an induction could prove this, although it would be messy. Of course, it might not be right, which is why I'm asking rather than wasting time.

I did try to prove this combinatorially; the RHS of the defining relation is the number of subsets of {1,2,...,2n}, or equivalently the number of pairs of subsets of {1,2,...,n}. Reinterpreting the LHS could lead to a combinatorial proof, but I haven't found one after some trying, and I need to get back to real work, so I give up.
Reply With Quote