Sum of Sequence of Cubes/Proof by Nicomachus
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Theorem
- $\displaystyle \sum_{i=1}^n i^3 = \left({\sum_{i=1}^n i}\right)^2 = \frac{n^2 \left({n + 1}\right)^2} 4$
Proof
By Nicomachus's Theorem, we have:
- $\forall n \in \N^*: n^3 = \left({n^2 - n + 1}\right) + \left({n^2 - n + 3}\right) + \ldots + \left({n^2 + n - 1}\right)$
Also by Nicomachus's Theorem, we have that the first term for $\left({n + 1}\right)^3$ is $2$ greater than the last term for $n^3$.
So if we add them all up together, we get:
| \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \sum_{i=1}^n i^3\) | \(=\) | \(\displaystyle \sum_{\stackrel {1 \le i \le n^2 + n - 1} {i \text { odd} } } i\) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | ... the sum of all the odd numbers up to $n^2 + n - 1$ | ||
| \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(=\) | \(\displaystyle \sum_{1=1}^{\frac {n^2 + n} 2} 2 i - 1\) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | ... that is, the first $\dfrac {n^2 + n} 2$ odd numbers | ||
| \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(=\) | \(\displaystyle \left({\frac {n^2 + n} 2}\right)^2\) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | by the Odd Number Theorem |
Hence the result.
$\blacksquare$
Sources
- Donald E. Knuth: The Art of Computer Programming: Volume 1: Fundamental Algorithms (1968): Exercise $1.2.1: \ 8$